Holidays around the globe

The holiday season fills children and adults alike with excitement. There is a feeling in the air, decor on every street corner and a spirit of giving just for the sake of giving that brings people to life.

When people wake on the morning of Dec. 25, some look forward to a day full of family traditions and feasting, some are eager to find what Santa brought them, some dress in their finest and head to church, while, to others, it is just a normal day.

The holidays are celebrated differently across the globe. This year, international exchange students find themselves somewhere in between home and here at the UW when choosing how to celebrate their holidays away from home.

Tanzania

Zebedayo Kyomo may be thousands of miles from the foothills of Mount Kilimenjaro, located in his home country of Tanzania, but he is still plans to make this year's Christmas special by sharing his cultural traditions with others.

"Many families did invite me to go to Christmas," said Kyomo, a Hubert Humphrey Fellow in the UW Evans School of Public Affairs. "To make it meaningful to me I will prepare some traditional food of my culture and we will eat it together as family."

This year as Kyomo has dinner in the States, he will be missing the traditions of his native country.

"It is different because normally back in my country we have big celebrations, involving the whole community," said Kyomo.

Christmas in Tanzania is spent in two main ways, explained Kyomo. One is for those living in the city and another is for those in rural areas.

In rural areas, some family members attend church while others are busy preparing food for the afternoon feast. Traditional foods include rice, ripe bananas, traditional beer and roasted meats, such as cow, chicken, pig, goat or sheep, said Kyomo.

After the community meal, people take part in different entertaining activities, such as dancing, going to the movies, the beach or going door to door to receive presents.

"Normally the kids do something like what kids do here on Halloween," said Kyomo. "They go house to house asking for their Christmas."

At each house children are given gifts of food or cash, to celebrate their holiday with.

The Christmas in the rural village areas differs from urban areas where people eat different foods.

"The difference in cities is about the type of food. They mix traditional food with modern food," he said. "I have a mix of different cultures, so I could add something delicious that is American, European or Indian."

According to Kyomo, people eat differently in the cities because the food they eat reflects the people; they are "mixed as people," and so is the food.

Bulgaria

"I am excited to see the American celebration," said UW junior Miroslava Naneva. "I'm not sure what they look like, so I am excited to see."

Naneva is studying abroad at the UW this year from her native country Bulgaria. This year, Naneva is traveling to Chicago to stay with family and friends, but most importantly take part in an American Christmas.

"I heard the celebrations are great there," she said. "I want to go and see."

Christmas in Bulgaria is marked with traditional practices, said Naneva, rather than outward expressions that can be commonly seen in the States.

"In Bulgaria, the homes are really decorated on the outside," she said. "We have Christmas trees and presents, but that's about it, so I am excited to see the whole show."

If she were in Bulgaria, Naneva would spend her Christmas Eve feasting on seven to nine vegetarian dishes, as traditionally people in Bulgaria do not eat meat until after the birth of Christ, which they mark with the slaughtering of a pig on Christmas day, Naneva said.

One tradition involves taking special twigs, assigning them fortunes and placing them in a dish called Banitsa to bake. Once the dish is cooked, whatever twig a person ends up with determines the kind of year that person will have.

Another tradition involves baking an old, silver coin into a loaf of bread.

"Whoever gets the coin will be prosperous during the next year," said Naneva.

Also during Christmas, "Koledari," or Christmas people, go around the villages singing songs.

"Some songs wish health, good harvest or fruitfulness," she said. "People give them small, different kinds of food in return."

In Bulgaria there are also symbolic gestures for the family to take part in.

"On Christmas Eve we place a big log in the fireplace that is supposed to burn throughout the night," said Naneva. "It is symbolic of the warmth of the family."

Pakistan

Normally in Pakistan Abdul Qadir Memon and his wife and two children would not participate in the Christmas celebration because they are Muslim; but this year, since they are in the United States, they plan to take the opportunity to experience part of the Christmas holiday.

"It will be a great experience to see how Americans celebrate Christmas," said Memon, a Hubert Humphrey Fellow in the UW Evans School of Public Affairs.

Dec. 25 is a public holiday in Pakistan for the founder of the country, though Memon maintains they are still very aware of how many countries celebrate the occasion.

"We are conscious of the fact that it is being celebrated all over the world. We have the Western media to see it," said Memon. "We do not have special things we do. If it's a long weekend we may travel, but if it's not, we would just stay home and sleep, just like any normal holiday."

Spending this holiday season in the States leaves Memon and his family questioning just how they should go about celebrating.

"Frankly speaking, I have no idea how to experience Christmas," said Memon. "I only know what you see in the movies."

The family already went downtown to see the lighting of the Christmas tree, and the couple plans to show their young children the decorated homes in the area, in order to take in some of the festivities.

"In Pakistan we don't have this at all," said Memon's wife, Frida Khan. "We are aware of Christmas and you see signs of it, but it is not this whole community effort towards Christmas."

The couple discussed what their American friends would expect from them, wondering if they should exchange presents or send out Christmas cards. While much of their Christmas may be unknown at this point, what the two do know is how special this year is.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Memon. "Back in our country we have no chance to experience Christmas."

Taiwan

UW junior Po-Shun Huang explained that Christmas in Taiwan still has the same commercial feel as in the United States, but lacks the Christmas spirit.

"The commercial side is the same, but the feeling is different. We don't have the big family reunion," said Huang. "It is all about having a day off to go shopping and then have a good dinner with a girlfriend or boyfriend. It is more of a couple thing than a family thing."

Huang will spend this holiday on a road trip to San Francisco with friends.

"I'm glad my friends are going, because if I was alone and I saw all the houses decorated for Christmas I would probably get lonely," he said.