Holiday symbols not universal; countries have own traditions
Christmas season a 'foreign affair' for one KU student
By Trevor C. Wohlford Special to the Kansan
Regardless of your cultural background, if you grew up in the United States, you are undoubtedly familiar with certain American holiday icons.
You are sure to know what Santa Claus looks like, where he lives and how he travels from house to house. And what American hasn't heard the story of Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer?
However, if you are Dominique Solcher, a senior at the University of Kansas who grew up in Bad Essen, Germany, these holiday icons are not quite as familiar. To Solcher, Christmas in the United States is a foreign affair.
Solcher said that her upbringing was different from the average American's. She said most Americans weren't aware that almost every country had its own, unique Christmas traditions.
Solcher has spent the past four years in the
United States, but she said she was still amazed at some of the things she saw during the Christmas season.
"Here, everything goes 'Christmas-crazy.' It's everywhere," she said. "But the weirdest thing is that people wear Christmas clothes, like socks that make music. In Germany, people would never do that."
In the United States, Christmas is family-oriented but relatively secular, Solcher said. In Germany, families don't travel long distances to be with one another. Instead, Solcher said, the focus of a German Christmas is religion.
In Germany, children make Advent wreaths and buy Advent calendars to prepare themselves spiritually for the Christmas season, Solcher said.
"And on Christmas Eve, we all would go to Mass four times that day," Solcher said, recalling her past.
Despite the emphasis on religion, Solcher said there were a lot of fun holiday traditions that she practiced at home in Germany.
"There is no Santa Claus in Germany," Solcher said. "Instead, there is a man named Nikolaus, who comes on Dec. 6. You put your shoes by the window, and he comes and puts candy in them."
Solcher said that since her family was part Dutch, it also practices Dutch tradition. In
Holland, Solcher said, the children believe in a man called Sinte Claas, who is similar to the American Santa Claus. Except, she said, he comes from Spain and rides a white horse across the rooftops, bringing presents to all the good children.
"...the weirdest thing is that people wear Christmas clothes, like socks that make music..."
Dominique Solcher KUsenior who grew up in Germany
"If you are bad, Sinte Claas puts you in his sack and takes you back to Spain, where you have to pick oranges for a year," Solcher said.
Solcher said she loved Christmas when she was young. However, she said the most memorable Christmas for her was when she was much older — Christmas 1989. That
was the year the Berlin Wall was torn down, and East and West Germany were united.
Solcher said she celebrated that Christmas at a party for foreign students in Wichita.
"At the party, we built a wall out of boxes and then tore it down," she said. "We weren't sure, at the time, how to tear it down. But, after the first person started, we all followed."
Solcher said that the Berlin Wall being dismantled was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced.
"When I think about it, I get goose bumps," she said.
"It was the greatest Christmas present East Germany could have ever received," Solcher said. "It was better than the most expensive gift in the world. For the first time, there would be unity that Christmas. It was a Christmas of pure hope."
Solcher said that this year she would once again celebrate Christmas like Americans. Although she knows she will get homesick, she said she would try to stay busy working and traveling during the holidays.
However, a white Christmas might ease her homesickness a bit. Solcher said it didn't snow much in Germany. And, she said, she felt that the snow Kansas gets during the holidays added a lot of spirit to the Christmas season.
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