There was plenty of good cheer, food, and fun at the University Settlement’s Holiday Parties this year. The Daytime and the Evening classes contributed dazzling dishes from their home countries. The music, the festive decorations, and the games added to the fun. Both teachers and students celebrated the winter holiday season and had an excellent time together!
Setting up for our Daytime students was as much fun…
…as the party!
We played games to see who would eat first:
and then we ate!
Waiting to eat.
Abby and her students:
What’s a party without presents and reindeer?
And Joe and Christine celebrated with their students!
Our W1, W2, and W3 weekend holiday party this year was a festive celebration full of laughter, good food, and great company!
We enjoyed a delicious potluck lunch with food and treats from all over the world.
What made the day truly special, however, were the wonderful performances from each class. Whether it was singing a holiday Wham! tune, karaoke to Jingle Bells, or sharing things we are thankful for, it was clear that the joy of the season was in full swing.
winter solstice – n., when the North Pole of the earth is farthest from the sun, the shortest day of the year
glittering – adj., sparkling, shiny
lavish – adj., fancy, elaborate
signify – v., to stand for something, to symbolize
struggles – n., difficulties
Stonehenge – n.place, a site of huge, ancient, carefully-arranged stones in England
doldrums – n., sad and bored feelings
renewal – n., newness, rebirth
The last months of the year bring winter, and winter brings cold and darkness. The days are short and the nights are long and chilly.
BUT – we are lucky that winter also brings holidays for almost everyone! Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, and winter solstice celebrations all bring warm cheer and shared joy. These holidays have different meanings for different cultures, but they all share one thing:
LIGHT!
The winter holidays begin with Diwali, celebrated by Hindus the world over, usually in November. It is a five-day-long party. A festival of lights and happiness, it falls on the darkest night of the year in the Hindu month of Kartik.
People celebrate Diwali by lighting their homes and streets with candles, dressing up in new clothes, exchanging gifts, and eating traditional food.
Christmas comes with candles, lights, and glittering tinsel. A shining star is an important part of any Christmas story. In America, people decorate their homes with lights, inside and out. Some of the lighting displays are lavish! Dyker Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, is well-known for its Christmas lights. Map to Dyker Heights: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nKRPh96XcMsy7nAg6 Go take a look!
Kwanzaa has a tradition of lighting the kinara, a candleholder for 7 candles. One is lit each night for a week, and the different colors of the candles signify Africa and its peoples’ struggles and hopes. “Kinara” means “candleholder” in Swahili.
Hannukah celebrations include the lighting of a menorah, an eight-branched candleholder. Jews light Hannukah candles to remember victory in ancient battles, and the miracles that happened in those times.
Finally, the actual solstice, which takes place on December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere, has been a special time of celebration since the Stone Age. This was a significant and dramatic moment in the year for many cultures. Because it was the darkest night of all, there are monuments and traditions that revolve around bringing light into this darkness.
Sunset at Stonehenge in England during the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere
No matter how you celebrate the solstice, use it as a way to replace winter doldrums with a sense of renewal. The winter solstice may signify the day the sun rises lowest in the sky, but it’s also the day before we start growing closer to days of more light.
