Branching Out
November 30, 2007
If you want to show your children Christmas traditions from around the world, Lincroft is a good place to start. From now Until January 6 (Three Kings’ Day in Hispanic nations) the Monmouth Museum (www.monmouthmuseum.com) is holding an exhibit of Christmas trees that local garden clubs have decorated according to the traditions of more than a dozen countries.
The Russian tree, for instance, is decorated with Fabergé eggs (www.mieks.com), designed as Easter gifts for Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II by Peter Karl Fabergé. Well, actually, the tree is decorated with fake Fabergé eggs—only 69 of the real thing were originally made, eight of which are missing.
The Mexican tree is full of poinsettias—and not just because they’re nice Christmas decorations (www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/poinsettia). They are on the tree because they are nice Mexican Christmas decorations, brought to the United States in 1825 by Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States ambassador to Mexico.
At the exhibit, you will also learn that in Ethiopia (www.tourismethiopia.org/pages/detail/detailfestival.asp), holiday tradition calls for playing genna, a game similar to field hockey so deeply associated with Christmas that Ethiopians also call Christmas “genna.”
And did you know that in the Philippines, Christmas is inconceivable without bibingka and puto bumbong on the table (www.pinoycook.net/cooking-food/filipino/bibingka-and-puto-bumbong)? Bibingka is a rice cake with cheese and duck eggs; puto bumbong is purple rice steamed in bamboo tubes.
There will be special shows to complement the exhibit the next three Sundays: “Songs of the Season” on December 2, “Seasonal Celebration” on December 16, and “Crafts from Around the World” on December 16.
Your kids won’t want to miss the huge electric train display, either. They’ll learn something about other cultures too. And we are pretty sure you will too.
Recent Articles
- Weekend Picks: Lights, Idols, Santa…
December 4, 2008 - Food: The Best Brews
December 3, 2008 - Green Cleaners
December 2, 2008 - The Obama Blend
December 1, 2008 - Weekend Picks: Big Blue, Yoga, & This Wonderful Life
November 26, 2008 - Keeping It Local
November 25, 2008 - ... Archived Articles