Season’s Greetings!

Holiday Traditions

The holiday season is here! Do you have any holiday traditions for this special time of the year? Read below to hear about some of our full-time staff’s traditions:

Ai Kuwayama, Fitness & Wellness Supervisor:

It is important for Japanese families to gather together on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Most Japanese families in Japan cook or purchase traditional meals called “osechi” which are ranges of dishes packed in special boxes to celebrate New Year’s Day with each food having a special meaning. However, it takes time to prepare osechi and I do not prepare a traditional one. I pack my family’s favorite foods in three layered boxes so I can relax on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The Japanese tradition I still maintain completely here in San Diego is to eat Japanese noodles called soba, thin Japanese noodles made from buckwheat on New Year’s Eve. The soba we eat on New Year’s Eve is called toshikoshi soba, which means “Year-Crossing Soba.” As a tradition, toshikoshi soba is usually served in its simplest form — buckwheat soba noodles served in a hot Japanese broth and garnished with chopped green onions, but there’s no set recipe. If you like, you can make it your own by taking it to the next level and topping it with tempura, kamaboko (fish cakes) or seaweed. My family normally adds shrimp and vegetable tempura on top. Soba noodles are long but easy to cut, thus eating soba symbolizes breaking off any hardships from the old year and welcoming good luck for the new year. It also symbolizes and is synonymous with a long and healthy life. 

Yoi Otoshi o (“I wish you a happy new year” in Japanese)

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Cole Davis, Fitness & Wellness Coordinator:

Christmas is a special time for my family and I. My parents and siblings all live back east in Philadelphia so this often means I am the one making the long trek back! My parents (mostly my mom) always make sure to put up the (fake) tree and all the decorations the first week in December so it is up by the time my siblings and I are there. Mariah Carey's Christmas album can be heard playing through the Amazon Alexa at all hours of the day. From the kitchen, the heavenly smell of cinnamon rolls baking makes you wonder whether or not it is socially acceptable to eat dessert in place of dinner. 

As my siblings and I have gotten older, the opportunities for us to all get together have become increasingly rare with new jobs, kids, etc. When we do have the chance to get together, it is so cute to see how excited my parents get to have all three of their boys home. Our festivities typically include sampling some of the fine wine my parents/siblings have stocked up on for the holidays and watching home videos of us all as children. We have never been a big party family or the type that runs 5Ks (no judgment - you go!). For us, just having the time to spend with each other under one roof is special enough. If we run out of home videos to watch, we might break out a deck of cards or play a game of Sequence or Yahtzee to keep things lively. Dinner options vary from year to year but ham and/or steak are popular choices. This year, my two-week-old nephew will be joining us, so the evening might be ending a little earlier than usual!

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Mohammad Hamed Rasooli, Accounts Receivable Technician:

Winters have always been exciting and fun for our family as we celebrate the long winter nights with food, poems, stories and card games. “Landee” is one of the special foods that we cook and eat on the weekends during the winters. This food is made of dried meat (mostly lamb), rice and common food spices like dried onion, cumin, black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon and so on. After dinner, the youth and adults of the family gather and begin reading poems from the Shahnameh (written by Ferdowsi) and the Masnavi (written by Rumi), which are among the most famous literary books of Persian literature and contain a number of beautiful stories. We also play card games such as Manfi, Tika and Norange in groups of two or four players depending on game rules. My favorite is Manfi as it requires more strategies to play. I love winter so much, during which my family spends more time together. They always have smiles on their faces as they interact with each other in the gatherings.

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Diana de la Rosa, Student Organization Accounts Specialist:

My Family Holiday Tradition

Six years ago, I decided to start a new Christmas Eve tradition that required all my family to participate in a group art project. I have to say that this tradition was not very well liked the first year. There were some family members who didn’t think of themselves as “creative,” and tried to get out of it. There were some who liked the idea but spent way too much time overthinking it.

After the first couple of years, the art project became a tradition that my family looked forward to. Even my cousin from Chicago participates from her home when she is unable to make it to San Diego. I just send her the art supplies and she joins us via Zoom on Christmas Eve.

This year, I have already started getting text messages from family members asking about my plans for this year’s art project, some even making suggestions. Who would have thought?

My eldest sister, who claims to have no artistic imagination, has decided to take charge of this year’s art project. I think this tradition is finally catching on!

Happy Holidays!

From Child to Teacher: Abby Castro

Current Children’s Center Master Teacher, Abby Castro attended the Children’s Center when she was a child, worked there part-time as an undergraduate student at SDSU and now works at the Children’s Center full time! Read below as she reflects on her time at the Children’s Center:

“Entering my first year of undergrad at SDSU, I was looking for an on campus job. As an alumni of the SDSU Children’s Center, it was one of the first places I thought of since I have always had a love for children and I have fond memories of my time as a child attending the Children’s Center. Some of my first memories are of playing on the pirate ship out in Memory Park. I remember the feeling of joy that came with chasing my friends around the playground, scaling the rope wall and steering the pirate ship. I also have fond memories of Ms. Lee Ann, who was my teacher when I attended the Center as a child.

Left: Abby at the ground breaking ceremony for the current SDSU Children's Center. RIght: Abby recreating the ground breaking ceremony photo at the Children’s Center when she graduated with her Bachelor's in Child Development.

When I started as a part-time staff member, I never thought I would be a Master Teacher at the Center five years later. My career path at the time was set on becoming an event coordinator but after that first year working at the Children’s Center, I decided I wanted to change my career path to child development. After having such a wonderful experience as an undergraduate student working with Master Teacher Ashley Lopez, I wanted to provide that same positive experience for others entering the field of early childhood education. Working with children has truly become my passion and it is one I love to share with new teachers, student interns, families at the Center and anyone else who is willing to listen. I fell in love with the Center all over again as I created new memories and discovered a passion for the field of early childhood education. Part of the reason I wanted to stay at the Children’s Center is their practice of continuity of care. Being able to watch children I started with when they were toddlers grow and develop until they left for kindergarten was a magical experience. 

During my time at the Children’s Center, I have seen myself grow into a more patient, emotionally intelligent and understanding person as I have helped children develop their self-regulation and social-emotional skills. As much as I am teaching the children everyday, they are also teaching me. Children have this unique way of viewing the world around them and I am lucky enough to spend each day seeing the world from their point of view.”