Christmas Around the World – traditions

In Argentina the weather is warm at Christmas. Preparations for Christmas begin very early in December and sometimes even late November. Houses are beautifully decorated with lights and wreaths of green, gold, red and white flowers. Red and white garlands are hung on the doors. Christmas trees are also very popular and they are often decorated by December 8th (the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the day when Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb by the Holy Spirit). Some people like to put cotton balls on the Christmas Tree to represent snow! Any tree might be made into a Christmas Tree – not just the traditional fir tree!
The Nativity scene or “pesebre” is also an important Christmas decoration in Argentina. The pesebre is placed near the Christmas tree.
The main Christmas meal is eaten during the evening of Christmas Eve. It might be served in the garden or even be a barbecue! Some popular dishes include roasted turkey, roasted pork, stuffed tomatoes and Christmas bread and puddings like “Pan Dulce” and Panetone.
At midnight there will be the sound of lots of fireworks! People also like to “toast” the start of Christmas day. Some people like to go to midnight services, but other prefer to stay at home and let off fireworks and then open their presents under the tree!
Another Christmas Eve night tradition are “globos,” paper decorations with a light inside that float into the sky (like Chinese Lanterns). The sky is filled with them on Christmas Eve after midnight. Some people stay awake all the night chatting and seeing friends and family and then spend most of Christmas Day sleeping!
In Argentina the main spoken language is Spanish (Castellano), so Merry Christmas there is “Feliz Navidad.”

In Australia, Christmas (December 25th) comes in the middle of the summer holidays!
Australians hang wreaths on their front doors and sometimes go out Christmas carol singing on Christmas eve. People also decorate their houses and gardens with Christmas Trees and Christmas lights. Neighbors sometimes have little competitions as to who has got the best light display. Families decorate their homes with ferns, palm leaves, and evergreens. Some families put up a Christmas tree. Outdoors, nasturtiums, wisteria, and honeysuckle bloom. Australians also decorate their houses with bunches of ‘Christmas Bush’, a native Australian tree with small green leaves and cream colored flowers. In summer the flowers turn a deep shiny red over a period of weeks.
The most popular event of the Christmas season is called Carols by Candlelight. People come together at night to light candles and sing Christmas carols outside. The stars shining above add to the sights and sounds of this wonderful outdoor concert. In each State capital city there is a large Carols by Candlelight service. These carol services, held in different cities, are broadcast on TV across Australia. There are also huge Christmas pageants in each state capital city that are also broadcast across the country. Most towns and cities have festivals and parades. In some places, there is a fireworks display at the local park. As it is the middle of Summer in Australia at Christmas time, the words to the Carols about snow and the cold winter are sometimes changed to special Australian words! There are also some original Australian Carols.
Christmas festivities begin in late November, when schools and church groups present Nativity plays. They sing carols throughout the month of December. On Christmas Eve, families attend church together. Some children expect Father Christmas to leave gifts, and others wait for Santa Claus to visit and deliver gifts. After opening presents on Christmas morning, the family sits down to a breakfast of ham and eggs. Then the family goes to church again. On Christmas Eve in families that observe Irish traditions, the father sets a large candle in a front window of the home to welcome Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. The youngest child in the family lights the candle. The family goes to midnight mass and attends church on Christmas Day, as well. Afterwards there are parties and festive visits.

Christmas Day is when families and close friends gather together from all over Australia. The highlight of the day is the holiday midday dinner. Some families enjoy a traditional British Christmas dinner of roast turkey or ham and rich plum pudding doused in brandy and set aflame before it is brought to the table. The person who gets the favor baked inside will enjoy good luck all year round. Other families head for the backyard barbie to grill their Christmas dinner in the sunshine. Most people now have a cold Christmas dinner, or a barbecue with seafood such as prawns and lobsters along with the ‘traditional english’ food. Australians often have Christmas Crackers at Christmas meal times. Father Christmas has been known to show up in shorts to greet children at the beach on Christmas! When he gets to Australia, Santa gives the reindeer a rest and uses kangaroos or ‘six white boomers’ (a popular Australian Christmas song!). He also changes his clothes for less ‘hot’ ones!

The day after Christmas, December 26th, is Boxing Day. Australians with British and Irish backgrounds leave tips for the grocer, postman, newspaper carrier, and others to thank them for their help in the past year. New Year’s Eve is always a special time, with dinners, dances, and parties. On Twelfth Night, January 6th, there is one last party to end the Christmas season.

The Christmas and New Year period in Turkey is full of festivities and fun. Turkey is relatively new to the Gregorian calendar. The country only adopted it in 1926 when the Ottoman Empire fell. When Turkish parliament made January 1 an official holiday in 1935, the concept of a New Year celebration took hold, and Turks borrowed the Christmas and Thanksgiving traditions from the west. This explains why New Year has a very Christmassy feel. Istanbul is still home to the “mother church” of all Orthodox Christians—the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople—and traces of Byzantine and Greek culture are spread across western Turkey.
Turks are starting to embrace the fact that their country gave rise to the original Father Christmas. St. Nicholas was born in Patara around A.D. 280 in Asia Minor and became bishop of Myra, now Demre, in Turkey. He was in attendance at the First Council of Nicea in 325 (which was responsible for creating the Nicene Creed). Nicholas probably suffered in the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian, which lasted until about 311, when he would have been 31 years old. The new emperor, Constantine, tolerated, then encouraged, and finally established Christianity as the state religion. Nicholas died around 343. Shortly afterwards, legends surrounding his life began, and his popularity spread. n annual St. Nicholas Festival is held in Myra, for three days around the saint’s official Feast Day, Dec. 6. The celebration attracts many tourists who spend their Christmas holidays on the sunny coast of ancient Lycia.
Streets and shopping centers in Turkey are generally decked out with decorations and lights, and you might even see the familiar red-and-white Santa. In supermarkets and shops you’ll find traditional Christmas decorations and homeward in the Yilbasi Urunleri (New Year’s Day) section.
While December 25 goes largely uncelebrated by the majority of Turks, there are enough expats dotted around the country to celebrate the day. Turkey’s historical churches are a traditional meeting place for anyone wishing to celebrate Christmas. Enthusiastic expats also gather together in restaurants and homes to celebrate Christmas with carols and shared meals.
Turks celebrate Noel (literally “to be born” / the birth of Jesus Christ) on New Year’s Eve, when they decorate trees and exchange gifts with loved ones. When midnight strikes, people will congratulate each other, toast the New Year, and exchange small gifts. Baba Noel – the Turkish secular version of Santa Claus – visits bearing gifts for children which he leaves under the tree.

In New Zealand, like its neighbor Australia, Christmas comes in the middle of the summer holidays. Lots of people like to spend time of the beach, camping or at their Baches (pronounced “batches”) (holiday homes) for Christmas.
Many towns have a Santa parade with decorated floats (made by local businesses and churches, etc.), bands and marching teams. As it’s warm, Santa is sometimes seen wearing ‘jandals’ (New Zealand sandals) and he might even swap his red top for a New Zealand ‘All Blacks’ rugby shirt! Children in New Zealand leave out carrots for Santa’s reindeer and Santa might be left a beer and some pineapple chunks!
In the main cities like Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton, there are big Christmas light shows and displays. There are big carol services throughout the country, even in small town, villages and rural areas. New Zealand has some special carols of its own. These include ‘Te Haranui’, Christmas in New Zealand and A Kiwiana Christmas! These are sung at most carol services around the country.
Many people have a Christmas Tree in their homes and decorate it like people in the USA or UK. Kiwis also have their own special Christmas Tree, the Pōhutukawa, associated with Christmas since the mid-1800’s. It can grow to be a very large tree and has bright red flowers which are popular decorations and also feature on Christmas cards. It only grows on the North Island and flowers from mid-December until around the 2nd week of January.
Many New Zealanders have a barbecue for Christmas lunch, including ham slices, venison, shrimp, fish, and white bait fritters. It’s common to have Christmas Crackers on the Christmas dinner table. Desserts are also very popular! Many still have a hot fruit pudding with custard and ice cream but cold desserts are popular. These include pavlova and whipped cream, meringues, cold fruit salad, jelly and ice cream.
People open their presents on Christmas Day once the whole family is all together. This is usually before the Christmas lunch. One popular present for Christmas in New Zealand are ‘jandals’. These are flip-flops/thing sandals – the name ‘jandals’ comes from combining the two words ‘Japanese Sandals’. They’ve been popular in New Zealand since the late 1950s.
In the Maori language Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Meri Kirihimete’.

