Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry gets into the holiday spirit with its annual Christmas Around the World, which kicks off today. Just as the name implies, the exhibit takes a look at how various cultures celebrate the winter holiday across the globe, with performances from multiple dance and chorus groups as well as over 50 trees decorated by various ethnic groups throughout Chicago. The 45-foot tree in the museum's main hall features over 25,000 lights and is decorated with ornaments -- this year's theme pays homage to their temporary exhibit, The White House: A Look Inside.

• What: Christmas Around the World
• Where: Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
• When: November 20, 2009 - January 3, 2010
• Admission: Christmas Around the World is included in the museum's general admission

So you Oprah fans out there -- have you always been dreaming of taking a trip to Chicago, scoring Oprah tickets, and go on a shopping spree at the Oprah store? Well you had better do it sooner than later. Oprah Winfrey has announced that she's hanging up her talk show hat in 2011, after her 25th season. That's right, Oprah is quitting her show. Let the freak-out commence.

The popular Chicago Transit Authority Holiday Train returns for the 2009 Christmas season this Saturday, November 21. The CTA is already a fun, inexpensive way to take in the sights (especially if you have kids, mine love cruising the "L"), and the Holiday Train certainly removes some of the doldrums of riding mass transit.

The six-car train is adorned with thousands of lights, and has a flat car in the middle featuring Santa and his reindeer. The insides of the cars are decorated with bows, garland, lights, and more.

The Holiday Train shows up first on the Red and Purple lines, and rotates throughout the various CTA routes until Christmas as part of regular rail service (you have to pay the normal CTA fare). The train will run between 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends, and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, and makes all stops along their respective routes. Visit the CTA website for the full schedule to find out when the Holiday Train will be pulling into your stop.

More on About.com:

• Chicago public transportation overview

The Magnificent Mile Lights Festival officially kicks off the Michigan Avenue shopping season in Chicago, with numerous fun family activities and the highlight, the Mickey Mouse parade illuminating over one million lights along Michigan Avenue, which takes place every year on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. For more information, check out my Magnificent Mile Lights Festival profile.

• What: Magnificent Mile Lights Festival 2009
• Where: Michigan Avenue between Oak Street and the Chicago River
• When: November 21, 2009
• Admission: FREE!