I’m Vasili from Greece , and a few days ago I celebrated the New Year.
I would like to tell you how I celebrated this great day.
We have a beautiful customs in the New Year.
A few weeks ago, my friends and I decorated our house and our
neighborhood with lights, flags and trees.

A day before Christmas, my friend and I went from house to house
with a triangle and drums, and sang a song called “Kalanda”
We sang very well, and people gave us money and a lot of candies.
We ate the candies and gave the money to the teacher to buy books and
other materials.

We started the morning in the church attending the big mass at 5 am. When it ended, we went home. My sister Agata, who is the youngest in our family, entered first.  We believe that the first person who sets his/her foot inside the family house in the New Year, determines the kind of luck that the household will have. Agata often enters first because she is pure, innocent and has an honest heart.

This custom is called Kalo Podariko (first footing).

When we returned home at noon from the church, all the family sat at the table and ate the traditional food: Pork roasted in an oven with spinach and a cheese pie and various salads and vegetables. In addition, we had  the thing that I love the most, Christopsomo (Christ’s Bread), sweet bread that is made with cinnamon, orange and more.

After eating and praying, we stayed at home with a lot of people (friends and family) -the adults played card games for good luck. The games go on for hours and end around midnight.

The state lottery is also very popular on the New Year Eve, and my father allowed me, for the first time, to buy a ticket…

I hope you enjoyed my story.

See you next year…