The Home Stretch

Almost a year ago, beginning late last August, our family embarked on an interesting new adventure. In typical Quiet Country fashion, this was not a loud, exciting adventure full of bells and whistles, or glitz and glamour. It was rather, the family-oriented adventure of opening our home to an exchange student.

Let's call her Sonnet, for being part of the family she should have a poetry name like the rest of us, at least for blogging purposes. Sonnet, our beautiful Turkish daughter, lived here from August until January. At that point, in accordance with the terms of this particular exchange program, she moved to a second family. My two little boys flung themselves to the floor and wept when she moved.

We didn't see her as much during the following months as we would have liked. Haiku and Senryu still saw her at school, but her second host family kept her very busy. They went to sporting events and got manicures and pedicures and went to the city somewhat frequently. There wasn't a lot of extra time for her to come over for dinner, or to spend the night, though she did so a couple of times.

Three months later, she moved again. Sonnet's third host family was an older couple whose children were grown. By this time, she had a good strong circle of friends which included two German exchange students. For the last month of her exchange, Sonnet moved back in with us. That wasn't the original plan, but her third host family had a trip planned during the last days of Sonnet's exchange. Early in June, she took a trip that the exchange program organized to several cities on the east coast, and then has been with us since that time.

Sonnet is almost exactly between my girls in age. Through all of these months, since the first few awkward days in the beginning passed, Sonnet and Haiku have been like sisters. Like a typical older sister, Senryu has been by turns helpful, annoyed, amused, or tolerant of the two younger girls.

Now we are in the home stretch of this life-changing experience, with less than a week remaining of Sonnet's stay. I don't think the boys will be the only ones to fling themselves down to cry when she leaves. When Senryu left on her exchange to Taiwan, almost two years ago now, we all cried like babies at the airport. We had some difficult times, worrying and wondering about her, while she was gone, but we knew she would be coming home (although I have to admit, it was a very long year!) With Sonnet, we don't have that comfort.

We have learned quite a bit about Turkish culture this year. But, and I think this is the whole point, you really learn most about human nature during a cultural exchange. You learn more about what you have in common than about the differences in your cultures. We have shared so much in these months: tears, laughter and so many stories.

This week, I am making the things Sonnet has loved to eat while she was here: pasta salad, brownies, snickerdoodles. The girls are re-watching movies that they enjoyed watching together. Sonnet and Haiku are walking, one last time, to the tiny lake to lay on the dock in the northern sunshine. We are taking family photos, while we are still a family of seven all living together in the Quiet Country House.

"In unsettled times like these, when world cultures, countries and religions are facing off in violent confrontations, we could benefit from the reminder that storytelling is common to all civilizations. Whether in the form of a sprawling epic or a pointed ballad, the story is our most ancient method of making sense out of experience and of preserving the past. "

~ William Collins

Traditions: The Christmas Dolls

Last year, beginning in late November, I wrote many posts chronicling our family tradition of learning about a country each year and incorporating some aspects of their culture into our Christmas celebration. I am including below a link to each of those posts, in case any one who is interested in this tradition missed out on reading about it last year.

First Post: The Christmas Dolls

1995: Sweden

Swedish Cookies: Pepparkakor

1996: Mexico

1997: Ireland

1998: Australia

1999: Poland

2000: Japan

2001: Kenya

2002: Peru

2003: India

2004: Greece

2005: Russia

2006: Taiwan

More on Taiwan from our daughter's letters home.

photo by Aisling, November 23, 2007

Trumpets & Sky above Macy's in downtown Chicago

Ireland...

How do you put Ireland in a nutshell? Even their Christmas traditions are rich, complex and woven with threads of Celtic imagery. Being part Irish in both heritage and inclination, my clan was eager to learn more about Irish holiday traditions.

The familiar carol "Twelve Days of Christmas" took on a whole new meaning for us, as we learned that it was written as a Catechism of the basic tenets of Catholic beliefs. In a time when Irish Catholics had to hide the evidence of their continuing faith, this song allowed children to learn about God, "the true love" in the song who gives gifts to the singer. And these are the gifts given to each Baptised believer:

A Partridge in a Pear tree is Jesus, the son of God.
2 Turtle Doves are the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.
3 French Hens Faith, Hope and Charity, the theological virtues.
4 Calling Birds are the 4 Gospels, or the 4 Evangelists.
5 Golden rings represent the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Pentateuch.
6 Geese a-laying stand for the 6 days of Creation.
7 Swans a-swimming are the 7 Gifts of the Spirit, the 7 Sacraments.
8 Maids a-milking are the 8 Beatitudes.
9 Fruits of the Spirit or sometimes listed as the 9 classifications of Angels.
10 Lords a-leaping remind singers of the 10 Commandments.
11 Pipers piping represent the 11 faithful apostles.
12 Drummers drumming are the 12 points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed.

There are other sources on the Internet, but when we learned about this I used Anna's pages about Ireland. Look here for her page about Irish Christmas customs: http://members.tripod.com/~pg4anna/xmas.htm. I was glad to see that these interesting pages about Ireland are still maintained.

The simple act of lighting a candle in the window at this cold, dark time of year has its origin in the Celtic traditions that preceded the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. In Christian households, the candlelight offers welcome to the Holy Family or hospitality to any lonely traveller. In other homes, the candle symbolizes the return of sunlight at the Winter Solstice.

Irish tradition is filled with story-telling, song and laughter. These elements have always been an integral part of our family. In fact, many of our stories have a distinct Irish lilt. Limerick's family history is peopled with Irish lads stowing away on cattle-boats and other fascinating characters, so looking to Ireland for Christmas traditions was not like visiting a foreign land at all. It was more like coming home.

first photo by Haiku, second photo by Aisling

Mexico...

