24 平安夜 Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is, of course, the day before Christmas Day. It’s quite a busy day for most people who celebrate Christmas. There are so many things to do – usually last minute things. For example, you have to quickly send a Christmas card to people you forgot, especially when they sent you one. You also have to do last minute Christmas shopping. I always find Christmas Eve afternoon is a good time to shop. Many people think this is a busy time, but the Christmas rush is over and the shops are quite empty. You just have to hope they haven’t run out of wrapping paper and sellotape. Then you have to go home and wrap all of your presents and put them under the Christmas tree in the living room. It’s such a lovely sight seeing a decorated tree with lots of wrapped boxes and parcels under it.

Christmas Eve is not the same in all countries. In Denmark, for example, Christmas Eve is when people have Christmas dinner and open their presents. I think most people go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. This is a special church service held at midnight to remember the birth of Jesus. I think one of the oldest jokes in the world is: “What time is Midnight Mass?” It’s an easy joke to figure out. Of course, Christmas Eve is the busiest night of the year for Santa Claus. People in England call him Father Christmas. If you look really carefully, you’ll see him flying through the air on his sleigh full of presents. He used to climb down people’s chimneys to deliver his presents. I’m not sure what he does nowadays because people don’t have chimneys.

平安夜（Silent Night），即圣诞前夕（Christmas Eve，12月24日），在大部分基督教国家是圣诞节节日之一，但现在，由于中西文化的融合，已成为世界性的一个节日。

平安夜传统上是摆设圣诞树的日子，但随着圣诞节的庆祝活动提早开始进行，例如美国在感恩节后，不少圣诞树早在圣诞节前数星期已被摆设。延伸发展至今平安夜不仅是指12月24日晚了，指的是圣诞前夕，特指12月24日全天，但由于一般节日氛围在晚上容易调动起来，大型活动都集中在晚上，固被称作平安夜，更加贴切。届时，千千万万的欧美人风尘仆仆地赶回家中团聚。圣诞之夜必不可少的庆祝活动就是聚会。大多数欧美家庭成员团聚在家中，共进丰盛的晚餐，然后围坐在熊熊燃烧的火炉旁，弹琴唱歌，共叙天伦之乐；或者举办一个别开生面的化妆舞会，通宵达旦地庆祝圣诞夜是一个幸福、祥和、狂欢的平安夜、团圆夜。期待着圣诞节的到来，据说圣诞之夜，圣诞老人会悄悄地给孩子们准备礼物放在长筒袜里。