Students from Old Saybrook High School celebrate the holidays in a variety of ways, however, one thing stays constant: family and spending time together is what they value most. All of the traditions noted involved family or loved ones. It can be even more special when older siblings or family members you don’t see as often come for the holidays. Junior Michele Sapozhnikov celebrates Hanukkah, which is observed from December 25th to January 2nd this year, and says one of her favorite traditions is playing dreidel for gelt with her family. She elaborates, saying,“Especially since my siblings are older, so they always come home for winter break. A lot of the time we go up to Vermont and we always go skiing around the holidays too.” While noting that Hanukkah does have differences to other holidays, she comments,”I think it’s also similar in the way where you get together with family, get presents, and it’s always fun.”
In the same light, sophomore Nico Sokolowski agrees that connecting with family is an important part of his holiday celebrations, saying, “My favorite thing about the holidays is being able to travel and spend time with my family on Christmas.” Although you may celebrate the same holiday as someone else, you may have different traditions. Nico explains, “Being half Mexican, I celebrate some traditions differently compared to Christmas in the United States. Something that Mexican people do to celebrate differently is that they often perform nativity scenes…and the most important part of Christmas in Mexico is La Nochebuena, which is December 24th. This celebrates the birth of Jesus, as religion is a very big part in everyday life in Mexico.” On Nochebuena, Mexican families often attend midnight mass before returning home to a late-night feast of traditional foods.
As said before, holiday traditions are different for every culture and religion. However, they can still be shared with one another to bring even more fun to the holiday season. If Michele could recommend one Hanukkah tradition for others to try she recommended playing dreidel. She says, “It’s fun. You can play with money or you can play with chocolate.” Many people have wacky and fun traditions, so, if you are interested in what someone does, ask them! You might even find a new tradition to add to your list to do this winter.
