Southwestern international students reflect on Christmastime in their cultures

Christmastime is here and somewhere in Chicagoland, Clark Griswold is hauling an oversized, fresh-cut, tree into his colonial style house while Kevin McCallister wonders how his entire family forgot him as they flew to Paris. Driving through Bedford Falls, one may see Jimmy Stuart running down the smalltown streets, loudly proclaiming his newfound love of Christmas and life, again all while surrounded by a thick blanket of snow. Meanwhile, those in the Big Apple may see Buddy the Elf indulging in elves’ four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup.

For those on campus at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, dreams of a yuletide snow may be an exercise in futility; the odds have it that those on Seminary Hill will be able to wear shorts and a tee by the time of Christmas lunch.

With Southwestern serving as a convergence of nations with students from all parts of the world, it is truly remarkable and heartwarming to learn of the different kinds of Christmas practices and traditions celebrated by some international students and their families as they value the true meaning of the season.

Andreas Burau, a PhD. student in biblical counseling and the president of the Southwestern German Theological society on campus, says there are differences between the way Americans and Germans celebrate Christmas, beginning with the highly contrasting foods. Whereas on an American table you can expect a turkey or ham, in Germany the centerpiece is typically a roasted duck or goose, with baked apples and other pieces stuffed and set around it to add to the flavor and beauty of it. With this they’ll have gingerbread cookies and a warm drink.

“Christmas in Germany is way colder than Texas,” Burau says.

He described a traditional Christmas market in Germany, typically set around a nativity scene, asserting that it alone was worth a trip to Germany around Christmastime. But Burau says the biggest difference between an American Christmas and one in Germany is the mindset of Germans.

“I would say more, not introvert necessarily, but it’s more thinking,” Burau says. “And it’s a time of more quiet, time of reasoning and thinking and dwelling and meditating on what happened around Christmas. Even in secular Germany, where they don’t think about the actual Christmas story, people get together as a family and enjoy time in the smooth and warm environment of the family. … We call it this ‘besinnlichkeit.’ It is thinking, it’s meditating. It is more inward, focused on either Christmas or in the secular part of Germany, family and relationships and the goodness of being together.”

On a personal level, Burau says his family holds to the tradition of music on the morning of Christmas, his two daughters singing as he reads the Christmas story aloud.

“We have a celebration act. There is music involved,” he says. “… They play together, and I’m reading the Christmas story, and we sing it together. Yes, there’s a great aspect of the Christmas story—singing together, presenting something, not in order to earn presents, but in order to worship God. He is the primary source that we celebrate Christmas and that is what we, me and my wife, want to have that as a specific focus in the next generation.”

Going eastward to Japan, Grace Kim, a PhD student in Christian education, describes a version of Christmas in the land of the rising run that are similar to those seen in America, but with its own unique nuances. While Kim herself is Korean, she grew up in Japan and says she is more familiar with traditions there. One obvious difference though comes with the fact that rather than visions of sugarplums dancing in heads, it’s an American fast-food favorite that the Japanese dream of on Christmas day!

“I don’t know why Japanese celebrate Christmas with KFC, like Kentucky Fried Chicken, but they eat Kentucky Fried Chicken and also Christmas cake,” Kim explains. “… They have huge commercials on Christmastime, especially KFC, like, ‘… Christmas is coming, and KFC is blah, blah, blah.’”

She describes the traditional exchanging of gifts and commercialized nature of Christmas in Japan, again equating it heavily to the American style of Christmas, though saying it was less about Christ and more consumer focused. The Japanese Christians, however, do partake in a traditional candlelight service.

“On the Christmas Eve, they have candle service. And that’s like celebrating Christ coming,” Kim says. “So, churches in Japan do that to celebrate Christ, Christ’s birth, Jesus’ birth. Overall, culturally, I think it’s pretty much the same.”

