Online ReporterYouth Interactive Correspondent
WITH Christmas fast approaching, teenagers and their families prepare for the rush of decorations, feasts and gift exchanges.
But apart from these usual festivities, certain teens create their own version of the holidays through family traditions that coincide with their cultures.
Between friends, couples
Though 16-year-old Faith Manansala participates in opening presents, making gingerbread houses and watching classic movies, she makes it a point to visit Japan in the gap between Christmas and New Year.
“It’s nice to go during the winter, especially since Japan’s lights are really nice. Japan goes all out for Christmas, so there’s Christmas trees and lights outside of every store,” the Academy of Our Lady of Guam junior said.
Because Christianity is not as prevalent in Japanese culture, Christmas is not commemorated as a religious holiday, but rather a “celebration between friends and couples,” similar to that of Valentine’s Day on Guam.
Manansala also recognises chicken, particularly from KFC, and cake as trademark foods on the culture’s Christmas menu. She attributes this love of KFC during the holiday season to a marketing campaign in the 1970s called ‘Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii’ or ‘Kentucky for Christmas.’
‘Keep language alive’
As for John F. Kennedy High School junior Amayah Tudela, the weeks leading up to Christmas in Chamoru culture take on a religious tone. She prays the nobena, or a series of rosaries and devotions, with her family to honor the birth of Jesus Christ.
However, Tudela’s family has their own take on the service as they pray and sing primarily in CHamoru.
“We’re very Chamoru, so we’ll say sometimes the entire nobena in Chamoru. Even the Sign of the Cross, it’s all in Chamoru,” the 16-year-old said.
For Tudela, reciting prayers and songs in Chamoru for nine days go beyond simple worship, for it represents an opportunity to preserve a cultural aspect that not only acts as a means of communication between the people but also reflects their indigenous identity.
“It’s tradition. They (the family) grew up like that, so they want to pass it on to us and keep that tradition alive. Especially in the Chamoru tongue, you want to keep the language alive, so that is one of the ways they do it. By making us pray like that every year,” Tudela said.
Once she’s older, Tudela intends to continue this tradition for future generations.
“I feel like it was a very nostalgic part of my childhood, and I’d love to pass it on because I remember showing up to December 25th’s nobena . . . But also because I see how dear it is to my family and their hearts, so to continue it would be like commemorating them, keeping in touch with my faith and culture,” Tudela said.
Embracing other cultures
For St. John’s School senior Nishka Dewan, Christmas customs allow her to embrace other cultures’ styles of celebrations and festivities prevalent on Guam.
Though she hails from the Indian culture, Dewan partakes in the Western holiday hustle and bustle of decorating her house, putting up the Christmas tree in November and shopping for gifts.
“I was born and raised here, and so were my brothers, so we follow the way everybody else celebrates the holiday,” Dewan said.
Stemming from a German tradition called Heiliger Abend or “holy evening,” Dewan and her family exchange and unwrap gifts once the clock hovers over 11pm. on Christmas Eve. She centres her focus around Christmas Eve as she meets with her relatives for a customary dinner and prep for another family member’s birthday on the day of Christmas.
As for the dishes on the table, Dewan’s family occasionally orders food from restaurants, traversing a variety of cultural cuisines in the process.
“It depends on year to year. Sometimes, we’ll order from outside or a restaurant, and we’ll eat from different places like Japanese, Jamaican, or even Indian food. Otherwise, it’s just a mix of different restaurants because why not?” Dewan said. – IOLNEWS.
