Paper 2

I just turned in my second paper for class today. I actually got going pretty quickly on it once i figured out my topic. I decided to write about my towns curfew that was started a little over a year ago. It is proving to be fairly effective. We would have multiple discussions on the curfew in my government class last year. Most of the kids in my graduating class disagreed with the curfew, saying it was unfair that older students have to abide by it. personally, i see where both sides are coming from. The vandalizm and drug use have both decreased in our town, which is good. But unfortuantly for me, i still have to abide by the curfew when i return home. Lucky me. Well, i guess that is about all for now.

I never knew

I had no idea that christmas had so many different roots and that the traditions of christmas have stemed from so many different cultures. The Roman tradition of Saturnalia to the Dutch tradition of Saint Nicholas all play such a big role in the development to this holiday. The Church even got in it. Honestly, before this class, I never gave all the traditions of Christmas a thought. I never sat down and tried to figure out wherer all of the Christmas traditions came from. I just spent the time with my family and friends. I went through the motions and really enjoyed myself. I think now i have a better understanding of where Christmas comes from and why we celebrate it.

Chapter 2

So, after reading the second chapter, I think I understand a little bit more about how Christmas as we know it was formed. Basically the elite class didn't want to deal with the wassiling and now looting and stealing tradition, so they decided to make Christmas a time to spend with family. If they could convince the lower class that this is how you were supposed to celebrate christmas, they wouldn't have to deal the the people. It always seems like the elite class is always making the decisions that effect the population. For example, it was the upperclass who introduced Santa Clause into the Christmas scene. Now, every chlid knows who santa claus is and what he does. It is so amazing to me that we have carried on the traditon of Santa Clause for so long. I always thought i could hear Santa Clause when i was younger. I just think it is really interesting that we have been carrying out traditions for over 200 years. I guess that is the point of traditons.

Christmas Day

Christmas day is so fun. For my family it means a lot of traditions. My brother and I always wake up really early that morning. I usually try to read for a little bit because we can't go downstairs before eight-thirty. Then we open presents and just spend some time together. Then, dected out in some our new cloths, we go for brunch at my "extra mom's" Kathy's house. It is just a small tradition that we have done every year as far back as I can remeber.

A Brainstorm

So for class we have to write a conversation between ourselves and someone else apposing views. The person i am talking to has to have the upper hand. So i am not to sure on what to write about. We have a town wide curfew in my hometown that i will have to abide by when i have to go home, being that i am not eightteen yet. On a school night, I would have to be of the streets by ten or eleven, i would have to check. Here at college, i don't have a curfew. I do see the point of having a curfew for high schoolers. This sounds like a good idea to me. If you have any other ideas, i am definetly open to suggestions.

Church

So i am going to continue talking about some of my Christmas traditions. One is going to the children's mass at my church. When I was younger, i acctually was in the pagent. One year I even got to play Mary, when they still had a younger child play that part. Now that i am older, I watch the pagent from my place in the chior. It is so great to see all the children dressed as shepards and angels. We have a newborn child play Jesus, while his/her parents are Mary and Joseph. This year we added three wise men. Since it is a fairly early mass, there are lots of family's with children. It is so cute, for lack of a better word. It is fun for me too, because i get to sing with some of my friends, and it is nice to see all of the kids participate. It is a nice way to start Christmas Eve.

The Puritian's idea of Christmas

So i have decided it might be a good idea to acctually talk about the book we are reading in class, so here it goes. Reading about all the fun the people had in England durring the holiday season made me wonder why the Puritians wanted to ban Christmas. I mean, I know they wanted to purify everything, but getting rid of Christmas is a little bit overboard. We now all know that Christmas has roots in the times of the Romans. That is a long time of celebrating and taking some time to enjoy life. Even when Massachucetts tried to have Christmas, people didn't participate. I am a religous person, I go to chruch, belive in God, pray,ect. I do believe in having fun though. Going through life being scared of God, is well, dumb. So I just think that the Puritains were trying to put a damper on a very old and fun tradition of celebrating.

The Family

Christmas is always a time for my large, loving, crazy family to get together. The past few years my family hasn't made it out to Canandagua for this annual get together. Since my grandma, dad's mom, has Thanksgiving at her house, we either do the Christmas celebration at my Nana's(mom's mom) or more recently at my Great aunt Cynthia's house, commonly known as Aunt Cyn. It is ususally a few days after Christmas. There is always lots of good food, laughter conversation, and Katie, where are you going to school, how is school, how is basketball going,ect, ect. There are always lots of cousins to play with and presents to open. The deserts were always awesome too. My mom and Aunt Kris make a pretty mean pecan pie and my grandma prides herself on her cake decorating skills, so I always made ure to save room. It was a fun time and because of sports we aren't able to make it out. It is sad but I always have the memories.

Music

Music has always been a very important part of my life. I played the trumpet all through high school. Being the only girl trumpet player for most of the time, I was constantly proving myself to the guys. Enough about that though. At Christmas, I always sing in the choir at my church. Durring the year, I listen to all types of music. I just love music. But after Halloween, I start listening to one of my most favorite types of music, Christmas music. I can't tell you how many times my mom would tell me to stop singing Joy to the World in November. My all time favorite Christmas songs is George Winston's The Holly and the Ivy. It is so beautiful. I can listen to it over and over. Christmas music is awesome.

Snow

I think the perfect Christmas must include snow. I mean, why else would someone sing about a white Christmas. Snow is usually big in the Adirondacks, my home. I love to ski and snowmobile, so as a result, I love snow. When my brother and I were little, we would spend hours outside sledding. One paticular Christmas eve, it snowed all day. We took our tubes outside and spent the whole afternoon going down the hill. Of course my dad taped it and i have the priviledge of watching it from time to time. Snow just makes everything clean again and adds atmosphere to the holiday season. So every year i wish for snow for christmas, and ususally, my wish comes true.

It is better to give than to recieve

I am one of those crazy people who loves Christmas. Snow, the music, decorations, he tree, all of it. I love it. I love buying presents for all of my family and frieds. The reaction gets me every time I find the perfect gift for someone I care about. I usually get my mom jewelry. When she wears it all the time, it really makes me happy. I really believe it is better to give than to recieve. So opening presents on Christmas day, I always want my family to open the presents that I got them. When I was in high school, I would bring my friends presents in the day before school let out for vacation, just so I could see the excitment on their faces. Of course i love opening my own presents at christmas, but seeing others open presents makes me even more happy. Maybe it's because i am naturally a nice person and like to see others happy, or maybe it is the time of year. It could also be because I have what i want. I have my family, my friends, and my happiness. I think that is what Christmas is really all about, being with the people you love and the people who love you.