Job Discussion Forums

[Just a guy]

I�d like to ask if you all could help with a simple yet comprehensive explanation of this �Western� holiday.

I�m in China, in a pretty rural area far from the coast, most here are not Christian to say the least,
I�m not either & have since adulthood thought poorly about the commercialization of this holiday so I don�t feel my explanations come out right.
For me, it has become more of a special family time, a day I call family & friends & have a special dinner with those close..

It would be nice to have a simple one page explanation I could print out & have copies made to hand out & use for class, explaining the meaning of the actual holiday, Santa, the reason for giving gifts, caroling & other things done during these coming weeks.

I read & have heard of why this time of year was chosen to celebrate the unknown date of Christ�s birth�..


If possible, can we try to not get into debate about whether one or another religious belief is The Correct one, just stick with how to explain this holiday to some who have no knowledge of it..?

[denise]

just a guy,

I'm not sure how much help this will be, but here goes...

I did a few Christmas lessons in my classes. Not being even the slightest bit Christian, for me the holiday is, as you said, a time for family, friends, etc.

I too wanted a quick one-page explanation. I did a few google searches and came up with loads of info--far too much for one page. Here are a few ways to narrow down the holiday:

--religious background (don't know too much here--only that there were several mid-winter fesitvals celebrated by various Europeans--Romans, northern Europeans--before the Christian holiday was established; from what I read, the 25th was chosen not because of Christ's birthday, which was ??? in summer??? April???, but so Christians could also have a winter festival)
--current traditions (list the foods, decorations, songs, shopping, caroling, maybe some famous stories like the Grinch, A Christmas Carol, etc.)
--different countries' celebrations--e.g., Boxing Day--yes or no? presents opened on Xmas Day or Eve? How do children welcome Santa Claus/St. Nicholas/Sinter Klaas/etc. (e.g., one of the factoids that I learned was that Dutch children leave, or left, in the past, their shoes by the fireplace and Sinter Klaas dropped candy into them) edit: into the shoes, not into the children
And where did this mysterious Santa Claus come from? The info that I found said that he was based on a Turkish saint who helped children.
--"issues"--the most obvious one might be the commercialization of the holiday/holidays in general, but also issues like charity, how to help the less fortunate, depression (goes up around this time, as does domestic violence), etc.

Unfortunately, I didn't save the websites that I used--D'oh!--but, trust me, there are plenty of sites out there!

Good luck!

And to all the other posters/readers--please do correct me if this info is inaccurate!

d

[Slim Pickens]

X

[Roger]

Hello, guy,

I would seize on this one-in-365 opportunities to set certain biases in the minds of your Chinese students right: Christmas is a FAMILY HOLIDAY, and much like the Chinese celebrating their cherished Spring Festival with their next-of-kin (for millions, this is the only time of the year to see their parents and siblings), Westerners often take extra care to ensure they visit their parents.
And, in contrast to gifts the Chinese hand out to their children during Spring Festival, our gifts have been thought of a long time before, and are more "from the heart". The Chinese donate money to their kids, the tradition has it that married folks give money to the unmarried ones, and they receive nothing in return.

Really, I think some Chinese need to modify their attitudes towards the West, western cultural features and their outlook on the world in general. What better season than the end of the year?