Direct Observation: Growing Up and the First Glimpses of East and West During Christmas.

Abstract

The paper engages with experiential material from personal life. The experiential experience is related to growing up and learning to understand the meanings related to Greek Orthodox religion. As part of growing up in Australian society, the religious experience connected with Greek identity encouraged the opportunity to compare and contrast religious and secular constructions in order to distinguish what is meant out of both Greek and non-Greek understandings of both religiosity and secularity during Christmas time. The paper reflects most experiences from the first twenty years of my life living in Australia and some more recent reflections from my current three and a half year residency in the United States.