Christmas Traditions in Asia and the Pacific Islands

Asian American History 101

Welcome to Season 3, Episode 49. Christmas is a holiday that can be celebrated in a religious or secular way. So how is it celebrated in Asia and the Pacific Islands? In this episode, we discuss some of the unique traditions and foods you might find in countries across Asia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. Some of them are pretty interesting and fun.

We spend a little more time talking about the Philippines because they LOVE Christmas! In our recurring segment, we introduce a new one called The AAHistory101 Holiday Gift Guide. Looking for that gift for a special someone that is also supporting the API community? In addition to streaming services that have API content like Max, AppleTV+, Netflix, and Disney+, we talk about some specific gifts including:

• Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, the new memoir by Curtis Chin
• The Chinese Menu, the new book of origin stories, myths, and memories by Grace Lin (we also love the audio book version narrated by Lisa Ling)
• King of the Armadillos, the new historical fiction novel by Wendy Chin-Tanner
• Vietnamese Vegetarian, the new cookbook by Uyen Luu
• Super Boba Café, the new graphic novel by Nidhi Chanani
• The Mask of Haliya by Kwento Comics
• Bewitched, the new album from Laufey
• Kung Fu, the complete box set of the CW show
• Warrior, Season 3 (or Season 1 or 2)
• Hurry Up and Wait, the not new but great album from Bite Me Bambi that features Tahlena Chikani on lead vocals.
• Bokksu, Japanese snack and candy subscriptions
• Sanzo, Asian-inspired sparkling water
• Nguyen Coffee Supply, Specialty Vietnamese Coffee

For previous episodes and information, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at [e-mail].

Segments

• 00:25 Do you celebrate Christmas?
• 02:43 Christmas Traditions in Asia and the Pacific Islands
• 30:28 The AAHistory101 Holiday Gift Guide