Her parents are missionaries in Japan and Kim explains the more subtle family traditions she celebrated with them around Christmas growing up with them. As missionaries, they were away from extended family, but they still had a special meal together. Gift exchanges were not part of their Christmas tradition.

“It was just having worship and that was it,” Kim says, though she does recall her mother enthusiastically decorating their home, even though a Christmas tree was never used. “My mom will just decorate the house. I don’t remember it as a very special day, it’s one of the days that just our family gathered.”

But while the celebration with her family was a quiet one, Kim speaks fondly of memories of Christmas traditions held at the church where her father pastors.

“One of them is Sunday school students, they will do a play,” Kim says. “It’ll be a scene where Jesus is born. So, there’s Herod who is speaking, Mary and Joseph, and little baby Jesus, and having shepherds.”

She went on to describe the impact she saw it having on the non-believers in the community around her.

“We will invite even non-Christians to do it and that’s, I think, something that’s special,” Kim continues, describing the gatherings that would include believers and non-believers alike hearing the story of Christ’s birth. “… They will see the play and just get to know Christmas stories.”

Kim also recalls participating in the age-old practice of caroling.

“We also had carols,” Kim says. “We will go to different places singing Christmas carols.”

In south-central Asia, Christmas brings families together as well, but in a much larger and celebratory way, according to Mathingmi “Mathing” Hongchui, a PhD student in Christian education and current president of the Indian Student Fellowship. He describes pork with bamboo shoots as the central dish of their Christmas gatherings, with traditional Indian chai tea being the drink of choice. The actual celebration of Christmas is the largest of the year in the Naga tribe in northeast India where Hongchui calls home.

“Christmas is the biggest celebration or biggest event of all life,” Hongchui says. “During Christmas, everyone comes home, whether young or old, whoever lives in different parts of the country. They would all want to come home and celebrate together.”

Cousins, siblings, friends all come together and reconvene, catching up and fellowshipping. Another interesting part of the celebration is its timespan. Rather than just being for a day, it is sometimes a two-week period of celebration.

“We come together, and Christmas starts early, like from 20th till January 5,” Hongchui describes. “Throughout this time, 10 or 15 days, we keep celebrating. And different villages will have different style of celebration, but most of the time, in most cases, most of the villages, they all cook together and eat together at the same time. So, everyone comes together and has games, fun, and eats together.”

During those weeks of celebration, Hongchui said the church plays an important role in organizing Christmas caroling, which allowed them to visit every home in the village on Christmas Day, about 400 houses. They also participated in a time of worship on Christmas Eve, which was followed by a midnight gathering.

“This was not merely a countdown to Christmas or the New Year, but a sacred time of testimony, repentance, and thanksgiving,” Hongchui said of that gathering. “Individuals shared personal stories of faith and what Christmas meant to them, creating a collective narrative of God’s faithfulness throughout the year.”

Hongchui cherished the time of hospitality during the Christmas season in India most of all, saying they experienced great joy in opening their homes to both friends and strangers alike to share meals and strengthen existing friendships or build new ones.

“Reflecting on this tradition, I am reminded that Christmas nurtures faith, fosters relationships, and inspires gratitude,” Hongchui said.

While Hongchui will not be able to go home this year, due to both he his wife, Yami’s, doctoral studies, and their young, 18-month-old daughter, they are excited to celebrate New Year’s in the Riley Center on campus.

As Christmas comes and goes every year, people around the world celebrate in a myriad of ways. Some people watch football, others go caroling. Some tear open presents and other take time to meditate on the past year and the year to come. Some dive into a ham that’s been roasting for 12 hours, others rush down the street to beat the line for a $20 family bucket at KFC.

While the nuances and differences are there, at its core Christmas is the same worldwide. There may not be gifts, decorated trees, or stockings on every mantle, but come Christmas Day everywhere in the world, there are sure to be Christian families and friends coming together with warm hearts, fellowshipping and rejoicing in the birth of the Lord.