A Holiday Special - Different Traditions

Jordan Anderson, Caleb Smith

In this episode, staffer Caleb Smith sits down with a few students discussing the different traditions and meanings of the holidays they celebrate during the winter season. Listen on Spotify or Apple Music. 

Caleb: Hello and welcome to Point of View! Where we give students a place to listen, learn, and lean in. I’m your host, Caleb Smith, and today we will be talking about some of the holidays students celebrate during the winter season. Our first holiday is Vietnamese Year, also known as Tet which means the first day of spring, is a holiday celebrated throughout Vietnam and considered one of the most important holidays. it is a celebration of three days but usually celebrated for the whole week which symbolizes new beginnings. The 1st day is to be with family and respect one's ancestors. The 2nd is to honor teachers and 3rd is for visiting friends. Senior Vinh Phung has celebrated Vietnamese New year all his life and loves the meaning behind it.

Vinh: It’s like a big celebration, right? You know, most people think you just get the red envelopes with money and stuff but basically it symbolizes good luck alright like good luck for the year.

Caleb: The second holiday is Hanukkah or Festival of lights celebrated by Jewish people. The word Hanukkah means “dedication” in Hebrew. Which refers to the rededication of the temple after the Maccabees victory. It is celebrated for 8 nights by lighting the menorah every night with the middle candle. It usually takes place in December, but the dates change every year as Jewish Holidays follow a lunar calendar and sometimes may overlap with thanksgiving. Hanukkah also has many different traditions and Sophomore Carly Woodman enjoys participating in them every year.

Carly: Personally it means like being with my family and obviously getting gifts, it’s a happy time I think for my most of my family because we all get to be together, we all have a party and then we all eat food and you know?

Caleb: Our last holiday is Christmas, which is arguably Americas favorite holiday. A celebration of exchanging gifts and spending time with family and friends. Christmas’ original meaning is the birth of Jesus Christ. It celebrated year on the 25th of December but it is unclear if this is the precise date of Jesus’ birth. Many people will celebrate it because of their faith, but some may have a secular view. Traditions for the Christmas can range from watching movies and drinking hot chocolate or taking a hike up Mt. Everest during its coldest season. Christmas can have many meanings, but in the end it’s whatever you want it to be. One of our staffers Jordan Anderson loves her family's fun way of celebrating Christmas.

Jordan: We do the same thing we watch movies sometimes my sister likes to bake these homemade sugar Christmas cookies where she will make them into trees, candy canes, and stuff like that, but really we just watch movies, listen to jingle bells over and over and over again and just eat a bunch of sugar cookies.

Caleb: With each of these holidays, they each hold a special meaning to people who celebrate them. No matter how different the dates may be or traditions that are done we all share one thing, a celebration. We may celebrate in different ways, but a celebration is a great way to have fun and create lasting memories with the people you love. Happy Holidays listeners, hope everyone of you has a great winter break! This concludes our Holiday Special. Thank you so much for listening-For a transcript of this episode, head to the Point of View tab on our website nhsmessenger.org and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook @nhspointofview for updates and new episodes. I’m your host Caleb Smith and this has been Point of View.