������
Ask The
BADGERS
Question of the Week:
How are holiday traditions in your
home country different from the U.S.?
JULIE MIKAELSEN
JUNIOR ��� VOLLEYBALL ��� ASKIM, NORWAY
���In Norway we celebrate Christmas on the 24th. My family gets together and
we have Christmas dinner. We walk around the Christmas tree while singing
Christmas songs. After that we eat dessert, which is called ���risengryns pudding.��� After dinner and dessert the family gathers in the living room, where we
drink coffee and eat different Christmas cookies and open presents. We open
one present at a time, so it takes some time. After that our family leaves to go
home and we have had a ���god jul (Merry Christmas).���
DANIEL LESTER
JUNIOR ��� MEN���S SWIMMING ��� BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA
���The biggest difference is it is summer at home for the holidays, which means beach,
pool, fresh seafood, barbeque, outdoor activities and good times. The family gets
together on Boxing Day (which is Dec. 26, kind of like Black Friday) to watch the national cricket team in the Test match.���
DARIA KRYUCHKOVA
JUNIOR ��� WOMEN���S BASKETBALL ��� MOSCOW, RUSSIA
���We don���t celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25. We have Christmas on Jan. 7, which is
Christian Orthodox Christmas, and it���s just specifically a church holiday. We don���t
exchange presents, we just go to church. New Year���s Eve is when we celebrate. It���s
a lot of fun, exchanging presents, going out and putting up a Christmas tree.���
PERNILLA WOHLSTROM
FRESHMAN ��� WOMEN���S TENNIS ��� YIO CHU KANG, SINGAPORE
���I���m originally from Finland, so our holidays and traditions are a little different from those here in the U.S. The first weekend of December we have this
���pre-Christmas party��� where we celebrate the beginning of the Christmas
month. We decorate a small tree and each get a small present. We light one
Advent candle every Sunday before Christmas and bake gingerbread and a
make a gingerbread house. We also celebrate Santa Lucia on Dec.- 13. Then
we celebrate Christmas on the 24th (not the 25th) where Santa personally
comes for a visit with presents; he doesn���t come in the middle of the night
down the chimney. We eat a nice dinner with ham and open all our presents.���
28 �� VARSITY
D EC E M B E R 13, 2012
