Merry Christmas or Feliz Navidad: how do international UvA students celebrate Christmas?
How do students from other cultures celebrate Christmas? Do they stay here, do they go back home and what are the traditions there? “We dance late into the night, preferably after a few glasses of Albariño wine.”
Bianca Neculcea (22)
UvA master’s student in Persuasive Communication | Romanian | After a bachelor’s in communication science at the UvA, her master’s is “a logical step, in the same field”.
“It is very special to go back home for Christmas. I’m from Romania and I haven’t seen my parents and Romanian friends for a year and a half. Except via FaceTime, but I am looking forward to seeing them again in real life. After all this time here, I miss them a lot. Meanwhile, it’s already my fourth year here in Amsterdam. I like it, but I did notice differences between my home country and the Netherlands right away.”
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“The food, for example. When I came to the Netherlands from Romania, it was all cheese and bitterballen. Romanian cuisine, on the other hand, is very similar to Turkish, and very tasty. At Christmas, I can finally enjoy that again. I immediately sent my mother a list of dishes I would like to eat. Polenta, for example, made from grain. Delicious!”
“What I also miss a lot is my small town, Arad, near the border with Hungary. Life there is much cheaper than in the Netherlands. When I am in Arad again, I will definitely take advantage of that! All the doctor’s appointments are already scheduled. As is touching up my nails and hair. I really can’t wait to be there again.”
Ada Oskay (19)
Bachelor student in econometrics | Dutch | Still six exams to go before Christmas.
“We actually never celebrated Christmas at home, it wasn’t really a thing in our Turkish family. I did learn about Christmas here in the Netherlands at primary and secondary school. It seemed like a cosy celebration, Christmas trees, giving presents, that kind of thing.”
“My parents passed away, my father around this time last year. Last year, I spent Christmas alone in my room. This year, a friend from high school asked if I would come celebrate Christmas with his family. That seems like fun. I don’t really have any expectations, but previous times when I was with my friend and his parents, it was fun too so I don’t see why it would be different now. There is more family now though, grandmas and uncles and aunts, so it will be a lot of catching up and a lot of eating. I won’t dress up, maybe I wear a neat jumper. I’ll ask, but I don’t expect them all to come to the table in suits.”
“A Turkish holiday similar to Christmas is not on top of my mind. There are lots of religious Turkish holidays like the Sugar Feast and the Feast of Sacrifice, and national holidays associated with Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish state. I know what they are but didn’t really celebrate them here in the Netherlands. People do often say to me, you are too Turkish to be Dutch and too Dutch to be Turkish. I’m in-between two worlds, but I get the best of two cultures.”
“What strikes me as the ideal holiday? Cosiness, a good atmosphere and not too many traditions and rituals. Coming together, but without a whole programme.”
Alexandra Pafford (26)
Master’s student in psychology | American | After living in different countries, she enjoys finding an international community after her undergraduate PPLE
“The biggest difference between the Netherlands and the United States is that in America there is almost always a spiritual component to it. My mother’s family is Roman Catholic, we went to church every Christmas Eve in Houston, Texas, and were always told Christian stories around Christmas too.”
“First, I always celebrate Thanksgiving here with my friends, whom I have made in Amsterdam for the past seven years. Then, for example, I cook mac ‘n cheese and sometimes up to fifteen people come to visit. We don’t eat turkey, as we are almost all vegetarian these days.
“At Christmas, I do fly back to Texas. My parents are divorced now and my father lives in Galveston, near Houston. His family is huge, he has six siblings, who in turn all have at least three children. We celebrate Christmas Day with that whole group: we start eating a lot as early as 4.30pm. After at most an hour and a half of dining, most of the family members get out again: many, of course, come from far away from the state or country. By then, the kids have already run from the table to watch (American) Football.”
“My father worked for a company in oil, which is of course plentiful in Texas, but also in the Middle East. So when I was 13, I moved to Bahrain, a tiny island state next to Saudi Arabia. There, of course, you had no Christmas atmosphere. So around Christmas we just went to ‘Friday brunch’. Then everyone, including locals, would sneak off early in the morning to drink alcohol in an expensive hotel. I was happy when at Christmas, we flew back to Texas.”
“This year, I am just celebrating Christmas with my mother and her new husband in Houston. He doesn’t want to go to church. Then I may still have to find something in Amsterdam, preferably with a service in English. Maybe the English Church on the Begijnenhof?”
Barbara Sanchez Martinez (26)
Master’s student in Biological Sciences: Ecology & Evolution | Venezuelan | She is working on her latest master’s research on bird populations in the Oostvaardersplassen.
“At Christmas, influences from different cultures come to our table. In fact, I was born in Venezuela, but because of the job of my Spanish father, I have lived in many different countries, so Venezuela, Oman, the United States and now the Netherlands. For the past ten years, I have celebrated Christmas in Spain with my parents, sister and two grandmothers.”
“So our celebration has become a mix of all kinds of cultures and customs. For instance, we drink Albariño wine from Galicia (northern Spain), serve dried fruits and dates from the Middle East, and make Pan de Jamon (bread with ham) and Hallaca from Venezuela together. Hallaca, a typical Venezuelan dish, we prepare early in December. It is a stuffed corn bread wrapped in banana leaves according to family recipe. With us, it is a combination of olives and red peppers, a compromise between my father and mother, haha. My father loves Spanish olives and my mother loves big red peppers.”
“On Christmas Eve, we prepare the Sancocho. That’s a Latin American meal soup with corn, cassava and plantains in the base. Everyone brings something for in the soup, such as chicken, potato or celery. At Christmas, we often sought out the Latin community in other countries to still create a sense of home. Then we shared the food and made music.”
“Before, in Venezuela, we used to make a lot of music during the holidays. Besides Venezuelan and Western Christmas music, we mainly listened to Gaita, typical Venezuelan folk music. Gaita often has recurring melodies, influenced by genres such as salsa and bachata. Then we brought out the maracas (kind of samba balls), the cuatro (kind of big ukulele) and tambora (kind of drum), and there was a lot of singing. Now we listen to the same Gaita, but through our phones. Then we dance late into the night, preferably after a few glasses of Albariño, haha.”
