Christmas at Celtic English Academy

19th December 2017

Christmas at Celtic is always fun! We are so lucky to be in such a festive city. As we walk through Cardiff and see all the colourful street market stalls, big blue star lights and the hot chocolate takeaway cups, we can’t help but be thankful for the Christmas traditions we have here. We have Winter Wonderland ice-skating, Santa’s grotto within the castle walls and many more. We encourage you to join in with the celebrations.

Our team members come from lots of different countries and we all celebrate Christmas differently. Here are some examples:

Giuilia, in our HR Team, is from Italy. She and her family have a table full of food, including panettone cake. They all attend midnight mass and enjoy the beautiful decorations around the village.

Darren, one of our teachers, is from Wales. He spends time with his family and they celebrate by drinking mulled wine. They also go carol singing around their local neighbourhood and look at the houses decorated with lights.

Edyta, who is part of our Marketing Team, is from Poland. She and her family traditionally have their main celebrations on December 24^th. This includes eating a meal of 12 dishes, attending church and exchanging presents.

Alan, our Group Co-ordinator, is from England. He follows some family traditions such as singing, eating Christmas dinner with turkey and going to the local pub before it closes.

Marta, part of our Operations Team, is from Catalonia in Spain. In this part of Spain, many families have a tradition of ‘Cago-tio’ which involves singing songs to a wooden toy and looking for presents! They also attend church together and eat a delicious home-cooked soup called ‘escudella de galets’.

Shoko, our CEO, is from Japan. The focus in Japan is on other holiday times as a large proportion of the country believe in Buddhism and Shinto. For example, in the New Year many Japanese people give children money in envelopes.

Christina, our COO, is from the USA. In American towns and cities, they decorate the streets with lights to celebrate Christmas. The most famous Christmas lights are at the Rockefeller Center in New York where there is also a huge Christmas tree with a public ice skating rink.

Ekaterina, who is part of our Marketing Team, is from Russia. Kate and her family celebrate Christmas on January 7^th. The date is different because the Russian Orthodox Church uses the old ‘Julian’ calendar for religious celebration days. The Orthodox Church also celebrates Advent which is 40 days long. This means Ekaterina’s family get to celebrate and enjoy this holiday for over a month!

That’s how our different team members celebrate Christmas. What will you do for yours? Let us know and share your Christmas experience, whether it be here in Cardiff or back home with your family!