• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide

  • ABOUT US
  • MEMBERS
    • MEMBER ACCESS (must be logged in)
  • SERVICES
  • RESOURCES
  • AWARDS
  • NEWS
  • JOIN
  • DONATE
  • ABOUT US
  • MEMBERS
    • MEMBER ACCESS (must be logged in)
  • SERVICES
  • RESOURCES
  • AWARDS
  • NEWS
  • JOIN
  • DONATE
You are here: Home / Review of Christmas Traditions Around the World Webinar on December 1

Review of Christmas Traditions Around the World Webinar on December 1

 

On December 1, AAFSW members and guests were treated to a Zoom webinar on Christmas celebrations in the Czech Republic, the Philippines, Mexico, the Slovak Republic, and the Holy Land.  AAFSW Program Chair Sheila Switzer welcomed guests, then introduced AAFSW President Lara Center, who made welcoming remarks. Lara then introduced AAFSW President Emerita Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen, who served as moderator. 

After greetings from Czech Ambassador Hynek Kmoníček, a film was shown about the magical winter season in the Czech Republic, followed by another film explaining Czech Christmas customs such as eating fish and potato salad on Christmas Eve, placing money and a fish scale under the plate, and lighting advent candles. 

Next, Ms. Darell Artates, the Public Diplomacy Officer of the Philippine Embassy, introduced Ambassador José Manuel Romualdez, who greeted guests and wished them a happy holiday season. This was followed by a short film about Philippine Christmas customs, such as the famous star-shaped lantern, the parol, which is seen in most Filipino homes and businesses. A second film was about tourism: “It’s More Fun in the Philippines.” Filipinos celebrate Christmas longer than anyone: they start in September and end in January. 

After that it was Mexico’s turn. Ix-Nic Iruegas Peón, the Director of the Institute of Mexico in DC, told the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose feast day is December 12. Ms. Iruegas explained how a dark-haired, dark-skinned woman appeared to indigenous convert Juan Diego, and sent him to the bishop with a cloak full of roses, which were out of season. After the roses fell in front of the bishop, a miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe  was seen on the cloak, according to tradition. Las Posadas (“The Inns”), which begins on December 16, re-enacts the story of Mary and Joseph trying to find a place to stay in Bethlehem. Next, a film showing Mexico in all its glorious color was shown. Later, in response to a question, Ms. Iruegas noted, “It is said that every Mexican is a Guadalupano, no matter what (his/her) religion.” 

This was followed by Slovak Public Diplomacy Counselor Terezia Filipejova, who spoke about Slovak Christmas customs, which had similarities to Czech customs. Ms. Filipejova noted that on Christmas Eve, families avoid eating meat, due to Catholic tradition. In her own family, they celebrate with cream of mushroom soup, but other possibilities are lentil soup or sauerkraut soup.  She then showed two films — one which gave a more detailed description of Christmas customs, such as placing an extra place setting at the holiday table and lighting the advent wreath, and a second film which encouraged people to visit Slovakia. 

The last item was Christmas in the Holy Land, as described by Dr. Amal David of Arab America, who grew up in Nazareth. She showed photographs of Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem and described many of the holiday traditions in these cities, such as musical performances by the local scouts. Dr. David said that people clean their houses from top to bottom during this season, and that lamb is eaten on Christmas Day. After this a brief film was shown about the town of Bethlehem.     

Special thanks to Jan Woska, Cultural Attaché of the Czech Embassy; Ms. Darell Ann Artates, 2nd Secretary and Consul, Public Diplomacy, and Mark de la Vega, both of the Philippines Embassy; Mónica Haro Goytia  and Ix-Nic Iruegas Peón, Executive Director of the Mexican Cultural Institute, Terézia Filipejová, Cultural and Public Diplomacy Counselor of the Slovakian Embassy, and Dr. Amal David of Arab America and her intern Sofia.

Barbara Reioux

AAFSW Member

 

Footer

CONNECT WITH US

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide
4001 North Ninth Street, Suite 214
Arlington, VA, 22203
703-820-5420

Our Vision Statement

AAFSW will continue to be a catalyst for beneficial change through advocacy and support for our Foreign Affairs Community. By providing resources, services and engaging programs through our effective network, we promote the goals and serve the needs of Foreign Service and Civil Service employees, spouses, partners, members of household and retirees.

Follow

My Tweets

Copyright © 2022 · Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide · Connecting the U.S. Foreign Affairs Community at Home and Abroad

AAFSW uses cookies to optimize your experience, analyze traffic, and personalize content. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of cookies on our site.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT