Immigrants Feel Joy of Christmas, a Peace of Mind

Last year the Istudors, a Romanian family of four, spent a Christmas fraught with uncertainty and fear.

Valeriu Istudor, a 36-year-old mechanic and truck driver, was alone in Austria, having escaped in June from his native country to Yugoslavia--where he languished in a Belgrade prison for 45 days--before arriving near Vienna.

His wife, Livia, 33, and their two children were still back in their home near Timosoara, where the revolution that eventually toppled dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had begun earlier in the month. On Christmas Day last year, the three sat huddled in front of the television set, fearing for their safety and listening to reports of Ceausescu’s execution.

This year, the Istudors are spending the holidays together again, after reuniting in Austria and coming to Orange County last month. On Saturday, they and hundreds of other newly arrived immigrants and refugees gathered to celebrate Christmas at an annual party sponsored by the Catholic Charities of Orange County.

“For all of them, it’s their first Christmas in America,” said volunteer coordinator Celine Prevost of the Catholic Charities’ resettlement services program, which helps its clients with purchases of food and household items.

Although the new arrivals usually have relatives already here, she said, Saturday’s party gave them a chance to experience an American Christmas--complete with stacks of gifts and Santa Claus, who ho-ho-hoed his way past scores of delighted children in the assembly hall packed with more than 400 people.

“It is something special for the children,” Valeriu Istudor agreed, as he and his family prepared to return to his brother’s Fullerton home after the festivities.

His sister-in-law, Kathleen Istudor, said that meeting Santa Claus was an extra treat for the children, who had heard stories about him and his flying reindeer only the night before. The two youngsters had grown up with the Romanian legend of “Mos Craciun”--”The Old Man of Christmas,” a rather frightening figure in furs who appears to children on Christmas Day to demand a strict accounting of their deeds before distributing gifts.

The sight of the jolly man in the red suit also excited 4-year-old Martin Siwek, who trooped up excitedly to collect his gift.

Martin and his parents, Andy and Elizabeth Siwek, arrived in Orange County in January after a two-year wait for a visa from what was formerly West Germany. They had settled there after leaving eastern Poland for, ostensibly, a short camping trip in Italy.

“It was only a trick,” said Elizabeth Siwek. “We had to pay for a very expensive camping place and get visas for Italy, Switzerland and West Germany.”

Although several other families from Eastern European countries attended the fete Saturday, most of the party-goers were from Vietnam. As a Vietnamese choir sang Christmas carols in its native tongue, Bishop Mike Driscoll wished them “Merry Christmas” in exuberant, if not correctly accented, Vietnamese that prompted them to smile, happy to be among congenial company.

Among them was Lan Nguyen, a 32-year-old widow who lives with her two young sons in Santa Ana. Her boys stood by, one of them jealously guarding a gift nearly half his size, as she expressed how happy she was to spend her first Christmas in the United States.

“In Vietnam they don’t have presents and people gathering like this,” she said through an interpreter. Then, directing her gaze to the white-bearded man who sat on the stage laughing and passing out gifts, she added: “Thank you, Santa Claus.”