1 - Keeping an Eye Out for Gift Ideas -Ian Willard2 - “Guardians” Review -Deborah Palmer3 - 9 Days of Christmas Event Schedule4 - What is Advent? -Corey Ross5 - Christmas Around the World -Ben McDonnel This Holiday Album Rules! -Gino Chacon6 - Holiday Recipes -Alex Hardinge -Tim Strait

Today’s limited edition of the YellowJacket is bring-ing you the good news and hoping that you enjoy celebrating the true mean-ing of Christmas here at LeTourneau. Enjoy!

Keeping an Eye Out for Gift IdeasThe perfect gift? Yes, it exists. This year your Christmas shopping can be easy. No more wandering through stores. No more worrying that your great aunt will hate your gift so much she’ll throw the fruitcake at you and break your arm. This year, just buy 5 pairs of binoculars and give them to all of the important people in your life. We guarantee that it will make everyone happy.

Your uncle: For bird watching. Be-cause we all have that one uncle that goes bird watching.

Your Mom: For looking at sunsets and things like that.

That hot rich girl you have a crush on: She can use them when she’s tra-versing the Swiss Alps over Christ-mas break with her boyfriend. Not that you’re jealous or anything. You have League of Legends - what more do you need?

Your Dad: He can use it to watch the game when he’s sitting in the nosebleed seats at Cowboys Stadium. Why doesn’t he just get better seats? Because he sent his kid to LeTour-neau.

Your roommate: For finding potential mates. What else would you do with a pair of binoculars at LeTourneau?

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In This Issue

The voice cast is top-notch, specifically the main five,All the actors bring their characters alive.

There’s Alec Baldwin as North, the jolly old man,Providing a Russian accent (as well as he can).

Chris Pine makes Jack youthful, Isla Fisher’s Tooth-fairy is fluttery,

Hugh Jackman’s Aussi Bunny is anything but buttery.Jude Law also keeps his dialect native

In a performance inspired, fresh, and creative.The Sandman has no voice, but feels no frustration,

For his face says it all in in superb animation.

Indeed, animation is the best part about this feature:The visuals are beautiful for each holiday creature.

While the story’s premise is not very unique,The narrative itself is certainly not weak.

The backgrounds, the settings, the character design.The colors, the details, it’s all so divine.

All factors combined, this message audiences receive:Benevolent forces are strongest when you believe.In all, I’d give “Rise of the Guardians” 5 out of 5,

There’s nothing more for which a movie could strive.So, as the finals get closer in sight,

Seasons Greetings to all, and to all a good night!

‘Twas the day before Thanksgiving, and all through the dorms

Students were packing and filling sign-out forms.My friend and I decided, before we parted ways,To watch the new Dreamworks animated movie.

‘Rise of the Guardians’ adapts a book by Bill Joyce,Though this version probably gave it a new voice.

The plot is basic, as most stories go,Heroes must save a holiday by the end of the show.

A struggle ensues between dark and light,And young Jack Frost is drafted into the fight.Where his place is with the Guardians, though,The internally struggling Jack does not know.

The focus is not on Christmas, but that is just fine;The spirit of each holiday icon is permitted to shine.North represents wonder, Bunnymund is new birth,

The Sandman brings dreams to the children of earth,Tooth gathers teeth to store memories kind,

But Jack Frost still has a purpose to find.As for the antagonist, who goes by Pitch Black,

He gives our Heroes considerable flack.

“Guardians” Review

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A very Merry Christmas, in different countries and in different languages! LeTourneau is home to students and faculty from all over the world. Here are some of the Christmas traditions that our classmates will be celebrating this year.

“Fröhliche Weihnachten” from Austria! Austrians celebrate for seven days before Christmas, light-ing a candle for each day of Advent. Kids might also leave their boots outside for “St. Nicholas” to fill with sweets, or if they were bad, with a tree branch. Trivia: “Silent Night” was composed and first sung in Austria, in 1818.

“Veselé Vánoce” from the Czech Republic!Jesus’s birthday is celebrated with vanočka, a Czech Christmas yeast bread filled with raisins, almonds, and dried fruits. Other traditional foods include fried carp and soup made of cod roe. Czech tradition is to open pres-ents brought by Baby Jesus. Trivia: Many families attend midnight Christmas services as part of their Christmas celebration.

“Sung Tan Chuk Ha” from South Korea!Hunting for gifts is less complicated if you celebrate in Ko-rea; a popular gift is money! Most citizens are not Christian (many are Buddhist) and therefore do not celebrate Christ-mas as a religious holiday, but they do get the day off. South Korea’s capital city, Seoul, is covered in beautiful

lights, and Christmas trees are popular. Stores offer yummy seasonal treats like cream-covered sponge cakes and ice cream cakes. Trivia: Korean Santa Claus might wear red, but he is also likely to be covered in blue!

