While Canadians celebrate many winter holidays, Christmas symbols and decorations are everywhere as soon as the weather starts to cool. Newcomers might feel a sense of excitement and curiosity about their first Christmas in Canada. Expectation does not always meet reality, though, so this is where communication from Canadians can help.
Here’s a few things to remember and share when talking about Christmas!
1. There is no one way to celebrate Christmas.
Newcomers from more collectivistic cultures might want to learn about Canadian Christmas traditions so they can have the real experience for themselves. However, most Canadians combine their individual family traditions with regional, cultural and religious traditions mixing in personal taste, decoration trends or food fads. There are few ‘rules’ when it comes to Christmas in Canada, which also means there is room to bring cultural expression into a celebration here. That said, traditional Christmas turkey dinner, cookies, gift exchange and decorating with light and greenery of some kind are still common.
One of my friends opens gifts on Christmas eve and has lobster on Christmas night, another travels home to the family farm and attends a Christmas eve church service late into the night, and serves perogies with sausages. Other families I know see the Nutcracker Ballet or take in a performance of Handel’s Messiah. Tradition for others means watching a favourite Christmas movie, whether that’s Elf or It’s a Wonderful Life or something produced by Hallmark. Maybe you know people who schedule Christmas Die Hard or Lord of the Rings movie marathons! Christmas Day is now the most popular day of the year to go the movie theatre in Canada. People choose everything from Chinese take-out to homemade feasts, and all foods are welcome. You could probably say, anything is a Christmas thing if you want it to be!
While Christmas might be one of the most collectivistic activity individualistic Canadians participate in, globally we’re pretty unusual. Around the world, big holidays are more uniform, which can be confusing to newcomers. We do feel like Christmas brings out the best of us, and so we try to bring our best to the celebration – and for Canadians that means our unique selves! Christmas is a great way to share how Canadian individuality can be expressed and uniqueness celebrated.
2. Religious and Secular observations of Christmas are distinct but overlap.
To most Canadians, Christmas has very little religious significance. This can be surprising to people from more religious cultures. You can explain that it began as a religious feast after a period of fasting, remembering the birth of Jesus who is central to Christianity. Over time has come to be a celebration of many things, but mostly values of family, generosity, gratitude, love, joy and peace. People can either observe a religious Christmas by celebrating God as the origin of these good things along with the birth of Jesus, or a secular Christmas that celebrates these values on their own. Secular Christmas tends to focus on setting aside time for what brings us joy, where religious Christmas identifies Jesus as the source of joy. Each have their own stories and symbols that are meaningful.
I’ve had newcomer friends ask me what snowmen have to do with our God, and what the Christmas wreath symbolizes and when it is used in Christmas rituals. Those questions are hard to answer! Think about what it must be like to walk through an enormous display of decorations and ornaments in early October, especially if your cultural worldview assigned more symbolism and significance to festivals. What would you make of Christmas? The truth is, most of these decorations have no significance other than we like them, or they are an expression of our style. Yet, people find deep meaning in celebration whether it is religious or not. Our most satisfying celebrations are ones we engage in with others and for a purpose bigger than ourselves.
People in both groups can feel upset at how commercial and shallow Christmas has become, and the pursuit of the ‘true meaning of Christmas’ seems to be a universal activity. No wonder newcomers have questions! This is a great opportunity to ask your new friend how Christmas or other festivals are celebrated where they are from, what celebrations they find meaningful and to discuss the role that symbols, community and preference play in culture for each of us.
3. Christmas is a private holiday, not a public one.
Where Canada Day features BBQ gatherings with acquaintances and public fireworks, Christmas can surprise some newcomers to Canada by being a very quiet day. In many parts of the world, holidays are celebrated collectively through public gatherings, community celebrations, spectacles and outdoor crowds. While there may be a few public events in December like tree lighting gatherings and parades, most Canadians celebrate in the homes of relatives or in our own home with those closest to us – especially on the day itself. Church worship services might be one of the few larger community gatherings available, but they tend to attract only the most religiously devout.
One newcomer friend of mine was excited to spend her first Christmas in Canada. She asked where she should go on Christmas day to experience the festival. She wanted pictures, entertainment, something she could join in. She was crushed to learn that there really wasn’t anything like that in our area. No public singing of carols around a tree in the town square, no community meals or concerts or even fireworks. It’s disappointing after months of music, displays, advertisements and build up! While some will not want to participate in any Christmas activities at all, those who are interested might find it difficult to find a way how, especially if they are without family.
Christmas can be a lonely isolating day for those who do not celebrate or who are far from home. Consider helping newcomers see Christmas as a season with a day or two of rest that is often spent with those closest to us. If you’re able to include newcomers in a meal, activity or event leading up to Christmas that would go a long way to extending welcome, connecting meaningfully and starting important conversations.
