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Issue Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 Issue: 05/15/2013 Last Update: Wednesday, May 15, 2013
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Internationally Celebrating Christmas
Monday, January 05, 2009 By Kayla Ott
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You can say Feliz Navidad, Hang Bok Han Christmas, Hyvää Joulua or Merry Christmas. It does not matter how you say it, it means the same thing internationally. Many countries celebrate Christmas. Not necessarily, the same way we do but it is still celebrated.

Here at CHS we have some students who have actually celebrated Christmas in a foreign country. Sophomore Anne Ruuskanen said, "The way we celebrated Christmas [in Finland] is not much different than the way we celebrate it here [in the U.S]. The only things that are really different are the foods and the way we pass out the gifts. The oldest child reads the name on the gift and a helper selected by the oldest child hands the gift to the family member. Our trees are also different. You can rarely find a fake tree in Finland, so we have mostly real trees," Anne said.

  Sophomore Dayea Kim, a foriegn exchange student from Korea, will be celebrating her first Christmas in America this year. "I am excited to celebrate Christmas here," she said. "In Korea we didn't really have any place to put a tree so we just made a paper tree and hung it up," said Dayea. "We don't have 'Christmas Lists'. Our gifts are surprises. We open our gifts on Christmas morning, not on Christmas Eve," she said.
 
Sophomore Ryan Markle was born in Ireland. Christmas in Ireland starts on December 24 and ends on January 6 after the Feast of the Epiphany. Although religion isn't as common as it used to be, there are huge attendances at religious services for Christmas Day in Ireland. The children put candles in the windows on December 24. The candles are usually red. Santa, in Ireland is called Santy or Daidí na Nollag. The gifts that Santy brings are opened on Christmas morning. The family also exchanges Christmas gifts. 

 Mrs. Jones, the CHS French teacher, was born and raised in Belgium, France. In France Santa is called Père Noël or Father Christmas. Christmas is a very religious celebration in France. Children put their shoes by the fireplace so Père Noël can give them gifts, as opposed to the American variation of hanging stockings on the fireplace. Many French families also decorate their homes with Nativity Scenes depicting the birth of Jesus. Some people put additional Santons (little saints) in their nativity scenes, which are bought at special Christmas fairs before the holidays.

 
It doesn't matter where you are celebrating Christmas, as long as you are with your family the season should be a happy one! Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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