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Ever notice how you celebrate holidays depending on class majority in terms of ethnicity back in elementary school?
I'm writing a paper specifically about Israeli kindergartens. I realized that having grown up in Vaughan, that despite being born Chinese, I actually celebrated quite a few Jewish holidays within the context of grade school, and kindergarten. This includes Hannuka (as spelt in the source material I'm using from the Anthropologist Handelman, but I always thought it was spelt as Hannukah).

Anyway, I think it's pretty awesome that Israel has got actual minorah's lit up during holidays. All I got were the construction paper cut outs, where we'd tape on fire made of coloured paper as well. Also I got a dreidal (for some reason, this isn't common knowledge, thought I thought it was... that a dreidal is a spinning top, and on holidays they're full of delicious candies or other small gifts... so cool)

Chinese new years was also celebrated, now that I think back. Chinese kids, such as myself brought in new years desserts for the class to try out.

Do you guys ever remember having celebrated holidays within grade school?

Only the typical popular and commerical Holidays in the West.

The school would acknowledge other holidays. . . but not celebrate them.

heh...i also grew up in a jewish community. (thornhill, to be exact)
and just as you did, my school (bayview glen public school) was celebrating jewish holidays. we actually had real jewish minorahs on display and played around with dreidels. my school even served latkas during the hannukah season and there was even a time where i sang those hannukah songs in hebrew. (i still hum that track to this very day)

as for chinese holidays, i just take the day off and celebrate at home. we have the right to do that.

Do you guys remember Ramadan? I remember one year it fell upon the 24hr famine, and I finally understood why my classmates were so grumpy. Fasting sucks!!!! Having to wait till sundown to eat anything feels like an eternity!

If it weren't for fasting, I would have never realized that rice is actually SWEET, since all I had was water and rice anyway. No wonder diabetics have to stay away from white rice, it's like a spoonful of sugar, when you've had nothing else to eat!

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