Trees and houses are heavily decorated, bells ringing, people are singing Christmas Carols, and families are coming together, sharing time and gifts, going parties, and staying up late. These are the memories people inAmericathink of before Christmas and New Years. In other parts of the world, Christmas traditions vary tremendously, and for our foreign exchange students, our traditions seem new and unique.           

            Home of bull fighting, aqueducts, and castles, Spain celebrates Christmas much like America; families gathered together, presents are exchanged, and some families attend church. However, the Spanish also celebrate Three Kings Day on Jan. 8. On this day, the three kings from the Bible visit the good children at night while the children sleep. Yet the legend of Papá Noel (AKA Santa Claus) has made this tradition, not forgotten but not as big as it once was.

“They are important,” exchange student Luis Irijoa, fromSpainsaid, “But Papá Noel is more important.”

            A huge difference inSpaincompared toAmericais that they do not decorate the outside of their houses with Christmas lights or decorations. They really just focus on the family. New Year also doesn’t have much of a difference in the celebration. People get together and just party.

            “I can’t wait forHolidaybreak: no school, time to hang with friends, and spend time with my American family.” Luis commented on what he is excited for when it comes to the Holidays.

            InGermany, they celebrate a day on Dec. 6 known as St. Nicholas day. The children put out their shoes or socks and St. Nicholas (AKA. Santa Claus) comes to their house at night and fills their shoes and socks with candy. This is really just a smaller Christmas. The family gets together and the kids open the presents that St. Nick left them.

            “We have Christmas on Dec. 24,” German exchange student, Sophie Stark stated. “And all stores are closed on Dec 23.”

German exchange student Alina-Kristen Tammen also commented, saying “Many families decorate their trees on Christmas Day, and then open up presents later in the evening.”

            The bang of fireworks welcomes New Year inGermany, where like inAmerica, many families are at the homes of friends and relatives partying and celebrating.

            On the other side of the world, Christmas isn’t so popular or commercialized. It is not as well known because of the lack of Christians in the area. InChina, it is fairly small and those that celebrate it do it for fun and just to learn about other cultures.

            “We don’t have a big Christmas festival,” Chinese exchange student, Kim Chen explained. “Chinese people don’t really decorate their homes; but here inAmericait is interesting because everyone seems so happy and busy.”

            Yet the big festival inChinais the Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year. Based on the ancient calendar that was based on the moon cycles, Chinese New Year falls on a different day each year. On the day of Chinese New Year, people gather together and have a big meal and the younger kids are also given money by their parents. This celebration doesn’t go on for one day though; it goes on for 15 days.

            “Each day has a different activity,” Kim Chen commented. “On the first day, the people put on all brand new clothing and spend more time with each other.”

Japanese exchange student Serena Moon talked about Japanese customs around the Holidays. “We don’t do much for Christmas. We don’t decorate our houses, but we decorate our towns and cities and make them beautiful. We also do give gifts on Christmas.”

            LikeChina, New Year is a bigger deal than Christmas (Which is celebrated just for fun, though many Japanese aren’t Christian.). It’s a day for people to go to their relatives’ houses, have a good meal, and just spend time with one another; however they don’t have big parties. On this day, the adults give the young children money and make them feel rich.

            “Some people go to temples and pray the Wish Prayer,” Serena said. “This is just really hoping that something you wished for will come true. It can be anything from hoping this New Year you will be Skinny, to hoping that you got into a good College. We don’t really believe in the ancient religion, we just go for traditional reasons and some people are still a little superstious.”

            So whether you are on the other side of the World or here inAmerica, the key to the Holidays is spending time with your family and just being together. Some of these traditions are strange to us, but to other people, decorating the outside of our houses makes us look like aliens.

            “I am very excited to see how different it is inAmerica,” Victoria E. Altman, an exchange student fromGermanystated. “I just can’t wait for Christmas here inAmerica.”