July 4th, Independence Day, ranks as many Americans’ favorite holiday.  What are CELOP students’ favorite holidays?  We asked students in Stephanie Ngom’s class what their favorite holiday is.

Hamad Alalyan

My favorite holiday is Eid al-Fitr. It takes place after Ramadan – A holy month in Islam. We start at 6:00 am (it depends on the city). We wear our traditional clothes, which are thob (white dress) and shmagh (red and white scarf). We go to the mosque to pray. After that we meet our cousins in my grandfather’s house. Every family has to bring one dish, and we put all of these dishes together and start to eat it. At night, the fireworks begin at 9:00 pm. Also there are a lot of special events. Usually one of my cousins invites us to dinner for the first day. On the second day my father invites all of my cousins to have dinner together. We are so happy on this day no matter what happens.

Bakyt Bakayeva

I like summer and all the holidays in summer too. Summer begins with an amazing holiday in Kazakhstan which is on the 1st of June: International Children’s day. This holiday has been celebrated for over 60 years since 1949. The declaration of the celebration was signed in Paris by the Organization of United Nations. Today the first day of summer is a very significant day in a lot of countries. Usually children go to the park and take part in different activities. They draw brightly colored pictures on the wall. In addition, this day gives special attention to orphaned children. Moreover the government educates people, particularly women not to leave their children in the children’s community. The Health Department also helps couples to take care of their children and protect their health. It would be great if the events like this were provided not only on a special day, but often in everyday life. Parents play a very active role in the life of each child. So they should share the important events of their lives. This celebration should remain for each child to realize how important family is.

Si Wen (Gina)

With the long history of change, we have lots of holidays to celebrate. In my country, the biggest holiday is called the Lunar New Year. It’s our traditional holiday to celebrate a new year coming. And also in the old days, people celebrated it for a good harvest. This is the only day our big families get together; we make dumplings and watch the Chinese New Year Gala on TV.

Arwa Alhujaili

In my country, Saudi Arabia we celebrate a few holidays. Eid al-fitr is one of the most important holidays in my country, especially in the west. This holiday comes after Ramadan, so it’s named after the breakfast meal in our language because we eat breakfast for the first time after one month. My family starts this day very early before sunrise by praying with all the people in the mosques and streets. After that, we go to have breakfast at my grandmother’s home with our extended family. It is really a great time I have had with my family every year. We have had a traditional breakfast and some homemade sweets. This day is the longest day for many people in our country because it starts very early and ends after midnight. Furthermore, my family has a big celebration at night in my grandfather’s home. My grandfather started this habit more than twenty years ago. He called their extended family to come into his home to celebrate together. On this night I enjoy the delicious dinner with many kinds of dishes and sweets. After the guests leave at the end of the day, my cousins and I work hard with our grandmother to allocate the rest of the food for the poor people.

Wu Pan

My favorite holiday is the National Day of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is a holiday that Chinese people have to celebrate their national day. It was declared on October 1, 1949 by the Chinese government. I have two reasons why it’s my favorite holiday. The first reason is that the National Day of PRC is the day that Chinese people celebrated that the war was finished in 1949. The second reason is that we have 5 days of vacation in China and the highways are free for every car. My family and I might go to another place to have a vacation. Some Chinese people who live without their family could visit their family at that time.

Mohammed Alsubaii

Ramadan in Saudi Arabia is a unique month. During this month all healthy adults are fasting. The restaurants open late at night only. Usually the family breaks their fast together. Also, there are some special meals that just appear in Ramadan. People spend more money on charities.