In the villages of Polar Inuits, families like to visit each other and have parties. They drink coffee and eat cakes and exchange brightly wrapped parcels. Traditional presents are model sledges, a pairs of polished walrus tusks, or sealskin mitts. Everyone in the village gets a gift and children go from house to house, singing songs.
On Christmas Eve Church Services are held and most people go to them, many in national costume. Some men wear the white anoraks which are worn on special occasions.
Christmas Trees have to be imported, because no trees grow as far north as Greenland. The trees are often imported from Denmark – Iceland has had a long historical connection with Denmark. The trees are decorated with candles, bright ornaments and sometimes small versions of sealskin breeches known as kamiks. Trees are traditionally decorated on the evening of 23rd December. People who don’t use an imported tree, might have a traditional driftwood tree decorated with heather.
Another traditional and popular decoration is to put an illuminated star in windows. There are stars in most homes and in all public buildings. Because Greenland is so far north, and within the Arctic Circle, during the winter the sun never rises! (You might get a brief glimpse over the southern mountains, but that’s it!) So the stars help to bring some light.
Villages also put a large Christmas Tree on a nearby hill, so everyone can see it. These trees are put up and decorated ready for the start of Advent.
St Lucia’s day (December 13th) is also celebrated in Greenland.
There are some rather unusual foods eaten at Christmas time in Greenland. ‘Mattak’ is whale skin with a strip of blubber inside. It is supposed to taste like fresh coconut, but is often too tough to chew and is usually swallowed. Another Christmas food is ‘kiviak’. This is the raw flesh of little auks (a type of arctic bird) which have been buried whole in sealskin for several months until they have reached an advanced stage of decomposition! Although it sounds strange, it is a delicacy in Greenland.
Other popular foods in Greenland include ‘suaasat’ which is a soup/stew, barbecued caribou, fish either as raw sushi or cooked and a popular desert is berries and apples with a crisp Topping. Lots of Danish pastries are also eaten!
It is traditional on Christmas night that the men look after the women, serving their food and coffee and stirring the meal for them. Games follow the Christmas meal, including one in which an object is passed from hand to hand round a long table under the cloth. It is supposed to be repulsive: round, clammy and rough in texture; such as a frozen egg, wrapped in strips of wet fox fur!
In Greenland there are two main languages spoken, Inuit/Greenlandic and Danish. In Greenlandic, Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Juullimi Ukiortaassamilu Pilluarit’; in Danish it is ‘Glædelig Jul’.
Greenland also claims to be the place where Santa Claus lives or at least goes for his summer holidays! He is said to have a home in the north of the country in Spraglebugten, near the town of Uummannaq!
New Year’s Eve is celebrated twice in Greenland! At 8.00pm, they celebrate that the new year has reached Denmark and at midnight it’s the new year in Greenland! At both celebrations, people like to let off lots of fireworks and rockets!

In Belgium there are three official languages, Dutch / Flemish, French, and German. In Belgium Dutch/Flemish Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Vrolijk Kerstfeest’, French it’s ‘Joyeux Noël’, in German it’s ‘Frohe Weihnachten’ and in the Walloon language (spoken by some in the Walloon Region) it’s ‘djoyeus Noyé’.
On Christmas Eve, a special meal is eaten by most families. It starts with a drink and ‘nibbles’, followed by a ‘starter’ course such as sea-food, and then stuffed turkey. The dessert is a chocolate Christmas Log made of sponge roll layered with cream. The outside is covered with chocolate butter cream and made to resemble a bark-covered log.
Children in Belgium have two Christmas visitors! On December 6th, St. Nicholas’ Day, Sinterklaas / Saint Nicholas is believed to bring presents to children. Children put their shoes in front of the fireplace, leaving something for Sinterklaas like a drawing or biscuits. They might also leave a carrot for Sinterklaas’s horse and something for Zwarte Piet (Black Peter, Sinterklaas’s assistant). Then in the night, Sinterklaas arrives on the roof on his horse with Zwarte Piet. Zwarte Piet climbs down the chimney and leaves the presents in and around the shoes. Sinterklaas has a book in which he keeps all the names of the children and tells if they’ve been bad or good. Children are told that if they’ve been bad, Zwarte Piet will put you in his sack and take you back to Spain! Traditional foods that are left for Sinterklaas include tangerines, gingerbread, chocolate and “letterkoekjes” (cookies made in the shapes of letters). There are lots of songs that children sing about Sinterklaas.
Some people celebrate Advent and have Advent Wreaths/Crowns made from fir or leylandii greenery. The wreaths have four candles and a candle is lit each week counting down to Christmas. Lots of children also have paper Advent Calendars with chocolate behind the doors for each day!
At Christmas parties at schools, it’s common to buy a small gift which can be for anyone. A game is played to give out the presents. A very popular one is putting on some music and passing the parcel around everyone sitting in a circle. When the music stops, the one who holds the parcel, gets to keep the present.
Most people will have a Christmas tree (real or fake!) decorated with lights, baubles, garlands and a star on the top. Next to the tree, many people will have a nativity scene. Some people even have a life-size one in their gardens!
On Christmas Eve, people normally celebrate with their close family and keep it small and cosy. Small family presents are also given at Christmas. People also like to listen to Christmas music on the radio. Some people also go a Midnight Mass service. On Christmas day itself people visit friends or distant relatives.
Movies like Home Alone! and Disney films are always shown on the TV as is the Phantom of the Opera.
On the 6th of January, people celebrate Epiphany and the three wise men. Children dress up as the three wise men and go from door to door to sing songs and people give them money or sweets. One of the songs goes:
3 wise men,
give me a new hat,
my old one is worn,
my mother cannot know,
my father has counted the money
on the grid!
There is also a tradition to eat ‘Three Wise Men Pie’ or bread. A bean would be hidden in the pie or bread. Whoever found the figure of baby Jesus would be the king or queen for the day!

Award ideas for Monarch of the Day to give out:
• Silliest Story Teller
• Silliest Joke Teller
• Best Sharer
• Most Creative
• Most Artistic
• Best Giver of Compliments
• Most Encouraging
• Best Conflict Manager
• Neatest Desk
• Most Organized
• Sweetest Smile
• Best Story Teller
• Kindest Helper
• Kindest Listener
• Best Dancer
• Best Fashionista
• Strongest Aloud Reader
• Best Cleaner Upper
• Best Getting Others off Topic Talker
• Best Note Taker
• Nicest Handwriting
• Most Creative Thinker
• Most Creative Decorator
• Strongest Group Leader
• Strongest Follower of Directions
• Most Outrageous Outfits
• Most Interesting Collection
• Einstein Award – given to a person who loves science
• Thomas Edison Award – given to someone who loves to investigate or invent things
• Miss / Mister Manners Award – for someone with impeccable manners
• The Thinker Award – for a problem solver
• Nobel Peace Prize Award – for a peacekeeper
• Peace Corps Award – another peacekeeper award.
• Speedy McSpeedster Award – for the person who always finishes things quickly
• Good and Plenty Award – for reading plenty of good books
• Almond Joy Award – for always bringing joy into others’ lives
• Three Musketeers Award – given to someone who is a good friend
• The Snickers Award – for someone who makes others laugh a lot
• The Timex Award – for the student who always watches the clock and keeps us on schedule
• The Whangdoodle Award – for the person who is most creative in some way
• The Way With Words Award – for someone who loves to talk and have an audience
• Best Comedian or Funny Bone Award – for a person with an excellent sense of humor
• King / Queen of Questions Award – for the person who always has a question
• Hummingbird Award – for someone who hums a lot
• The Whistle While You Work Award – for someone who whistles a lot
• Helping Hands Award – for someone who loves to help out
• The Survivor Award – for someone who sticks with it even if they are struggling
• The 110% Award – for someone who gives their all and then some
• The Football Award – for someone who tackled every task and did their best
• The Million Award – to say “Thanks a Million” to someone who helped in a special way
• The Welcome Aboard Award – for someone who joined the family this year
• The Super Smile Award – for someone who is always smiling
• The Big Heart Award – for someone who exemplifies caring
• The Librarian Award – for the person who always had a book to read
• The Diving Award – for the person who always dives right in to whatever they need to do
• Ravenous Reader Award – for the person who read the most books.
• The Awesome Artist Award
• The Amazing Actor Award – for someone who loves being in plays
• The Best Foot Forward Award – for someone who loves to walk
• The Designer Desk Award –for the neatest desk.
• The Handsome Handwriting Award – for someone who excellent handwriting
• The Super Style Award – for the person who always likes to be well dressed and groomed
• The Fashion Forward Award – for the person who accessorizes and has a unique style

Christmas is often known as ‘Yule’ or ‘Jól’ in Iceland. This comes from the ancient winter solstice celebrations, that were taken over by the early Christians. Yule also include the New Year celebrations.
There are lots of customs and traditions about Yule in Iceland. The Yule season consists of the following days:
Þorláksmessa – St. Thorlakur’s Day – December 23rd
Iceland’s major Saint is ‘heilagur Þorlákur Þórhallsson’, or ‘St. Thorlakur Thorhallsson’, the Bishop of Skálholt. December 23rd, is the day on which he died. On St. Thorlakur’s Day, the main custom is eating of a simple meal of skata or skate. The Yule (or Christmas) tree is usually decorated on this day. This is also a big shopping day for last minute gifts, with stores remaining open until midnight.
Aðfangadagur – Christmas Eve / Yule Eve
Celebrations start at Iceland at 6.00pm on Yule Eve. This may have come from old Icelandic tradition, when a new day started at 6.00pm not midnight. Icelandic children open their presents after the evening meal on Aðfangadagur. This is when the meal is eaten. This is when the Yule celebrations really start! (TV used to stop at about 5.00pm and restarted at 10.00pm! But now TV is on all through the christmas period.)
Jóladagur – Christmas Day / Yule Day
Jóladagur is usually celebrated with the extended family. The main Yule meal is ‘Hangikjöt’, a leg of roast lamb. Sometimes ‘Rjúpa’ (Rock Ptarmigan a sea bird) is also eaten. Another Yule meal speciality is ‘Laufabrauð’ or leaf bread. This is made of thin sheets of dough cut into delicate patterns and fried. Each family often has their own patterns for the Laufabrauð.
Annar Jóladagur – Boxing Day
This is another day for visiting friends and family and eating lots more! Public entertainment is considered inappropriate on Yule Eve and Yule Day, and it is on Boxing Day that dancing is again allowed in public!
Gamlárskvöld / Nýársdagur – New Year’s Eve / New Year’s Day
This is one of the most important nights of the year in Iceland and there are several magical traditions that are supposed to happen on it! Cows are meant to be able to talk, seals take on human form, the dead rise from their graves, and the Elves move house.
Bonfires have been lit on Gamlárskvöld since the late 1700s. People also have big fireworks displays to bring in the New Year. This is called ‘sprengja út árið’ or ‘blowing out the year’.
Þrettándinn – Twelfth Night – January 6th
This is the last day of Yule, celebrated with bonfires and Elfin dances. Many of the magical traditions associated with New Year’s Eve are also supposed to happen at Þrettándinn.
Happy/Merry Christmas/Yule in Icelandic is ‘Gleðileg jól’. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.
One other big Yule custom is the coming of the ‘Jólasveinarnir’ or Yuletide Lads. These are magical people who come from the mountains in Iceland and each day from December 12th to Yule Eve a different Jólasveinn (Yuletide lad) comes.
Jólasveinar first came to Iceland in the 17th century as the sons of Grýla and Leppalúði, a couple of child-eating, bloodthirsty ogres!!!
Here are thirteen of the most common names of the Jólasveinar:
Stekkjarstaur – Gimpy
Giljagaur – Gully Imp
Stúfur – Itty Bitty
Þvörusleikir – Pot Scraper Licker
Pottasleikir – Pot Licker
Askasleikir – Bowl Licker
Hurðaskellir – Door Slammer
Skyrgámur – Skyr Gobbler (Skyr, an Icelandic yoghurt)
Bjúgnakrækir – Sausage Snatcher
Gluggagægir – Window Peeper
GáttaÞefur – Doorway Sniffer
Ketkrókur – Meat Hooker
Kertasníkir – Candle Beggar
The Jólasveinar are thought of as playful imps or elves who like lots to eat and playing little tricks on people.
They leave little presents for children in shoes placed on the windowsill. If children have been naughty, they might leave a potato or little message telling them to be good. They start going home on Christmas Day, with the last one leaving on Þrettándinn.
Presents might also be brought by Jólasveinn (Yule Man).
It is traditional in Iceland that everybody has a new piece of clothing for Yule and also often a book. Children also traditionally receive a candle and sometimes a pack of cards.
There are no native evergreen trees in Iceland, so the first Yule or Christmas Trees were Rowan (mountain ash). The first recorded Yule tree was in 1862. People then started to make Yule Trees from a central pole with branches attached to it and it was all painted green.
Nowadays, there are evergreen trees grown on Iceland and people have evergreen Yule trees. It is traditional to have a star or crown on top of the tree. The Icelandic Flag is also commonly used as a decoration. The tree is normally decorated on Þorláksmessa or early Christmas eve. A very large tree stands outside Reykjavík (the capital of Iceland) Cathedral and is a yearly present from the people of Oslo, Norway.

