I met this girl who dressed in rather strange clothes a week before I left for a great adventure, something I’ve never done before. She had a different practice in religion without various gods but just one God. I left my family, bringing nothing with me but a sack of a pair of my native clothes. She told me that we were heading out to her country where different occasions are celebrated. She named some like birthdays, Easter, Halloween, graduations, prom, and Valentine ’s Day. But she said that I was going to partake in a celebration in America known as Christmas and Christmas Eve. When I came to her house, already I had noticed the immense amount of differences in our cultures. Her family was taking in someone that they did not know at all. This reminds me of when Ikemefuna came into my family who was a stranger to our whole village and practices. She said that the so called “Christmas” was only a week away and certain preparations need to take place. I listened closely and watched intensely to images and actions I’ve never witnessed before. I stayed in her home for most of the week getting accustomed to the strange appliances that lay around the house. I had seen her at times though running very fast to get big boxes in and out of the house. I was so confused. Also, I never understood the reasoning of having a huge tree inside the living area and putting colorful hanging things around it. The day of “Christmas Eve” is tomorrow and I wake up to see people run in and out of the house doing what they call last minute shopping. I call it go crazy running periods. I still haven’t understood why they do it in the house though. The next day came and the girl was telling me of the practices in the house during this day and the next. She told me that this day, many people go out to places called stores and buy the remainder of items for the occasion that will take place tomorrow. She went to her room and brought back a new item that I haven’t seen in the house before and told me that she is to give it to her cousin tomorrow. Along with the item, she brought some type of paper with distinct and bright markings which I have seen on television, which I have also just discovered the day before. She put the item on the white side of the paper and started folding the paper to the point where not even the slightest blotch could be seen. With a writing utensil she had written her name and to whom she will be presenting the gift to. When I had asked her why she had done these actions, she finally explained to me the meaning of Christmas. I listened carefully as she finished the spiritual story. "A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness."The religious aspect was very new to me due to the fact that I had worshipped a multiple of gods my whole life. Representation of one almighty God and celebrating his birth on one day and all the preparations that one goes through for this event is truly one of a kind and somewhat inspiring to me. Although I had learned most of the story, I still had yet to learn about some of the customs that will occur on Christmas morning. The next morning arrived with loud screams of “Wake up, wake up! It’s Christmas!” Occurring approximately at 6 AM, I was extremely tired and was not used to it at all. My friend pulled me out of my sleeping grounds and dragged me downstairs. I didn’t know what was happening because I wasn’t able to even wash my face. The family sat around the big tree in the corner of their main sitting room. From under the tree, one by one, each person started picking a small box or an item that looked like what my friend was trying to cover up before but with loads of different colored paper. One person would give a gift to another and then another person would give one to another. It was a never-ending process that consisted of many gifts. After each gift was distributed to a person, emotional thank yous were exchanged by embracing one another’s arms and kisses on the head. This compassionate feeling really stuck out in my mind and wondered why in our tribe, we never celebrated or took part in such rituals. I felt so open to this culture and felt like a part of it.
After most of the gifts were given out from under the tree, my friend reached out to me with something in her hand she said to me that this was a gift for me from her. I unraveled the box slowly because I wasn’t used to opening a box and I wanted this feeling that was captured inside of me to last longer. When I finally got the box open, I reached in and felt something very round and smooth. When I tried picking it up, it was quite heavy and I almost dropped it. I looked at it and I had no idea what it was. As I moved it along my hands, moving it up and down, little white and shiny dots moved and shined through the round surface. It was beautiful. Inside was what I know as animals that we hunt for our clothing. My friend told me that they’re called bears and they were wearing clothes themselves and it looked like they were conversing with each other. My friend told me that the gift was what was known as a snow globe. She told me that the snow part of the name was the white dots that move inside and that snow comes only a few times during the winter season and it’s nothing I’ll ever see from where I came from.
I was attracted by this snow and all of a sudden while I was captured in thought, my friend looks out the window and declares, “Nwoye! Look it’s snowing! Come outside!” She told me to put on a jacket, which was a clothing piece that covered every inch of my body from my waist up. Also boots and gloves, which covered every inch of my hands and feet. When I first stepped outside and great shiver went through my body. I’ve never experienced this much coldness ever in my life and it was really hard to even stay a whole five minutes outside. But what I could witness that was outside made me want to stay longer. White sheets of shining specks all over the ground outside. When I took my first step, I was startled because my whole sank within the sheets. My friend helped me take a few steps and after a few minutes I was walking on my own and playing with the rest of the family. This experience was one of the most unique and entertaining adventure I’ve ever taken and I can’t wait to tell the rest of my people what traditions and customs I had witnessed over the past few days.