As the token American couple on campus, Dave and I have been asked to give a presentation about American Christmas traditions for the Saturday English classes held here at DCU. Such a presentation has prompted us to think about what we do to celebrate Christmas, and makes us realize what really is different here during the holiday season.
One important difference in Ukraine that you might not realize if it wasn’t explained to you is a remnant of years of communist control. In an effort to quash religious celebrations of any kind, the communist powers transferred the traditional Christmas festivities of giving gifts, decorating the tree, baking goodies, gathering with family, etc. to the New Years holiday. Therefore, people could still celebrate a holiday and enjoy themselves, just not associate it with any sort of religious celebration. In this way, Christmas here really is a celebration of Christ’s birth only. The glitz, gifts and Grandfather Frost (Santa Claus’ Ukrainian equivalent) are all a celebration of the New Year.
Another difference is the calendar. Because of the high Orthodox population, Christmas is generally celebrated on January 7, according to the Orthodox calendar. In places like DCU, where Westerners and nationals mix, celebrations may span from December 24 through January 7th, and even beyond (someone just told me today to expect celebrations to last through January 14). The best of both worlds, perhaps. So far we’ve happily participated in an elaborate decorating contest among departments at the university, and witnessed a Christmas program, complete with vocal ensembles, skits, riddle-solving, lots of cookies and candy, a sermon and the Christmas story read in Russian. (We witnessed much more; the list above is simply what we understood more or less).
As our understanding increases, so will our involvement in the festivities – and people are always very interested in how we celebrate during this holiday season. I’ve already received a suggestion to for us to organize an American Christmas party for the whole university, as has been done by other Americans in the past – maybe next year!
Laura