Icelandic Christmas bread – Laufabrauð
Fried leaf breads. The top two have patterns made with a leaf-bread cutter, the third is hand cut:

My father’s extended family usually gather together at the beginning of December to make Laufabrauð, spending a whole day kneading, cutting and frying, before sharing a festive meal. There are usually 12-15 of us working together, turning out a couple of hudred of these flat, decorated breads in one day. The bread gets divided evenly between the families, who take it home and store until Christmas.

This year’s gathering is tomorrow, so here is a recipe and I will try to remember to take photos to post.

These deep-fried, thin wheat breads are traditionally cut with intricate decorative patterns, and are mostly eaten at Christmas. The tradition of making Laufabrauð has its roots in the northern part of Iceland, but has spread all over the country. Many bakeries now sell ready-made Laufabrauð, or pre-kneaded and cut dough that only needs decorating and frying, but nothing beats making it at home from scratch. Some people make it with whole-wheat flour or rye flour, and others put caraway seeds in it.

1 kg wheat flour
30 g sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
500-600 ml milk, scalded
1 tbs butter/margarine

frying fat (preferably sheep’s tallow)
A large cooking pot for frying (should be tall, so as to avoid splattering)

Mix together the dry ingredients. Heat the milk to boiling and melt the butter in it. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well. Knead into a ball of dense dough. Roll into sausage shapes and store under a slightly damp cloth (it dries out quickly otherwise). Cut or pinch off portions and flatten with a rolling pin. These breads are traditionally very thin – a good way to tell if the dough is thin enough is to check if you can read the headings (some say the text!) of a newspaper through it. Cut into circular cakes, using a medium sized plate as a guide to ensure even size. If you have to store them un-fried, stack them up with baking paper between the layers, put in a plastic bag and refrigerate. Decorate by cutting out patterns.

A raw leaf-bread, hand-cut:

Heat the fat in a deep, wide pot. It’s ready when it starts to smoke. Prick the cakes with a fork to avoid blistering, and drop into the fat, one at a time, taking care that they do not fold. The cakes will sink as you drop them into the fat. When they resurface, pick up with a handy tool (such as a steak fork) and turn over. They are ready when golden in colour, and it only takes a few seconds to fry each one. Remove from the fat and put on a piece of kitchen paper to drain. It’s good to press a plate or something similar on top of the cake as it is put down, to ensure that it will be flat. Stack up and allow to cool. When cool, stack in a cookie tin. Stored in a cool, dry place, leaf bread will keep for months – if you can keep you hands off it!

Serving Suggestions:
– Serve at Christmas/New Year with traditional hangikjöt (smoked lamb), rjúpa (ptarmigan) or smoked pork.
– Don’t bother to re-knead the cuttings – they dry out very quickly. Fry them and eat as a snack. Some people have started making snacks out of leaf bread – cut into strips and fried, they make an excellent change from potato chips/crisps and nachos.
– Try serving the bread with pancake syrup (I have not tried this, but I’m told it’s good)

A tradition is a specific practice of long standing in which unwritten customs and practices are passed from one generation to the next. Traditions and customs form part of a country’s culture and heritage. The following information provides some fast, interesting facts about customs and Christmas traditions in Israel:
As Israel is a Jewish state the majority of people do not celebrate Christmas. The Jewish population celebrate Hanukkah instead. There are, however, some small Christian communities who celebrate Christmas especially in Bethlehem and Nazareth. Many people travel to Israel to celebrate this important event in the Christian religion. There are many shops which cater for tourists with Christmas gifts and decor
In Bethlehem, the birth place of the infant Jesus, there are special celebrations. The Church of the Nativity is decorated with flags and decorations every Christmas. On Christmas Eve natives and visitors alike crowd the church’s doorways and stand on the roof to watch for the dramatic annual procession. Galloping horsemen and police mounted on Arabian horses lead the parade. They are followed by solitary horseman carrying a cross and sitting astride a coal-black steed. Then come the churchmen and government officials. The procession solemnly enters the doors and places an ancient effigy of the Holy Child in the church. Deep winding stairs lead to a grotto where visitors find a silver star marking the site of the birth of Jesus. Christian homes in Bethlehem are marked by a cross painted over the door and each home displays a homemade manger scene. A star is set up on a pole in the village square.
The Church of the Nativity is believed to be built on the site of the birth of Jesus. Steep stairs lead to a grotto where visitors find a silver star marking the site of the birth of Jesus.
There is a huge procession and firework displays in Bethlehem at this special time.
What do people eat in other countries at this special time of the year? Festive feasts and recipes are traditional for special occasions including family dinners and meals. Interesting facts about the special food eaten as part of the customs and Christmas traditions in Israel:
A typical Christmas dinner in Israel would be consist of eat turkey, spiced with pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg and stuffed with rice and almonds.
How do you say Merry Christmas in Israeli? “Mo’adim Lesimkha!” What is the name for Santa Claus? Most of the population is Jewish and there is no Santa Claus related to Jewish tradition however Christians resident in Israel use the universal ‘Santa Claus’.

India is home to a considerable population of Christians, who, along with the rest of the country, celebrate Christmas with their own rituals and traditions. There are over 28 million Christians in India, and it is believed that St. Thomas the Apostle brought Christianity to India.
Many different languages are spoken in India. In Hindi, Merry Christmas is ‘Śubh krisamas’; Urdu it’s ‘krismas mubarak’; in Gujarati it’s ‘Anandi Natal’ or ‘Khushi Natal’. Christmas is also known as bada din meaning ‘the big day’.
In India, church services play a huge role in celebrating Christmas. Churches start planning their celebrations, and households start planning their food, sweets, and decorations.
It is a colorful festival — as are most in India — and local stores, markets, and malls are draped in multicolored twinkling fairy lights, paper streamers, and flowers. For Indians, festivals are always celebrated with lights and colors, and Christmas is no exception. Churches are decorated using stunning light shows and look spectacular in the night.
Most families put up a Christmas tree (often a banana or mango tree). Snow is in short supply, but that does not deter enterprising children from draping cotton wool all over their trees to imitate snow-covered evergreens. A lot of decorations and ornaments are handmade, and stars are everywhere, all over the house and out on the roads to welcome friends, neighbors, and family to our home at Christmastime.
Christmas cooking also starts early. Christmas sweets are traditionally called “kuswar,” and they range from deeply delicious dense Christmas fruitcakes to rose cookies and “kidiyo” (literally translating as worms, but these are deep-fried curly dough balls, dusted in icing sugar). They also make sweet dumplings called “newrio,” stuffed with palm sugar, sweet grated coconut, and sesame seeds. Banana chips, crisp lentil chaklis, and cardamom and cashew macaroons round up a versatile collection of Christmas goodies.
Along with food, the nativity scenes, known as Christmas cribs, are an important Christmas tradition. Paddy plants are grown in small trays, with pieces of brick and sand accompanying nativity figurines to create beautiful, detailed cribs, resplendent with lights, fields, bridges, and waterfalls. At midnight on Christmas Eve, the baby Jesus figurine is reverently placed in the scene.
On Christmas Eve services start with carol singing. After church, people visit family or friends, and share rich fruitcake and small glasses of port wine.
Father Christmas or Santa Claus delivers presents to children from a horse and cart. He’s known as ‘Christmas Baba’ (Father Christmas). After the Christmas Eve service, people celebrate Christmas by lighting fire crackers.
Christmas Day begins with a hot, spicy breakfast, and then gifts of homemade fruitcake and kuswar are taken to the homes of neighbors, family, and friends. A homemade ginger wine is served on this day in some families. Special pastries made by all family members are served; these are dyed red and pink. The main dish served Christmas Day is Vindaloo, which is served with a saffron rice dish that contains slivered almonds and raisins. A Christmas cake similar to fruitcake is served for dessert.
Christians often put small oil burning clay lamps on the roofs of their homes to show their neighbors that Jesus is the light of the world.

