{"id":5614,"date":"2016-11-06T04:00:12","date_gmt":"2016-11-06T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=5614"},"modified":"2016-11-06T15:12:34","modified_gmt":"2016-11-06T23:12:34","slug":"whoops-i-missed-un-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/culture\/whoops-i-missed-un-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Whoops! I Missed UN Day."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"UN<\/a>

my daughter, R, in her brocade Chinese suit being hugged by her nursery school teacher<\/p><\/div>\n

United Nations Day was October 24. I’d forgotten all about it until I turn the page on my calendar. And there it was: UN Day. For many years–thirteen to be exact–it had been the biggest school celebration for my three daughters.<\/p>\n

The first school they attended was the Makati International Nursery School.<\/p>\n

\"un-day-mins-001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then they moved on to the Manila International School<\/a>. Most of their elementary and secondary school years were spent there.<\/p>\n

The students at the International School came from every continent except Antarctica. No single national group made up more than about fifteen percent of the whole, so it was hard to find a holiday the school could celebrate.<\/p>\n

\"UN<\/a><\/p>\n

children representing New Zealand, Norway, and Okinawa<\/p>\n

National holidays were out. For American children, that meant no Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Day, Columbus Day, end-of-summer Labor Day, or even American Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

In a student body of varied religions, celebrating religious holidays didn\u2019t make much sense either.<\/p>\n

Since the school was located in the Philippines, a Christian (mainly Catholic) country, it didn\u2019t need to celebrate Christmas and Easter. Reminders of them were everywhere … outside of the school.<\/p>\n

Halloween can’t really be described as a national holiday or a true religious holiday. But however you want to describe it, it isn\u2019t universally observed around the world. During our years in the Philippines, if a child had knocked on a door and shouted \u201ctrick-or-treat,\u201d the homeowner would have greeted him not with candy but with a look of puzzlement.<\/p>\n

\"UN<\/a>

my daughter, C, in a Chinese-style dress with her Pakistani friend, N.<\/p><\/div>\n

The only holiday remaining suitable for an international school to celebrate was United Nations Day.<\/p>\n

At my daughters\u2019 schools, the UN Day celebrations often lasted for a week. The older children participated in mock-UN sessions <\/a>and learned national dances. The younger children brought their mothers in to share games, crafts, and traditional dishes from their respective countries.<\/p>\n

\"un-day-parade-is-001\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The culmination of the week-long festivities was the Parade of Nations.<\/p>\n

\"UN<\/a>

my daughter, C, in her pioneer bonnet.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"my<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United Nations Day was October 24. I’d forgotten all about it until I turn the page on my calendar. And there it was: UN Day. For many years–thirteen to be exact–it had been the biggest school celebration for my three daughters. The first school they attended was the Makati International Nursery School. Then they moved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1340,755,148],"tags":[1410,1409,1413,1411,1414,1412,1408],"class_list":["post-5614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-expatriate-life","category-holidays","category-philippines","tag-international-school-manila","tag-makati-international-nursery-school","tag-mock-united-nations-sessions","tag-national-holidays-in-international-schools","tag-parade-of-nations-at-manila-international-school","tag-religious-holidays-in-international-schools","tag-un-day-october-24"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-1sy","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9073,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/vanuatu\/vanuatu-vanuatu\/remembering-celebrating-un-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":5614,"position":0},"title":"Remembering & Celebrating UN Day","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Manila International School United Nations Day, October 24, was the big holiday for my children. No other holiday made sense for the children at the Makati International School and then the students at the Manila International School where they studied. Teachers make good use of the opportunity, celebrating all week\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Vanuatu"","block_context":{"text":"Vanuatu","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/vanuatu\/vanuatu-vanuatu\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/UN-Day-001-e1461908189463.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11102,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/philippines\/happy-united-nations-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":5614,"position":1},"title":"Happy United Nations Day","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"UN Day During most of my kids\u2019 schooling, from pre-school through high school, their biggest school holiday celebration was UN Day, October 24 (today). What else could an international school celebrate? With such a mix of students from all over the world, they couldn\u2019t celebrate any one national holiday or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "children"","block_context":{"text":"children","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/children\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/UN-Day-001-e1461908189463.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6553,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/culture\/dont-forget-about-un-day-not-this-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":5614,"position":2},"title":"Don’t Forget about UN Day … Not This Year.","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 For twenty-two years my late husband worked for an international organization, the Asian Development Bank. He and his colleagues, men and women from every continent except Antarctica, devoted themselves to the economic development of developing countries in Asia. As a result of his job, our family moved to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/UN-Day-MINS-2-001-e1477785740435.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/UN-Day-MINS-2-001-e1477785740435.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/UN-Day-MINS-2-001-e1477785740435.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9718,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/expatriate-life\/maybe-we-can-all-get-along-some-un-day-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":5614,"position":3},"title":"Maybe We Can All Get Along–Some UN Day Thoughts","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"October 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"image courtesy of wikimedia commons, author: Kasuga I thought today, United Nations Day, would be a good time to think about peace, cooperation, and getting along with each other. 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Writing in them has been my way of paying attention to the world around me and saving my observations for the future. In recent years I haven't been journaling much. On the other hand, I am making good use of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "books"","block_context":{"text":"books","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/journals-2-e1491353351810.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5614"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5631,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5614\/revisions\/5631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}