Diversity Matters: New beginnings

For Diversity Month we would like to share with you the Diversity Matters columns and interviews that were published in our staff magazine Febrations. The column and interviews below about new beginnings were written in February 2020

Enjoy the read!

The Gregorian calendar starts on 1 January each year and ends on 31 December. It dictates most of the structure and scheduling of the Dutch calendar. By 31 December each year, the world will either have just celebrated or will have started preparations for different kinds of holidays that address the transition from darkness to light. These usually include reflections on the past, finding peace with personal developments, and resolutions for new times. Across the globe, different communities celebrate new beginnings at different times in the year. Did you know the Google Calendar App holds a feature to subscribe to different (religious) calendars of interest?

To subscribe to different calendars of interest, go to your Google Calendar App, click on the + next to ‘Other Calendars’ -> ‘Subscribe to Calendar’ -> ‘Browse Calendars of Interest’. This list includes Regional Holidays per Country of Interest, Orthodox Holidays, Muslium Holidays, Jewish Holidays, the Phases of the Moon, and more!

Perhaps it’s a paradox to write a column on diversity of ‘new beginnings’ by the time the Gregorian New Year just started (Happy 2020!). We could also have written this during Chinese New Year, around 21 March when Spring starts, Tamil Thai Pongal (New Year), at the beginning of the academic year, or any other ritual of new beginnings! At the same time: the start of the new calendar year seems to be an important moment to give attention to the different cycles that exist, and the different celebrations that go with that.

To give attention to this, this Diversity Matters invites two FEB colleagues to talk about their new beginnings: when do these take place, how do they prepare, what does one eat and how do they celebrate the new beginnings? It wasn’t easy to find interviewees willing to open up about such a personal element of their lives. This illustrates that it can be difficult, but it is also important to give attention to personal lives in the work environment. After all, how can we begin newly with each other each calendar and academic year, if we don’t know how we celebrate new beginnings differently? On the next pages you will read how and when two of our colleagues experience new beginnings, and how they celebrate.

Sarah See

When (in the year) do you experience 'new beginnings'?

At several different times of the year! I come from a Chinese family in the Philippines, which meant being raised with Chinese Buddhist customs and traditions in a predominantly Catholic country. In the Philippines, I’d say religion is big. Most respectable schools and universities are sectarian and require a Catholic baptismal certificate. So, when I was 4 years old, my parents had me baptized in a Catholic church to get the certificate so I could have access to certain schools, which I eventually did. When I was 12, though, I followed in my mom’s footsteps and tagged along when she went to a Protestant Church on Sundays. Then I moved to Italy and the UK, again with different religious practices. All these have let me experience different celebrations and rituals, from different cultural and religious perspectives. But to put it in a nutshell, my family celebrates both the Gregorian calendar New Year on the 1st of January and the Chinese Lunar New Year which falls on January 25 this year.

How is this generally celebrated?

Food is central to celebrations! I remember my mom would prepare certain dishes for dinner, especially on Chinese New Year. Of course, celebrating festivities has changed a lot for me since moving abroad, not to mention that each place I’ve lived in has immersed me in its own unique culture and practices and has let me celebrate in different ways. Even on those times that I had to spend Chinese New Year by myself, I’ve always tried to cook foods that my mother used to whip up, then I add in a little sprinkle of some unique flavor just for spice. Come to think of it, this goes for any celebration and for any new beginnings, actually. But celebrations always come with food preparation. The cooking reminds me of my mom and my relationship with her and how food brings people together.

What do you do to prepare?

That depends on the festivities. I like preparing foods that mean something to me, which are mostly foods that my mother used to prepare. They remind me of growing up. As a toddler, I liked hovering around the kitchen while my mother busied herself with cooking. I would stand at a corner of the kitchen stand, my tiny hands clutching the brink of the top, while my eyes, barely reaching the countertop, surreptitiously watched her flip and whisk and do all sorts of movements, like a music conductor does to an orchestra with his/her baton. She would prepare fish, a whole one, with head and tail included. There is a belief that the fish head signifies the beginning, and the tail symbolizes the end. So having one for New Year signifies a “whole” encompassing year. A dessert I really like that’s common around New Year is the glutinous rice balls with black sesame filling! There is also the Fa Gao cake, or steamed “prosperity” cake, which comes out with a burst after steaming. The burst symbolizes prosperity.

