Christmas in Newfoundland is often spent with those you love, sharing family traditions, and a lot of food.
Whether your traditions include cutting a tree, baking family recipe cookies, visiting family, giving to those in need, or just kicking back to watch Christmas movies, these traditions are special to you and those around you.
This year, some students will be spending time far away from home, and learning new family traditions.
Darin Boone is a host dad in Grand Falls-Windsor who opens his home to exchange students from Exploits Valley High.
This year he will have three young men staying with him through the holidays — Jannis Kamp from Germany and Victor Fioretti from Brazil — as well as Erick Souza from Brazil, who lived with Boone as exchange student for two years of high school. He decided to stay on and attend college in Grand Falls-Windsor this year.
Boone is looking forward to sharing his Christmas traditions with them.
“Like we normally do in Newfoundland, I’ll cook up a turkey with all the trimmings and we’ll have the traditional Christmas here, Christmas tree, gifts, all kinds of fun stuff,” Boone said.
He usually attends the Christmas Eve service at the Salvation Army on Park Street, something he is hoping to share with the boys.
“This year I’m not working so I’ll be around Christmas Day,” Boone said. “Last year I was working and Erick was here by himself while I was at work on Christmas Day.”
Souza, who said he has been on the island long enough to be used to being away from home, is fine spending Christmas in Newfoundland. He visited family last year and talks to them often, so “it’s not like I’m really far far away from them.”
His traditions are comparable. “We just celebrate, people get together and that’s pretty much it. Sometimes we have a turkey on the go. It’s pretty much the same as we are having here.”
Boone jokes that Souza came for five weeks and is staying for five years.
“I didn’t really see myself doing much after high school in Brazil. I was working back then and had some money saved up so I thought I might move,” Souza said. “I was kind of living on my own for a little while back then.”
He spent two years as an exchange student at Exploits Valley High, applied and was accepted to the business accounting program at the College of the North Atlantic. He plans to complete the three-year program before heading off to St. John’s for a degree.
“When I got here it was really nice,” he said. “I kind of got used to this place.”
Last year Souza manned a Salvation Army kettle for volunteer hours towards graduation. This year he gets to share his experiences with Kamp and Fioretti, who are excited to see what Christmas is all about in Newfoundland.
“I actually love snow. Last time we had snow on Christmas was like three years ago but we usually don’t get that much snow anymore now. So I’d love to have a white Christmas,” Kamp said. “I actually kind of miss the times where we built igloos in our backyards in Germany, having a fight with snowballs, but we do not have that anymore because we do not have that much snow anymore.”
“I’ve never seen snow,” Fioretti added. “I saw a bit the other day but it was almost nothing. I want to hit the boys with snowballs.”
The students said if Boone is interested in incorporating some of their traditions they would be willing.
“But I have no idea what I should do. I can ask my Mom if she can send some Christmas pastry,” Kamp said. Boone adds his parents own a big bakery in Germany. “You only have toast up here right, and in Germany we have like 200 kinds of bread.”
Kamp’s family usually get a fresh tree out of the woods every year; Boone, on the other hand, likes a nicely-shaped tree so they will have to settle for artificial this year.
As for Fioretti, his Christmas tradition includes lasagna with turkey, and spending time with family. At midnight his grandfather says the names of the children as he hands them their gifts. It’s a very happy occasion.
“It’s nothing special if you aren’t in it, but for us it’s special,” Fioretti said. He’s fine spending his first Christmas away from home in Newfoundland. “I have Erick, he can share a little with me what I feel in Brazil. I really like the people here.”
“I think it’s going to be good. I mean just one Christmas is going to be different than the others. I’m here to have new experiences so I’m not going to be sad because of that. I’m here to enter into his (Boone’s) traditions so if he wants to do something I’m just going to follow him.”
It's Christmas tradition
Exchange students attending Exploit Valley High this year share some of their Christmas traditions with our readers.
Name: Daniela Davila Rodriguez
Age: 15
Country: Spain
Christmas traditions at home:
- In Christmas time we usually have a party with family and close friends. In Canada kids usually get a lot or presents on Christmas Day but in Spain the kids get most of their presents the 6th of January when the three wise men came. This is our tradition.
- We don’t have any different traditions in Christmas but on New Year’s Eve when the clock marks 12 o’clock we eat 12 grapes as a ritual for good luck in the next year.
