From the Class Room
Italian
From Maestra Anna
Christmas is a major holiday in Italy filled with lots of great, unique Christmas traditions. Do you want to know how to experience Christmas like an Italian? Here are some of the most popular Christmas traditions in Italy, and how to celebrate them!
Italians kick off the Christmas season (and start decorating) on the Day of the Immaculate Conception, December 8. Along with the fancy lights, wreaths and trees, presepi (nativity scenes) are displayed in many churches and piazzas.
Don’t eat meat on Christmas Eve! To prepare and purify their bodies for Christmas Day, Italians avoid meat on la Vigilia (Christmas Eve). Although the idea is to eat lean, most indulge on multiple courses of fish, sometimes as many as seven!
Buon Natale! Happy Christmas! It is common to visit friends on 25 December and wish them a Buon Natale, before proceeding to your own family dinners. Common traditional desserts gifted to family and friends include panettone and pandoro. These are available at good Italian shops in Melbourne!
Celebrations often extend into December 26 with the national holiday of Santo Stefano; families get together and eat leftover Christmas dishes and sweets.
The official end of the Christmas season isn’t until January 6—the Day of the Epiphany, and the twelfth day of Christmas. On the eve of the Epiphany, families usually prepare a large dinner to mark the end of the holiday season. After January 6, you’ll see Christmas markets close and decorations start to come down.
When you exchange gifts depends on where in Italy you are! Gifts are commonly exchanged on Christmas Day but some smaller, northern Italian cities believe that the blind Saint Lucia brings gifts for children on December 13, so they open them that morning. Other families may wait until January 6. The Epiphany is when la befana - a kind of “good witch” who is believed to have followed the wise men but got lost - drops off presents. In Venice, locals believe that la befana arrives every year by boat!
A summer Modi di dire: Meriggiare
Stemming from the word meriggio (noon), this beautiful verb means to rest at midday in a shady spot.
I really hope you have enjoyed the MODI DI DIRE (ways of saying things) this year! It has been fun to put them together and to share them with the NMPS community. Following the school decision to introduce AUSLAN at NMPS, I remembered that I always planned to return to teaching older students. So I am thrilled to announce that I will be part of a team of language teachers who will introduce Italian to a brand new secondary college in the northwestern growth corridor of Melbourne from 2019.
When I moved to Melbourne to study a Masters in Modern Languages Education at Melbourne University in 2015, I was delighted to discover that a school close to my new home needed an Italian teacher; and so began my journey with NMPS. And haven’t the past four years been exciting!
I would like to thank the NMPS community for providing me with the opportunity to share my love and passion for my heritage language and culture. In particular a big grazie to the NMPS students who always inspire me to be the best I can be. I wonder who will be the first to learn to sign our Italian motto and greeting we have used at the beginning and end of each Italian lesson:
L’amore vince sempre! Love always wins! Maestra Anna
Musical Performances at the final Assembly
Our end of year assembly on Friday is set to be jam packed, with performances from our school choir, big band, and rock band. We will also be farewelling our departing teachers and of course, current Year 6 will perform their group dance and the legendary lap of honour. All families are welcome to attend.
Where? – the oval (weather permitting)
When? – Friday 21st December 12.50pm
SAKGP - From the Kitchen
