Cultural awareness - holidays

[Arkteia]

I do not know if I should even start this. Last October a friend of mine, a younger lady working at a busy place, said, "I must tell this to you". Apparently, they were discussing X-mas vacation - everyone wanted to take time off, but someone needed to work, too, so she said, "OK, I won't take the time off. And honestly, for a Jewish girl X-mas is dull". The guy sitting next to her was a devout Christian.

He: - So... you don't celebrate X-mas?
She: - N-no...
He: Not at all? Not even a X-mas tree?
She: Not even a tree...
He: Not even a X-mas feast?
She: No...
He: Wow!

OK, we had a good laugh. Obviously the guy is very nice and kind, it just did not occur to him that Jews did not celebrate X-mas...
A month later, Thanksgiving, I am at Disneyworld, she sends me an SMS: "Today he asked me if Jews celebrate Thanksgiving".

I laughed so hard that ended up wiping my eyes. But after that, I sent her another SMS. "Do Native Americans celebrate Thanksgiving?"
She responded, "I think, yes".
Well, not so easy. Another lady that I know sent me an interesting e-mail for Thanksgiving. She is 1/4 Native American and into history, so she told me that on the West Coast, most Native Americans do celebrate, but on the East Coast, where it all started, definitely not. I had no opportunity to check it, I think it is on a case by case basis, but this is a good example of how culturally unaware we are. Just take things for granted.

I hope you are not like me. It has never occurred to me to ask my Indian colleague (he works next door) about his holidays - he congratulates me on the X-mas and the New Year, why should not I do the same? Many other situations, of course.

This country is rapidly becoming multi-cultural. For myself, I am starting to compile a list of important holidays - I just found out about Water Festival in Thailand, April 13-15, it is like our New Year, I hope I shall not forget to congratulate our Thai PS-ers with it. So if you come from a different culture and have important holidays, it would be interesting to hear about them.

Likewise, it would be interesting to hear about big no-no's in different cultures.

I know there are websites, but it is always interesting to know firsthand. Especially if people do something fun and unusual.

 

[kenny]

You don't have to be in a group to celebrate traditions associated with that group.
You don't have to be out of a group to not celebrate them either.

Everyone can do, or not do, whatever they prefer.
They are also free to change from year to year.

 

[Indylady]

Crasru, you are so thoughtful.

 

[MishB]

In Australia, our national holiday (Australia Day) is treated by indigenous Australians as a day of mourning. They use terms such as 'invasion day'.

 

[JewelFreak]

Crasru, lovely idea to congratulate colleagues of other cultures on their holidays. Although, when I did that once, the person was a little insulted. "I'm American," she said, "I celebrate American holidays!" Woops! I really get chapped at the division in these sorts of things now. People are so darned "ME-centered." As in, I can't listen to Christmas carols, it offends me because I'm not Christian. BFD, pardon me.

When I was in grade school we learned the Hora, sang Hava Nageela (however you spell that!) in a school with only a handful of Jewish students -- and it was a blast. We all had fun. They sang Christmas carols in chorus practice, big deal. Now, people look at me in astonishment when I mention that. Why? We also learned about Scandinavian Christmases, German, and Buddhist memorials of their special times. We lived in what was Iroquois land, so learned about their cultures. In my class was a boy of Inuit descent -- did he have a nervous breakdown? Hardly, he was just another kid among many. All this was shortly after the Revolution, I admit, but in those primitive days we managed not to get our tiny psyches damaged by sharing each other's glad times.

This country is NOT more multi-cultural than it's ever been but it is a heck of a lot more selfish and prickly.

--- Laurie

 

[arjunajane]

In Australia, our national holiday (Australia Day) is treated by indigenous Australians as a day of mourning. They use terms such as 'invasion day'.

very true Mish, although I imagine that like a lot of indigenous issues it will attract polarizing responses from Australians.

Related, but without getting too in depth and hopefully still addressing Crasru's question - Australian Aboriginal people have many cultural practices and traditions which are specific to days or times or events of the year, which the majority of Australians are ignorant to.
(for instance, a certain period of time dependent on the area of the country where the men may be responsible for providing a certain food source only available at that time; or being responsible for taking care of their land; returning to country for a funeral/death/mourning period) and so on.

