Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 12

A nice blog entry by an Australian living in Austria, 28 ways to be Austrian!

What do you think? do you agree with her assessment? You can leave a comment on her blog or here!

#29: go to the Glöcklerlauf in Stainach - every year on January 5!

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 11

It's National Bird Day (January 5) - have you read about this weird half-male half-female bird on iflscience.com?

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 10

Dictionary.com is a great way to improve your English, one word at a time!  They have thesaurus slide shows (e.g., 8 terms for eating), Word of the Day, word origins, grammar blogs, crossword puzzles and games, etc.  Check out their Facebook page, too!

This article on the month January combines English and Roman mythology.

Silver coin with Janus, Roman god of doorways, ca. 3rd century BCE

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 9

Have you had enough Christmas cookies, turkey, fast food, and sweets this holiday season? Here's an article from the Huffington Post to help you reach your health goals! 

This slideshow from Yahoo tells you about the 15 foods you should add to your diet so you're on the cutting edge of food trends in 2015.

Or if you're just into food p0rn, here's a link to Foodgawker.com

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 8

Enjoy these math hacks from Architecture and Design:

(yes, I know, this is an English blog... but y'all need help in maths, too, right?!)

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 7

Top Gear Christmas Special (featuring the Porsche 928!)

Part 1: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dma6a_top-gear-patagonia-special-part-1-1_shortfilms 

Part 2: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dmgv6_top-gear-patagonia-special-part-2-full-episode_tv

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 6

12 WTF New Year's Eve Traditions

Number 6:  Possum Drop

See the full list here.  Number 9 will be familiar to most Austrians!

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 5

An oldie, but a goodie!

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 4

It's December 29, National Tick Tock Day - the clock is ticking on 2014. Have you done everything you wanted to do this year?  There's only a few hours left!

Scene from The Phantom Tollbooth, Time is a Gift (sung by Tock, the watchdog who ticks):

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 3

 

Check out this post at pleated-jeans.com to see more Signs that it's Too Damn Cold Out!

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 2

First read this post!

O.K., so now you're probably wondering how much would it cost to give all those presents during the Twelve Days of Christmas:

Check out this slide show to find out how much those gifts would cost on today's market!

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 1

The Twelve Days of Christmas are celebrated in the UK and the Commonwealth.  The 'twelve days' are the days between Christmas Day (December 25) and Epiphany (heilige Dreikönige).

Small gifts may be given each day during the twelve days of Christmas.  This tradition is celebrated in the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, which is a very popular Christmas carol in the English speaking world.

The presents in order are:
1st day - a partridge (Rebhuhn) in a pear tree
2nd day - two turtle doves (Turteltauben)
3rd day - three French hens
4th day - four calling birds
5th day - five golden rings
6th day - six geese (Gänse) a-laying
7th day - seven swans (Schwäne) a-swimming
8th day - maids a-milking
9th day - nine ladies dancing
10th day - ten lords a-leaping
11th day - eleven pipers piping
12th day - twelve drummers drumming

Here's a video you can sing along to: