Decorating the Christmas Tree

This year and in every other, it is a tradition in Hungary and countries which celebrate Christmas, to decorate a Christmas tree. However the name can be misleading as the decoration is one of the minor parts, the major one being of course the process of choosing and fitting the tree into the house. It is hard work when you are choosing the tree, which I do every year by tradition, as I never remember how big the interior of the house is, and I have to guess. It works every time though. There are a few important facts that you need to take into consideration when you are choosing a tree. Firstly, it needs to be an evergreen as it is the least susceptible to the loss of leaves and I mostly prefer pines from Norway, they are great and do not dry out for at least a month. Secondly, it is important that the trunk of the pine is straight and not kinked as it will look bad after decoration. Thirdly it is important to check whether there are any broken twigs on it as it can ruin its beauty.

Now that the hard step is over, what is left to do is to take it home and decorate it. Look at my tree before the decoration:

And this is after I decorated it with our Christmas tree decorations:

Christmas Help

This year, just like every other my family and I go to the Christmas Mass and help the poor people by donating old clothes, toys and even books. The priest, Father Josef is a very good friend of ours and his wife helped us distribute the gifts to the children in the hospital she works in. Christmas is a good opportunity to help people and give gifts as that is the real Christmas spirit which I have been taught over the years. I have considered the ethical implications of my actions since giving is almost always better than getting, as people nowadays lack selflessness and the heart to help people. 

 By helping these people there are a lot of important aspects that can be learnt, such as awareness, or respecting other people. I found these donations throughout the many years we have done it very useful, not just for the poor children but to myself as well.