Christians in China call Christmas “Sheng Dan Jieh,” which means Holy Birth Festival. They decorate their homes with evergreens, posters, and bright paper chains. The family puts up a Christmas tree, called “tree of light,” and decorates it with beautiful lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains that symbolize happiness. They cut out red pagodas to paste on the windows, and they light their houses with paper lanterns, too.
Many Chinese enjoy the fun and color that Christmas brings to the drab winter season. Big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong display many Christmas decorations. Many people give parties on Christmas Eve, and some people enjoy a big Christmas dinner at a restaurant. Shops sell plastic trees and Christmas decorations for everyone to enjoy, and Santa Claus is a popular figure.
The Christmas season is ushered in with fireworks. Jugglers and acrobats entertain, and people enjoy the merriment and feasting. In Hong Kong, which recently was restored to Chinese rule, Christmas Day is one of seventeen public holidays.
While most Chinese people don’t realize that Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ or attach any religious significance to the festivities, many of China’s 70 million Christians celebrate Christmas as the top event of the year, outranking even Chinese New Year, preparing songs and activities weeks before. Christians in China celebrate by going to special church services, which are typically packed to capacity. On Christmas Eve, there are choral performances, and the congregation puts on dance and drama performances. Christmas Eve is called ‘Peaceful Evening’ (Ping’an Ye 平安夜 from the translation of the carol “Silent Night”).
On Christmas Eve, Christian children in China hang up their muslin stockings that are specially made, so that Dun Che Lao Ren (“Christmas Old Man”) or Lan Khoong-Khoong (“Nice Old Father”) can fill them with wonderful gifts.
The Chinese word for apple sounds very much like the word for “peace.” As a result, a lovely tradition has developed by exchanging apples wrapped in colored paper. The apples are eaten on Christmas Eve because in Chinese the word for “Christmas Eve” means peaceful or quiet evening (from the traditional carol “Silent Night”).
As in western culture, Christmas day involves a family feast. But instead of the Western traditional turkey or ham, Chinese families are more likely to eat the foods associated with Chinese New Year. These might include roast barbecued pork, chicken, dumplings (jiaozi), and soup with cloud or wood ear fungus.

It is cold, wet, and foggy in England at Christmastime. Families welcome the warmth and cheer of a Yule log blazing on the hearth. They decorate their homes with holly, ivy, and other evergreens and hang a mistletoe “kissing bough.” Throughout the holidays, carolers go from house to house at twilight ringing handbells and singing Christmas songs. “The Holly and the Ivy” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” are English favorites. People give the carolers treats, such as little pies filled with nuts and dried fruits.
The day before Christmas is very busy for families in England. They wrap presents, bake cookies, and hang stockings over the fireplace. Then everyone gathers around the tree as someone tells the favorite story, A Christmas Carol. After hearing their favorite Christmas story, children write a letter to Father Christmas with their wishes. They toss their letter into the fire so their wishes can go up the chimney. After the children fall asleep on Christmas Eve, Father Christmas comes to visit. He wears a long, red robe, carries a sack of toys, and arrives on his sleigh pulled by reindeer. He fills the children’s stockings with candies and small toys.

On Christmas Day, everyone sits down to the midday feast and finds a colorful Christmas cracker beside their dinner plate. A Christmas cracker is a paper-covered tube. When the end tabs are pulled, there is a loud crack. Out spills a paper hat to wear at dinner, small trinkets, and a riddle to read aloud to everyone at the table.

The family enjoys a feast of turkey with chestnut stuffing, roast goose with currants, or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Brussels sprouts are likely to be the vegetables. Best of all is the plum pudding topped with a sprig of holly. Brandy is poured over the plum pudding and set aflame. Then family members enjoy a dramatic show as it is carried into the dining room. Whoever finds the silver charm baked in their serving has good luck the following year. The wassail bowl, brimming with hot, spiced wine, tops off the day’s feast. It is said that all quarrels stop when people drink wassail. After dinner, the family gathers in the living room to listen to the Queen of England deliver a message over radio and television. At teatime in the late afternoon, the beautifully decorated Christmas cake is served.

The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day. This day has nothing to do with fighting. Long ago, people filled church alms boxes with donations for the poor. Then on December 26, the boxes were distributed. Now people often use this day to give small gifts of money to the mail carrier, news vendor, and others who have helped them during the year.

Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in Africa. It still follows the ancient Julian calendar, so Ethiopians celebrate Christmas on January 7th. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s celebration of Christ’s birth is called Ganna. It is a day when families attend church. The day before Ganna, people fast all day. The next morning at dawn, everyone dresses in white. Most Ethiopians don a traditional shamma, a thin, white cotton wrap with brightly colored stripes across the ends. The shamma is worn somewhat like a toga. Urban Ethiopians might put on white Western garb. Then everyone goes to the early mass at four o’clock in the morning. In a celebration that takes place several days later, the priests will dress in turbans and red and white robes as they carry beautifully embroidered fringed umbrellas.

Most people who live outside big cities live in round house made of mud-plastered walls which have thatched cone-shaped roofs. Sometimes houses in the country are rectangular and made of stone. The design of Ethiopian church buildings is similar to the houses. In the country, they are often very old and have been carved out of rock. In cities, modern churches are built in three circles, each within the others. The choir sings from the outer circle. Everyone who goes to church for the Ganna celebrations is given a candle. The people walk around the church three times in a solemn procession, holding the candles. They then go to the second circle to stand during the service. The men and boys are separated from the women and girls. The center circle is the most important and holy place in the church and is where Holy Communion is served. It’s also a tradition that one of the Wise Men who visited Jesus came from Ethiopia.

The foods enjoyed during the Christmas season include wat, a thick, spicy stew of meat, vegetables, and sometimes eggs as well. The wat is served from a beautifully decorated watertight basket onto a “plate” of injera, which is flat sourdough bread. Pieces of injera are used as an edible spoon to scoop up the wat.

Twelve days after Ganna, on January 19th, Ethiopians begin the three-day celebration called Timkat, which commemorates the baptism of Christ. The children walk to church services in a procession. They wear the crowns and robes of the church youth groups they belong to. The grown-ups wear the shamma. The priests will now wear their red and white robes and carry embroidered fringed umbrellas. The music of Ethiopian instruments makes the Timkat procession a very festive event. The sistrum is a percussion instrument with tinkling metal disks. A long, T-shaped prayer stick called a makamiya taps out the walking beat and also serves as a support for the priest during the long church service that follows. Church officials called dabtaras study hard to learn the musical chants, melekets, for the ceremony.

People don’t give and receive present during Ganna and Timkat. Sometimes children might be given a small gift of some clothes from their family members. It’s more a time for going to church, eating lots and playing games!

Christmas in France is a family holiday. The celebrations begin on December 5, which is St. Nicholas Eve. It is a day for gift-giving between friends and relatives. On that cold night, children leave their shoes by the hearth so Pere Noel, or Father Christmas, will fill them with gifts.

Christmas Eve is the most special time in the French celebration of Christmas. Church bells ring and voices sing French carols, called noels.
The family fasts all day, then everyone but the youngest children goes to midnight mass. The churches and cathedrals are beautifully lit, and most display a lovely antique creche. Afterward, the family returns home to a nighttime feast that is called le reveillon. The menu is different in the various regions of France. In Paris, it might be oysters and pate, while in Brittany, the traditional midnight supper is buckwheat cakes and sour cream.

A few days before Christmas, the family sets up a nativity scene, called a creche, on a little platform in a corner of the living room. Some families also decorate a Christmas tree with colorful stars, lights, and tinsel, but the creche is much more important.

The tradition in Provence, in the south of France, is to include, along with the Holy Family, the Three Kings, the shepherds, and the animals, delightful little figures from village life dressed in old-fashioned costumes. These figures might include a village mayor, a peasant, a gypsy, a drummer boy, and other colorful characters. Another tradition in Provence is for people to dress as shepherds and take part in a procession that circles the local church.

To complete the elaborate creche in their home, children bring moss, stones, and evergreen branches for the finishing touches. When the candles are lit, the creche becomes the centerpiece of the Christmas celebration. The children gather around it to sing carols every night until Epiphany, on January 6.

Christmas plays and puppet shows are popular entertainments at Christmas, especially in Paris and Lyons. The shop windows of large department stores have wonderful displays of animated figures that families like to visit.

If any children did not leave their shoes out to be filled with gifts by Pere Noel on St. Nicholas Eve, they leave them out on Christmas Eve to be filled by Pere Noel or the Baby Jesus. Before going to bed, some families leave food and a candle burning, in case Mary passes by with the Christ Child. In homes that have a Christmas tree, Pere Noel hangs little toys, candies, and fruits on the tree’s branches for the sleeping children.

On Christmas Day, the family goes to church again and then enjoys another abundant feast of wonderful dishes, ending with the traditional buche de Noel, a rich buttercream-filled cake shaped and frosted to look like a Yule log.

On New Year’s, grown-ups visit their friends to exchange gifts with them and enjoy yet more feasting at the New Year’s reveillon. The family gathers together again for a final feast on Epiphany on January 6. They eat a special flat pastry, a galette, that has a tiny old-fashioned shoe, a very little china doll, or a bean baked in it. Whoever finds the prize in their serving gets to be King or Queen for the day. As church bells ring, the celebration of the Christmas season comes to an end.

