Lesson Transcript

Hello everyone, welcome back to italianpod101.com.
My name is Desy, mi chiamo Desy, mi chiamo Desy.
And in this video, we're going to talk about what happens in Italy during December.
dicembre in Italia
With this word as well, don't get confused.
dicembre doesn't have anything to do with the word dieci.
I mean it does because it was the 10th month of the Roman calendar, the old one.
So now, it's the 12th month, okay?
dicembre
The first holiday that we have, it's on the 8th of dicembre, l'otto dicembre,
è la festa dell'immacolata.
Actually, immacolata concezione is the full name, immacolata concezione,
so the holy conception, della Vergine Maria, of Virgin Mary, della Vergine Maria.
This is not the day when the conception happened,
but it's the day of the celebration of this Catholic dogma, di questo dogma cattolico.
On this day, we actually don't go to work or school,
and we use it to start the decorations for Christmas.
In fact, on this day, you're supposed to put out your Christmas tree and decorate it.
Actually nowadays, people do that even before, but this is the day officially, let's say.
And when it happens on a Tuesday or a Thursday, we also get Monday or Friday off,
and it's called ponte, ponte, so bridge,
because thanks to the holiday, we can have another one, another day off.
Dove sono le decorazioni dell'albero di Natale?
What are the Christmas tree's decorations?
Decorazioni, decorations, Christmas tree, albero di Natale.
Where are they?
Usually in soffitta, in soffitta, under the roof, or in the under roof.
Or in cantina, in cantina, in the basement.
This is also the day when a lot of mercatini di Natale, mercatini di Natale start.
So Christmas markets, where you can find Santa's village, for example,
il villaggio di Babbo Natale, il villaggio di Babbo Natale.
Or you go to find some more decorazioni or some gifts,
i regali di Natale.
And of course, you also find food in this market,
not only to be consumed during the market itself, but also to be gifted.
In fact, when you don't know specifically what to give someone as a present for Christmas,
you prepare un cesto di Natale.
So Christmas basket or hamper with all the food and ingredients that you need to cook
for Christmas or for Capodanno, which is the New Year's.
So December is basically the month of preparation for Christmas,
which is on the 25th, but 24th, il 24 è la vigilia di Natale, Christmas Eve.
Some people celebrate at dinner already, some wait for midnight,
some wait for the next day, lunch, you know, depends on traditions and family.
But anyway, there is a lot of food involved.
Also because in Italy, the 26th is holiday as well.
It's Santo Stefano, Santo Stefano, Saint Stefan, literally,
because he was the first Christian martyr.
And then we have a small break till the 31st, so San Silvestre's night,
la notte di San Silvestro, la notte di San Silvestro, which is New Year's Eve,
because Capodanno is the 1st of January, right?
Of course, schools do all the two weeks of holiday,
while if you go to work, depending on your situation,
you may get some extra days off, but 25, 26 and 1, definitely.
Now the food that we consume during these days
basically depends on where you're from, like what your family used to do.
Traditions may vary depending on the region you come from,
but believe me, no matter where you are, there is a lot of food involved.
In general, it's common to have, for example, boulevard for appetizers,
formaggio, cheese and salumi, so all the salami, prosciutto, hams and so on.
And then some fish like anchovies or salmon.
Capitone is really popular during this period.
Capitone is basically a large eel.
Or codfish, baccalà, some families go for meat, so arrosto, roasted chicken,
cotechino or zambone, which is pork sausage.
Of course, there is pasta, plenty of it, like tortellini or pasta al forno,
so oven, pasta cooked in the oven, like rasagne.
Also on the 31st, a lot of people eat lentils, lenticchie,
because it is good luck to eat anything that resembles money, like coins,
so also grapes, for example.
And then, of course, there is panettone and pandoro,
which are the typical sweets, typical desserts of this period.
Panettone is with raisins and canditi,
while pandoro can be filled with cream, but usually it's just sugar and butter.
As I said, kids and students have a long period of holiday.
In fact, some families do the settimana bianca, so a white week,
meaning that they go on the snow.
And they do winter activities like skiing, sciare or snowboard, which is the same.
Or pattinare sul ghiaccio, ice skating.
La parte migliore della settimana bianca è la cioccolata calda.
The best part of the white week is hot chocolate.
La parte migliore della settimana bianca è la cioccolata calda.
Depending on where you go, the temperature can be like minus zero even,
in the north, of course, but also till 14 degrees in the south,
so I'd say it's still bearable.
I mean depending on where you're from, but bearable.
What you need to pay attention to if you do the settimana bianca is la neve,
so snow, especially valangue.
Fare attenzione alle valangue.
Avalanche or snowball.
Speaking of snowballs, there is also la battaglia di palle di neve,
so the battle of snowballs.
In fact, when it snows in the city, you can see kids doing that.
Also because, as I mentioned, they have longer holidays,
they go back on the 7th of January, so they have a lot of time to enjoy the snow.
On the last day of the year, which could also be the first day if we're talking about January,
of course, it's common to have fireworks,
so fuochi d'artificio, or to do the big countdown with everyone around you,
so in squares or wherever you're celebrating, even at home with a lot of people.
So yeah, that's basically what happens in December in Italy.
Let me know in the comments what happens in your country
and if you want to learn even more Italian,
just click the link in the description and download our PDF lessons
to learn Italian in the fastest, easiest and most fun way possible.
Thank you for watching, I'll see you soon.
Bye bye, ciao ciao!

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