What kinds of traditions do students have for their holiday celebrations?
Stuart Hall, being an international boarding school, is home to people and cultures from many corners of the world, from Western America to Eastern Asia. Across the world, people come together in celebration and joy; and no matter where or who you are, there’s always something to keep you busy through the holidays. While much of the world celebrates the same holidays, any place is bound to celebrate slightly differently from others, or vice-versa.
Throughout Europe, Christmas, a religiously centered holiday (though it can be observed non religiously,) is celebrated during the last month of the Gregorian calendar year, December. From Anna Danieluk (11) and Sunny Mishra’s (11) perspective of Polish and German Christmas, they both share that Christmas is a holiday that brings people and together across generations to celebrate and reconnect. Polish and German Christmas also feature traditional Christmas decorations and events such as decorated trees, nativity scenes, Christmas markets, church services, and more.
Food-wise, both European countries have special desserts generally only made/eaten around Christmas. For example, Sunny describes lebkuchen, (a dessert originating from Nürnberg, Germany), as “...a soft kind of biscuit cake… it’s really good.” He also lists more cookies such as plätzchen and spekulatius. Anna describes Polish Christmas desserts as largely poppy seed oriented, such as kutia, a poppy seed and berry dish. Along with that, Anna mentions that, for Christmas eve, Polish households traditionally serve 12 dishes for their holiday dinner; also mentioning that this meal is Pescatarian and lacks hard alcohols.
Largely, European Christmas traditions are celebrated across the United States, as huge percentages of the American population are of European descent.
Latin American winter holiday traditions consist of a wide variety of celebrations and traditions. Marina Lucarelli (11) from Brazil and Enrique Arriola Ceballos (11) from Guatemala shared their winter traditions, both also stating the importance of family and togetherness in their celebrations. Marina explains her Christmas experience with her family, and how different it is to European and United States celebration. She describes the celebration as a BBQ centered family reunion that lasts until dawn, similar to her New Years experience, for which she describes fireworks and gathering with hundreds of strangers on the beach. She also touches on the points of shared happiness and spirit. Enrique describes visits with extended family, with piñatas, nativity scene traditions, and fireworks.
For Food, Enrique answered that during Christmas, he eats Tamales, and Eggnog. While Marina, as mentioned above, eats Brazilian BBQ, as well as garlic bread, and meringue desserts.
In Eastern Asia, Benny Tran (11) from Vietnam and Melody Lin (12) from China partake in holidays/celebrations such as Tet holiday and the Winter Solstice. Like most celebrations, Melody and Benny both state that their festivities always involve family and togetherness to some extent; Winter Solstice being observed more as a small, immediate family celebration with few decorations, while Benny describes Tet as a large extended family gathering with lots of red decorations.
For food, Benny lists Chung cake and Tet cake, both being rice cakes filled with various meats. Melody gave the answer of “dumplings and glutinous rice balls.” When asked what he loved about Tet holiday, Benny answered “...Because there’s no school… and I get to receive money, and there’s good food.”
In conclusion, December, no matter where you are, always has some kind of cheer or festivity present. Unfortunately, not all cultures and backgrounds of every student at Stuart Hall are represented in this article; Feel encouraged to talk to your friends about what and how they celebrate their cultural traditions, not just in the Winter, but all around the year!
Maggie Anderson