I was raised around a Japanese culture. Even though I'm Caucasian, my Japanese husband teases me for being more Japanese than he. ;)
This past week we had our baby's Okuizome This is a tradition preformed on or near the 100 day of a child... It means "first meal" and is a celebration of the baby's health. To show gratitude and wishes for the baby's continued health and that the baby will growup never to know hunger. This is a dieing tradition that I am fighting to stay afloat.
This coming November will be my 3 year old's Shichi Go San. A sort of right of passage when children wear kimono. Also to celebrate long, healthy lives.
What cultural traditions are you ladies keeping alive?
Mostly the friendly yelling and the over eating at family events. :p
Oh, Sicilian by the way. :)
I grew up with the legendary Pickle ornament on the Christmas Tree. Whoever finds it gets a special gift. We were always told it was an old German tradition, but discovered a few years ago that no one in Germany knows anything about it :)
And Jo G...that goes for any Irish/German families as well!
this year we celebrated three kings day to remember my son's Guatemalan heritage (he was adopted from Guatemala and we are not hispanic) It was great fun and he brought a cake and story book to school to celebrate with his class.
Allow me to step up on my soapbox for a moment. I think it's sad that so many of our traditions have been lost altogether. I applaud you for keeping your alive. That's a gift to future generations. This question has been up for a while and only 2 answers. That says alot.
I'm Irish and German and grew up with no trace of that cultural influence. My traditions are the Easter Bunny and 4th of July. Love those by the way! But I lament American asimilation and the expectation that people should cross Ellis Island and check your heritage at the door. Very sad. People are expected to changed thier names to Americanize and blend into the great melting pot. But what about maintaining our identity and heritage? I know previous generations had very little choice. If they wanted to feed thier familys, they had to blend in to get work. I'm glad now that some communities, ex: hispanics, are maintaining thier language and culture and not letting themselves be "whitewashed."
That being said, I have gone to a little effort to try and adopt traditons. I celebrate everything! I take my kids to every religious event from every religion that'll have us in our area. They have experienced Eid, Ramadan, Kwanza, Earth Day, Passover, Cinco De Mayo, Fiesta De Septembre, Festival of Lights, Mardi Gras, Bob Marley Day, Chinese New Year, Diwali, Aggie Bonfire, Juneteenth, St Pattys Day, you name it, we've done it. Along with, of course, all our Christian traditions and a whole lot of sproting events we look forward to every year. I hope the traditions I am passing to my kids are tolerance, inclusion, a sense of adventure, and a worldview bigger than our tiny corner of the planet.
We light bayberry candles on the Winter Solstice for good luck. We have a fire in our fire pit for the Summer Solstice. We sometimes put a dish of food out for the ghouls on Halloween (not that we believe in ghosts but it is a fun little tradition). We eat doughnuts on Shrove Tuesday. We eat goose on Goose Day/Michaelmas Day (Sept. 29th). We try to do a bit of this and a bit of that to celebrate most holidays regardless of their religious significance (at my 3 year old's request we made unleavened bread for Passover this year).
We are Chinese, although my husband likes to tease that I'm not "really" Chinese. He was born in China and immigrated here when he was 3. I, however, am 6th generation American born on my father's side. I try to hold on to as many traditions as I can. We live in Southern Califormia, and I'm afraid my daughter is missing out on her cultural heritage.
We celebrate with a Reg Egg & Ginger party when an infant is 100 days old to symbolize fertility and longevity. We honor the Chinese New Year traditions with the proper prep and foods. I hosted a celebration at my daughter's school to help the children understand. We made lanterns, learned about the Chinese Zodiac, and ate Chinese food. We celebrate with moon cakes when it's Festival of the Moon time. Our extended families pay respect to the deceased at the cemetery twice a year.
Making Ozoni Mochi soup for New Years.
Making a Yule log cake, for Christmas.
We also do the Pickle Ornament for Christmas.
Celebrating "Girl's Day" and 'Boy's Day"..... (girls day is on March 3rd, and Boy's day is on May 5th). These are Japanese, traditions for kids. FYI.
You would love Hawaii, many Japanese here.
Here in Hawaii, everyone, incorporates many cultural traditions, from other cultures, into their own families, and foods.
Here is a great link for you, for Japanese snacks, which many Hawaii locals grow up eating. Your Husband and you, would like it:
http://www.cybersnacks.net/
They have many stores here in Hawaii. And they have their online site. It is great. Authentic Hawaii Asian snacks/foods. Very yummy. Kids LOVE it too. And adults.
