I love celebrating all holidays, whether that’s local traditions, commercialized extravaganzas, or even just my friends’ birthdays. Maybe I was a professional event-planner in my past life, because there’s nothing more I like doing than putting together a party to celebrate the most obscure reason out there. Even if other countries don’t celebrate holidays quite like the gaudy American fashion, I find there are always people out there who are interested in learning more about our celebratory customs.
Halloween is probably my most favorite holiday to celebrate, which may or may not be due to the fact that my birthday is a day before. But when I asked the French family I nanny for if they were celebrating Halloween, the mother looked at me in surprise. “Ashley, that holiday was made purely for companies to profit off of families with little kids!” Well…as a college-student, I can tell you, Halloween is so much more than just buying an expensive costume to use for trick-or-treating. I absolutely love when the Halloweekend rolls around and you see all of the Facebook and Instagram posts of people’s costumes this year. Even on a college student’s budget, you’ll still have people coming up with the most original—yet accurate— replication of characters, puns, and what have you. In my opinion, it’s the perfect holiday to display the creativity and resourcefulness of our generation. I can guarantee you wouldn’t find my parents looking through their old clothes or going to a thrift shop to craft up a Santa’s hat for Christmas.
I threw a Halloween party here in Paris, and the majority of the attendees were non-Americans who had never dressed up before for any holiday. With some gentle yet persistent prodding, eventually most people came dressed up in some semblance of a costume. Because you’re never too cool to dress up for a party!!
Thanksgiving is another holiday that is quintessentially American, although I recently learned from some classmates that Canada also celebrates their own version of Thanksgiving. I think a lot of other students are surprised when they hear about Americans’ classic Thanksgiving traditions, as it sounds pretty much like a European Christmas day dinner and celebration. Regardless, it’s a holiday that many of us (including myself) hold very dear to our hearts.
Luckily, you’ll find American ex-pats everywhere in the world. Initially, I was a little worried I would have to make my own roast chicken as a stand-in Thanksgiving turkey here in Paris. But by the time November came around, I had already secured a couple of Thanksgiving dinner invites from other nostalgic families. Luckily, since Americans get a generous amount of time off to celebrate the holiday, I had both my sister and my best friend visit me in Paris from California and NYC.
And since no one in Europe celebrates Thanksgiving, that means that the Christmas decorations can come up even sooner! There’s no untold rule of waiting until after November to start playing all of those Christmas tunes. Go ahead and watch Love Actually right after Halloween, there’s no one here to judge you! Except for all the Europeans who claim an annual viewing of Love Actually is so American.
Like so many Americans studying abroad, Europe really is my favorite place to spend Christmas-time. Since my dad is from Hawaii and my mom is from Brazil, I spent the majority of my Christmas breaks when I was younger in the tropics. Tough, I know. But as result, I never really experienced a “real” Christmas (complete with snow and knit-sweaters) until I visited Copenhagen in the winter, where my sister was studying abroad. There’s something about the Christmas markets that line the street, the mulled (spiced) wine at every restaurant, and the decorations found throughout the city. Somehow, it feels more authentic and much less about commercialism and spending money, like it does in the States.
And finally, there’s New Years. Or more importantly…New Year’s Eve! I’ve found that New Years is the most consistently celebrated holiday around the world. This is probably due to the fact that there’s no religious affiliation to the holiday, with (most) everyone using the Gregorian calendar and recognizing January 1st as the new year.
I love spending New Year’s Eve in Brazil with my family, since Rio de Janeiro’s celebration is considered one of the biggest in the word. The beaches become so crowded with people watching the fireworks that you cannot even see the sand from the air. Many locals also release offerings into the ocean in the form of flowers, candles, and food, to appease the goddess of the ocean, Iemanj. The mixture of all these colors, set against the backdrop of everyone wearing their traditional white outfits, is a beautiful sight to see. And don’t forget to jump over the waves 7 times, to make all your wishes for the new year come true!
