Tag Archives: christmas

Celebration – Cavite, Philippines

Residence: Manila, Philippines
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Tagalog

“ Pamasko”

Carolyn was born in the province of Cavite, within the municipality of Silang- located outside of Manila in the Philippines. She has lived in the Philippines for seventeen years and has spent only two years in the United States. She currently resides in Los Angeles. She speaks English and Tagalog fluently. Her parents are both from the aristocratic class of the Philippines nation.

On Christmas morning in Cavite, the upper-class citizens do not first enjoy the spectacular gifts that they have purchased for one another- instead they are busy standing at their doorstep greeting those of the lower working class who have come to visit. The lower class peoples traditionally will venture on Christmas morning to the houses of the upper class where they will receive what is referred to in Tagalog as a “pamasko”. In English, this would mean the equivalent of a small Christmas offering or gift. The upper-class families will wait at their doorstep and offer small gifts of money to the peasants as they arrive at the house. While the parents are receiving money from the house owners, the lower-class children participate in a variety of games that are prepared for them in the house courtyard. Such games include a traditional egg and spoon race. Usually the wealthy families will give a twenty-peso bill to children who visit their homes and a fifty- peso bill to adults.

Carolyn says that she has always practiced this tradition throughout her life. Her parents say that their parents also participated in the pamasko tradition. According to Carolyn, the upper class peoples give these gifts to the lower class in a spirit of generosity- something that is highly valued in her culture.

The practice of giving a pamasko to the lower classes on Christmas morning seems to be a physical representation of the practices and attitudes valued by the citizens of Cavite. It is apparent that generosity and helping those who are less fortunate are two values that are highly considered by Cavite citizens.

Recipe

Age: 54
Occupation: Housewife
Residence: Laguna Hills, CA
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English

1 cup sugar

1 cube butter @ room temp

1-1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs (separated)

½ cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cinnamon/sugar mixture (1/4 cup sugar – 1/2 tsp cinnamon)

Separate egg yolks from egg whites – Beat egg whites until stiff and set aside.  Beat together sugar and butter.  Add egg yolks one at a time to butter/sugar mixture beating well after each addition.  Mix together vanilla and milk in a measuring cup and set aside. .  Sift together flour, salt and baking soda.  .  Alternate adding dry ingredients with vanilla/milk to creamed butter/sugar/egg yolk mixture.  Fold in egg whites last.

Put in flat 9” x 9” pan (spray pan with Pam first) – press nuts on top.  Cover with cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Bake in moderate over 325 – 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes.

Sherri explained to me that her mother taught her this recipe when she was a teenager circa age seventeen.  Her mother made it every Christmas morning and served it with sparkling cider or champagne, sausage, and eggs.  Since the cake is sweet, Sherri informed me that “it represents the sweet gift God gave us by sending his son to die for our sins.”  It is very important to her as her mother made it for her family every Christmas morning and Sherri and her sisters continue the tradition.  She does not make it any other day of the year.

Sherri has since passed on the recipe to her daughters and son so that they too will eventually be able to make it for their families.  Sherri informed me that her mother taught her nearly every recipe she knows today.  It is very important to Sherri that she continue that tradition by passing on her mother’s recipes as well as her own down to her children.

I think it is very important for families to create their own identity through recipes and traditions such as preparing coffee cake every Christmas morning.

Tradition

Age: 25
Occupation: Commercial Producer
Residence: Hermosa Beach, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

Every Christmas season as children, Erin and her siblings would go in a car ride with their parents around the surrounding neighborhoods to look at the Christmas lights and decorations on houses.  They referred to this as a “jammy ride,” as they would wear their pajamas during the journey.  The term “jammy” refers to the pajamas they wore.

Erin said this tradition was a very important part of her Christmas season when she was a child.  They would go on one “jammy ride” every year and the children looked forward to it every time.  She remembers being in awe at some of the lights that decorated houses in some neighborhoods.  Her father, Barry, would read the local newspaper for houses that won awards for best decorations in their neighborhood and would take them to those houses as a special treat.  This tradition came from her mother, who did the same thing with her parents and sisters growing up in Tustin, California.

When she entered high school, Erin and her siblings stopped wearing their pajamas but still went on the annual jaunt.  Nowadays, Erin and her siblings have gone back to wearing their pajamas and restoring the tradition.  Erin says the trip is more for nostalgic purposes that entertainment as it takes her back to the times when she was a child with no worries in life and could spend hours staring at Christmas lights around the neighborhood.

I think this is a very quaint tradition that I hope Erin and her siblings continue with their children in the future.  I believe traditions like this to be a good way to connect the family together during a season focused around the family.

Tradition – American

Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Laguna Hills, CA
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English

Every Christmas season, Joshua’s family decorates a Christmas tree with ornaments.  On Christmas Eve, his mother hides a pickle ornament somewhere on the tree.  Then, on Christmas morning, Joshua and his sister look for the pickle in the tree.  The first person to find it receives a special gift, which is usually money, and supposedly a year of good luck.

Joshua says his family has been partaking in this tradition for as long as he can remember.  He says that as children, he and his sister would get very into it and would wrestle to try to get to the pickle first.  Ever since they each entered high school, the race has been less heated, with the two of them having a much more laid back attitude.

Joshua says he does not know the true meaning of this tradition, but knows that his mother did the same thing while she was a child.  While he originally thought it came from Germany, he informed me that he read an article which stated that its origins are unknown, and this tradition is widely unknown in Germany.

My informant says this tradition is very important to him.  Although it does not have a greater meaning behind it that he knows of, he says it is important to him because it helps give his family an identity with which they can pass on traditions to their ancestors.

Through research I conducted after the interview, I found out that in fact the origins are truly unknown for this tradition.  Many in the past believed it came from Germany, but few people in Germany know about this tradition.  I think it is important for families to have their own traditions they can pass down to their ancestors as it helps keep the family more together during the holiday season.

I found this tradition at:

http://www.sabineworld.com/12062002.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_ornament

Tradition

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: California
Performance Date: March 2007
Primary Language: English

My informant related a tradition that runs in her family every time Christmastime comes around. When she was very young, she, her mother, and her sister all went shopping together at a department store. There, they were all amazed as the beautiful decorations. They wanted to bring back a bit of the splendor so her mother bought them a Christmas diorama. The diorama came with fake snow, a church, a schoolhouse, a house, and a man and a woman. It became a tradition to add a new piece every year during Christmas.

My informant says that this tradition brings together her and her family. Because everyone is so busy during the rest of the school year (she has two older siblings, but who were in college well before she was), the diorama gives all of them an “excuse” to spend a lot of time together. They spend several weeks before Christmas shopping together and searching for a unique piece to add to their diorama. The diorama is only shown in the house during Christmastime, and it sits on her mantel in her living room. She says that every time she or the rest of her family looks at it, they remember all of the Christmases they have spent together since many years ago.

My informant says that this tradition might have been brought on by something her grandmother did. Her grandmother had a quilt that she made after she married her grandfather. Each year, her grandmother would add on another piece of fabric from a special item that would remind her of times she spent with her family. My informant feels that her mother based the diorama idea on her own mother’s tradition.