Foreign Exchange students encounter new traditions as they experience the holiday season in the United States. Experiencing the holiday season in a different country can bring excitement and unexpected discoveries.
A significant number of the foreign exchange students do not celebrate Christmas in the same way that Americans do, which leads to a major culture shock, along with memories that will last a lifetime. Spain’s Native, senior, Blanca Sintes Estelles, is ecstatic for this year’s holiday magic.
“[I’m looking forward to] having a good time with my host family, and [experiencing] what the holidays are like here,… I want the experience,” Sintes Estelles said.
All foreign exchange students come to America in search of experiencing what it is like to live in a different culture. On the flip side of that, as an American, it is interesting to hear how the holiday traditions vary in different countries. Senior Natsuki Sawaguchi recalls how her family celebrates Christmas in Japan.
“We always eat Kentucky Fried Chicken, and some people have Christmas cakes. Only elementary school kids get presents, but in some houses, middle school and high school kids get presents,” Sawaguchi said.
The holidays in Japan are very different from the United States, considering that only small children receive gifts, whereas here, almost everyone receives gifts. However, in Armenia, they practice similar Christmas traditions to the United States.
“Yeah [we do listen to Christmas music], and the interesting thing is that usually we play English songs,” senior Yana Zakaryan said. “I’ve heard a lot of songs [that play in America].”
A famous Christmas song called “White Christmas” was originally sung by Bing Crosby. The song was written to capture the emotions of people wishing to have snow over Christmas time. Depending on where students’ home countries are, a lot of foreign exchange students have never experienced living in an area where snow falls.
“Yes, I hope there is snow [for Christmas] because I’ve never seen snow,” Sintes Estelles said. “I’ve only seen it [once], for a trip when we went skiing.”
Another fun tradition celebrated in the U.S. includes citizens displaying Christmas lights on their houses and around town. This is also an example of something that is not done to the extreme in Japan. Sawaguchi is excited for the town to light up with holiday joy.
“Yes, [Japan has Christmas lights], but very little and only on a few houses,” Sawaguchi said.
Enjoying small stuff with loved ones is really what Christmas is all about. The holidays are a time when families have the opportunity to get together and enjoy each other’s company. Although the gifts and items people receive are nice, certain individuals want significantly more than that.
“I want something that is pretty hard to have. For my country, I want peace. My country faced a lot of wars, and we lost a lot of territory, so we had a lot of victims,” Zakaryan said. “So the only thing that I want [for Christmas] is peace.”