German families prepare for Christmas throughout cold December. Four Sundays before Christmas, they make an Advent wreath of fir or pine branches with four colored candles. They light a candle on the wreath each Sunday, sing Christmas songs, and eat Christmas cookies. The children count the days until Christmas with an Advent calendar. Each day, they open a little numbered flap on the calendar to see the Christmas picture hidden there.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, homes are filled with the delightful smells of baking loaves of sweet bread, cakes filled with candied fruits, and spicy cookies called lebkuchen. Christmas season in Germany is not complete without mugs of steaming hot Glühwein. Bakery windows are filled with displays of lovely marzipan confections in the shape of fruits and animals. Some German children write letters to St. Nicholas asking for presents. In some areas, the Christ Child brings gifts to children on St. Nicholas Eve and in other areas on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve is the most important time of the Christmas season for families. The wonderful tradition of the Christmas tree, which started in Germany, is the heart of the celebration. The evergreen tree is decorated with beautiful ornaments of colored glass and carved wood, silver stars, and strings of lights. A golden angel is placed at the very top of the tree. Under the Christmas tree, the family arranges a manger scene to depict the stable that Jesus was born in. Christmas angel ornaments are most commonly made of wood, and are often seen playing their musical instruments. Just after dark, a bell rings, and the excited children run into the room to see the beautiful lighted tree in all its glory. The family members exchange gifts, recite poems, and sing Christmas carols. “Silent Night, Holy Night” is an old German favorite.

In some parts of Germany, families still follow an old tradition. The children leave their shoes outside the front door. These shoes are filled with carrots and hay to feed St. Nicholas’ horse as he rides by. If the children were good all year, St. Nicholas leaves apples, nuts, and candy for them. On Christmas Day the white candle of the Advent wreath is lit. This day is quietly focused on family. They attend church together, and then they eat a delicious Christmas dinner together.
Another tradition is the Sternsinger (or star singers) who go from house to house, sing a song and collect money for charity. The singers are normally four children, three who dress up like the Wise men and one carries a star on a stick as a symbol for the Star of Bethlehem. When they’re finished singing, they write a signature with chalk over the door of the house.

Dutch children in Holland, or the Netherlands, anxiously look forward to St. Nicholas Day on December 6. While they eagerly await the arrival of Sinterklaas, the people around them shop for gifts, write a little poem to accompany each one, and carefully wrap each gift to keep the contents a surprise to the receiver.
Sinterklaas is a kindly bishop. He wears red robes and a tall, pointed mitre on his head. Sinterklaas travels by ship from Spain to Amsterdam’s harbor every winter. With him he brings his white horse and a huge sack full of gifts for the children. The mayor and all the people of Amsterdam flock to the harbor to greet Sinterklaas as he arrives. Bells ring out, the people cheer, and a brass band leads a parade through the streets. The parade stops at the royal palace, where the Queen welcomes Sinterklaas.

Families celebrate St. Nicholas Eve at home with lots of good food, hot chocolate, and a letterbanket. This is a “letter cake” made in the shape of the first letter of the family’s last name. In some families, each person gets a little letterbanket with their first initial.

Then out come the carefully chosen and wrapped “surprises.” Every gift is accompanied by a personal verse written by the giver about the recipient. And even though the gifts are from family and friends, they all are signed “Sinterklaas.” No one is supposed to know who really gave the gift. The way they are wrapped adds to the surprise. A small gift might be hidden in a potato. A big gift might be kept a surprise by being hidden in the attic. The recipient opens a smaller gift that contains a note telling the recipient where to find the real package.

Finally, at the end of the evening, the children set their shoes by the fireplace. The shoes are filled with hay and carrots for the horse Sinterklaas rides through the streets on St. Nicholas Eve. The children sing a song about how much they hope the cold, wet, foggy weather will not keep Sinterklaas away that night. Then they tell their parents how well, or how badly, they have behaved throughout the past year. When well-behaved children awake in the morning, their shoes are filled with nuts, candy, and other surprises.

In the eastern part of Holland, farm families announce the coming of Christmas from the first Sunday of Advent, which is the fourth Sunday before Christmas, until Christmas Eve by blowing a horn made from hollow elder-tree branches. The horns make an eerie noise as they are blown at every farm in the neighborhood.

Later in December, Dutch families decorate a Christmas tree and trim the house with candles, evergreens, and holly. Some children hang up a stocking from the fireplace mantel on Christmas Eve, but there are no more presents after St. Nicholas Day for most Dutch children.

Families go to church together on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas morning. They gather together for a family dinner of roast hare, venison, goose, or turkey. Eggnog and a mulled drink are specially made for this celebration. After dinner, the family gathers before the fireplace to tell stories and sing carols.

December 26 is called Second Christmas Day. Often the family goes out to a restaurant to eat on that day. Many concerts, recitals, and other musical performances make this Christmas Day special.

The Christmas season begins in Italy on the first Sunday of Advent, which is four Sundays before Christmas. In the cold winter weather of the northern mountains and in the mild weather of the south, Christmas fairs feature fireworks and bonfires along with holiday music. Families go to the Christmas markets to shop for gifts and new figures for the manger scene. Some families set up a Christmas tree and decorate it.
During novena, the nine days before and including Christmas Day, children go from house to house reciting Christmas verses for coins. The family sets up its presepio, or manger scene, on the first day of the novena. They gather before the presepio each morning or evening of novena to light candles and pray.

Some families put life-size figures of Mary and Joseph in their front yard. Both manger scenes and Christmas carols originated in Italy.

During this time, children write letters to their parents wishing them a merry Christmas, promising good behavior, and making a list of the gifts they hope to receive. The parents read these letters aloud at dinner. Then they toss them in the fireplace.

When the first star appears in the evening sky on Christmas Eve, every family sets lighted candles in their windows to light the way for the Christ Child. They light candles around their presepio and pass the figure of the Baby Jesus from person to person, finally placing it tenderly in the manger. Then they enjoy a lavish meatless supper featuring fish or another type of seafood, vegetables, salads, antipasto, bread, pasta, and sweets. Later that night, everyone goes through the torch-lit streets on their way to Christmas Eve mass.

Christmas Day is reserved for church, family, and feasting. Some Italian children receive gifts from Baby Jesus or from Babbo Natale, as Father Christmas is called. Then everyone sits down to a big Christmas dinner. This often includes capon or another roasted meat. Pannettone, a yeast cake filled with fruit, and panforte, a dense honey cake spiced with cloves and cinnamon, are popular sweets, along with cassata, which includes ice cream and fruit.

New Year’s Day is when friends get together and visit. It is also the day when Italians exchange gifts with each other. The children have to wait until January 6 to get their gifts from La Befana, whose name comes from the Italian word for Epiphany.

January 6 is also called Three Kings Day, because it is the day the Three Kings visited the Christ Child in Bethlehem long ago.

During the Christmas season, Italian families sing a special song called Shepherds’ Carol in honor of the zampognari, or real shepherds who came to town at Advent and went from house-to-house playing bagpipes and singing songs about the birth of Jesus. In some towns, bagpipers dressed as shepherds still play and sing in front of the neighborhoods’ presepios.

The weather is warm and mild in Mexico during the Christmas season. Families shop for gifts, ornaments, and good things to eat in the market stalls, called puestos. They decorate their homes with lilies and evergreens. Family members make lanterns called farolitos by cutting intricate designs in brown paper bags with a candle inside.

The Mexican celebration of Christmas is called las posadas and begins on December 16. The ninth evening of las posadas is Buena Noche, Christmas Eve. The children lead a procession to the church and place a figure of the Christ Child in the nacimiento or nativity scene there. Then everyone attends midnight mass. After mass, the church bells ring out and fireworks light up the skies. Many Mexican children receive gifts from Santa Claus on this night. The children help to set up the family’s nacimiento in the best room in the house. The scene includes a little hillside, the stable, and painted clay figures of the Holy Family, shepherds, the Three Kings, and animals. The children bring moss, rocks, and flowers to complete the scene.

Families begin the nine-day observance of las posadas by reenacting the Holy Family’s nine-day journey to Bethlehem and their search for shelter in a posada, or inn. In some parts of Mexico, for the first eight evenings of las posadas two costumed children carry small statues of Mary and Joseph as they lead a candlelight procession of friends and neighbors from house to house. They sing a song asking for shelter for the weary travelers. When at last they find a family that will give shelter, the children say a prayer of thanks and place the figures of Mary and Joseph in the family’s nacimiento. Then everyone enjoys a feast at one of their homes.

For the children, the pinata party on the first eight evenings is the best part of las posadas. The pinata is a large clay or papier-mache figure shaped like a star, an animal, or some other object and covered with colorful paper streamers, filled with candy or small gifts, and hung from the ceiling. The blindfolded children are spun around and given a big stick, taking turns trying to break open the pinata with the stick while it is raised and lowered. Everybody scrambles for the gifts and treats when the pinata shatters and spills its treasure.

Christmas Day is a time for church and family. After church, Christmas dinner includes oxtail soup, beans, hot chili, roasted turkey, and a special salad with fruits and vegetables. Many children receive gifts on the eve of Twelfth Night, January 5th, from the Reyes Magos, the Three Kings. Children leave their shoes on the window sill and find them filled with gifts the next morning. At a special Twelfth Night supper on January 6th, families and friends enjoy hot chocolate flavored with vanilla and cinnamon, and a ring-shaped cake. Whoever gets the slice of cake containing a tiny figure of a baby will give a tamale party on February 2nd, Candlemas Day. Tamales are a meat or chicken filling wrapped in corn dough which are steamed in corn husks. A religious service held on Candlemas marks the end of the Christmas season in Mexico.

