This post was written by Cindy Young, the manager of technical design at Tea.
Cindy and her family
I came to the United States from China when I was 9 years old. Growing up in San Francisco, a city with diverse cultures and a large Asian population provided me with great comfort while assimilating into the new American culture. My first exposure to Christmas came through school, where we celebrated togetherness, exchanged gifts, decorated the room with lights and ornaments, listened to joyous music, and enjoyed lots of festivities and yummy treats; very similar to Chinese New Year actually. The jolly ole Saint Nick character was different though …
My family continued to celebrate Christmas to share in the experience with our American friends. Six years ago, I married my husband Brent, who is an American from Scottish/English and Greek descent. His family is not religious and predominantly follows the American traditions for the holiday spirit. They have a set of consistent traditions with the main focus being on family. Generally, they aim to do fun and meaningful, but traditional, activities together such as decorating the tree, enjoying a nice formal dinner at home on Christmas Eve, going to Christmas plays or concerts, and laughing while frantically wrapping any last minute presents. On the big day, they take turns opening stockings and gifts before enjoying a hearty and delightful brunch with a delicious spread of food and Stollen (a traditional German loaf-shaped cake containing dried fruit, and covered with powdered sugar). They then call family and friends to wish them Merry Christmas, share stories from the morning, and catch up from when they last spoke. Fully spent, everyone then takes a nap to re-energize for an evening of enjoying each other’s company while watching movies and eating popcorn at home.
