Courtesy Photo Alpena’s foreign exchange students from left to right are: Eduardo Spressao (Brazil), Victor Chiu-Cheng (Taiwan), Jaime Diaz Trechuelo Sanchez Molini (Spain), Victoria Andersen (Denmark), Nomunzul Bayarzorg (Mongolia) and Mija Pilkaite (Lithuania). For the group of six students, this holiday has been one of different experiences, including cold weather, real Christmas trees and lots of Christmas decorations.

ALPENA — Christmas will be a little different for Jaime Diaz Trechuelo Sanchez Molini this year.

When December comes around in his home country of Spain, Diaz Trechuelo Sanchez Molini is used to warm temperatures. But this winter, he’s braving the cold temperatures to celebrate Christmas with a host family in Alpena.

“It’s really cold (here),” he said. “In Spain, it’s normally 60, 65, sometimes it’s 70 (degrees). Here, it’s 32, so that’s the main difference.”

Diaz Trechuelo Sanchez Molini isn’t alone. From the winter cold, to the vast amounts of Christmas decorations, to celebrating the holidays with real Christmas trees, this holiday has been a very different experience for the handful of foreign exchange students at Alpena High School.

The cold aside, Diaz Trechuelo Sanchez Molini’s experience with the holidays in the United States has been enjoyable, so far. He’s made gingerbread houses with his host family and visited a Christmas tree farm to pick out a real Christmas tree, something not seen in Spain.

He said picking out the tree and getting the chance to decorate it has been his favorite holiday experience, so far.

“To have a real tree and have your home smell like Christmas tree and everything, and picking the tree, has been really cool,” Diaz Trechuelo Sanchez Molini said.

In Spain, Christmas is a very religious holiday and many of Diaz Trechuelo Sanchez Molini’s holiday traditions are religion-based. In Spain, the period from Dec. 24 to Jan. 6 is known as Navidad. Christmas Eve and St. Stephen’s Day (Dec. 26) are national holidays in Spain, and it’s common to see a Nativity scene in many homes. Both days are marked by family gatherings and large dinners.

While children typically receive a few presents on Christmas Day from Papa Noel (a Spanish version of Santa), the traditional day of gift-giving is Epiphany, on Jan 6. On Jan. 5, the Three Wise Men are welcomed and they deliver presents to houses for Jan. 6.

Celebrating a colder Christmas will be a new experience for Eduardo Spressao, too. In Spressao’s native Brazil, Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25. But, because the country lies in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas falls in the middle of the country’s summer.

Spressao said Brazilians don’t have a lot of holiday traditions, but they usually celebrate with an artificial tree. One of the biggest differences in Brazil Christmas celebrations is that Christmas activities usually happen on Christmas Eve, near midnight, with a family dinner, exchanging of presents and church celebrations.

“It’s very different” in the U.S.,” Spressao said. “We’ve had more decorations, we have real trees, and the decorations start very early. (There’s a) lot more traditions here in America.”

‘WE HAVE CHRISTMAS TREES’

Mija Pilkaite is used to the cold.

Pilkaite is from Lithuania, a country of just under 3 million people in northeast Europe. The average December temperature in the country is around 29 degrees, so Northeast Michigan’s winter temperatures have been easy to deal with.

“My country is even colder than here, so I’m kind of used to the cold and we have Christmas trees because of that,” Pilkaite said.

For Lithuanians like Pilkaite, many Christmas traditions are very old and all of them are a part of what make the holidays special.

One popular Christmas tradition is making biscuits called Kuciukai, which are served with poppy milk. Another is the advent calendar, which marks the days from Dec. 1 to 24 and often contains a small chocolate for each day on the calendar.

Much like Americans look forward to watching broadcasts of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Lithuanians have a particular holiday favorite too: “Home Alone.” The 1990 classic featuring Kevin McCallister taking on the Wet Bandits has become must-see holiday viewing in Lithuania.

“We always watch ‘Home Alone,’ because, every year at the same time, the same channel broadcasts ‘Home Alone,'” Pilkaite said. “This is a huge tradition that everyone does. No one’s out when ‘Home Alone’ is on.”

Christmas is very popular in Lithuania, but, for Pilkaite and her family, the holiday is all about family. Christmas is celebrated from Dec. 24 through 26 and, in that time, Pilkaite spends as much time with her family as she can. On Christmas Eve, she spends time with her dad’s relatives, exchanges gifts and has a big dinner with 12 dishes. Christmas Day is spent with immediate family and friends and Dec. 26 is spent with her mother’s relatives. That visit is an out-of-town trip that usually features a sleepover and another 12-dish holiday meal.

Like Pilkaite, Victoria Andersen, an exchange student from Denmark, has many traditions that are typical of the holiday season.

The Danish Yule usually starts at the beginning of advent or on Dec. 1, and Danes have several ways of marking the countdown to Christmas.

Denmark and many other countries have the tradition of an advent calendar,

Danes also mark the advent with daily candle calendars and with annual TV broadcasts of shows that have a new episode every day for 24 days.

Another holiday tradition in Denmark is “julefrokoster,” or “yule lunches,” which are held in workplaces, schools, by groups and friends and with families.

Christmas Eve is the main event of Danish Christmas festivities and is marked by a large family meal and a traditional rice pudding dessert known as risalamande, which has an almond hidden inside. The finder of the almond recieves a small gift. After the meal, a family will dance around its Christmas tree and sing hymns and Christmas carols. When the singing is completed, children pass out gifts to everyone and they’re opened.

Andersen said that, over time, American traditions have become more integrated into Danish Christmas culture.

“It’s kind of different, but there’s a lot of things that are the same, because I think American culture is more and more becoming a part of Danish culture,” Andersen said. “We watch American Christmas movies and stuff like that.”

‘I WAS SO SHOCKED’

If there’s one thing Victor Chiu-Cheng is looking forward to this Christmas, it’s the gifts.

Chiu-Cheng, who is from Taiwan, was told when he was younger that he was too old for gifts, so he’s excited to see what will be waiting for him under the tree this year.

“I’m pretty excited about the Christmas gift,” he said. “I don’t know what my host family’s going to get me. We celebrate Christmas, but, after I was 12, my mom said I was too old to get a gift.”

Not everyone in Taiwan celebrates Christmas, but Chiu-Cheng and his family are Christian and celebrate the holiday with Taiwanese food. Around the area where Chiu-Cheng lives, there are lots of Christmas decorations in malls and department stores and there is a large Christmas tree in the center of the community.

As a Buddhist nation, Mongolia does not celebrate Christmas, so, for Nomunzul Bayarzorg, the biggest holiday this time of year is New Year’s Eve.

Still, there are a few Mongolian traditions that are similar to Christmas. They have their own version of Santa Claus, who is called Grandpa of Winter. The Grandpa of Winter comes annually in December and gives gives to children and to workers.

Another holiday tradition in Mongolia involves decorating a New Year’s tree, which is similar to a Christmas tree. Guests who visit a family during that time hang Mongolian currency, known as tugriks, on the tree for children. Mongolian children are also given gifts during the holiday and many associations are created to collect and distribute gifts to children.

One American holiday tradition that was eye-opening for Bayarzorg was Black Friday. America’s annual post-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza has been recently introduced in Mongolia, but Bayarzorg was shocked at how many people turn out to shop.

“I was so shocked,” Bayarzorg said. “(Americans) buy their Christmas gifts on Black Friday. Black Friday is very crazy, a very busy day.”

James Andersen can be reached at jandersen@thealpenanews.com or 989-