“Merry Christmas” from Papua New Guinea!An American would feel strange celebrating Christmas in warm weather, but in PNG, it can be celebrated on the beach! People enjoy shopping, lighting special lamps, and giving each other flowers, gifts, and cards. Cities enjoy a break from work on the national holiday, but in poorer rural areas, Christmas and New Year usually pass like any other day. Trivia: One dish that might be served during Christmas time is “mumu,” a tasteful conglomeration of meat and other things, typically cooked in a large pit.

“Feliz Navidad” from Mexico!In Mexico, Christmas is celebrated with a procession called La Posada, in which participants roleplay as Mary and Joseph looking for shelter. Piñatas are popular during Christmas time, and gifts are exchanged on January 6th in-stead of December 25th. Popular Christmas dishes include cod with vegetables and romeritos, delicious greens served with shrimp and potatoes and covered in a mole sauce. Yum! Trivia: The poinsettia is commonly used to decorate during Christmas. It comes from a myth that a young boy picked one when he had no other gift for the baby Jesus.

Christmas Around the World

I am a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas music... a Christmas Carol Grinch, if you will. So when I left Starbucks with a copy of “Holi-days Rule” this week, I really was not expecting what I got. The album contains 17 tracks, starting with a very upbeat “Sleigh Ride” by the pop band fun. and ending with Andrew Bird’s bluegrass spin on “Auld Lang Syne.” The carols cover a variety of genres, including indie rock, jazz, blues, and country, so there is something in this album for everyone! ”Holidays Rule” features widely known artists such as Paul McCartney and The Shins, and a few obscure groups such as the Fruit Bats and Y La Bamba. Several tracks simply remodeled older songs like Elvis Presley’s “Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me” and Jim Reeve’s “Señor Santa (Mis-ter Santa).” I was pleasantly surprised that the album also included songs with Christian references, such as “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “I

Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” Traditional Christmas love songs are also included. Overall, “Holiday Rules” is sure to bring Christmas cheer if you are tired of the same old Christmas tunes. Un-fortunately, you can’t have a dance party to any of these songs with your floor-mates, unless of course you know how to flamingo dance, square dance, or waltz. However, for hanging out on a cold day with a hot drink? Perfect.

This Holiday Album Rules!

A Peak Into Foreign Traditions

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Holiday Recipes

Many thanks to the writers, copy and layout editors, photographers, guest contributors, and faculty sponsors who made this edition of the YellowJacket possible.

The YellowJacket has been the official student newspaper of LeTourneau University for over sixty years. As an online publication, its current news coverage and archives of campus publications (Communicator, Stall Wall) may be accessed at www.letuyellowjacket.org. “Like” us on Facebook to receive the most immediate news updates. For information about

staff positions or guest contributions, please email the editors at CarlyRobinson@letu.edu or NathanBrazil@letu.edu.

Chocolate Oatmeal Drop Cookies

These cookies are by far my most fa-vorite treat. Perhaps you will remem-ber sampling them at the Student Pub-lications booth at STOMP this year! They are not “cookies” in the normal sense because you do not bake them. They are more like fudge in texture, and are fairly quick to prepare.

In a large pot add:1 stick butter2 cups sugar1/2 cup cocoa1/2 cup milk

Combine and bring to a rolling boil. Allow the mixture to boil one minute exactly – this is the most important step, and will make or break your cookies!

Remove from heat and add:

1 tsp vanilla extract (Add this first)3 cups Minute oats1/2 cup peanut butterStir until the oatmeal and peanut butter are mixed in and then begin to place spoonfuls of the mixture onto parch-ment paper. It is best to do this imme-diately since the mixture will harden in about 5-7 minutes. Wait for the cookies to cool down and enjoy!Note: it is helpful to have all the in-gredients measured and the parchment paper laid out ahead of time. Once the mixture begins to boil, you have to follow through quickly with every-thing else.

-Alex Hardinge

Fruit Cake1 lb. of assorted fruit (make sure to have bananas)2 cups of flour1 egg

Put all the fruit in a bowl. Add flour. Throw egg in whole. Compress in trash compactor until cake reaches ap-propriate density.

Fruit cake.

Holiday Punch4 gallons of water12 Christmas cards

Put the Christmas cards in the water. Punch it until thoroughly mixed.

Holiday Punch.

Stuffed Potatoes4 Potatoes1 can of whipped creamCaulk gun

Put can of whipped cream in caulk

gun. Fill each potato.

Twinkies.

Turkey20 lbs of turkey breastsBag of feathers4 bottles of Elmer’s GlueString2 rolls of duct tape

Step 1: Dump out turkey breasts. Tie them together with string and duct tape. Glue feathers on. Step 2: Remove feathers, “carve” turkey into turkey breasts by removing string and tape. Step 3: Go to Chick-Fil-A.

“Turkey.”

Yule Log1 log of firewood3 cases of Nutella

Spread the Nutella on the log.

Yule Log.

Cheesecake4 Liters of ricotta cheese2 cups of flour1 egg

Mix the flour and the cheese. Set mixture in pan. Send to China (don’t forget the return address). Wait three weeks for it to be sent back. Throw egg away.

Cheesecake.