Melting of Traditions

Gourds and Corn, Acrylic, 11" x 14", CAN $375

Blog 16

Last weekend, on the second Monday of October, was the Canadian Thanksgiving. Many people already celebrate with family and friends on Saturday or Sunday with a big feast of either turkey or ham, potatoes, fall vegetables and stuffing, followed by a dessert of pumpkin or apple pie.

My husband and I spent the Sunday with our children, sharing a ham dinner with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. We ate apple pie made fresh by my son and his girlfriend. More than the shared food, we enjoyed the time together during a long walk through the fall foliage and a hot game of Dogopoly.

Erntedankfest is the German Thanksgiving. It is not a statutory holiday but celebrated in Catholic and Protestant churches on the first Sunday in October to thank for a good harvest. The church altar is decorated with harvest foods, and you can find parades in some mainly rural communities. The tradition of Thanksgiving family celebrations is unknown. For many Germans, it is a Sunday like any other.

Thinking about Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season made me reflect on how our family celebrates the German and Canadian holidays.

When you live in a foreign country, you want to hold onto your traditions to keep the bonds to your home country. Our family is no exception. At the same time, we have also embraced many Canadian holidays.

Luckily, the major German and Canadian holidays are similar. Some public holidays have lost their importance and are nothing more than another day off work for many citizens, like Labour Day. Others are not statuary holidays but are very important to part of the population, like Nikolaustag (St Nicholas’ Day) for German children.

My husband and I decided to expose our children to both cultures. It was very important for me to remind them of their German roots. However, as our children have dual citizenship, we also wanted them to celebrate the customs of their home country.

Our biggest challenges were regarding the December holidays, St Nicholas’ Day and Christmas.

On December 5, our kids put their boots out. We told them St Nicholas would know they were German and would therefore bring sweets and little toys in the night from December 5 to 6. Which kid would have protested about a holiday like that?

According to German tradition, we continued opening our Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve. Many people from different nationalities in Canada don’t celebrate Christmas. Children realize early on that there are many ways to celebrate the season. I know some friends who don’t celebrate Christmas and still put up a Christmas tree and give each other gifts. The future will show what our children will decide for their families.

We always have incorporated Canadian holidays, many of which are celebrations of community. What is not to like about spending time with friends or family, eating delicious food and maybe watching fireworks? It reminds me of the activities on the day before the German labour day, when many communities organize a “Tanz in den Mai”, an evening of dance to celebrate spring.

I love the exchange with various cultures. You learn so much about other traditions, and the knowledge opens your world to new experiences. While the mixing of traditions might be even more evident when you immigrate to a new country, it also happens whenever people from different families get together. Most merge their customs. Do you make any compromises during family celebrations, or have you added new experiences to enrich your holidays?