“When someone has the good fortune of still belonging to a family, every possible effort should be made to bring that family together” (Tapper 3). This sentence describes that people are lucky when they are not alone, they have their family to support and cheer on every moment. Thus individuals should do everything to increase their family bond. Family tradition is one of the valuable things which connect all members in the family close together. Traditions are various and depend on a specific family. For my family, though all members are usually busy with our work, we still gather and enjoy doing our traditional celebrations in some occasions such as the lunar New Year holiday, Christmas Eve and birthday parties of each member in my family. …show more content…
My father, my sister and I clean up the house; my mother decorates the walls, the front door and windows with flowers and special sayings on paper, which are written by people who can write in calligraphy. This job will be done on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth days. It is a tiresome job, but after the work, my house is tidy and beautiful. On the twenty-sixth day, after renewing the house, we go to the supermarket to purchase goods. This is the best time, because it seems like the only time we go shopping together during the whole year. We usually buy special fruits to put on the altar with specific meanings; a watermelon pair and a pomelo are symbols of luck and sweetness; bananas are symbolic of protection because it resembles a human hand; tangerines represent success because of their orange color. Furthermore, we always have coconuts, papayas, custard apples, figs, and mangos, because they have a special meaning of wealth and health in the coming year. The apricot blossom is a symbol for the lunar New Year. In the evening, my mother and I go to the flower market to buy an apricot blossom tree. This is established in the Gia Dinh park. On the twenty-eight day, my family cooks the “Chung” cake and “Tet” cake. Both “Chung” cake and “Tet” cake are eaten on the first day of the New Year. They both contain pork and rice; but those are in different shapes: “Chung” cake is a square while “Tet” cake is a long oval. …show more content…
Christmas Eve celebration are different for everyone. For example, the Mexican family “would eat tamales, enchiladas, sopapillas, and pozole” (McKay 1), Mary Devitt’s family has “the turkey dressing was the same every year” (Tapper 1), or pre-Christmas by Jere Armen is “celebration with food and presents” (1). My family’s Catholic Vietnamese celebrates the Christmas with many activities. In order to increase the Christmas in the air, my father and I decorate the Christmas tree together and put it in the living room. The tree is more brilliant when my father hangs colorful LED lights on the tree. After I hang the Christmas tree garlands and Christmas ornaments, the process of decorating the Christmas tree is completed. Both my mother and my sister are the best chefs in the world, so they will cook and prepare dinner with turkey, hot soup and red wine. On Christmas Eve, my family goes to the church in the evening. I like to go to the church on that day because I go with my family instead of only me like I would do on most days. After that, we come back home, and we enjoy dinner, which is prepared earlier by my mother and sister. The weather is cold outside, and the warmth which comes from food, light, and the hearts of members in my family is ubiquitous inside. Christmas Eve is the family time with
Gift-giving nowadays is no longer an act of kindness, but rather a political measure, taken to ensure one’s status with one’s acquaintances. While the general feeling of "goodwill towards men" still pervades the season, albeit filtered through television and municipal decorating projects, there is a great tension that precedes the actual Christmas holiday itself. I remember Christmases of my youth as enjoyable times, to be sure, but also as times when it was best to stay clear of my mother, who was inevitably in
Christmas is a holiday filled with tradition, family, and happiness, but what most people don’t know is that Christmas is celebrated all over the world, not just the United States. Latin American countries are especially passionate about Christmas. The way Hispanic people celebrate changes throughout each country. Each one has its own unique Christmas culture. In this essay I am going to write about some of these different countries, and tell how each one is similar and different in showing their Christmas spirit.
Another food is stuffed turkey and roasted stuffed pig. During Miranda(a event where a pig gets fried) a Christmas party in thrown with family, friends and neighbors. Also, families decorate Christmas trees. On Candle day, which is December 7th, candles are lit in window sills and and in streets to celebrate December. Most of these candles are red and blue. On the 16th of December families, neighbors and friends pray for 9 days. Santa does not exist in Colombia, instead Jesus gives them presents. A way that children hope to get presents is on the day before Christmas Eve, children write notes to baby Jesus and put these notes in the pesebre (nativity). These notes also can be called Carta Niño Dios. On Christmas, which is the 25th, they eat leftovers from Christmas Eve. On Christmas people in the U.S. eat ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, ham, stuffing and bread. In the U.S. people decorate Christmas trees with ornaments and lights. Families also hang stockings above fireplaces, bed posts, stair cases, window sills, door knobs and other places. Also, some children leave out cookies for Santa, they also write letters to him. It is believed that Santa Claus eats cookies that are left out for him, and he leaves presents under the Christmas trees for all the good boys and girls, and if you don’t be nice you get coal in your stocking instead of candy. Also, a tradition that started in 2005 is Elves
I interviewed Rita Wright from Northwest Georgia Housing Authority. She is in charge of resident services. She is an African American with a predominately African American clientele; therefore I knew I would be able to obtain much information from her viewpoint. When I asked Ms. Wright to talk about her key values and characteristics common in her culture she talked extensively about family. Family is a major part of her life. She stated that she is like most African Americans in which family values are extremely important. There are several people in her life who have earned the title of aunt, sister or cousin who are not blood related. These are individuals who have always been there for her and her family, so they too are considered just like family. Most African American families are embedded in complex kinship networks of blood and nonrelated individuals (Diller, 2011). To Ms. Wright there is nothing more precious than family. If family wrongs you, you forgive and forget. If family needs help, you must be there for them. In the end family is all we have.
