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Contact: Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor
M1 lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

This issue:

(¥ Winter fatigue
(¥ Listed: 10 rules to avoid social media douchebaggery
(¥Y Beauty on a Budget

And more!

Multicultural December holidays
celebrated worldwide

» What are they and who celebrates them?

Cazzy Lewchuk
Staff Writer

D ecember is “the holiday
season.” In a diverse and
multicultural society, these
celebrations take on many
different forms. Celebrations
at the beginning of winter
have taken place worldwide
for thousands of years, but
it’s not all Christmas on
December 25. Here’s a look
at the other observances that
take place this season.

It’s important to remember
that different cultures have
historically tracked time over
centuries through different
calendars, leading to confusion
and changes over exactly
when such holidays take
place. We may never know
the exact chronological date
these commemorative events
occurred. The selected Gregorian
calendar date is just a generally
agreed upon approximation.

Bodhi Day (December 8):
Many Buddhists believe this was
the day Siddhartha Gautauma,
the historical Buddha, achieved

: enlightenment and eliminated
: suffering after meditation

: undera tree. Many sects of

: Buddhism today commemorate
: through meditation, sacred

: text study, and/or a traditional

: meal of cake and tea.

Mawlid an-Nabi

: (December 23/28, 2015):

: Muslims observe this day as the
: birthday of Muhammad, the

: founder of Islam and its greatest
: prophet. Due to a rotating

> Islamic lunar calendar, the date
: changes each year—in addition,
: Sunni and Shia denominations

: celebrate the occurrence five

: days apart. An extremely popular
: holiday in Islamic areas, many

: countries celebrate Mawlid

: an-Nabi with recollections of

: the life of Muhammad, as well

: as presentations, festivals, and

: food and charity distribution.

Hanukkah (December

: 6-14, 2015): An eight-day Jewish
: holiday, Hanukkah’s exact dates
: vary each year in accordance

: with the Hebrew Calendar.

: Also known as Chanukah, it

: celebrates the victory of a small

: group of Jews in the 2nd Century !
: B.C.E. against an invading :
: Syrian-Greek army. Reclaiming

: their Holy Temple, the group

: was miraculously able to use a

: one-day supply of oil to light a

: traditional menorah (candle)

: for eight days. This is frequently

: celebrated today through a

: specially-designed menorah.

: Jews give reflection and thanks

: to G-d (in reference to the

: sanctification of the holy name)

: during this time. They also eat

: traditional Jewish food, spin

: dreidel tops, and exchange gifts.

: January 1): Created by Africana
: studies professor Maulana

: Karenga in 1965 asa holiday

: specific to African-Americans. A
: week long occurrence, Kwanzaa}
: focuses on the study of a different :
: principle each day. Designed

: ina secular context and meant

: to focus on culture reflection, :
: Kwanzaa is celebrated by millions !
: of people worldwide, often in

: conjunction with other holidays.
: (I cut this out because I don’t

: think it’s appropriate to include

Kwanzaa (December 26-

  

Image via thinkstock

it among the other cultural and

: spiritual holidays due to the fact
: it is fictional and basically it’s

: supposed to be an anti-holiday)
Though this is only a small

: spattering of winter holidays,

: as Canadians we get the chance
: to see and experience many

: various cultures and traditions.
: This makes this time of year

: perfect for exploring how

: other people celebrate.

 

The immediacy of information

» 9/11 versus the Paris attacks

* Brittney MacDonald
' Life & Style Editor
M lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

  
 

t isn’t often that events cause

me to sit back and contemplate
advancements in technology and
their effect on our modern life
style, but every now and then I

time was during the Paris attacks.
At the time | found out
I was scared, and frantically
trying to contact friends I had in
France to make sure they were
safe. As I waited for their replies
or their return calls, I scoured
social media for information—
where the attacks had occurred,
whether my friends had posted
that they’d be anywhere near
those areas, or whether they
had premeditated fear from
their foreign loved ones and
posted to Twitter or Facebook
that they were okay. Doing this
eased my fears a little; what was
once “unknown” became “very

: unlikely,” as I realized that my

: friends either had no plans to

: be anywhere near the attacks,

: or they had already posted in

: reaction to the events. Withina :
: couple hours I had heard from all :
: of them, and everyone was safe.

It wasn’t until the next day

: that I began to think about how
do get caught off guard. One such } ¢@Sy it hadall been. Not dealing:
: with the tragedy itself, which was:
: awful, but being abletocontact —:
: those I cared about that I thought :
: might be physically affected. :
: Within three or four hours I

: knew that my friends were okay.

I remember when 9/11

: happened. My sister, who lived

: close to New York at the time,

: was visiting. We were woken up
: by my mother before the second
: plane crashed into the tower,

: and though my memory as to

: the order of the events isa little
: foggy (I was about 14 at the time), :
: [do remember my sister on the
: phone most of the day. She was
: calling people she knew who

: lived or worked in New York, to

 

: make sure that they were safe.

: social media wasn't as wide-

: spread as it is today, it was a lot

: harder for her to find out what

: she wanted to know. Information
: coming out of the site felt like

: it took forever, and people had

: to actually call her to ease her

Cyril Attias via flickr :

: media does give us some peace
: of mind. We know that we're

: never far from information

: about our loved ones, whether
: it’s checking in with them in

: the wake of terrorist attacks or
: natural disasters, or simply to

: make sure they’re doing well.

: fears. It wasn’t as simple as

: taking out their smartphone
: and updating their status.

: Social media gets a bad

: rap, especially with older

: generations who believe it

: isolates millennials. Though
: this may be true to an extent,
; our obsession with social

Unfortunately, because