with International Residents in Holly Springs
By Cindy Savoldi
As Holly Springs has grown over the years, so has its international population. With the holiday season upon us, many people focus on traditions and spending time with their families. Suburban Living asked five residents to share their thoughts on holiday traditions from their native countries.
Grace Estes (The Philippines)
SL: Tell us a little bit about where you are from, how long you have lived in Holly Springs, and what attracted you to this town.
I was raised in Cebu City, Philippines, and I’ve been a resident of Holly Springs for 15 years. We moved to Holly Springs because we knew it was a great place to raise a family.
SL: What was the area like where you spent your childhood?
Cebu City is on the island of Cebu, the second biggest island in the Philippines. When I lived there, we were on the outskirts of the city and we had a bungalow-type house with a yard that had mango, coconut, and avocado trees. We bought food at the market and cooked fresh every day because we had no way to store leftover food. We could get water at that time from a fresh mountain stream; however, since then, the government has taken it over and now charges people for water. Since the 1970s, the area has become extremely over-populated, and it is very different from what I experienced. Where I lived used to be very quiet and now it is very dirty because of over-population and corruption.
SL: What were holiday traditions in your country?
Christmas in the Philippines is celebrated on December 25, just like in the States, but it was very simple. The Catholic population is very high in the Philippines, so it is very common to go to mass on Christmas Eve. There were no presents to be opened on Christmas morning because there was no money. Sometimes we would have a very small gift exchange at school, but there were no gifts at home. Christmas Day always included a large meal that included egg rolls (called lumpia in the Philippines), pancit noodles, and adobo (marinated meat with soy sauce, vinegar, and garlic). All families waited until midnight to eat desserts such as sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves.
SL: What holiday festivities do you miss and what have you incorporated into your family since living in the United States?
Our family has embraced the American traditions and we do not have a lot of Filipino influence on our holidays besides making lots of yummy food. The kitchen is my happy place and I love to cook delicious food for my family!
Agnieszka Badger (Poland)
SL: Tell us a little bit about where you are from, how long you have lived in Holly Springs, and what attracted you to this town.
I grew up in Warsaw, Poland, in the 70s and 80s. I have lived here for 12 years. We fell in love with Holly Springs because of the friendly neighborhoods and wonderful people here.
SL: What was the area like where you spent your childhood?
Warsaw is Poland’s capital and we lived in a high-rise building, in a three-room apartment. As kids, we would spend most of our time playing outside with our friends or reading books and making crafts at each other’s homes. We put on a lot of home-made plays and performed them to our parents, too. I had a great childhood. When I was nine, martial law was imposed in Poland. The 80s brought some deeper economic struggles for the country. Stores were often empty and long lines formed when anything was delivered. Despite the turbulent times, I remember people’s resilience and offering help to each other getting us through the most difficult moments.
SL: What holiday traditions do you remember from your country?
Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year and met with high anticipation in Poland. With a 93% Roman Catholic population, the entire city of Warsaw got decorated for Christmas, even in Communist times. Catholic churches dotted the entire city. Because they were a religious institution, they were allowed to teach things not allowed in other settings. A few churches set up a nativity with a temporary barn-type structure with real animals. The majority had a symbolic nativity inside the actual church with messages of hope and often political messages voicing opposition to the socialist rule. My parents would often go from one church to another to immerse themselves in an oasis of hope despite their circumstances.
Traditionally, families would buy their Christmas tree on December 24 and decorate it that morning. In contrast to Americans decorating their tree right after Thanksgiving and taking it down soon after Christmas, the Polish keep their trees up until February 3.
The Christmas meal is the largest of the year and includes 12 items, all of which are either fish, grain, or vegetable based. One dish includes a fresh carp, scaled, cooked in a broth and put in a gelatinous substance. I remember how everyone wanted their carp to be as fresh as possible, so my mother would transport the fish home in a bag with water, and then have the fish swimming in the bathtub for a couple of days prior to using it in our meal! Other parts of the meal included salted fillets of herring in oil cut into pieces and eaten raw. With the other things at the table, everything formed a beautiful combination of flavors! Poppy seed cake; cheesecake made from a family recipe; and Oplatek, a Polish wafer cracker, were also part of the festivities.
