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Posts Tagged ‘Merii Kurisumasu’

“Mele Kalikimaka” to all

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Since I grew up hearing “Mele Kalikimaka” (Hawaiian) meaning the same thing as “Merry Christmas”, I didn’t realize it wasn’t mainstream till I came to the U.S. Mainland for law school.Mele Kalikimaka

If you want to hear the popular Hawaiian song with this title, google it to hear various versions online. The first few lines go:

“Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say
On a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day”…

But there’s many other ways to express Christmas greetings in some of the languages I’ve studied: Frohe Weihnachten (German), or Feliz Navidad (Spanish), or “Merii Kurisumasu” (Japanese version of Merry Christmas).

Whether you celebrate Bodhi Day, Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa (or none of these like my Muslim nephew) it’s that time of the year to extend a secular “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” to all.

Have a safe and happy holiday season.