The general view at the Academy is that people should be original and free. We’re wild and crazy! That’s why not much thought is given to the brilliance of holiday traditions. It seems dull to suggest it might be fun to do the same exact thing every year. However, there are both classic and unique holiday traditions.
SDA students have fun with both. When we repeat a ritual on a yearly basis, our memories of the tradition are revitalized. Repetition is actually very exciting. Every time we do the same exact holiday all over again, the results are different. New exhilarating traditions are born and we pass them on to future generations.
There are unique traditions that delight everyone. Our student body is taking this holiday season by the reins, and changing it with their unconventional perspective. Junior Angela Paddy shares her wonderful tradition. She said, “My family buys snappers. They’re basically a tube of cardboard with paper wrapped around it. We each have our own snapper and then we scream, ‘1…2…3!’ and everyone pulls on the ends as hard as we can. Toys burst out.” When it comes to weirdly named tubes filled with toys, Paddy and other SDA students are fans.
Toy-filled tubes are one aspect of festive winter traditions. Some are slightly less pleasant but equally memorable. There’s always that moment during winter when parents corner their teens, and force them to be photographed with a variety of relatives. The intensity of your feelings concerning these memories might vary depending on how many relatives you have, but generally the family photo starts out as a way for the elderly to solidify their memories and results in a massive amount of cranky children.
Junior Katie Clinton explained her family’s take on the classic holiday photo. “Everyone in my family lines up for a Christmas photo. We take a picture and switch relatives in and out. There’s a picture of all the siblings, and a picture of the parents, and a picture of the aunts and uncles. And so on. We try to get the cats in the picture but they always look really unhappy. They often escape before the picture flashes,” said Clinton. It’s a universal holiday rule that every family should have one person who’s obsessed with taking the perfect picture to commemorate the holidays.
Despite the fact that it is impossible to snap a perfect photo, that one aunt or uncle or mom will never stop trying. Most people aren’t photogenic or cheerful early in the morning, so families often look sullen and depressed in holiday photos despite a photographer’s best efforts. That’s why winter holidays aren’t about being perfect. The quality of a holiday is defined by the people you choose to share it with and the activities you participate in.
Junior Will Chu described his typical Christmas. He said, “I just go to my family and friend’s houses for Christmas and all these Asians beat me at Super Smash Brothers. Asians that don’t age. I don’t know if it’s the same kids or not but it always seems like a large group of eight-year-old relatives celebrate Christmas with me.” Many people traditionally play video games during Christmas.
Whether a family plays video games, takes a family walk, or bakes cookies, they always find some unique way to celebrate the holidays with the people they love. The reason why so many people celebrate the holidays is because it’s different for everybody. It’s like cookie dough. Every person has their share of dough, and they fold it and shape it to their liking.
Sophie Bandstra said, “My whole extended family plays this game where we all write a question on a piece of paper and put it in a bowl. Each person takes turns drawing a piece and reading it aloud. Then we all write what we think that person would answer and turn it in to mom. It’s a good way to get to know everybody better and its funny!” The celebratory traditions students treasure the most, are humorous ones that leave us filled with laughter.
But there’s one holiday policy that no one jokes about because it’s a serious business. Yummy pastries are a mandatory tradition and must be produced in massive portions to satisfy everyone. Seasonal traditions always include a large amount of delicious, indulgent delicacies. Gingerbread houses, candy canes, fudge, peppermint paddies, and sugar cookies are considered a necessity. Don’t even get me started on dinner.
Junior Rachel Weinfield said, “Every year my grandma and I make a Christmas Village. We go all out on it and make it super big and huge. Also, we go to my aunts’ house. We make a Creole food called gumbo, and when I was little I could fit into the pot. Basically we make lots of soup.”
The jolliest students understand that December is like a 30-day long all you can eat buffet. Junior Emi Karydes said, “We make German cookies and we love them!” Diets are impossible in winter. There’s too much crispy cookie dough filling the air with its delicious, mouth watering scent.
Once students get over ridiculous expectations to eat healthy or abstain from scrumptious meals, holidays can only bring our students joy. People take traditions and reinvent them all the time, and make up new traditions. It might seem insulting to a genius like Einstein but it seems like we do the same thing over and over again every year. And every year brings new and unexpected results.