THOSE OF US WHO grew up in the 1950s got an image of the American family that was not, shall we say, accurate. We were told, Father Knows Best, Leave It to Beaver, and Ozzie and Harriet were not just the way things were supposed to be—but the way things were
years the American family and its values have been one of the top priorities of
What about other countries though? Is the Christmas season all about giving and receiving gifts? Are children in Spain rewarded by Santa with gifts and toys on Christmas Eve? In this essay we will look at what Christmas season means in Spain, and what traditions are prevalent in their culture. We will also look at the Christmas related traditions of Americans, and how those compare and contrast to those in Spain.
In Alice Walker's "Everyday Use," the message about the preservation of heritage, specifically African-American heritage, is very clear. It is obvious that Walker believes that a person's heritage should be a living, dynamic part of the culture from which it arose and not a frozen timepiece only to be observed from a distance. There are two main approaches to heritage preservation depicted by the characters in this story. The narrator, a middle-aged African-American woman, and her youngest daughter Maggie, are in agreement with Walker. To them, their family heritage is everything around them that is involved in their everyday lives and everything that was involved in the lives of their ancestors. To Dee, the narrator's oldest daughter, heritage is the past - something to frame or hang on the wall, a mere artistic, aesthetic reminder of her family history. Walker depicts Dee's view of family heritage as being one of confusion and lack of understanding.
“What ever happened to predictability, the milkman, the paperboy, evening TV?”, words from the famous family-focused television sitcom, Full House. In the 1990s, America had a great emphasis on family values, morals, and the family unit as a whole. Nearly twenty years has passed since the hit show, Full House had its season finale and quite a bit has changed in regards to family. It is believed that the twentieth century has seen the maximum disturbance in history of family adaptation (Georgas). From day one, America has been a melting pot of cultures-all influencing family values. Mixed cultures make for even more interesting and unique traditions. There is a clear threat to traditional family values that continues to spread throughout
In order for society to meet the basic social needs of its members, social institutions, which are not buildings, or an organization or even people, but a system whose of social norms, mores and folkways that help make people feel important. Social institutions, according to our textbook, is defined as a fundamental component of this organization in which individuals, occupying defined statues, are “regulated by social norms, public opinion, law and religion” (Amato 2004, p.961). Social institutions are meant to meet people’s basic needs and enable the society to survive. Because social institutions prescribe socially accepted beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors, they exert considerable social control over individuals.
Ever since I could remember, I have spent Christmas at my grandmother’s house, a house which is full of comfort, warmth, and happiness. At Christmas, I have always been able to escape the cold and dark real world allowing myself to truly enjoy just several moments in time. These moments have left impressionable memories from my childhood making Christmas a holiday that is special to me and my family. It is a time for my family to get together, share stories, laugh, and even cry.
Some parents may say that they do not have family values, but whether they realize it or not, they do have family values that they are passing onto their children. Those values may be positive or negative, but many parents wonder why those family values are important. Family values can be defined as values that are reinforced within a family and are used to set a standard for morals and discipline. Family values are important because they provide a solid family foundation, model behavior from parent to child, and influence the character and ethics of children.
I believe that traditions are very powerful and can shape how a person thinks. I also think that traditions can shape our lives and the choices that we make or do not make in our lives. Traditions can be learned as we live our life, or they can be taught to us from an early age. I believe it is very important for people to figure out what traditions they truly believe in, and how they are affecting they lives. We should research our traditions and not take any ones word for them, but we should only follow them if we know and believe that they are true.
The social institution I have chosen to address is that of family. An individual’s family life, both past and present, can have such a big impact on a person’s life in both a positive and negative manner. It is how we as individuals chose to handle life changing situations that will shape our lives and those around us. Family is such a fascinating social institution to study because every individual comes from a different family background or has a different experience than that of a sibling. You can learn so many things about a person by looking into their family background, origin and what type of up brining they had.
I like to think of family as the people God gives you to take care of in life. Psalms 11:29 states, “Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be the servant to the wise.” It is important to honor family. However, one does have a duty to help all fellow man if he is in the position to do so. Although, all members of the family are usually busy, family members should gather together in a meeting to discuss ways that they can spend quality time with each other. One of the best ways to bond within a family is to vacation together. This gets the family out of their normal habitat, usually in a setting where they do not know many other people. Therefore, the family members have to communicate with one another. It is also important to have time where daily such as over dinner where everyone is free of from distractions. During this time all cell phones and other electronics should be put away, in order to facilitate open