December of 1996 found us preparing for our first Christmas in a new home. Initially, I did not plan to "adopt a country" for Christmas as we had done with Sweden the following year. However, at some point in the year, the girls asked me which country we were learning about this year. How do you say no to children asking to learn?

I decided on Mexico, knowing that a pinata would be a fun addition to what proved to be a quiet Christmas, now that we lived far from all of our relatives. I found some children's Christmas books set in Mexico and we dived in. We read Tomie dePaola's The Legend of the Pointsettia and Nine Days to Christmas (A Story of Mexico.) My mom began to sew some little tiered skirts of Christmas fabric for the girls, and I hastily put together a costume for a brown-haired, brown-eyed doll.

The girls were excited to have a yellow star-shaped pinata like little Ceci in Nine Days to Christmas. They loved the story of Ceci's first "Posada." I especially like this passage that describes Ceci's trip to the market place with her mother to purchase her pinata:

"As they entered the Christmastime market Ceci stopped still. Fairies and goblins must have been here in the night, she thought. How else could it be so beautiful! There were candies and toys and sparklers and painted clay figurse of Joseph and Mary and the donkey, and little lambs and cows. But Ceci didn't look long at these, for on ahead, swinging and turning in the wind, were the pinatas."

Though the term "Posada" apparently means Inn in Spanish, the tradition of Posada means much more. December 16th, nine days before Christmas, the celebration begins, commemorating the journey of Joseph and Mary before the birth of Christ. A procession forms, led by those who carry the nativity scene. The people carry lighted candles, or gifts for the Christ child, and sing the song of the Holy Pilgrims. The worshippers are "refused lodging" at the first two inns, but offered welcome at the third. Here the celebrants enter, to feast, to break open a pinata filled with toys and sweets, and to share the joy of the season with family and friends.

Celebrations really aren't that different in other cultures, are they? The difference is in the details, but the joy of spending time with loved ones, sharing food and drink, raising voices in song and laughter... those are common threads that tie people together all over the world. photos by Aisling, November 2006

Sweden...

The world has become a much smaller place since my childhood. When I was a four year old girl, I probably barely knew there was a Sweden. Not so my ever-so-curious first born child. When Senryu was 5, I read some of the American Girl books aloud to her. When we read about the character Kirsten, a Swedish Immigrant to America, Senryu became fascinated with the custom of the young girl in the household dressing as Santa Lucia. Not being of Swedish descent, this was a tradition I was only vaguely familiar with myself, so off to the library we trekked. That many years ago, the internet was not at my fingertips, so we researched things the old fashioned way.

We were able to find a few resources about Swedish holiday traditions and Senryu was eager to try everything. That year, we rolled out thin Swedish GingerSnaps, called Pepparkakor (recipe to follow in another post this week) and dressed an inexpensive craft store doll as Santa Lucia. Our girl is not carrying the traditional tray of goodies for her family, but she does wear a wreath of candles atop her head. I understand that modern girls general enact this custom with pretty battery operated candles, but our girl has a trio of white birthday candles in her grape-vine crown.

I love this description of the Santa Lucia custom which I read in Sage Cottage Herb Garden Cookbook, by Dorry Baird Norris:

Saint Lucy's Day - December 13

"In Sweden, at dawn on Saint Lucy's Day, the youngest daughter of the household, wearing a crown of bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) alight with candles, wakes her family with coffee and pastries as bright as her crown. A visit to the barn, with goodies for the farmhands and extra rations for the farm animals, is followed by a trip to church. There homage is paid to Saint Lucy, who brought sight to the blind and food to the hungry. Like her, the Lucibrud (Lucy Bride), wearing her glowing crown, brings light to the congregation, reminding them of the summer to come, of green growing things, and of plentiful food for all."

As a teen, I had a bevy of penpals across the globe, from England, France, Isreal, Italy, and even Sweden. I still have some of the letters that a curly-haired blond girl named Ulrika sent to me, with a list of words in Swedish for me to learn. I can still count to ten in Swedish, though I've never had an opportunity to learn whether my pronunciation is correct. I don't think she and I ever got around to discussing Christmas traditions, but I was glad to learn more about her culture all those years later, spurred on by my daughter's interest in the world outside of our cozy little house in the woods.

photos by Aisling, November 2006

The Christmas Dolls...

In 1995, my daughters and I began what was to become an annual Christmas tradition, though we didn't know it at the time. Nor did we know that ultimately, the tradition would transcend the Christmas season, and become a special part of our lives throughout the year. Most especially, we did not see how this tradition would open the door to the world... for all of us, but for Senryu most of all.

The dolls in the photo below each represent a country that we have read about; whose cuisine we have tasted, whose arts we have admired, whose history we have considered, whose countryside we have wandered - if only in imagination. We began in 1995, just delving a bit deeper into the holiday traditions of Sweden, and almost 12 years later, an amazing new facet has been added to our study of other cultures, as Senryu spends a year in Taiwan on student exchange.

Over the next weeks, I will highlight each of our dolls and the country she represents in the order we experienced them, sharing some of the activities we engaged in as we studied them. Each nation has been interesting to me for it's own unique reasons. Each is colorful and fascinating for an armchair traveller. More important than that, this exploration of the great wide world has inspired my oldest child to be more than a traveller in imagination, but a traveller in action.

I hope you enjoy sharing a little whirlwind tour of our wondrous Earth! Check back soon!

photos by Haiku, November 2006