Should immigrants and expatriates celebrate the holidays of their adopted country?
Anyone who has ever lived outside his home country has asked himself this question: should I celebrate the holidays of my adopted country? Even in this globalization era, the traditions and cultural festivals specific of each country and culture remain so important … We all hold to our home country culture. And there are several reasons for this:
– Our home country is where we lived our first memories as children, this blessed time where everything seemed simple and possible 🙂 Necessarily, by re-celebrating the holidays of our home countries, we recall those happy memories. And it makes us feel happy!
– By celebrating these culturally significant holidays for us, we feel in communion (in direct connection with the notion of “community” in the American style). Americans do not need to be told why the community is important, but this notion is somewhat less prominent in France … However, by celebrating a holiday and sharing the feelings of joy on a large scale multiplies the feeling of well-being 🙂
– We also want to share these memories and cultural baggage with relatives and in particular transmit them to our children. Being a parent carries a narcissistic pleasure in transmitting a little bit of us as a treasure to our children.
– There is also a more down-to-earth reason for our propensity to celebrate our childhood holidays: laziness! Indeed, celebrating a holiday that we have witnessed since childhood, setting up the details of this celebration can be done almost automatically. And it’s good to feel in control, knowing exactly what to do and when.
So what should we do when we live in our adopted country? Should we abandon our cultural celebrations and adopt the festivities of the host country, or should we continue to celebrate the holidays of our childhood by ignoring those of the country we live in today?
Many people choose the 2nd option. Expatriates and immigrants are often afraid of losing a part of themselves by celebrating the holidays of their adopted country. They are afraid that their children will forget where they come from and that after a few years they won’t be able to share the festivities of their home country with their parents.
In my case, we are a family of immigrants and my parents chose the 2nd option. And with all due respect, I think they were wrong. Because it deprives the children of feeling in communion that one feels to live events in common. It is done for good reasons but the consequence may be creating a feeling of being on the sidelines…
Yet living the holidays of your adopted country yes, but on one condition: do not give up the original cultural celebrations! Why deprive yourself of additional opportunities to celebrate? Often it takes more effort and faith to celebrate holidays when you are a small handful to celebrate, but it makes them even more special! And children are even more delighted to live these celebrations and are quickly aware of the emotional importance of these holidays for their parents.
As for religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter, I think there is no reason to dig your heels in! In France many people celebrate these holidays without putting a religious significance on them. Why not celebrate them in a civic sense, as occasions to celebrate with relatives and children? Those who are believers will put religious significance in these holidays and it is totally respectable. For others (especially those who come from elsewhere), this is the opportunity to indulge and please your loved ones!
Happy holidays 🙂
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