The Twelve Shopping Days of the Christmas Holiday Season

Christmas Holiday Shopping Days

November 24th – “Black Friday” – the day after Thanksgiving, you have time off from work on Friday and Saturday too. This is the official start of the Christmas holiday shopping season. Stores will be open 3 to 4 hours earlier and they’ll start to close later and later. The Christmas holiday sales now get underway. Now’s the first time that some Winter and Christmas holiday season items will be available in stores. I’m definitely NOT going to be among the loonies who are up before the crack of dawn to get in line for a wild dash for that “insanely-low price electronic item avertised on TV all Thanksgiving weekend or the latest “Kiddie-fad” toy or doll. Black Friday is the second single biggest shopping day for retailers and got its name because so much shopping was done on this day that it could turn the financial tide for many stores and “put them in the black” economically.

December 2nd – the First Saturday of December – The weekends from now on are important because they mean more free time for Christmas holiday shopping. Early Christmas holiday shoppers are usuaklly more than halfway through their Christmas holiday shopping list. Other shoppers are just started with browsing for specials, sales and the most requested gifts on their Christmas holiday shopping lists.

December 3rd – the First Sunday of December – This weekend some early Christmas holiday shopping can be started but many of the stores close earlier than usual on Sundays.

December 7th – Pearl Harbor Day (in the USA) – This day is a very important one to World War II veterans who solemnly remember it. My old uncle and Grandfasther practically can’t shut up about it. The President of the U.S. often gives a speech to a Veterans group and lays a wreath at the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier" (pictured) in honor of those who died on Pearl Harbor Day and during the two World Wars.

December 9th – the Second Saturday in December – Now there are two full weeks to go before Christmas Day. Can you believe it? Where did the time go and where did this whole year go? You’re starting to hear more of, “Have you finished all your Christmas shopping yet?” NO. I’ll simply have to speed up my Christmas holiday shopping or panic now and avoid the last minute rush. You’re running out of time for everything yopu need to do plus having quality Christmas holiday time with your family is getting to be more nightmare than dream.

December 10th – the Second Sunday in December – Hey, you’ve got to go to church if you haven't been attending so that you won't look like a “Christmas-only church attendee” You’ll also need to squeeze in some more Christmas holiday shopping and you absolutely have to start mailing the family Christmas greeting cards this week.

December 16th – the Third Saturday of December, the First Day of Hanukkah – Can you believe that there's only one more week left before Christmas Day? We’ve got to oput together a shopping list for Christmas Eve and finalize our Christmas family dinner preparations.

December 17th – the Third Sunday in December – Now, it’s exactly one week before Christmas Day. We’ll need to make sure that all Christmas presents are safely hidden away and are still a surprise. We’ll also make our final preparations and plans for the family dinner on Christmas Day this year.

December 21st – Oh my goodness!!! Only three more days to go before Christmas. I need to do last minute preparations and planning and to get as many action items as possible out of the way, plus finish all my Christmas holiday and supermarket shopping. Any final preparatory tasks will go to family members as needed. Finally, I’ll need to go over my plans for Christmas holiday Dinner and celebrations.

December 22nd – the First Day of Winter – Is all yet lost? You still have a mountain of shopping to get done! You can’t even think about going to the mall next weekend. Pray for a miracle to get you through your the last crunch of your Christmas holiday shopping at last.

December 23rd – the Last Saturday before Christmas Day – This is Now The Single Biggest Shopping Day of the Year! The mall is just of shoppers who are absolutely crazy and there are no sales people around. They’d be crazy to fight that mob. The part-timers all quit to get their last minute Christmas holiday shopping done. It's an absolute “zoo” everywhere – on the roads, in the supermarket, at shopping centers, lines for ATM machines, even at the gas station people are honking, and screaming at the attendants. But you know what … I found this lady who makes hand-crafted porcelains and bought a huge load of my special-items gifts from her with NO line to stand in.

December 24th – It’s Christmas Eve – All the city, even downtown and the malls are glorious. The holiday lighting displays are wonderful and magical this time of year. Many people will go to a catholic Midnight Mass. Don’t you think that the Christmas holidays are the most marvelous season of the year?


Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, author and speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 135 countries worldwide. Get your FREE, pdf format report on CD or via e-mail, "If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know" by requesting the title at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com

Thanksgiving Day

It’s the Thanksgiving Holiday Today

In the U.S.A., it’s the Thanksgiving holiday today. The day is traditionally celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November with an emphasis on home and family. In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October. Usually in the U.S. there’s a huge dinner served for all the extended family to enjoy together. The first official declaration of a national observance was in York, Pennsylvania (which is my hometown and where Mom still is) on November 1, 1777. The first national Thanksgiving holiday was celebrated on Thursday, December 18th of 1777.

Photo: Plaque in downtown York, PA on the first national Thanksgiving

During the American Civil War from1861 to 1865, American President Abraham Lincoln declared the observance of Thanksgiving to be held on the last Thursday of November.

And did you know that today, November 22, 2007, is the 44th anniversary of the assassination of American President John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963?

But Wait, There’s More
Today also happens to be my Mother’s birthday, and every few years it falls exactly on Thanksgiving Day. You can be sure that I’ll try to call and talk to her later today.

Here in Colombia, South America
Here in Colombia, the holiday isn’t officially celebrated. I still have to work so I’m giving two final exams at the Santiago de Cali University. Later this evening I have an important meeting to attend.

Thanksgiving is the one traditional holiday that I miss by living as an ex-pat English language teaching professional in Colombia. The weather today is sunny and 80 plus degrees – quite typical for much of the year here in the city of Cali.

Although turkey is in fact available here, it’s horrendously expensive, with a large bird costing more than a day’s pay. Other traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner ingredients may or may not be available, like cranberry sauce or even cranberries for that matter.

For those of you with your family enjoying a traditional dinner of roast turkey with cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes, greens, cornbread, with other scrumptious goodies and pumpkin pie for dessert, my jealous best wishes for a memorable day today. And I also wish you many more. And for those of you in other lands who have never experienced a traditional Thanksgiving holiday dinner, well, you just don’t know what you’re missing!


Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. For more information on the lucrative, fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign Language, get your copy of his no-cost, full multi-media, hypertext-linked pdf ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” by sending an e-mail to lynchlarrym@gmail.com with "free ELT Ebook" in the subject line. Need professional, original content and photos or images for your blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Want more information, have a comment or special request? E-mail the author for a prompt response. And by the way, Happy Thanksgiving!