Sophia Doshi, Media Director
@sophiadcourant
Nicole Talamo, Reporter
@ntalamocourant
Every year, when the leaves have dissipated, the winter chill sets in, and the Christmas lights illuminate the town, the holiday spirit finally returns. The winter time accompanies celebrations of many different holidays, cultures, and traditions from all around the world, which often bring unique perspectives for everyone to celebrate and share.
Junior Rowan Hartley talked about how they celebrate Christmas. “We’re Jewish but we do commercial Christmas, so we have a Christmas tree and stockings and we do a Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. I went to a German School in Canada before coming to New Canaan, and we’re European so we celebrate a bit on the 24th by opening one gift in the evening, which they do in Europe,” they said.
Rowan participates in the Saint Nicholas Day traditions as well. Last year, “On the evening of December 5, we put a boot outside of our door, and Saint Nicholas left an orange and candy in it that we found on December 6.” Rowan said that as a child, knowledge about the tradition was not as important to them. Now that they know more about it, Rowan tries to separate the religious and German parts of holiday celebrations from their original religious meanings because they are not religious or Christian.
According to Senior Elise Laviola, who celebrates a traditional Italian Christmas, “the most important thing for an Italian Christmas is the nativity scene or presepe, which is an Italian nativity scene,”. Additionally, her family doesn’t eat the traditional American Christmas meal, “On Christmas Eve, nobody eats meat. It’s a seafood dinner because Italy is on the water, which makes seafood a big part of Italian culture,” she said.
Elise incorporates traditions of other cultures into her holiday celebrations. “My brother’s babysitter was Jewish and taught him a lot about Hanukkah. He took interest in it, and, despite the absence of his sitter, we light the menorah in her honor.” And while she’s not German, her grandma is believed to have originated from Germany in the late 1800s. “The pickle is the last ornament hung on the Christmas tree and the first child to find the pickle gets an extra present. Our heritage keeps us connected. Celebrating and sharing that is one of the most important parts of the holidays,” Elise said.
Senior Maddie McDaniel has a newfound perspective on the holidays. “I’m more appreciative of the time I spend with my family than before, and the want for gifts isn’t as extreme as it once was,” she said. Maddie celebrates Christmas and her birthday with her family. It’s a tradition for my Poppie to make chili with egg noodles on my birthday. We don’t have a formal Christmas dinner, just because we never have”.
Senior Lea Furlan connects with her French heritage to celebrate the holidays. “We usually have dinner around 10 PM, and have lamb or filet mignon. For dessert, we have a Galette de Rois. Each person is served a piece of the Galette and whoever ends up with the piece of the baby Jesus inside wins something. It has a historical significance with the three wise men. ”
Lea also talked about the difference between celebrations with and without her extended family. “I feel like the holidays are more important as I get older, and the longer I’m here in the United States. It’s the only time I get to celebrate traditionally and spend time with my grandparents, who don’t live here,” she said. “We usually watch French comedy movies, and it’s nice. We also eat different French snacks that they brought back.”
Senior Tony Redondo also spends Christmas Eve with his family, making tamales with his mom and aunt. “Helping with the tamales is something we try to do every year, and when my mom and aunt were little their family also would make tamales.” Growing up has changed Tony’s perspective on the holidays: “The holidays aren’t as exciting, but I still really enjoy the decorations and giving my friends gifts. I think what means to me the most is spending time with the people you care about,” he said.
