Christmas Archives - www.adventuresportsinsurance.com

February 17, 2015 by Administrator

Christmas season in Thailand is just so much fun

Christmas season in Thailand is just so much fun! Thailand, in Southeast Asia, has many tourist attractions. Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket are some of the must-see tourist towns while in Thailand. Nearly 95% of Thailand’s population is Buddhist so Christmas is not a national holiday. But do not worry, if you come to Thailand at Christmas time you will find that Christmas is widely celebrated. In Thailand, Santa Claus is identical with elephants wearing Santa Claus costumes. Santa Claus Elephants visit children in every school in Thailand and distribute gifts, such as toys, dolls and candy.

Although Thailand is known for its many temples, Christmas decorations are usually up by the end of November. The large shopping centers and malls, such as Ratchadamri Road and The Peninsula Plaza, have beautiful decorations. Some malls even have gingerbread houses. Central World Square Mall in Bangkok has a giant Christmas tree. This same mall is also known for its Christmas and year-end sales.

Christian communities in Thailand worship together on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, they go caroling at people’s homes that celebrate Christmas.

In every culture, certain dishes are eaten on holidays. Below are some Thai foods that must be part of Christmas dinner:

Thai Jicama Christmas Salad

This salad is a typical Thai salad that is usually served on holidays in Thailand, including Christmas. This salad contains jicama, cucumber, peppers along with other vegetables.

Thai Green Chicken Curry and Panang Curry

Curry must be part of the Christmas dinner! This dish has chicken with a typical Thai curry sauce.

Tom Yum

This is a soup with shrimp or chicken (or sometimes both). The broth is flavored with lemon grass, chili, kaffir lime leaves and galangal. This dish is usually served as an appetizer for large celebrations in Thailand.

Christmas celebrations in Thailand are also associated with New Year’s celebrations. If you are going to be in Thailand for Christmas and New Year’s, you celebrate with dinner on the roof of a restaurant in Bangkok while watching fireworks, such as Red Sky at Centara Grand, Vertigo at the Banyan Tree Bangkok, or Sirocco at State Tower.

If you are traveling during this winter season, call us for your travel medical insurance. One of our professional international insurance agents, https://www.gninsurance.com/meet-team-good-neighbor-insurance/, will be glad to serve you. Or call us at 480-633-9500 or our toll free number at 866-636-9100. We have an email of in case you want to email us your request. Many of our agents and staff have lived overseas for many years. In fact the founder of Good Neighbor Insurance (GNI) lived overseas for 32 years in Indonesia. His sons were born and raised in Indonesia for 19 years until he graduated from high school in Jakarta (Jakarta International School), Indonesia.

February 10, 2015 by Administrator

Enjoy Christmas and the winter season in Sweden

Enjoy Christmas and the winter season in Sweden! Sweden is a country where the majority of the population is Roman Catholic. Swedish traditions are very diverse, and each year many festivals are held to commemorate important days, one of which is Christmas. Christmas celebrations begin with St. Lucia’s Day, which is December 13th. St. Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred for defending her faith. To commemorate St. Lucia’s Day, girls wear a white dress with a red belt and a wreath with candles in it on their heads. St. Lucia’s Day celebrations are held at church and at school. There is a procession through every town, where the girls hand out saffron buns and sing beautiful Christmas songs.

Like many other parts of Europe, Christmas markets are found in the major cities of Sweden. You can go ice skating or buy handicrafts and Christmas decorations. There are also typical Christmas delicacies, such as glogg (spicy mulled wine), smoked sausage, reindeer meat, and Christmas sweets.

A few days before Christmas, each family puts up a Christmas tree. Christmas trees are decorated according to each family’s tradition. Typical decorations are candles, apples, and straw ornaments. Swedes also decorate their homes with red tulips, and the smell of pepparkakor, gingerbread, fills the house. On Christmas Eve, family and friends gather together to exchange gifts. They give a poem with the gift that has a clue about what the gift is.

Christmas would not be complete without a Christmas dinner! Swedes have a big dinner on Christmas Eve, which is called julbord. The smorgasbord, or buffet, has many typical Christmas dishes, such as rice pudding, sausages, pickles, assorted cheeses and julskinka. Julskinka is a ham topped with bread crumbs and mixed with mustard, sugar and pepper and then baked. Julskinka is usually enjoyed with a baked potato or mashed potatoes.

February 3, 2015 by Administrator

Indonesia is a diverse country culturally

Indonesia is a diverse country culturally. Indonesia has six recognized religions: Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Christianity (Protestant), and Chinese Traditional Religion. Although Christians and Catholics are the minority in Indonesia, the constitution gives them freedom to worship. Christmas celebrations include a worship service on Christmas Eve and celebrating Christmas Day with family and sometimes another worship service. Many areas of Indonesia also have their own Christmas traditions. Here are some of those:

North Sumatra

The Batak people of North Sumatra are Christian. They welcome Christmas with Marbinda, a tradition where they slaughter buffaloes. In addition, there is also a Christmas Bazaar, a Buffalo contest, performing arts, crafts and culinary exhibits.

Bali

Christians and Catholics in Bali celebrate Christmas by using local Balinese clothes: kebaya, scarves, and cloth parchment. They decorate their homes with unique Balinese ornaments, called Penjor, which are made with bamboo stems and young coconut leaves. They also practice a tradition called mebat and ngejot. Mebat is a tradition to make Balinese food and ngejot is a tradition to give that food to their non-Christian neighbors.

