Christmas, a time of many traditions

By Quinton Couch

            Christmas, in many people’s opinion, is the most wonderful time of the year.  A time for family, a time for giving, and a time for cheer.  Christmas, however, isn’t so black and white.  There are many different ways to celebrate Christmas, and many different answers as to what is the so-called “right way”.  People all around the world celebrate the holiday, and everyone adds their own special tradition to Christmas.  The fundamental Christmas is something like the kids awaking early in the morning, hardly getting any sleep for the excitement of the gifts silently awaiting them under the glowing light of the Christmas tree.  A year of striving to make Santa’s list as nice, rather than the infamous “naughty”.  They dash down the steps, only to find a mountain of colorful, newly wrapped presents, all reading “From Santa Class”.  After ripping away the bright, colorful wrapping paper to find all of their Christmas wishes had come true, the family gathers at the table to have a nice, family breakfast.  After all of this, the rest of the day is a blur, racing here and there to various relatives, receiving more gifts, and eating just about all the ham one person can handle.  This “perfect Christmas” has been featured in many famous movies, and has come to be known as the quintessence of Christmas.  However, as I said, everyone adds their own special “something” to this holiday.

            A major deciding factor in many Christmases is the issue of the tree: real or fake?  

“Well, we always go to get a live tree every year.  We wait for dad to get home, and then we go out and pick out our favorite tree.  After we have the tree all loaded up and ready to go, we usually go to eat, head home, and decorate the tree,” Sophmore Hannah Merrill said.  So, live or artificial?  Many people use artificial trees these days to avoid the hassle and cost of going out and purchasing an authentic pine, but some families do go out and buy a real tree.

            “It’s a lot more fun to actually go out and pick out a real one.  I think it just helps to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.  I think it’s a lot of fun,” Freshman Malea Arvin said.  Trees though aren’t the only things that make Christmas such a unique holiday though, simple family traditions greatly enrich the Christmas experience for everyone.

            “On Christmas Eve, my dad, my mom, and my sister and I will usually just hang out.  My dad makes warm apple cider with cinnamon on top for the family, then we just hang out on the couch and watch all of our favorite Christmas movies.  Then, right before we all go to bed, we each get to open one of our presents.”  Tara Nastoff said.  Little differences, like these, are what truly make Christmas so special for people.

            People from all over the world also celebrate this holiday differently.  British Christmas involves a lot of the same fundamentals as American Christmas.  Although instead of being named Santa Claus, the mythical gift giver is called “Father Christmas”.  Also, people in England open their gifts around midday, rather than in the morning.  England also has an additional post-Christmas holiday known as Boxing Day, this is from when children used to go out on the day after Christmas and collect money in small clay boxes.  After the children had filled the clay boxes up, they would break them open and claim the money inside.

            Spanish traditions, on the other hand, differ greatly from our own customs here in America.  In Mexico, Christmas is called La Posada and occurs over a nine day period from December 16^th to the 24^th.  During these days, people often carry pictures of Mary and Joseph to represent their             journey to find shelter for the birth of Christ.  On the 24^th, the last day of the celebration, instead of finding gifts under a tree as in America, children are blindfolded and taken to try to smash a piñata to claim the candy inside.  If the children have also been good for that year, on January 6^th they will receive a gift from the three wise men.  In Mexico and other Spanish countries, Santa Claus doesn’t make an appearance in their Christmas festivities.  In northern Mexico, however, the closer you get to the United States, the more American traditions become known.  Here you may find Santa Claus, or Santo Clos, making his way down chimneys to spread Christmas cheer.

            All throughout the world people celebrate this special holiday in their own way, starting new traditions and passing old traditions down through the generations.  All in all, at the end of the season, it’s about the family traditions and the love that goes into it that makes Christmas feel like Christmas.  So, however you decide to celebrate this day of joy, may you have a joex noel, a faliz navidad, and a Merry Christmas!