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Name: Érika Pérez Méndez
Age: 15
Country: Spain
Christmas traditions at home:
- In Christmas we have a fest the 5th of January, we do a type of parade with Roman people, horses, and presents for the children because it’s the festivity of the day that the “magician kings” discovered Jesus. We try to do a representation of that.
- My family particularly have the tradition to end the year together at my grandmother’s home and when the party at home finishes we go all together to another fest in our town.
Name: Ana Jair Garcia Torres
Age: 15
Country: Spain
Christmas traditions at home:
- My family and I on December 24 all meet together to celebrate Christmas and Santa Claus comes. That day in Spain has the name “Noche Buena.” In Spain Santa Claus isn’t very important. On December 25 we meet again to eat together and enjoy our company.
- On December 31 we celebrate the end of the year and have a big party. We all eat our typical meals together and finally at 12 at night we eat the 12 grapes. That day in Spain has the name of “Fin de Año.” And last but one of the most important days is January 6. Children and adults open many gifts brought by the wise men. In Spain this has the name of “Reyes Mages.”
Name: Claudia Sánches Negrín
Age: 15
Country: Spain
Christmas traditions at home:
- My host mom told me that here in Christmas they only do a special supper and then wait for Santa Claus. In Spain we have a special supper too but then we have a party where we have dancing. Also in the end of the year we eat 12 grapes at 12 a.m. and then have a big party.
- In Spain in January we have the epiphany so January 6th the Three Kings come and give us a lot of gifts.
Name: Helena Dell
Age: 15
Country: Germany
Christmas traditions at home:
- We always have fish-soup because it’s a Polish tradition and my family is half Polish.
- We always celebrate at our house and we always have secret-Santa.
Name: Elena Velázquez Pérez
Age: 15
Country: Spain
Christmas traditions at home:
- We have the three wise men due to our religion (Catholic). They’re some royalty men that go to Jerusalem to give gifts to Jesus; and that has developed in our country until now, that we have a special day for them, where all the children get gifts (similar to Santa Claus).
Name: Suji Kang
Age: 18
Country: South Korea
Christmas traditions at home:
- Some people have parties and eat in restaurants. We eat cake and exchange presents with our family and friends at night.
- They are going to go shopping and drink alcohol. I think Korea people like to hangout with other people so everyone meets their loved ones.
Name: Francesco Ranieri
Age: 16
Country: Italy
Christmas traditions at home:
- Usually at Christmas all the relatives of our family reunite in one home and we spend together all the day eating from lunch to dinner one entire meal (usually from 11 p.m.-2 a.m.). In the while we play Bingo or some playing cards games.
- Usually we spend all the day inside but at midnight we used to shoot a lot of fireworks and little bombs.
Name: Jannis Kamp
Age: 15
Country: Germany
Christmas traditions at home:
- In Germany we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December so we go to church in the evening and after we have a big Christmas dinner with the family and after that we get our presents.
- On the 25th and 26th we go to our grandparent’s and celebrate Christmas with our cousins and aunts and uncles. Having dinner over there as well and getting more presents.
Name: Meike Trautmann
Age: 16
Country: Germany
Christmas traditions at home:
- We are celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve with my family and grandparents. First we’re not allowed to see the Christmas tree until we come home after the church. And then we have a big supper and unwrap the presents.
- On Christmas we go to my grandma’s or granddad’s house and have supper there.
Name: Victor Fioretti
Age: 17
Country: Brazil
Two Christmas traditions at home:
- I always pass with my family. We go to my grandmother’s and pass the whole night over there, open the presents and have fun. We used to have really good food too.
- On the day after, me, my mom, my dad, and my sister used to go to my other grandpa’s house and pass the whole day over there. We always eat lasagna, it’s a mainly point of our Christmas. After that we go to my grandmother’s house, has dinner over there with the rest of the family, and finish our Christmas.
Name: Emely Gonzalez
Age: 15
Country: Valle San Lorenzo, Canary Islands, Spain
Two Christmas traditions at home:
- My family is from Venezuela. We have traditional meal called Hallacas — spicy meat, wrapped in dough cooked in banana leaves.
- We have a big party New Years and always try to eat 12 grapes for the last 12 seconds of the year at the New Year’s party.
Name: Elizabeth Escobar
Age: 15
Country: La Orotava, Canary Islands Spain
Two Christmas traditions at home:
- We decorate a plastic Christmas tree. It’s so strange to see real Christmas trees around Newfoundland everywhere.
- We have a big party on Old Christmas Day where we have a huge family meal and give out presents to everyone.
