Foreign exchange students at Lind-Ritzville High School compare holiday traditions

As the six foreign exchange students at Lind-Ritzville High School are experiencing the holidays in America for the first time, different traditions from different cultures are joining together.

The foreigners, Jasmin Vogt of Germany, Tilla Mathiesen of Norway, Viktoria Mengel-Niemann of Denmark, Sofia Foschi of Italy, Nora Gutzweiler of Denmark, and Beth Duran of Spain are all embracing new traditions with their host families.

Jasmin Vogt, staying with Hank and Becky Buckmann, noted there are several German celebrations that are different from those in American culture.

In Bad Soden, Vogt’s hometown and a suburb of Frankfurt, she explains, “We go to traditional Christmas markets and do a bit shopping there.”

Vogt continued, “They also sell the typical Christmas beverage, ‘Gluhwein,’ which is warm wine with several spices. There is also a non-alcoholic version for kids with apple juice.”

The Day of Three Holy Kings, celebrated Jan. 6, also differentiates Germany from America.

“On this day, children from the church, which are dressed up as the three holy kings, go around and take some money from people and they bless these peoples’ houses and write something on their door,” she explained.

Vogt has family traditions in Germany as well: “My family has a tradition to make gingerbread houses of our family recipes and we decorate it together with our family.”

For her favorite American holiday tradition, Vogt said, “I really like the stockings.”

Tilla Mathiesen, staying with host parents Liz and Brendan Smith, also noted the differences between the holidays in Denmark and America.

Originally from Honefross, a small town an hour outside of Olso, Mathiesen explained, “One of our traditions [on Christmas Eve] is eating a special type of porridge in which we put an almond. The person who gets the almond gets a gift.”

“After that,” she continued, “we eat dinner and then we open presents until late in the night.”

Both Vogt and Mathiesen note the tradition of Advent Candles.

Mathiesen said, “We have four purple candles and every Sunday before Christmas [each day of Advent], we light one candle.”

Called “Advents Kranz” in Germany, Vogt notes that her candles are placed on a wreath.

In either country, Mathiesen said, “On Christmas Eve, all of the candles are lit.”

Mathiesen is combining her familiar traditions with new American favorites.

“So far, I love all of the Christmas decorations on peoples’ houses,” she explained, adding, “We decorate with light in Norway too, but not as many as they use here.”

Viktoria Mengel-Niemann is spending her first American holiday with Greg and Karen Whitmore.

From Ry, a small town in Denmark, she explained, “We celebrate Christmas on the 24th in the evening. We eat dinner, which is typically pork, duck or goose.”

A variation of Mathiesen’s porridge, Mengel-Niemann continued, “For dessert, we eat this rice pudding with chopped almonds. But there is one almond which are whole, and whoever finds that wins a present.”

“Another Danish tradition is Advent,” she added, clarifying, “Advent is the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Eve. So it could fall in late November and on Christmas Day.”

The Advent Candles described by Vogt and Mathiesen are also customary in Denmark.

“We have a decoration that goes with the Advent days,” she described. “It is candles, so the first Sunday you light one candle, the second Sunday you light two candles, and so on.”

Mengel-Niemann enjoys the new traditions she has found in America.

“I like how all your decorations are big and everyone has lots of Christmas lights up and on their houses,” she explained. “We don’t really do that much in Denmark.”

Although they are miles from home, the foreign exchange students and their host families are combining traditional American holidays with nuances of their home countries, with great results.

“It is very cheery,” Mengel-Niemann concluded.

The remaining three exchange students will be introduced in greater detail in a future article.