In Serbia, the main Church is the Orthodox Church and they still use the old ‘Julian’ Calendar, which means that Christmas Eve is on 6th January and Christmas Day is on the 7th January! Advent in the Orthodox Church starts on 28th November and last for six weeks. During Advent, some people fast and they don’t eat food that comes from animals (meat, milk, eggs, etc.). On Christmas Eve (called ‘Badnji dan’ during the day and ‘Badnje veče’ after sunset), families gather and many people fast and don’t eat food that comes from animals. It is the last day of the Christmas fast. Christmas is a very religious holiday and most people go to the Christmas Services. There are a lot of old Serbian traditions associated with the countryside. On the morning of Christmas Eve, the father of the family used to go to the forest to cut a young oak called the ‘Badnjak’ (Christmas Eve tree) but today people just buy one. The Badnjak is then burnt like a Yule Log. There are sometimes large bonfires outside churches where oak branches and Badnjak are burnt. On Christmas Day the dawn is greeted with church bells ringing and sometimes people firing guns into the air! The first person to enter a house on Christmas Day is called a položajnik and it’s thought to bring luck to the house and family. The položajnik is often pre-arranged. But if the family don’t have a good year, they don’t ask the same person back! Early on Christmas morning, girls traditionally collected water to bring to their family. This was called ‘strong water’ and was meant to have special powers. People would drink some strong water and wash their faces in it before having breakfast! At Christmas a special kind of bread is eaten. It’s called ‘cesnica’ and is made in a round shape. Sometimes it’s made using some of the ‘strong water’. Each member of the family gets a piece (and the house does too). There is a coin hidden in it and whoever gets the coin will be particularly fortunate in the next year! Other popular Christmas dishes include pecenica (roast pork), sarma (cabbage stuffed with rice and ground meat) and lots of cakes! Under the dinner table some straw is spread out as a symbol of the stable/cave where Jesus was born. Some people make the noise of a chicken when they see it! Clucking like a chicken symbolises that Jesus wanted people to follow him like one big family (like chickens gather together!). It’s also common for a handful of walnuts to be spread on the straw. In Serbian Happy/Merry Christmas is Hristos se rodi (Христос се роди) – Christ is born Vaistinu se rodi (Ваистину се роди) – truly born (reply).

The Christmas season begins in Spain on December 8th, with a weeklong observance of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. They burn candles all night in the windows. Evergreens decorate the churches and outdoor markets throughout the Christmas season. Tambourines, gourd rattles, castanets, and miniature guitars are offered for sale to enliven the singing and dancing in the streets. Children go from house to house reciting verses or singing carols for sweets, toys, or small instruments. Life-size nativity scenes called nacimientos are set up in public places, and every family has a small nacimiento in the best room in the house. In some villages, families send their sons to bring in a Yule log. As the boys tug the log home, they stop at homes along the way for chocolates and nuts.

Christmas Eve is La Noche Buena, the Blessed Night. When the first star shines in the evening sky, people light bonfires, called luminarias, in public squares and outside church walls. Traditional plays called Las Pastores depict the shepherds’ adoration of the Christ Child in Bethlehem. At home, each family places a burning candle above the door and lights candles around the nacimiento. People fast all day and then go as a family to midnight mass. Then they return home to enjoy a feast of almond soup, roasted meat, baked red cabbage, and sweet potato or pumpkin.

Christmas Day is set aside for family reunions, when relatives get together for more feasting. The children sing and dance around the nacimiento. Family members exchange gifts, and friends and neighbors exchange holiday sweets. Some families add to the fun with the traditional Urn of Fate. Names are written on cards and placed in a bowl. Then two names are drawn at a time. Those two people will be friendly to each other throughout the coming year.

Children believe that on Epiphany Eve, January 5, the Three Kings travel through Spain on their way to Bethlehem. That night children set out their shoes filled with straw for the Three Kings’ camels. The Kings, passing in the night, fill the shoes with gifts. The next day, families enjoy a feast of almond soup, turkey, and roasted chestnuts. Sweets include a special nougat candy called turron and Kings’ cake with a small prize baked inside. On Epiphany, January 6, children march out to the city gates carrying special cakes for the Three Kings and other foods for the servants and camels. They hope to meet the Three Kings on their way to the Holy Land. Always disappointed in their hopes, the children eat the good things they have brought with them. Then they are directed by their parents to the nacimiento in the village church. There they find the Three Kings presenting gifts to the Christ Child in a manger.

It is dark, cold, and snowy in Sweden in December. The days are short and the nights long. Families begin the Christmas season by attending church on the first Sunday of Advent. The children count the days from the first day of December until Christmas with an Advent calendar. Each morning, they open a flap in the calendar’s Christmas scene to see the charming picture behind it.
One of the biggest celebrations around Christmas is St. Lucia’s Day (or St. Lucy’s Day) on December 13th. The celebration comes from stories that were told by Monks who first brought Christianity to Sweden. St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304AD. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. Lucy means ‘light’ so this is a very appropriate name. St. Lucia’s Day is now celebrated by a girl dressing in a white dress with a red sash round her waist and a crown of candles on her head. Small children use electric candles but from about 12 years old, real candles are used! The crown is made of Lingonberry branches which are evergreen and symbolize new life in winter. Schools normally have their own St. Lucia’s and some town and villages also choose a girl to play St. Lucia in a procession where carols are sung. A national Lucia is also chosen. Lucias also visit hospitals and old people’s homes singing a song about St Lucia and handing out ‘Pepparkakor’, ginger snap biscuits. Small children sometimes like dressing up as Lucia (with the help of their parents!). Also boys might dress up as ‘Stjärngossar’ (star boys) and girls might be ‘tärnor’ (like Lucia but without the candles).
Many families go to the Christmas market in the old medieval section of Stockholm to buy handmade toys, ornaments, and candy. Gift-givers like to seal the package with sealing wax and write a special verse that will accompany the gift. The whole family helps to select the Christmas tree just a day or two before Christmas. Then they use papier-mache apples, heart-shaped paper baskets filled with candies, gilded pinecones, small straw goats and pigs, little Swedish flags, glass ornaments, and small figures of gnomes wearing red hats to decorate the tree. The delightful smells of gingerbread cookies in the shape of hearts, stars, or goats fill the house. Many families set out a sheaf of grain on a pole for hungry birds.

Christmas Eve is also very important in Sweden. This is when the main meal (well really a feast!) is eaten. This is often a ‘julbord’ which is a buffet, eaten at lunchtime. Cold fish is important on the julbord. There is often herring (served in many different ways), gravlax (salmon which has been cured in sugar, salt and dill) and smoked salmon. Other dishes on the julbord might include cold meats including turkey, roast beef and ‘julskinka’ (a Christmas ham); cheeses, liver pate, salads, pickles and different types of bread and butter (or mayonnaise). There will also be warm savoury foods including meatballs, ‘prinskorv’ (sausages), ‘koldomar’ (meat stuffed cabbage rolls), jellied pigs’ feet, lutfisk (a dried cod served with a thick white sauce) and ‘revbenspjäll’ (oven-roasted pork ribs). Vegetables such as potatoes and red cabbage will also be served. Another potato dish is ‘Janssons Frestelse’ (matchstick potatoes layered with cream, onion and anchovies that is baked to a golden brown. There’s also ‘dopp i grytan’ which is bread that is dipped in the broth and juices that are left over after boiling the ham. It is said that whoever finds the almond in the special rice pudding will marry in the coming year. The dessert of the julbord might be a selection of sweet pastries, some more pepparkakor biscuits and some home made sweets! To wash all that food down you can have some ‘glogg’ which is sweet mulled wine and some coffee to finish off the meal!
After dinner, the Christmas tree lights are lit. Then the Jultomten, the tiny Christmas gnome, comes on a sleigh drawn by the Christmas goat, Julbokar. In some families, a friend or family member dresses up in a red robe and wears a long white beard to bring toys for the children. In other families, the Jultomten’s gifts are left beneath the tree. After the gifts are opened, the family dances around the tree singing a special song.

In the predawn darkness of Christmas Day, candles illuminate every window. Bells ring out, calling families to churches lit by candlelight. Back home again, the parents kindle a blaze in the fireplace to light the darkness. The Second Day of Christmas is a day of singing carols. On January 5, the eve of Twelfth Night, or Epiphany, young boys dress up as the Wise Men and carry a lighted candle on a pole topped with a star, and go from house to house singing carols. Then on St. Knut’s Day on January 13, there is one last Christmas party. The grown-ups pack away the Christmas decorations while the costumed children eat the last of the wrapped candies left on the tree. Then out goes the tree to the tune of the last song of Christmas.

In Russian Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘s rah-zh-dee-st-VOHM’ (C рождеством!) or ‘s-schah-st-lee-vah-vah rah-zh dee-st-vah’ (Счастливого рождества!).
In Russia, people observe fasts during Christmas and the number of days of fasting varies from person to person. The fasting ends on January 6th, on the Feast Day with the appearance of the first evening star. The last day of fasting, the hardest one is called “рождественский сочельник” (Christmas Eve). During this day, it is forbidden to eat anything at all, and in the evening, after the rising of the stars, Russians eat a special meal called “сочиво”, a meal made from wheat or rice, honey and fruits. Several long prayer sessions take place in churches, with all-night prayer followed by a special nativity service on Christmas morning, January 7th. Being suppressed by the communist government for a long period, Christmas, just like other religious festivals, did not have any special importance in Russia for years. Christmas was in fact replaced by the “Festival of Winter” in those times. However, the custom of observing Christmas has been revived since 1992 and is now increasingly becoming popular year by year.

People decorate their houses and gardens with lights and Christmas ornaments. Christmas trees are called “Yëlka” which are also nicely decorated with ornaments, flowers and lights. Hymns and carols form an inevitable part of Russian Christmas celebrations and the trees are taken down on the day of Baptism.

