Winter Holidays: Culture to Culture

The holiday season is fast approaching, the hustle and bustle is just beginning. This means something different for each student here at EvCC, we have a lot of diverse cultures here on campus and each one of us has our own unique story to tell.

Seijikshiki: Coming Of Age

Student Reika Yamazak wearing her traditional kimono for the ceremony.
Courtesy of Reika Yamazak
Student Reika Yamazak wearing her traditional kimono for the ceremony.

Across the globe in Japan they have a much different kind of winter celebration than what many of us are used to.  Seijishiki is a coming of age ceremony that takes place every January. Reika Yamazak and Ayumi Koido, two Japanese students here at EvCC, are looking forward to Seijishiki this year. Both men and women participate in the ceremony the year that they turn 20 years old. “You get to wear a traditional Kimono dress,” said the girls.

We have to take the responsibility and this is the time you come from being a child to an adult.

— Yamazak

The whole town’s community comes out to the ceremony and the head of the city comes to speak.    Each city has their own ceremony and gathering. “Everybody comes out, from high school and middle school, it’s a big reunion.” said Koido. “After the ceremony we feel like we become an adult,” said Yamazak. Legally speaking this means they get to smoke, drink and vote. Koido and Yamazak have yet to participate in this event, so they are not totally sure what to expect, but Yamazak showed The Clipper  the beautiful Kimono which she is excited to wear to the ceremony when it is her turn this year. When asked what this ceremony means to her Yamazak said, “ [It means] We have to take the responsibility and this is the time you come from being a child to an adult.”

An Untraditional Christmas

“It’s mostly her thing, she’s obsessed with Christmas, she collects Santa’s she has millions of them all over the house.”

— King

When it comes to winter holidays, Christmas is one of the first ones that comes to mind, and that is very true for student Kaelyn King. King fondly remembers going to Whistler when she was around 8 years old with her family, “We were really disappointed when we got there because it hadn’t snowed, and that’s why you go there.” But the morning of Christmas it was pouring with snow, King and her family were filled with joy. It’s one of her favorite Christmas memories, “It was really exciting, we played in the snow all day.” Usually Christmas is spent at grandma’s though, When asked why she loves Christmas, King said, “I just love the feeling of the whole family getting together and sharing a special moment, the holiday spirit, you just feel happier around this time of year.”

An Atheists Hanukkah

Molly lighting her family menorah as her brother watches closely.
Courtesy of Molly Engelberg
Molly lighting her family menorah as her brother watches closely.

Hanukkah is a well known Jewish winter holiday, however not everyone celebrates the same, especially not this EvCC student who has a very unique story to tell.

Molly Engelberg is a 16 year old Running Start student here at EvCC. Engelberg’s parents were both raised Jewish but they raised her as an atheist Jew, so just as some atheists celebrate Christmas as a winter holiday, she does the same, but with Hanukkah. Her parents became atheists after they were married, and had kids together, raising them with some traditions of the Jewish religion, but not the beliefs. So Engelberg would like to point out some of her knowledge and traditions could be very different from someone who was raised traditional Jewish. Each year the dates of Hanukkah changes, because in Israel they use the lunar calendar, but in America we use a solar calendar, causing the dates to change yearly.

Molly and her brother lighting their menorah.
Courtesy of Molly Engelberg
Molly and her brother lighting their menorah.

This year Hanukkah begins on Dec. 6,  at sundown and continues until Dec. 14. The story of Hanukkah goes, the pharaoh of Egypt captured the Jews, and once they escaped they didn’t much, not even time to make bread that would rise, this is why they will sometimes eat crunchy, unrisen bread. While running away from the Pharaoh they ran out of oil for the candle, the last bit they had left lasted them eight days which was considered a miracle.

On each of the eight days of Hanukkah a candle is lit, on the first day they light two, one candle and the Chumash which is usually in the center of the menorah, they light the Chumash with a match, and then the rest of the nights you light each candle with the Chumash. The candles are never blown out, they let them burn down while opening presents and playing dreidel. “It’s nice because it’s really casual, my family doesn’t really go all out on holidays.” said Engelberg, “Usually you read a prayer [when you light each candle] but we read a secular reading, every candle symbolizes something different, like love or honesty. That’s how we do it, I’m sure it’s different for everybody, but since we don’t believe in God that’s how we do it. Most atheists celebrate Christmas because that’s the norm, but we celebrate Hanukkah because that’s our norm.”

Molly's family lion menorah.
Courtesy of Molly Engelberg
Molly’s family lion menorah.

Every year Engelberg’s family participates in Hanukkah by making Latke, which is a potato pancake usually eaten with sour cream or applesauce. They also play dreidel, as a family tradition they buy a new dreidel every year. When asked how to best describe it all, Engelberg says, “It’s like I’m Jewish by race and atheist by religion.”