Growing up, we are introduced to many traditions that our parents have set forward for us. As I child, for as far back as I can remember, we always celebrated (albeit in our own way…) the main Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah, the festival of lights; Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year; Yom Kippur, the day of atonement; passover or Pesach, our liberation from Egypt; and on occasion, Purim, the celebration of the liberation from the Persian king and Sukkot, the celebration of the harvest. The latter two were mostly celebrated with our hebrew school and once we were no longer in hebrew school, didn’t really continue the tradition…sometimes we still made Hamantaschen for Purim. As we grew older and made friends, we shared our traditions with our friends, and they shared theirs with us. I spent every Christmas and Easter at my friend Ayla’s and she spent every first night of Hanukkah and Passover with us. She learned about my heritage, and I, hers. Her family also had a bunch of other fun traditions, such as solstice parties and Pi Day, and halloween was always a festive delight with them. And for New Years Eve every year, our family traveled to New York City to be with my friend Julia and her family. We made a tradition of walking to Central Park and sitting on the rocks to watch the fireworks be launched above one of the big lakes. Our moms always got us that year’s super cool sunglasses and we took a picture. Over the years, I’ve invited all of my good friends to come over and experience a “Fischbach Holiday” because they’re always exciting. I’m always excited to introduce my grandmother, Camy, and my grandfather, Poppy, to all of my friends. They are both so full of life and spirit (even if Poppy is sometimes a grump) that they make the meals exciting. They always have interesting stories to tell from when they were younger, or give a bit of perspective on the world we live in now.
Now I live in a different country. My old traditions have fallen wayside to the new traditions Job and I are following (and creating each year) with his family. And maybe they’re not new traditions for them, but they’re new for me. The one thing I still want to be able to do is share those traditions with my family and friends State-side, just the way I shared my traditions with them before I moved. This year, Job and I, over Thanksgiving, taught my family and Chauncey, Ayla and her family (and my friend Yas) about Sinterklaas. We brought over from Amsterdam all sorts of treats like Pepernoten and Schuimpjes and Taai Taai. We played the Sinterklaas game. I touched on it a little in this post and this post. It was so fun for me to learn a little about what the Dutch do as well, as I had never experienced Sinterklaas before this either. And of course, Job was (re)introduced to Thanksgiving and Hanukkah (which we celebrated early this year as we were not able to be together. I also got to celebrate Sinterklaas and Christmas here. We wrote silly poems to each other and played a fun trivia game together. We ate yummy food and everything was gezellig (as it usually is when you get to spend time with family for a fun occasion.) Job and I bought a tree together and decorated it. We also made a make-shift menorah as I forgot the three I own in America when we were there for Thanksgiving (along with my ice skates 😦 ) We lit the candles here every night and enjoyed eachother’s company and warmth and thus began for us a new tradition. This Easter was the second Easter for me away from home. Normally, I would go to Ayla’s Auntie Sara’s house. We would guess how many jelly beans were in that year’s “guess how many” jar, eat some yummy food and then have a thrilling competition/Easter egg hunt gathering as many of the eggs strewn about the yard. We would then of course count them up to see who had the most and then would enjoy a dessert and a fun game of giant foam frisbee in the cul-de-sac at the end of Sara’s street. This year, we all got together at our apartment and had some amazing food and celebrated Job’s birthday as it was the most convenient time for everyone to get together. Job’s dad made some traditional Easter bread (as he does every year as part of their tradition, and he makes one for each of his “kids'” families.) You can read more about it here. Ayla sent me the photos from her Easter celebration and reminded me that everyone was sad that I was not able to be in attendance again this year.
I’m really excited to learn more about Dutch traditions and the traditions Job’s family has, and I’m also really excited to continue sharing my traditions with him and his family, as well as share my new experiences with my family and friends back home. What are your favorite holiday traditions that your family has or that you’ve started? Are there traditions that you used to have that you no longer do? Let us know in the comments or on facebook and twitter! Side Bar: I know we have more pictures out there from all of our various traditions (Mom, Lisa, Julia, Talya, Ayla and Kathy, I’m looking at you guys!) Feel free to send me any pictures you find and I can add them here!
The Traveling Spoons 