Russian Christmas feast is very special because of the number of dishes. It is a 12 course dinner with one course each for 12 apostles. The menu includes fish, beet soup, stuffed cabbage, dry fruits and other delicacies. Members of the family gather around the table and pay reverence to the son of God. The tablecloth used is traditionally white and symbolizes the swaddling cloth of infant Jesus and also the poverty of the place where he is believed to have taken birth. A candle placed at the middle of the table symbolizes that “Christ is the light of the world”. Special lantern bread called “pagach” is also placed on the table symbolizing that “Christ is the bread of life”.
Christmas feast of the Eastern Orthodox Christians (Lenten meal) is different as it is devoid of all meat and dairy products. “Kutya”, a special porridge made of wheat berries, is the most important dish of the Christmas feast. The components of the feast symbolize certain things. While wheat berries stands for hope and immortality, honey and poppy seeds represent happiness and success.
Other popular Christmas Eve foods include beetroot soup (borsch) or vegan potluck (solyanka) served with individual vegetable pies (often made with cabbage, potato, or mushroom); salads often made from vegetables like gherkins, mushrooms or tomatoes, and also potato or other root vegetable salads.
Sauerkraut is main dish in the Christmas Eve meal. It can be served with cranberries, cumin, shredded carrot and onion rings. It might be followed by more pies or porridge dishes such as buckwheat with fried onions and fried mushrooms.
Dessert is often things like fruit pies, gingerbread and honeybread cookies and fresh and dried fruit and more nuts.
‘Vzvar’ (meaning ‘boil-up’) is often the end of the meal. It’s a sweet drink made from dried fruit and honey boiled in water. Vzvar is traditionally at the birth of a child, so at Christmas it symbolizes the birth of the baby Jesus.
Russian Santa is popularly known as Grandfather Frost (known in Russian as ‘Ded Moroz’ or Дед Мороз) and, as in every other case, he brings gifts to children on this holy occasion. According to Russian belief, Santa comes with his granddaughter “Snowmaiden” (Snegurochka). When they appear the star and other lights on the Christmas tree light up! Russia is famous for its hand-carved Santa, which is traditionally made with Linden wood.
One of the most famous things about Christmas in Russia, to people in western Europe and the USA, is the story of Babushka. Babushka means Grandmother in Russian. It tells the story of an old woman who met the Wise men on their way to see Jesus. (However, most people in Russia have never heard of the story, but it’s become famous in other places!)
The Story of Babushka
Once in a small Russian town, there lived a women called Babushka. Babushka always had work to do sweeping, polishing, dusting and cleaning. Her house was the best kept, most tidy house in the whole village. Her garden was beautiful and her cooking was wonderful. One evening she was busy dusting and cleaning, so busy that she didn’t hear all the villagers outside in the village square talking about and looking at the new star in sky.
She had heard about the new star but thought, “All this fuss about a star! I don’t even have the time to look because I’m so behind with my work. I must work all night!” So, she missed the star as it shone brightly, high overhead. She also missed the little line of twinkling lights coming down towards the village at dawn. She didn’t hear the sounds of the pipes and drums. She missed the voices and whispers of the villagers wondering whether the lights were an army or a procession of some sort. She missed the sudden quiet of the villagers and even the footsteps coming up the path to her door. But the one thing that she couldn’t miss was the loud knocking on her front door!
“Now what is that?” she wondered, opening the door. Babushka gaped in amazement. There were three kings at her door with one of their servants! “My masters need a place to rest,” the servant said, “and yours is the best house in the village.” “You want to stay here?” asked Babushka. “Yes, it would only be until night falls and the star appears again.” the servant replied. Babushka gulped. “Come in, then.” she said.
The kings were very pleased when they saw all of the of the home-baked bread, pies and cakes. She dashed about, serving them, asking lots of questions. “Have you come a long way?” “A very long way.” sighed Caspar. “Where are you going?” “We’re following the new star.” said Melchior. “But where?” The kings didn’t know, but they believed that it would lead the to a new-born king, a King of Earth and Heaven. “Why don’t you come with us?” asked Balthasar. “You could bring him a gift like we do. I bring gold, and my colleagues bring spices and perfumes.” “Oh, I’m not sure that he would welcome me,” said Babushka, “and what could I bring for a gift? Toys! I know I could bring a toy. I’ve got a cupboard full of toys.” she said sadly. “My baby son, died when he was small.” Balthasar stopped her as she went to tidy the kitchen up. “This new king could be your king too. Come with us when the star appears tonight.” he said. “I’ll think about it.” sighed Babushka.
As the kings slept, Babushka tidied up as quietly as she could. “What a lot of extra work there was!” she thought, “and this new king, what a funny idea, to go off with the kings to find him.”
Babushka shook herself. There was no time for dreaming, all this washing-up and putting away had to be done. “Anyway,” she thought, “how long would she be away? What would she wear? What about the gift?” She sighed. “There is so much to do. The house will have to be cleaned when they’ve gone. I couldn’t just leave it.” Suddenly it was night-time again and the star was in the sky. “Are you ready, Babushka?” asked Balthasar. “I’ll come tomorrow,” Babushka called, “I must just tidy here first and find a gift.”
The kings went away sadly. Babushka ran back into her house, keen to get on with her work.
Finally, she went to the small cupboard, opened the door and gazed at all the toys. But they were very dusty. They weren’t fit for a baby king. They would all need to be cleaned. She cleaned all of the toys until each one shined. Babushka looked through the window. It was morning! The star had came and gone. The kings would have found somewhere else to rest by now. She could easily catch them up, but she felt so tired. She had to sleep. The next thing she knew, she was awake and it was dark outside. She had slept all day! She quickly pulled on her cloak, packed the toys in a basket and ran down the path the kings had taken.
Everywhere she asked “Have you seen the kings?” “Oh yes,” everyone told her, “we saw them. They went that way.” For a day Babushka followed the trail of the kings and the villages got bigger and became towns. But Babushka never stopped. Then she came to a city. “The palace,” she thought. “That’s where the royal baby would be born.” “No, there is no royal baby here,” said the palace guard when she asked him. “What about three kings?” asked Babushka. “Oh yes, they came here, but they didn’t stay long. They were soon on their journey.” “But where to?” asked Babushka. “Bethlehem, that was the place. I can’t imagine why. It’s a very poor place. But that’s where they went.” replied the guard. She set off towards Bethlehem. It was evening when Babushka arrived at Bethlehem and she had been travelling for a long time. She went into the local inn and asked about the kings. “Oh yes,” said the landlord, “the kings were here two days ago. They were very excited, but they didn’t even stay the night.” “And what about a baby?” Babushka cried. “Yes there was.” Said the landlord. “The kings asked about a baby, too.” When he saw the disappointment in Babushka’s eyes, he stopped. “If you’d like to see where the baby was,” he said quickly, “it was across the yard there. I couldn’t offer the couple anything better at the time. My inn was really full, so they had to go in the stable.”
Babushka followed him across the yard. “Here’s the stable.” he said. He left her in the stable. “Babushka?” Someone was calling her from the doorway. He looked kindly at her. She wondered if he knew where the family had gone. She knew now that the baby king was the most important thing in the world to her. “They have gone to Egypt, and safety,” he told Babushka. “And the kings have returned to their countries. But one of them told me about you. I am sorry but you are too late. It was Jesus that they found, the world’s Savior.”
Babushka was very sad that she had missed Jesus and it is said that Babushka is still looking for him.

Many people in the United States celebrate Christmas Day on December 25. The day celebrates Jesus Christ’s birth. It is often combined with customs from pre-Christian winter celebrations. Many people erect Christmas trees, decorate their homes, visit family or friends and exchange gifts. People celebrate Christmas Day in many ways. In the days or even weeks before Christmas Day, many people decorate their homes and gardens with lights, Christmas trees and much more. It is common to organize a special meal, often consisting of turkey and a lot of other festive foods, for family or friends and exchange gifts with them. Children, in particular, often receive a lot of gifts from their parents and other relatives and the mythical figure Santa Claus. This has led to Christmas Day becoming an increasingly commercialized holiday, with a lot of families spending a large part of their income on gifts and food.
Many Sunday schools, churches and communities organize special events. These can include decorating the neighborhood or a shopping mall, putting up a Christmas tree and planning a Nativity display, concert or performance. A lot of plays and songs have an aspect of Christmas as a theme. Some groups arrange meals, shelter or charitable projects for people without a home or with very little money.
Government offices, organizations, businesses and schools are closed, almost without exception. Many people visit relatives or friends and are out of town. This may cause congestion on highways and at airports. Public transit systems do not run on their regular schedules. In general, public life closes down completely.
The original meaning of Christmas is a special church service, or mass, to celebrate the birth of Christ. The story of the Nativity, or the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, are particularly important in religious celebrations of Christmas.
Christmas is a most important religious holy day for Christians, who attend special church services to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Because it is a religious holiday, it is not an official holiday. However, since most Americans are Christian, the day is one on which most businesses are closed and the greatest possible number of workers, including government employees, have the day off. Many places even close early on the day before.
Christians observe Christmas according to the traditions of their particular church. Besides the strictly religious traditions, however, other common Christmas practices are observed by people who are not religious or who are not Christian. In this way, some Christmas traditions have become American traditions.
Gift-giving is so common at Christmas time that for most stores it means a sharp increase in sales. Gifts are given to children, members of the family and close friends. They are given to people who have done favors to others or who work for them. Some people bake cookies or make candies or other special food treats for friends and neighbors. Many businesses give their workers a Christmas “bonus” – gifts of extra money – to show appreciation for their work. Christmas is also a time when most Americans show great generosity to other less fortunate than they. They send money to hospitals or orphanages or contribute to funds that help the poor.
Most Americans send greeting cards to their friends and family at Christmas time. Some people who are friends or relatives and live great distances from each other may not be much in contact with each other during year – but will usually exchange greeting cards and often a Christmas letter telling their family news.
The decorating of homes for Christmas is very common. Most American who observe Christmas have a Christmas tree in their homes. This may be a real evergreen tree or an artificial one. In either case, the tree is decorated and trimmed with small lights and ornaments. Other decorations such as lights and wreaths of evergreen and signs wishing a “Merry Christmas” can be found inside and outside of many homes.
In Pennsylvania, the Moravians build a landscape, called a putz – under the Christmas tree. In Hawaii, Santa Claus arrives by boat and Christmas dinner is eaten outdoors. In Alaska, a star on a pole is taken from door to door, followed by Herod’s Men, who try to capture the star. In Washington D.C., a huge, spectacular tree is lit ceremoniously when the President presses a button and turns on the tree’s lights. In Boston, carol singing festivities are famous. The singers are accompanied by hand bells. In New Orleans, a huge ox is paraded around the streets decorated with holly and with ribbons tied to its horns. In Arizona they follow the Mexican traditions called Las Posadas. Families play out the parts of Mary and Joseph searching for somewhere to stay. They form a procession and visit their friends’ and neighbors’ homes where they admire each family’s Nativity crib. In parts of New Mexico, people place lighted candles in paper bags filled with sand on streets and rooftops to light the way for the Christ Child. In Hawaii, Christmas starts with the coming of the Christmas Tree Ship, which is a ship bringing a great load of Christmas fare. Santa Claus also arrives by boat. In California, Santa Claus sweeps in on a surf board. In Colorado, an enormous star is placed on the mountain, it can be seen for many kilometers around, while in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a star is lit in early December. In Philadelphia, a procession called a mummers parade runs for a whole day with bands, dancers and people in fancy dress. Early settlers in the South would send Christmas greetings to their distant neighbors by shooting firearms and letting off fireworks.

