Oak Forest HS International Language Club Teaches about Holiday Cultural Traditions

Oak Forest High School Freshman Michael Marcheschi makes a traditional Flor de Noche Buena, or poinsettia, at the International Language Club holiday celebration day, held at Oak Forest High School. The celebration day was sponsored by the Oak Forest High School International Language Club as a way for students to learn about how various cultures celebrate the holiday season.

French students talked to World Language classes in a presentation titled “Joyeaux Noel.” They described why French people say that around the holiday. It is because it means “Merry Christmas.” They shared details about the main Christmas meal, called The Reveillon. It is eaten on Christmas Eve/early Christmas morning after people have returned from midnight church service. Common dishes might be roast turkey or goose with chestnuts, oysters, fois gras, lobster, venison and cheeses. For dessert, a chocolate sponge cake, called a buche de Noel, is served.

In France, Santa Claus is called Pere Noel. A Yule Log is traditionally burned in French homes. The log is carried into houses on Christmas Eve and sprinkled with red wine to make the log smell nice when it is burning. Children put out their shoes for Pere Noel to fill, like children do with stockings in the United States. Christmas celebrations begin on December 6, which is St. Nicholas’s Day.

The International Language Club also showed a video about the holiday traditions in Mexico and South America. One of them was Las Posadas, which starts on December 16. This is a journey which recreates the journey of Joseph and Mary on the way to Bethlehem. This is a nine day celebration. One of the popular drinks of during Las Posadas is el ponche, Mexico’s hot apple cider. Also, the presentation focused on the Pinata. The original pinata had seven cones, which represented the seven deadly sins. When you beat the pinata into the ground and broke it open, you are overcoming the seven deadly sins. A pinata is broken every night of Las Posadas.

After the presentation, students split up into exploratory groups in which they created a holiday craft. At some stations, students colored traditional holiday scenes. At others, students decorated sugar cookies, some made Ojos de Dios ornaments, and some made poinsettia flowers or cut snowflakes out of colorful paper.

Students enjoyed taking pictures at the World Language Photo Booth, and pictures can be viewed at the world language twitter, @OFHSWorldLang.