The holiday season is a special time to be with friends, family and loved ones. The Yakima Herald-Republic will tell the stories of people whose time with others has been greatly altered this Christmas.

SUNNYSIDE, Wash. — Ates Akkor knows what a Christmas tree is, though he’s never had one in his home until this year.

The foreign exchange student from Turkey also has heard Christmas stories, both secular and Christian. He’s familiar with gift exchanges. And he expects to visit extended relatives of his host family sometime during the Christmas break.

Akkor, an 18-year-old Sunnyside High School student, is looking forward to his first Christmas in America the same way he looks at everything in America — with casual curiosity. It’s why he came.

“Different culture, different lifestyles, different customs,” he said.

Ates Akkor (pronounced Ah-TEESH Ah-CORE) arrived in August for his yearlong stint in America through the Rotary club’s foreign exchange program. He wanted — and his parents wanted it for him — the chance to practice English in the U.S. and learn more about the world outside of his hometown of Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city.

Akkor takes a secular approach to Christmas, the same way he does all holidays.

He calls himself a nonpracticing Muslim. In Turkey, he said, people register a religion on their identification cards.

His family celebrates Muslim holidays such as Ramadan by gathering with family members, taking time off work and sharing large meals. But he, his parents and his sister do not hold the beliefs or religious practices of Islam, he said.

He fits right in, then, with his host family, Jeff and Erika Barrom, Sunnyside residents who call themselves agnostics.

The couple, who have chosen not to have children, decorate their home with lights, garland and a Christmas tree.

“(Akkor) put the star on top because he’s the tallest,” Erika said.

They also plan to take Akkor along for a holiday visit with Jeff’s extended family in Shelton, Wash., later this month.

“He will get to experience the sense of a large, loud family,” Jeff said with a laugh.

None of the upcoming Christmas activities makes Akkor homesick. He’s having too much fun.

“I have a lot of things that are keeping me busy, so, maybe I don’t have time to miss (my family and friends),” he said.

The Barroms are Akkor’s third host family since August. Rotary exchange students typically rotate every three months. In the spring, he will switch again.

He is their third exchange student in four years and their second from Turkey. They also have hosted an Austrian girl.

Youth Exchange has been a major tenet of Rotary International’s cultural outreach for 75 years. More than 8,000 students a year participate in 80 countries.

Akkor is one of six Rotary exchange students in Central Washington this year. Yakima has students from the Czech Republic, Belgium and Brazil, Ellensburg has a student from India, Prosser has one from Switzerland and Sunnyside has Akkor.

The Rotary district, which stretches from Prosser to well north of Kelowna, British Columbia, is hosting 35 exchange students this year, said Del Rankin, the district’s in-bound coordinator.

Meanwhile, other exchange students visit through groups such as Student Exchange Alliance, American Field Service and Academic Year in America.

Most programs, including Rotary, have orientations and trips for exchange students to familiarize them with American culture, including holidays.

Jill Shuttleworth, who coordinates Sunnyside’s Rotary exchange program, said reactions to Christmas vary as much as the personalities of the students and the dynamic of the host families.

“Some kids take it really hard and some kids treasure the experience,” Shuttleworth said.

Shuttleworth’s family has hosted eight foreign exchange students, not all of them through Rotary.

One of her students, a girl from India, embraced Christmas so much that she started celebrating it at home with her parents the following years, Shuttleworth said.

To help, the Shuttleworths shipped them a 41⁄2-foot artificial Christmas tree. It arrived after Christmas due to a customs hold-up, but the girls family decorated it anyway.

A few years later, a German girl who was familiar with Christmas grew unexpectedly homesick during Christmas with the Shuttleworths.

Shuttleworth recommends host families stick with their own traditions and add a few flairs from their guest’s culture. If in doubt, ask the kids what they want.

For example, a candlelight service at Our Savior Lutheran Church is usually part of the Shuttleworths’ celebration.

“We always gave them the option” of going along. They always have, Shuttleworth said, even the non-Christians.

In West Valley, the lights and decorations really stand out for Brazilian foreign exchange student Bruna Maria Melo Ribeiro da Silva.

“In the houses here, everything changes for Christmas,” she said. In Brazil, most families put up only a tree, while few hang lights outside.

Here’s another difference:

Her family in Brazil has a tradition of waiting until the clock strikes midnight Christmas Eve to begin their feast. Then the party stretches into the wee hours of the morning.

Otherwise, Christmas is similar.

Many people go to church in her predominantly Catholic country. Family takes time off work to visit and exchange gifts. Even the malls stay open late and barrage shoppers with advertising.

“It think it’s universal,” she said.

The 17-year-old expects to get more homesick on New Year’s than Christmas. That’s when her family members typically head to the beach — a 11⁄2 hour drive from her home in Sao Jose dos Campos — and jump over seven waves while making seven wishes. It’s early summer there.

She is in for a quiet Christmas with her host parents, Jeff and Nyal Brantner — dinner Christmas Eve followed by presents, games and cinnamon rolls in the morning.

Their oldest daughter, Ambria, 23, will join them from Bismarck, N.D. Their youngest, Aryssa, 15, a West Valley High School student, will be there, of course.

Only Torrey, their 21-year-old son, was unable to make it home from college at the University of Mary in Bismarck. Ambria just graduated from the school.

The Presbyterian family attends church fairly regularly but not during Christmas because it’s so crowded.

“We just hang around the house, kind of laid back-type stuff,” Nyal said.

• Ross Courtney can be reached at 509-930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com.