Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful winter break. I always enjoy spending time with my family and friends and getting some relaxation time before classes start; those are the reasons why I always look forward for the holiday seasons. In this blog, I thought it would be interesting to share with you some of my family’s Christmas and New Year traditions that we carried over from the Philippines.

Christmas

For Christmas, we would go to midnight mass on December 24th then a meal called “Noche Buena”. This year, instead of having the Noche Buena, my family, my uncle’s family, and my fiance’s family decided to have a lunch celebration to combine our Christmas celebration and my cousin’s birthday, who was born on Christmas day. We had Filipino foods, such as pork menudo and so much more!

New Year

I love New Year’s Eve with my family. Filipinos have various New Year’s Eve traditions and superstition. I thought it would be interesting to share some that my family do practice.

1. My mom would instruct us not vacuum after 12am because she would say that we would drive away  “gracia” or blessings

2. We would place money trails in the house to invite good fortune and energy throughout the house.

3. We would wear whatever lucky color is lucky for the upcoming year based on the Chinese zodiac sign.

4. Open your wallet and have money and coins in your pocket before midnight strikes to ensure that you have money throughout the year.

5. When midnight strikes, children would gather and a grown up would throw money in the air. Then, the children would collect as much money as they can because we believe that the money are lucky. Also, the children are to jump three times so they will get taller.

6. You have to have 12 different round fruits in the house before midnight. It is for good luck for the whole year.  

Although my family and I have been living in the US for over a decade, we still maintain part of our Filipino identity. This ability to main our heritage and culture is a huge part of me. Therefore, I would love to be able to pass it down to the future generations in my family especially the idea of how food brings everyone together. 

Speaking of food, did you know that you can get your food at four different locations at USG? You can always find more information through the USG website under Campus Resources.

Green Grove Cafe

You can get burgers and fries from their City Grill, sandwiches from their Upmarket Deli, great pizzas from their Pizza Villaggio, soups, and build-you-won salad from their Salad Bar. Don’t forget to check out their weekly menu specials.

Cafe Hours

Mon-Fri: 11:30AM-2:30PM
Sat & Sun: Closed

Corner Bistro

The bistro has great grab-n-go foods as well as cold and hot drinks. They serve Starbucks coffee, espresso and Tazo teas.

Bistro Hours
Mon-Thur:
8:00AM- 6:00PM
Fri: 8:00AM-2:30PM
Sat & Sun: Closed

Bookstore

The bookstore has variety of snacks and drinks and other school supplies. Check out the USG Bookstore website to browse through their selections or to view your course textbooks.

Library Market Stall

The library recently opened their new market stall located in the printing room in the library. If you want food and the cafe, bistro, and bookstore are closed, this would be a perfect alternative place to buy food. For more information,  view my fellow blogger’s blog about the Market Stall.

I wish you all good luck on your spring semester!