Due to the fact most don't understand these traditions and cultural responsibilities, it can cause conflict in a number of ways.
One positive is that some forward thinking organizations are now becoming educated, recognizing and making arrangements around these practices to allow their Aboriginal employees to fulfill their cultural obligations, without at the same time losing their jobs.
In the vein of Crasru's question, these may not be actual holidays, but they are culturally important days that at least some employers are beginning to acknowledge - which in turn will also help non-indigenous employees become more aware.

Now don't even get me started on languages I'm sure many many Americans can speak at least a couple sentences of Spanish or perhaps another language that may be very prominent in their area/city.
How many Australian people do you know that are aware of or can speak any words in the Aboriginal dialect of their region..?

 

[elrohwen]

Every day I notice people speaking Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, and German in my workplace (there are probably even more I don't hear daily). It's incredibly diverse, and I'm sure many many people do not celebrate the "standard" American holidays. In fact, many of the employees in my building aren't Americans and don't have green cards - they work for other companies internationally and are sent to this site to work with us, so it's really about as diverse as you can get.

The company partially handles it by scheduling 4-5 less holidays per year, and allowing employees to choose when they take those holidays. It's basically like getting 4-5 extra vacation days, but it's a great opportunity for employees who don't necessarily care about a day off for Christmas and Thanksgiving (which are scheduled) to take off another couple days of their choosing that are important to their culture/religion. So we miss out on small holidays like President's Day, but get a free day to use whenever - I think it's a great system.

Also, ftiw, my family is partially Native American (from the midwest) and all have celebrated Thanksgiving. My grandma is 1/4 and still lives near the reservation. There doesn't seem to be any anger there about the first Thanksgiving.

I think so many holidays are far more cultural than religious. I'm not religious in any way, and would classify myself as agnostic or even atheist, but I celebrate Christmas. It's fun to put up a tree, get together with my family, play some Christmas songs, and give each other presents. Why not? You don't have to be a particular religion to enjoy a holiday or get something out of it culturally. I think it's silly the people get offended at others celebrating holidays or playing carols just because they are not of that religion. I'm not Jewish but I'd be happy to join in the festivities (and eat challah! ) if invited.

 

[qtiekiki]

Personally, holidays are more cultural than religious too. We celebrate all the Chinese holidays/festivals - the more commonly known ones are Lunar New Year, Mid Autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival. Mostly the celebrations just consist of the family getting together for dinner. There is a festival where you go visit the graves of ancestors, much like Dia de Los Muertos. There are festivals that mark the season changes. All of the Chinese festivals are based on the lunar calendar, so it's not the same day every year on the western calendar. We also celebrate all the American holidays, like Easter,Thanksgiving and Christmas. I see these holidays as part of the American cultures, even though there are the religious backgrounds.

 

[zipzapgirl]

There is a huge party in NYC for jewish singles on Christmas Eve every year called the Matzoball. I always found it amusing--I mean, why not??

 

[smitcompton]

Hi All,

I have owned my home for 32 yrs. This neighborhood was considered a first time buyer neighborhood. It was primarily young white middle class families. Slowly the neighborhood changed and now is pretty multicultural.

Last Christmas my muslim neighbor across the street came over to give me a ham he had gotten from work. He did not know anyone who could eat ham. I accepted his offer. He & his wife put a Christmas wreath on their door, that they must like a lot, because it remains up all year.

Another neighbor had visitors for a few weeks. I looked out the door last summer and saw a man on the front lawn praying on his prayer rug, turned to the east, and bowing to his Allah. It was strange for me to see. I Know this is the month of Romhadan, but I don't know what it represents.

One neighbor is Hindu, one a Mexican Catholic, one person is Jewish on the block. I am Protestant. It is mainly Muslim. I am a great admirer of Ghandi. When people say, why don't you move. My answer is" Ghandi's people are my people." I like to be dramatic. We have no crime, parents are mainly factory workers, all the children go to college. they are so nice(the kids). I was invited to a celebration of an arranged marriage for the young man across the street. They young girl was so nice--going to pharmacy school. All are immigrants.

I like my neighborhood. The only thing I wouldn't like is when women wear the black covering and have their faces covered. I might get over that as well. I've learned alot and hope the world can get along as we do here.

Thanks,
Annette

 

[partgypsy]

I don't know why but this post is reminding me of "the Office" episode about Diwali festival and totally making me crack up.