Folks talk about international holiday traditions
While most people are celebrating Christmas, carrying out their own family traditions, there are still many others in town who are celebrating their own traditions thousands of miles away from home.
“This is my second Christmas in the United States and people here keep talking about a ‘white Christmas, white Christmas’ but I had never had a chance to experience that,” Idaho State University international student from Ghana Kofi Saahene said. “To a lot of people in Ghana, the color white symbolizes purity so when you see a white substance falling from the heavens, it looks as if you’re blessed. So to see something white coming down, I think you are blessed on a day a great person like Christ was born.”
Both Saahene and his roommate from Nigeria Martins Okonkwo said Christmas is one of the biggest holidays celebrated in most countries within Africa, and instead of focusing so much on giving presents, they spend the day cooking food for friends, relatives, and neighbors.
“Africa is a place where we depend on cooking,” Okonkwo said. “We love cooking and we are very kind. We would give everything we own because we like the sharing lifestyle and that is the way we celebrate Christmas.”
Both Okonkwo and Saahene said Nigeria and Ghana are very family-oriented countries, so being away from their families during this holiday is especially hard for them.
Anil Mandal and his wife Ruby are students attending ISU all the way from Nepal.
They said Christmas was not recognized as a government holiday in Nepal until about five years ago, since most of the country is primarily made up of those who are of the Hindu faith.
Mandal said their biggest holiday is called Tihar, or the Festival of Lights, which is celebrated for a couple of days at the end of October to signify the victory of light over darkness, or goddesses over demons.
“We don’t have Santa Claus, and since we don’t have Santa Claus, we don’t have gifts on Christmas,” Mandal joked. “I mean, we have gifts on a different occasion, but not from Santa himself.”
Mandal and his colleagues said they enjoy the jolly holiday American traditions such as white elephant gift exchange parties, hanging-up ornaments, and hanging stockings.
“Even though we are Hindu, we are respectful of other religions, and since we are in the United States there is no way we can ignore Christmas because everyone celebrates it,” Nepalese student Kishor Paudel said. “Christmas is another reason for us to all get together, call our friends, and have some fun.”
You can listen to some traditional Tihar holiday celebration music here.
Click here for some Nigerian Christmas music and here for Christmas music in Ghana.
Saahene said for the most part, they still sing the same Christmas songs folks living in the United States are used to as well.