Dinner began when you could see the first star, then we would go for a walk in the crisp winter air with my father pulling all the children in a sled. By the time we returned home, Santa had been there, leaving a window open so we would know how he had gotten in. After dinner was eaten, we could open our gifts. During Socialist times, the majority of gifts were simple but treasured. I remember getting an orange, which was a rarity for us, a new book, and often a new box of crayons. I would be so excited about the smell of the new crayons I would sleep with them under my pillow!
At midnight, we would go to midnight mass. Polish legend said that animals would speak in human voices because they were so excited the Christ child was born.
SL: What holiday festivities do you miss and what have you incorporated into your family since living in the United States?
I do all the traditional Polish Christmas foods each year, so my girls know their heritage and know how to carry on the traditions. The girls and I work on them together, so they learn how to prepare all of the items. I even make sure the market does not clean the fish so they learn how to gut and scale the carp!
MarNai Johnston (Canada)
SL: Tell us a little bit about where you are from, how long you have lived in Holly Springs, and what attracted you to this town.
I grew up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We moved to Holly Springs 17 years ago. We were in an area where real estate was extremely expensive with a lot of competition (similar to here right now). My husband’s employer had an office in Durham, so we transferred here to raise our family.
SL: What was the area like where you spent your childhood?
Calgary is a pretty happening place. The great outdoors are right in your backyard—Banff, Lake Louise, Canmore, and Kananaskis are about an hour west of the city. The city is famous for the Calgary Stampede—The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth—that runs the first week of July for 10 days. Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics where Eddy the Eagle and the Jamaican bobsled team became famous. Calgary has the largest pedestrian path in North America. The city is very diverse and has a western, American feel to it.
SL: What were holiday traditions in your country?
For years, we had Christmas dinner on Christmas Day, and cheese fondue for dinner Christmas Eve. Mom also made Muesli with plums. Our Christmas Eve tradition was to each open only one present—new pajamas or a new nightgown. Mom would wrap the pajamas in the fanciest and shiniest gift wrap she had. She sewed new flannel pajamas for all eight of us. For a number of years, we would open the pajamas and go caroling to neighbors and close friends to sing and drop off whatever gift Mom had put together for that year. We sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as we were leaving. It was COLD so many times! Sometimes we’d put our ski jackets under our nightgowns before we took to the street to keep warm enough.
Another Christmas Eve tradition is my dad would read Luke 2—the birth of our Saviour. When there were enough willing bodies, we would do our own live nativity interpretation. Dad would finish the Christmas Eve celebration by reading The Night Before Christmas. “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night,” was our cue to get to bed. Most Christmases, my grandparents came to celebrate with us.
Our church presented a live nativity at Heritage Park complete with sheep, donkey, the inn, the stable, shepherds, host of angels, wisemen, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. We’d pile in the van to sit on bales of hay and observe the reenactment.
My parents’ home was always open to others. We often had Christmas guests we’d never met before. If there were people visiting the area away from their families, my parents would invite them to come for Christmas, presents included. Gifts for the neighbors varied over the years but were almost always homemade. Could be loaves of fresh bread, dinner rolls, granola, homemade chocolates, etc. In Canada we typically had turkey for Christmas. Thanksgiving is celebrated in early October, so most people weren’t too tired of it by Christmas.
December 26 is Boxing Day—the day after Christmas. It’s Canada’s version of Black Friday. We would often go shopping to spend the Christmas money we received. When we were younger, my dad’s family had our family reunion, so we’d drive nearly five hours round trip to be with our cousins, eat a roast beef dinner and have fun!
Some unique food items from Canada you’d see at Christmas spreads were Nanaimo Bars, butter tarts, puffed wheat squares, confetti squares, and some interesting salads, sometimes it was Frogeye salad, or a cranberry marshmallow salad. In the days before fresh fruit being readily available, my mom, in the summer, would freeze a combination of watermelon, cantaloupe, green grapes, and pineapple, and serve it in a dish with a touch of 7UP poured over it.