How do you maintain the feeling of new beginnings, afterwards?

Actually, I was thinking about new beginnings this morning and I feel that new beginnings depend on the context. With new beginnings, we have the implicit assumption that there is an end to something, a closure. A new beginning can also be starting a new habit, which is usually the case with new year’s resolutions (whenever that new year is). But what strikes most is; why would you wait until the new year, new cycle, new whatever to start something? Why wait for a benchmark moment to start? Why not now? “Se non ora, quando?” as the Italians would say. Especially if it’s something within our reach and under our own control, we can definitely start now. Starting now, and not later, shows how motivated we are. Like at the end of each day, I like to reflect on my day, how it went. And then I think of tomorrow as a new beginning. Waking up is like starting a new. A clean start for anything that comes my way.

Jamie Snow

When (in the year) do you experience 'new beginnings'?

For me, new beginnings are experienced annually: 1) in the fall at the start of the new academic calendar, 2) in the fall during the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, 3) on January 1st at the beginning of the secular New Year, and 4) especially as I get older, on my birthday. Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are the two most important Jewish holidays of the year. These High Holidays and the 10 days between, called the Days of Awe, are meant as a time for reflection and forgiveness. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur usually take place in September and/or October. The timing of these holidays often falls right after the start of the new academic year. Sometimes it feels strange and challenging to take a reflective pause after just getting back into the rhythm of school or work from the summer vacation.

How is this generally celebrated? (certain rituals, a certain date, etc.)

Judaism follows a lunar calendar, so the timing of the holidays fluctuate each year. I always have to look up when they are and block off the days in my work calendar and in my kids’ daycare app. As a kid, I grew up in a city with a small Jewish community and had to request to make-up homework or exams on the days I would miss school. (Comparatively, in New York City for example, public schools are closed on the High Holidays.) My family and I would go to services to hear the Rabbi blow the shofar. Aside from all of the food, my favorite part of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the ritual of tashlikh: walking to a flowing body of water to throw in small pieces of bread. This represents throwing away the past year’s sins. I think it’s a special practice to spend time in nature and to truly think about and reflect on the ways we can be better in the year to come. The time between the two holidays is also about asking for forgiveness.

What do you do to prepare? (certain foods, decorations, family & friends, rituals)

Symbolism is important in Judaism -- and so is food. On Rosh Hashanah it is traditional to eat round and sweet foods for a sweet New Year. As a family we make homemade bread, called challah, and eat apples dipped in honey. We light candles before dinner. We also eat a sweet noodle dish called kugel. I use my grandma’s recipe. Living far from family can be especially hard during the holidays. There are approximately only 50 Jewish families in Groningen and most people I talk to here have never heard of the High Holidays, which makes celebrating feel lonely. But, biting into kugel brings me back to my bubbie’s kitchen. The most important part of most Jewish holidays is being together with family and adopted family. We often invite friends over to help us celebrate and to share in our traditions.

How do you maintain the feeling of new beginnings, afterwards?

I had to laugh a little when I heard this question. Juggling two toddlers, a full-time job, Nederlandse lessen, all the challenges that come with living abroad, and life in general, can make it challenging to hang on to the feelings of new beginnings that come from these brief pauses. It is much easier to slide back into routine and into the grind. Because of this, I appreciate having multiple reflection points in the year. For me, the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is the most intense time for reflection and renewal, but the pauses before the start of a new school year or at the end of December or on my birthday are also chances to breathe a little deeper, take stock of where I have been, and think about what is next. Leftovers also help make the holidays last a little longer.