Upholding tradition, spending time with family and friends, or going on vacation somewhere special are important to many around the globe for the holiday period ahead. Epoch Times reporters from Bulgaria to Brazil found these preferences when they asked locals this week, “What are your plans for the upcoming festive season—Christmas, New Year’s, or any other holiday at this time of year?”
Daejeon, South Korea
Munhwi Choi, 21, Military Service (Compulsory two-year Korean military service working in university administration)
Maybe for Christmas I will go to Seoul. My girlfriend lives in Seoul, and we can’t meet all the time. We might go to the restaurant at Namsan Tower and have a good meal together. The restaurant at Namsan Seoul Tower is a bit expensive, but the view is beautiful at night, with the lights [of the city]. Also, we will go to Cheongye Corner in Seoul where we can see lots of Christmas decorations and a light show while we walk together. That place is the most beautiful place in Seoul at night.
Lahore, Pakistan
Parveen Ashik, 41, Maid
The Christian community celebrates Christmas in December ,so at the beginning of the month, we start our preparations, buy clothes, and begin collecting things we need to celebrate Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we decorate our churches. We decorate our trees at home, we cook a big meal, light candles, and we go to pray at church. Then, on the morning of Christmas, we go to church and we have breakfast there—we pray and sing. Church members parade with candles down the streets, go back to church, and pray. Then later, we meet with different relatives. We eat and enjoy our time with our family and friends. It is a time for really enjoying ourselves and praying.
Southport, Australia
Dianne Holberton, 55, Customer Service Officer
I have a large family; [I’m] the eldest of six. We are all going to my brother’s house Christmas Eve for a traditional dinner. Approximately 30 of us will celebrate together exchanging gifts, and so on. We live in a townhouse complex, so on Christmas morning we will be having a breakfast with our neighbors as well as friends and family. This usually starts around 8.30 a.m. with a BBQ of bacon and eggs, toast, fresh fruit, champagne, and orange juice. We never go away at Christmas time, mainly due to the traffic on the roads, and it is very expensive for accommodations. We would usually go away sometime around the middle of the year and would normally only take a week’s holiday.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Anderson da Silva Barcelos, 35, Production Technician
Well, in the New Year, I will work as a waiter in a restaurant. But I’ll spend Christmas with my mother and my brothers. It’s been five years since the last time we spent Christmas together. First, we’ll do a fellowship. My parents will prepare the dining table. Then, the family will gather around the table, open a bottle of champagne, and everybody will drink and have fun recalling the events of the past year. It will be very cool. It’s been a while since I’ve spent Christmas with my mother.
Gran Canaria, Spain
Lidia Ines Salsadella, 58, Consultant
Well, firstly, I must say that I live abroad since I’m Argentinean, and it’s been several years since I left my homeland. These last two years, I’ve been living in Spain, and before that I’ve been living in other places far from Argentina. So Christmas holidays for me have become almost a normal day because if I take into account what these holidays mean, for sure melancholy would come over me and teardrops would follow. So I prefer to live as in a normal day, though sure I hear the noise of the fireworks or the laughs and noises of the people, and it makes me think of how much of the essence of Christmas remains. So, I think feelings must be felt at heart and must be told to those who are the object of those feelings, so I talk by phone with my family or connect with them through the Internet just to express my goodwill and best wishes to them. On this occasion, I want to extend those feelings to the whole world.
Brno, Czech Republic
Zuzana Ulbriková, 30, Stewardess
I will be at home at Christmas. Between Christmas and New Year, I’m going away from the Czech Republic ... because of work. I still don’t know how I will spend the New Year. I hope I will come back in time.
Sofia, Bulgaria
Galya Petrova, 33, Financial Analyst
Just the perfect time for such a question! Yesterday, I arranged for the kids to be taken care of by their grandpa and grandma, while I, together with my husband, plan to go and have fun during New Year’s night. We have reserved a table for 15 friends in a restaurant in a ski resort, and I hope we will really have a good time! When it comes to Christmas, it is a family holiday in our country, so I plan to gather together with my parents and the parents of my husband at our home, and celebrate it eating delicious meals cooked by me. We have a tradition: We make a photo of all of us and exchange presents. Of course, those who are the most content with this are the children.
Warsaw, Poland
Grzegorz Jan Janiczak, 16, Assistant, Tibetan Human Rights Program
I plan to go home for the holidays and will spend some tedious time around my family during a boring holiday season. I will likely gain some weight and for New Year’s will return to Warsaw. New Year’s will be spontaneous. I don’t have any fixed plans yet.
San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy
Emanuela Motta, 42, Newsstand Attendant
During Christmas, New Year’s, and “Befana,” when there is time, I am with my family. I don’t go to other places. I work on the 24th and 27th and for the New Year and the following days. My work involves a daily service to the hospital, so I do not automatically have holidays on these special days. The newspaper always arrives early and people wait for it.
[Note: In popular folklore, Befana, an older woman riding a broom stick, visits all the children of Italy on the eve of Jan. 6 to fill their socks with candy and presents if they are good, or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. Popular belief says the name Befana derives from the festival of Epiphany and possibly from Roman folklore.
Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Kushal Kavoor, 22, Student, Vancouver Film School
This is actually my first Christmas in Vancouver. We’ll probably go on a vacation or have some friends over and have a dinner party. We might also go to a church and celebrate.
Look for the Global Q&A column every week. Epoch Times correspondents interview people around the world to learn about their lives and perspectives on local and global realities. Next week’s global question: “At the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Dec 7–18, what would you like to see world leaders agree to?”
