Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way\u2026Christmas is\njust around the corner. How do UM faculty members and students from different\ncountries celebrate Christmas in their home countries?<\/p>\n\n
Hot Finnish Sauna\nFollowed by Icy Cold Water<\/b><\/p>\n\n
Finnish people believe that Santa Claus lives in\nKorvatunturi in Finnish Lapland (the northern part of Finland). Olli Manninen,\nan exchange student from Santa\u2019s hometown, recalls the Christmas holidays he\nhas spent in Finland, with one tradition standing out in his memory. \u2018We have\nmore saunas than cars in Finland! On Christmas Eve morning, we will take a\nsauna and jump into a frozen lake to cool ourselves down. Christmas sauna is a tradition\nin Finland that goes back over a century\u2019 says Manninen.<\/p>\n\n
Enjoying a Simple\nDelicious Christmas Dinner<\/b><\/p>\n\n
Sousada Sirimanothai, from Laos, is a fourth-year student in\nthe Department of Management and Marketing. He says, \u2018What\u2019s\nspecial about Christmas celebration in Laos is that we don\u2019t need Christmas\ntrees, gifts, or even Christmas carol. A simple yet delicious Christmas dinner\nwith family and friends is more than enough. That is why we also celebrate\nChristmas even though we are Buddhists.\u2019 For Sirimanothai, enjoying a peaceful\nand joyful Christmas holiday is about spending quality time with family members\nand expressing their love for one another. That is Sirimanothai\u2019s idea of a\nperfect Christmas holiday.<\/p>\n\n
Christmas Mass<\/b><\/p>\n\n
Christmas is one of the most important holidays in the\nPhilippines. Preparations for the holiday usually start as early as September.\nJoao Miguel, from the Philippines, is a second-year student in the Department\nof Computer and Information Science. He and his family have been living in\nMacao for 18 years. Every Christmas Eve, they go to the church together to\nattend Simbang Gabi, which is a Filipino Christmas tradition. (Simbang Gabi is\na series of nine dawn masses on the days leading up to Christmas. It begins on\n16 December and ends at midnight on the 24th of December, when a midnight mass\nis held). Miguel says, \u2018On Christmas Day, we usually invite loved ones for\ndinner where we exchange Christmas gifts that symbolise our best wishes for\neach other.\u2019 Miguel keeps a diary, and every Christmas, he reads the entries he\nrecorded in the past year to take stock of his life.<\/p>\n\n
A Summer Christmas<\/b><\/p>\n\n
But Christmas is not always snowy, as often depicted on TV\nor posters. As Prof Timothy Kerswell in the Department of Government and Public\nAdministration, who comes from Australia, will tell you, Christmas celebration\nin Australia takes place in the summer. Dr Kerswell has lived in Macao for six\nyears. He remembers fondly how Australians decorate the streets and their homes\nwith Christmas trees, Santa Claus figures, and fake snowflakes and snowmen to\ncreate the feel of cold winter, in amusing contrast to the scorching summer\nweather.<\/p>\n\n
This year, Prof Kerswell plans to accompany his Indian wife\nto her home country for Christmas. He wishes all UM members a merry Christmas\nand a happy holiday!<\/p>