SACKVILLE, N.B. — Celebrating Christmas this year will take on a whole new meaning for about 250 international students who now make their home at Mount Allison University in Sackville.
While a few will make the long trip home for the holidays, most will remain in Canada and will spend their time making new Christmas traditions and experiencing new customs this year.
First-year student Nana Ofori-Amanfo, for example, said she was planning to head to Toronto after she finished up her final exam this past Saturday, ready to relax over the Christmas break with family and friends who live there.
Ofori-Amanfo, an international relations student from Ghana, said she is excited about the opportunity to find out more about Christmas in Canada, and to learn anything new or different from her own customs.
“I don’t really know what to expect,” she said.
Although she acknowledges many Canadian traditions are similar to Christmas in her hometown, she pointed out that Ghanian celebrations don’t typically include placing gifts under their decorated tree.
“I like the idea of there being presents under the tree,” said Ofori-Amanfo.
Christianity is one of the main religions in Ghana, so their Christmas celebrations are very much centered around the church like in Canada, she said.
She said large family gatherings are customary on Christmas Day, where everyone gets together for some “merry-making”, a festive meal, followed up by attendance at a church service – where they sing Christmas carols and watch the younger children perform in a play.
Chicken is usually the dish of choice for their Christmas dinner and Ofori-Amanfo also explains that many Ghanians still partake in the ‘goat-killing’ tradition of the holidays.
Hamish Hallett, an exchange student from England, also feels there are likenesses between Canadian traditions and those of his homeland, such as hanging stockings for children and leaving out a carrot for Santa’s reindeer – although the English customarily leave out mince pies for the man in red rather than milk and cookies.
Christmas Eve, he said, is a celebratory event in England, where people come together, have a few drinks and sing or listen to Christmas carols.
Hallett said his Christmas mornings typically consist of waking up to presents from Santa, then having a breakfast of smoked salmon on toast, followed up by a family walk in the woods with his dogs. Then it’s back inside to open gifts from family.
Their Christmas dinner consists of turkey and stuffing as in Canada but also on the table is usually the favourite “pigs in blankets” (small sausages wrapped in bacon), Yorkshire pudding and mince pies.
Hallett said he misses these foods from home but looks forward to chowing down on some when he returns to his Haringey neighbourhood north of London for his three-week break, where he is also excited to be seeing his two dogs, as well as his friends and family.
“I miss the small things,” he said. “The food, the familiar surroundings, just being in the place where you grew up, where you feel comfortable.”
Don’t get him wrong, though – he loves Canada.
“I’ve been enjoying it. It’s really great,” he said. “I’ve been very surprised by it, in terms of the culture and how everyone’s so friendly.”
Harissa Skaf is also hoping to spend time with family over the holidays. But she’ll be doing so here in Canada. She isn’t sure yet whether she’ll stick around Sackville or head to Montreal, where she lived for a year and a half before becoming a student at Mount Allison. Either way, she just wants to take a break from her studies and relax with friends and family.
Skaf, who is from Bahia in Brazil and is studying biochemistry, said that’s what the Christmas tradition is all about for her.
“It’s about family being together,” she said.
She said gatherings around the holidays usually last longer than the quick Christmas visits she has noticed here in Canada, with people spending more time together than just the traditional meal.
They cook together and hang out after dinner to open their presents. Skaf said their annual gift-giving custom is called “secret friend,” where each person buys for one family member and then gets up in front of everyone to say nice things about them before handing them their present.
Petter Davidson, a first-year student from Norway, said spending time with family has also always been a huge part of his Christmas; that’s why he is heading back home for the holidays.
“We celebrate on the 24th with a big dinner and gifts around the Christmas tree,” he said. “The 25th is mostly used to relax and enjoy each other's company. My family also has a tradition of coming together a few days before Christmas to eat porridge and have fun and games.”
One of the biggest adjustments for many international students has been getting used to the winters here.
Skaf has been in Canada for two years already but still doesn’t enjoy the cold or the snow. In Brazil, their winter days don’t get much colder than 21 degrees Celsius so Canadian winters have been a challenge, she said.
Ofori-Amanfo said Ghana also doesn’t usually get below 20 degrees so the winter weather in Sackville “was a big shock to me.” And although the cold temperatures have been the hardest adjustment, she was enthralled with the first snowfall.
“I liked the experience of snow,” she said. “I tasted it.”
Hallett said although England gets a bit cooler than Ghana or Brazil in winter, he said they rarely get much snow – and when they do, “the country basically shuts down.”
“So it’s been kind of neat to see how Canadians get along with it,” he said.
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