Something else that was a tradition was to visit the Hutterite Colony. Hutterites are an ethno-religious group that is a communal branch of the Anabaptists, similar to the Amish and Mennonites. My dad had been the doctor in a small town and my mom became friends with one of the Hutterite ladies. On a weekend before or after Christmas, we’d pile in the van and go visit the colony. Often, we’d have 30-50 people in one home singing a capella Christmas carols with song sheets my mom had collected years before. My dad’s favorite was “Little Drummer Boy.” He had a beautiful baritone voice and would start us out with the “pum” beat. They would feed us homemade sausage, fresh bread and butter, duck, chicken, homemade root beer and the best soft cookies. We’d always go home with a care package box.
SL: What holiday festivities do you miss and what have you incorporated into your family since living in the United States?
I miss being with extended family in person over the holidays, and a good roast beef with some Yorkshire pudding and all the other delicious fixings. If we’re home, it’s usually turkey for Christmas dinner. Since we’ve been here, we’ve enjoyed going to the Holly Springs Christmas Parade. When our boys were younger, they performed in groups and choirs for the Apex Nativity. We have enjoyed celebrating together with neighbors and experiencing some of the traditions they celebrate with their families.
Yan Higgins (China)
SL: Tell us a little bit about where you are from, how long you have lived in Holly Springs, and what attracted you to this town.
I am from a large city in China called Chongqing. I’ve lived in Holly Springs for seven years. We moved to Holly Springs to be closer to family and have a better standard of living with less traffic, a decent job market, cheaper housing, and less taxes.
SL: What was the area like where you spent your childhood?
Chongqing had several million people in the 1980s. Similar to Holly Springs, there were a lot of modern conveniences available nearby. The biggest difference is that Chongqing is very hilly since the city was built on the mountain side. Traveling around town meant climbing a lot of stairs! I remember we used to have to go up and down hundreds of steps just to visit my grandma in the lower part of town. Now the city of Chongqing has a monorail and even outdoor escalators to help people travel around faster!
SL: What were holiday traditions in your country?
Christmas was not really recognized in China, so most of my Christmas traditions have been formed since moving to the United States. Kids exchanged holiday cards, but it really is not a big holiday. Our biggest holiday in China is Chinese New Year. I remember my mom would take sticky rice to a mill to get it ground down to a rice powder and hang the bag of rice on the roof rafter. We would then make sesame rice balls to eat with families. The round rice ball symbolized family coming together for the holiday. The Chinese call it “Tuan Yuan” which literally means “reunion.”
SL: What holiday festivities do you miss and what have you incorporated into your family since living in the United States?
I enjoy the American traditions and especially enjoy doing things like driving around and looking at all the decorations and the lights with my family. We also enjoy acting out the Nativity story with my kids and their cousins.
Rocio Ayscue (Peru)
SL: Tell us a little bit about where you are from, how long you have lived in Holly Springs, and what attracted you to this town.
I grew up in Iquitos, Peru, and came to the United States at age 36. I’ve been a resident of Holly Springs for 11 years. I moved to Holly Springs for more affordable housing when we moved here all those years ago!
SL: What was the area like where you spent your childhood?
We knew where all the things we needed were, and they were easy to get to. I would meet my neighbors, church friends, and others to go to the movies or out to eat. Everyone knew each other. I knew I needed to behave myself or my parents would find out!
SL: What holiday traditions do you remember from your country?
Peru has a very high Catholic population so Christmas festivities commonly include attending mass at 6 p.m., followed by a gathering of family and close friends from about 8 p.m. to midnight. They would eat a large meal together that usually included a turkey stuffed with rice mixed with salsa and pecans, Russian salad made with cooked potatoes, carrots, beets, and peas mixed with mayo. The most common dessert was flan. We also ate panettone, an Italian bread, dipped in hot chocolate. It was also very popular to make a cocktail similar to eggnog using milk, tree algarrobina, egg yolks, and Pisco (a high-proof alcoholic beverage). At the stroke of midnight, presents are opened!
SL: What holiday festivities do you miss and what have you incorporated into your family since living in the United States?
I miss the dancing! Gringos don’t know how to dance like the Latins, and they are kind of boring! Anytime people gather in South America, whether it is holidays, a family reunion, or a concert there is lots and lots of dancing! We have focused on gathering as family during the holidays and have stayed consistent in doing that. Fortunately, I have family in the area.
