Merry Christmas from us!!

This is our last day of school and we are very happy!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the all the Comenius friends!!


(background from the left)
Marko, Noemi, Giulia, Ramon, Caterina, Derna, Francesca
(foreground from the left)
Aaron, Azzurra, Martina

Christmas time

In December we have several pre-Christmas fairs in our town. Before the 6th of December there is a big market in the pedestrian zone called s. Nicolò 's fair. S. Nicolò is celebrated only in Trieste as part of an old tradition left from the Austrian empire. On the night of the 6th of December S. Nicolò leaves presents for all the children in the fire place just like Father Christmas or Santa Claus does on the night of 24th of December in the rest of the world including Trieste. So the children of Trieste are very lucky, indeed San Nicolò or Santa Clause calls twice to deliver presents in December. However, in the rest of Italy, excluding Trieste, children recieve the second ration of their presents on the 6th of January brought to them by the good and kind witch called "Befana".

In addition to the Christmas markets there are many other activities going on around the town during the festivities. Many stalls offer samples of local, regional, national and internationale specialities to suit any palate. The streets are decorated and illuminated to attract Christmas shoppers. The town is alive especially towards the evening. In the last few years young people and some not so young, have been able to enjoy skating in a small ice-rink in the center. In addiction, the season offers spectacles, concerts and exibitions all over the city and its surroundings. It is certainly a joyful period of the year.

Stefania (3B)

Christmas Carolers at School

Thursday 11 December 2008, a group of American singers from Frontier Bible College in Wyoming, came to our school to sing traditional Christmas songs called “Christmas Carols”. They were wearing traditional costumes from the era of Charles Dickens, who made caroling famous in his books. There were eight singers and they sang in four part harmony. They explained the history of “Christmas Caroling”, showing us examples of traditional songs: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”, an ancient gregorian song (XIII century) , “Angels We Have Heard On High”, a more recent carol and “I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day”, a song created from a poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Last of all, they sang two songs in Italian: “La Notte Splenderà” e “Gioia Cantiam”. We hope they will visit us again!

Sabrina (IB)

Santa Claus is coming to Triest

Santa Claus - for us San Nicolò - in our city is celebrated between 5th -6th of December. He is a mysterious character who takes presents and sweets to children, passing through the door, the window, the chimney. If they are naughty and bad they riceive coal. Children leave to him biscuits, drinks and a letter where they write the presents that they would like to recive.

Noemi and Francesca (4B)

Fund Raising for "Habitat for Humanity"

As part of the project Asia-Europe “Brick & Mortar”, in which our class is involved, on December 3th and 4th 2008 we prepared a fund raising event in the entrance hall of our school during the official term meeting of parents and teachers. We made cakes and sweets to be sold to parents and teachers on a free offering basis and the money collected will be sent to Habitat for Humanity International, a no profit organization which tries to help the homeless to build houses. All of us have contributed to the event in many ways. Nicole and Federica prepared posters and room decorations, students of all classes and ages made delicious cakes and sweets to sell at school and decorated the Christmas Tree. During the meeting teachers and parents bought our cakes and made free offering. Federica and Alice took some photos to remember the event and to send the images to you.
We are very happy because thanks to the generosity of teachers and parents we could collect 400,00 euros and we can help homeless families to have a shelter

Federica. (5B)