Annemarie David ’13
Staff

Christmas is different all over the world, and each country has it’s own cultures and traditions.

But one thing is the same in every country: Christmas is the time you spend with your family. The time when families eat tons of good food together and share memories. The time when little kids stare out the window, waiting to see Santa with his reindeer and the thousands of presents on his sled. The time when kids are writing their wish lists for Santa and everybody tells them to behave or they won’t get Christmas presents.  The time of giving and receiving. The time of sharing and caring. Christmas is the time everyone loves!

“During [the holidays], I’m buying presents, I’m going sledding and I’m building snowmen,” says Cody Anes ‘13.

Parents have to shop nearly every second because of all the Christmas presents they need for their families.

“I wake up bright and early in the morning, run downstairs, and wake up my parents,” tells Anes.

In Brazil, Christmas is a little bit different. Like Americans, they celebrate it because it is the day Jesus was born. However, on Dec. 24 they have a big party at a family member’s house, and they make a lot of food. Then they just eat snacks, talk, and drink. At midnight, they open their presents and enjoy all the food they made earlier.

On Dec. 25 they have a huge breakfast together and a big lunch at another family member’s house.

“I am so tired on December 25th because we stayed up the night before [until] three or four in the morning, and then the next day I have to get up early,” explains Julia Faccio ‘13, who is from Brazil.

“Christmas is really important for my country because Brazil is really religious, and nearly everybody believes in Jesus,” says Faccio.

“During Christmastime, I buy lots of presents. [They] are really cheap in Brazil. I [also] go to church,” says Vitor Camillo ‘13.

If you think that Brazil is different from America,  then you don’t know about Christmas in Serbia!

A nice Christmas tree: one thing which every culture has on Christmas. You are never too old to be excited for Christmas.

“I celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7,” says Petar Panin ‘13. Brazil and lots of other parts of the world celebrate Christmas, after the 25th. For Serbians, this is the day when Jesus was born, so it is the same as in America and Brazil but still so different. In Serbia they celebrate Christmas for three days, starting with what the Serbians call the first day of Christmas on the 7th.

“I am excited, because I have never celebrated Christmas on Dec. 25. In my country kids don’t get presents,” explains Panin. For people here, it is unbelievable to not have presents on Christmas, but in Serbia it is normal.

“When we wake up, we go to church. After that, we have breakfast, lunch and dinner together. We are at home the whole day,” explains Panin.

In Serbia, Christmas is one of the most important holidays.

“[Christmas] is the day you are spending with your family. In my country, some people think if you have fun on Christmas, the whole new year will be fun for you, or if you are happy on Christmas, you will be happy the whole year,” says Panin.

It doesn’t matter when you celebrate Christmas or which country you celebrate it in, Christmas is Christmas. It is the holiday that connects people and gets people together.

Anes says, “Christmas is my favorite holiday. I will never forget not being able to sleep and going downstairs at 6 in the morning to see the millions of presents for me and my younger sister and brother.”