Manado

Manado has one of the largest Christian populations in Indonesia. Before Christmas, they hold Pre-Christmas worship services starting on December 1^st and going until Christmas Eve. In addition, they do kuncikan, which means “to wrap up.” They “wrap up” their Christmas celebrations by traveling around the city and to nearby villages to visit friends and relatives, and sometimes also wear costumes.

Maluku

Christmas celebrations in Maluku start in early December. Christmas Celebration begins by Santa Claus visiting children’s homes in Ambon to give gifts. When Christmas Eve arrives, everyone in Ambon will sound off sirens and bells to gather everyone together to celebrate.

Papua

In Papua, they practice a tradition called barapen, or grilled rock, to celebrate Christmas. Barapen is a traditional way of cooking food, usually a pig, in a hole, with hot rocks. Papuan communities also do this tradition for weddings, welcoming guests and funerals. In addition, they play Christmas songs for 24 hours and adorn every city in Papua with a Christmas theme.

If you are traveling during the Christmas season, call us for your travel medical insurance. One of our professional international insurance agents, http://www.gninsurance.com/, will be glad to serve you. Or call us at 480-633-9500 or our toll free number at 866-636-9100. We have an email of in case you want to email us your request. Many of our agents and staff have lived and served overseas for many years. In fact the founder of Good Neighbor Insurance (GNI) lived overseas for 32 years in Indonesia. His sons were born and raised in Indonesia until graduation from high school at Jakarta International School.

January 13, 2015 by Administrator

Enjoy a wonderful Christmas and winter season in Greece this year!

Enjoy a wonderful Christmas and winter season in Greece this year! Greece is often referred to as “the land of the gods”, but 94% of the population is Eastern Orthodox, so Christmas is a very important religious celebration there. Christmas in Greece is celebrated from December 6^th (St. Nicholas Day) to January 6^th (Epiphany). According to the Orthodox Church, Epiphany is a celebration to commemorate the baptism of Jesus. On Christmas Eve, many children in Greece go out to the streets to sing kalanda (carols). They also play triangles and drums as they sing.

Christmas trees are becoming more popular in Greece, especially in the cities, but they aren’t traditional. Instead, most houses have a shallow wooden bowl with water in it. A wire is suspended across the top with a wooden cross hanging from it. A sprig of basil is wrapped around the cross. Some homes have model ships as well, that are decorated. This is because the Greek population also celebrates St. Nicholas Day. We think of St. Nicholas as Santa Claus, but in Greece he is known as the saint who protects sailors.

If you visit Greece at Christmas, make sure you visit Aristotelous Square in Thessaloniki. Here, you can see a large Christmas tree, along with typical Greek Christmas decorations, including 3 sailing ships. This is a popular place for Greeks to go and look at decorations.

Another tradition in Greece is to fast for 40 days during Advent. After fasting for 40 days, Greeks go to midnight mass, then go home and have a big Christmas dinner! The main dish is usually pork or lamb and served with cheese and spinach. Christ Bread is always served as well. It’s a round sweet bread that is decorated with what the family does for a living. For example, if the father is a fisherman, then the bread will have fish decorations. Some other typical Greek Christmas foods are:

Kourabiedes

This is a shortbread made from flour, butter and toasted crushed almonds and covered with confectioner’s sugar.

Vasilopita

This cake is often associated with St. Basil’s Day, which is January 1. What makes this cake special is a coin or trinket that is hidden in the cake. Whoever finds the coin will have good luck in the coming year.

Baklava

Baklava is a sweet pastry made with phyllo pastry, chopped nuts, and honey. It is from the Trace region of Greece.

Melomakarona

Melomakarona is an egg-shaped cake that must be served at Christmas time. This cake is made of flour, olive oil and honey.

January 6, 2015 by Administrator

Christmas season is a great time to enjoy in New Zealand

Christmas season is a great time to enjoy in New Zealand! In New Zealand, Christmas was introduced by the British in the 18th century. In the U.S. and Europe, Christmas is identified with snow and winter. But Christmas in New Zealand falls during the summer. A common Christmas decoration in New Zealand is the pohutukawa tree which blooms at that time.

All cities in New Zealand have a Santa Parade every year in November or December. The Christmas Parade is free, even though there are many countries that participate in it and spend a lot of money for the parade.

Christmas in New Zealand is incomplete without visiting the beach. Beaches in New Zealand are full of visitors throughout December. Of course, this is probably children are on their summer holidays. New Zealanders also celebrate Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas (December 26^th).

Christmas cards are also an important part of celebrating Christmas in New Zealand. If family members are far away from each other, they will exchange Christmas cards. A common Christmas card used is one with a picture of a pohutukawa tree. Some families prefer to go to church to celebrate Christmas, then gather together and enjoy a meal together. Many families go to the beach or the backyard and have a barbecue! Other families have a traditional Christmas dinner similar to what you would find in the U. S. or the U.K., with roast turkey, vegetables, and sauces. This traditional dinner would end with a fruity Christmas pudding in brandy sauce. Other common desserts served on Christmas are pavlova, trifle, ice cream and christmas cake.

Christmas season in Thailand is just so much fun

Enjoy Christmas and the winter season in Sweden

Indonesia is a diverse country culturally

Enjoy a wonderful Christmas and winter season in Greece this year!

Christmas season is a great time to enjoy in New Zealand

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