Comments on: Which tradition do you maintain around Christmas?

By: How to be(come) more resilient this time of the year – Ute's International Lounge

Mon, 19 Dec 2016 10:53:11 +0000

[…] Which tradition do you maintain around Christmas? […]

By: expatsincebirth

expatsincebirth — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 22:31:24 +0000

I must confess that before I had kids, this season was very quiet and not very special for me in terms of celebrations etc. I like to keep things simple, and still do even if this post doesn’t seem like that. I find that this mix of traditions reflects the way we embrace the cultures and make parts of them our own. You mention the Christmas trees: we have a fake one for exactly the reason you mention. It even travelled with us when for years we would spend Christmas in different places (it even has a name…). I must disagree with you about Sinterklaas or St Nicholas not having any meaning for us. He does: you can find it in other posts I published here. I think we all choose among the traditions we know, those who have a special meaning for us, evoque maybe a memory we cherish. And we’re all free to combine them. At least this is my very personal opinion. I rediscovered some through my children who for some may seem to old to celebrate Sinterklaas, but who happen to like the magic of this season.

By: ZJShen-PSimon

ZJShen-PSimon — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 19:24:02 +0000

Dear Ute,
I understand your enthusiasm, but how old are your kids? I may spoil your feelings but even to celebrate ‘Santa’ on Dec/ 6th has been off my menu since, well, I was less than 10 years old, except that as a teacher, the thing came back for a few years in the 90’s for the sake of little kids of colleagues. With my two adopted ‘grandchildren’ around, I praise the almighty they have stopped watching TV, because this prevents us watching those silly, all-round Dutch broadcasts about Sinter and his hundreds of Zwarte Pieten around the clock. School does its bit in the thing but as they are very multicultural, they don’t overdo it for the sake of all those Arabic and other children.

My family … Well, in my native land, Hungary, we never really had much of Santa in the whole country. Now that I’ve had to re-discover the habit, I feel grateful for this omission. For us, Christmas is the real thing. Jan. 6th is not celebrated, it is simply the day those poor victims of Christian culture are thrown into the street (with about 300 million families in Eur. and 150 m. in America alone, I guess we’ve killed at least 27.000 million fir trees during a lifetime of 60 years – for what? tradition? which is less than 150 years old? – no: for commerce: these holidays are already celebrated throughout China too, often whether people are Christian or not, but in different ways: by going out together to get drunk in bars; in Europe and America, for buying stuff more than usual).

This long Sinterklass period only makes me jittery, especially when one of those countless Zwarte’s approaches me in the street about something. I’d like to, but can’t, choose between two words: silly, or stupid. I simply don’t understand what this has to do with our times or traditions, whereas I know quite well about the Italian origins, just like for Valentine’s day. That, at least, has some meaning for some people. Sinter doesn’t have any meaning for adults, only forced on (and submissively, for their kids, accepted by) the Dutch.

I don’t think one has to accept all aspects of a culture one lives in. Excuses.