Our MySpace team dressed for action.

After the campaign, we were not quite sure about keeping the EP’s MySpace page. We were quite busy with different Internet projects and we didn’t have the technical resources to redesign the page. Not to mention we were not convinced on what we could actually publish on MySpace.

Fortunately, Raffaella and her project team were working on the editorial coverage of the Copenhagen Summit and they proposed a Quiz combining Christmas with environmental issue, in a funny tone and with nice drawings. We would have loved to produce it in 22 languages but we were running out of time – we could only produce it in English if we wanted it to be ready and available before Christmas and not for Easter. And since we don’t like to publish anything on our Headlines in less than our 22 languages, MySpace came in as an easy solution.

 

The quiz is there. Do not hesitate to embed it. And tell us what you like or don’t like about it – so the next one will be even better.

We will promote it on the European Parliament’s Headlines from next week on, so you can already consider that you’ve seen it here first!

Well, there are lots of Christmas traditions that are practiced by a number of countries all over Europe during the holiday season. These traditions can be as diverse as the culture and religious practices of each and every country. Looks like in Belgium they even have a different day: 6th of December- St.Nicolas.

I still get this fascinating flash back to my sacred box of childhood memories, though slightly covered all over with the dust of time, but still very vivid. Christmas at that time associated me with many things. I still recall going to the forest with my father for an alive Christmas tree, while my mother was busy in the kitchen with preparations of Christmas meals. The sensual receptors were tinkled by the smell and scent of grog, freshly baked ginger bread and handmade vanilla pudding or cinnamon- massepain biscuits.

Though the most exciting moment was the ability to curb the shivering anxiety and be patient waiting to have Christmas presents unwrapped.

My brother and me – we were simply perturbed with bubbling curiosity, eager to discover in advance Santa Claus’ fascinating surprise cadeaux left for us under the Christmas tree.

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower to share its beauty with others…

Honestly, we kind of suspected that it was our parents who would buy us presents, but deep in the heart it was much bigger pleasure to believe in Santa Claus, who came all the long way from Finland, Lapland and paid us a generous visit.

Rhetoric is in the air: was it that we filtered all happenings through the eyes of children, or is it that the nowadays society changed so much in those 20-30 years, that everything is soaked and wrapped in commercial shield?

Now I get a duck skin from the thought about Christmas-as this psychedelic period associates me with stressful gift shopping, wasting your time in queues, being stuck in traffic jams and feeling completely exhausted by the end of  that week.

Let alone the whining, lets have a look at another side of the medal- some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, some were scratched by the nails of poverty.

Somehow for the past several years the approaching Christmas often jingle-bells my heart and brains with intention to turn and remember those, who mostly need love and care. I like the saying by Jimmy Durante: “the spaces between your fingers were created so that another’s could fill them in.”

Its been a really lovely charity tradition in EP before Christmas period to initiate its staff calling for voluntary donation (let it be toys, clothes, sweets or other goods), thus trying to leave at least  a drop of joy in the heart of the deserted ones…especially those, deprived from their families… 

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower to share its beauty with others…