salve!

One of the best parts of my job is meeting students from all around the world. Recently, we have been sharing our end of year traditions and festivities, and it has been great fun, especially for the younger ones!

I thought you might like to hear about the way we celebrate Christmas in the part of the world I am from, Catalonia:

If your child has told you some strange stories involving hitting a log to get him to "poop" Christmas sweets and presents, please do not be alarmed that they misunderstood the lesson. We do indeed feed a fireplace log food leftovers in the lead up to Christmas. We also talk to it and keep it warm under blankets. His name is Tió.

The true fun takes place on the night of the 24th of December, when the children gather around Tió with wooden sticks and hit him very hard while singing a song asking him to poo the presents. The children then hide in a room until they hear a loud fart. At that moment, they come out to see all the presents and sweets that have been... well... pooped. That is, unless you have not been a bit naughty, in which case you might get some toilet paper and be asked to hit the log one more time!

This scatological tradition will not surprise those who are already familiar with my Latin version of the Catalan tale Patufet, which also includes some loud farts. Roman and Greek literature is not short of references to excrement, and their attitude to toileting vocabulary was very different from ours, which can sometimes also be a shock to students - and parents!

As we are nearing the end of the year, I would also like to take the opportunity to send you my best wishes for the holidays ahead: felix annus novus!!!