From lovely groups of children singing carols from door to door to mouthwatering dishes and various odd habits, the homeland of Dracula and other cool things you’ve probably never heard of is kind of a truly amazing place to spend Christmas. Some of these customs and traditions are old, unusual, and authentic; others borrowed from overseas; but, together, they dress up Romania in bright holiday clothes, offering it a unique identity and a special charm during the holidays.
Christmas season in Romania kicks off with a series of wonderful celebrations right after St. Andrew’s Day (November 30). Especially appreciated among children, St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6th with great fanfare and plenty of gifts. On Saint Nicholas’ Eve all the children clean their boots, place them at the door (or window), and go to sleep waiting for Mos Nicolae to fill them with plenty of gifts. In the morning, the most obedient of them will discover lots of sweets tucked into their shoes, while the naughty ones will only find the symbolic rod.
Pig slaughter is not the kind of national custom that one might be proud of, but is a long-lasting Christmas tradition that Romania keeps stubbornly.
Each year, on Ignat Day (St. Ignatius), on December 20th, Romanian families, especially those in the countryside, sacrifice their pig in order to have a rich meal for Christmas. From the fat melting to the preparation of sausages, one thing is for sure – Romanians really know how to cook the entire pig, without losing anything.
In Romania, Christmas has always been a great opportunity for family members to get together in order to spend some time in the warm, loving, and cozy atmosphere of their home. A large part of Romania’s population lives outside the country and those who don’t are usually trying to make a better living by working in large cities, away from their families.
However, during Christmas, most of Romanian houses are filled with neighbors, relatives, and good will – a pleasant comfortable jamboree where everyone giggles, dances, cooks, and tells stories, not to mention the carol singers constantly knocking at the door. It’s a chance for any family member to recharge their batteries and to create memories that will keep them warm throughout the year to come.
Food is probably the main part of any holiday in Romania, but Christmas is a true feast for the senses. Preparation begins with pig slaughtering, when a good part of the poor animal is turned into smoked ham, bacon, sausages, liver sausage, pig’s trotter, and other bizarre and delicious Romanian dishes whose names are sometimes hard to translate.
On Christmas Eve, women make sarmale (delicious meat-and-rice rolls wrapped in cabbage, served with polenta) and bake cozonaci, a sort of sponge cake with nuts, cocoa, and Turkish delights, similar to the Italian panettone, but more consistent.
Despite all financial problems, Christmas dinner is a rich, multi-course meal. Highlights of the menu always include roasted pork, pickled vegetables, the delicious boeuf salad, home-made wine and plum brandy, as well as various fancy cakes.
Probably the best part of a Romanian Christmas is the laborious, magical suite of carols that can be heard all over the country during this wonderful time of year, from the cobbled paths of the most remote villages to the classiest venues in the capital.
Often accompanied by wishes for health, prosperity, and fulfillment, Romanian carols are far from being just simple Christmas songs. They usually come together with rituals, special costumes and tools, as well as peculiar theatrical performances, generating a genuine spectacle. Some of the most popular are Steaua (the Star boys’ singing procession), Capra (The Goat), and Plugusorul.
Further Christmas traditions and customs in Romania include the decorating of Christmas Tree, which is usually made by the whole family a couple of days before Christmas; the arrival of Santa Claus with his bag full of gifts, a practice that takes place on Christmas Eve; the decorating of each city with millions of glowing lights; and, of course, the charming Christmas Markets sprinkled all over the country.
There are many, very beautiful traditions and customs that focus on the two great winter holidays: Christmas, i.e. the birth of our Lord Jesus, and the New Year’s Eve. Customs and traditions are common for all places on the planet…yet the hearts of the people are the most important during a feast. As you already know, many celebrate Christmas but without The Celebrated One, without the One whose birthday Christmas is. Feast or no feast…without the very core of Christmas which is Jesus Christ Himself, Christmas is nothing but another tradition.

Because South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere, Christmas comes in the summer. So there’s lots of sun and beautiful flowers in full bloom.
The schools are closed for the Christmas holidays and some people like to go camping. Going carol singing, on Christmas Eve, is very popular in towns and cities. Carols by Candlelight services are also popular on Christmas Eve. And many people go to a Christmas morning Church Service.
Traditional ‘fir’ Christmas trees are popular and children leave a stocking out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
The Christmas meal is either turkey (or duck), roast beef, mince pies or suckling pig with yellow rice & raisins and vegetables, followed by Christmas Pudding or a traditional South African desert called Malva Pudding (sometimes also called Lekker Pudding) – get the recipe. People also like to pull Christmas Crackers! The meal is often eaten outside in the summer sun! If it’s really hot they might even have a barbecue or ‘braai’.
South Africa also has several other UK Christmas traditions, because of its history with the UK.
On Christmas day afternoon, people visit family and friends or might go for a trip into the country side to play games or have a swim.
Boxing Day is also a public holiday in South Africa and again people like to be ‘out and about’ having a good time!
In Afrikaans (one the languages spoken in South Africa) Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Geseënde Kersfees’. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.
Santa Claus is also known as Sinterklaas & Kersvader.
Christmas is a summer holiday in South Africa. It is a day of contradictions–the windows are draped with sparkling cotton wool and tinsel, yet it is an out-of-door day when people go to the beaches, the rivers, and shaded mountain slopes.
For native Africans, Christmas Day is a day of good eating and a lively exchange and enjoyment of gifts. The festival is a carnival-like week of singing, dancing and feasting.
English-speaking children hang up their stockings, feeling certain Father Christmas will fill them with gifts and goodies. Carol singers make their rounds on Christmas Eve to celebrate “Carols by Candlelight.” Children are fond of the age-old custom of producing pantomimes–for instance, “Babes in the Wood,” founded on one of the oldest ballads in the English language. Boxing Day, on December 26th, when boxes of food and clothing are given to the poor, is observed as a holiday.

In Pakistan, most people call Christmas Barra Din (Urdu) and Wadda Din (Punjabi), meaning “The Big Day”. Christmas is celebrated freely in Pakistan – December 25th is a government holiday; this date is also the birthday of the founder of Pakistan. The national holiday gives Christians in this majority Muslim country an opportunity also to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Preparation begins during the first week of December. People may paint their whole house, purchase new furniture, and almost every Christian family tries to buy a Christmas tree and decorate it in their home. Everyone in the family asks their parents or elders to visit them as well as their relatives in various places.
Also in the first week of December, some churches organize special “White Gift” services for women, who wear white dresses in honor of Mary as the mother of Jesus. In these services the church gives gifts to their women members. Many Christians distribute food baskets and money to poor and needy widows, children and poor families.
Another strong cultural tradition is for parents to send gifts and sweets to married daughters before Christmas. Since the married daughters usually live close to, and perhaps even with her husband’s parents, the daughters wait with high expectation for her family to bring a Christmas gift to her in her in-law’s house. It is considered a sign of love and care and also honors the daughter.
Young girls apply artistic henna decorations on their hands and wear bangles on their arms with new clothes. Young boys and church members decorate the outside of their houses in a kind of street art to tell the story of Jesus birth. Sometimes a competition to decorate mangers is organized by local churches on street corners in Christian communities. Every church building is decorated with lights and a big star on the top. Families may also place paper stars in their windows at home. Christmas carols and song competitions are arranged by different churches. Christmas dinners are prepared, Sunday schools organize special programs and dramas to remember the Christmas story.
On Christmas Eve, everyone at home keeps their eyes on their clocks, and at midnight everyone greats each other with “MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU! HAPPY CHRISTMAS! BARRA DIN MUBARAK! WADDA DIN MUBARRAK!” Elders give blessings to their children for long life, peace, love and unity, while young ones hug each other. On the streets, youth with their elders ignite fireworks, another symbol of joy and happiness for this great day.
In addition to celebrations at home, those who can attend church also gather on Christmas Eve, and the majority of communities try to attend a midnight service. Church services include scripture, prayer, and especially singing psalms and carols by intergenerational family groups. People coming back from the midnight service greet other walkers and whoever comes their way. Some families visit each other even after the midnight service. Many people stay awake all night and then attend Christmas morning worship. On December 25 everyone tries to attend worship.
After the service people visit relatives, prepare special food and share the joy of visiting family and friends. Many families, especially those from suburban or slum areas, like to visit recreational places such as the zoo, park or seaside with friends and families.
When Jesus was born, the angels sang of peace on earth. In Pakistan, Christmas season is an opportunity of Christians to share the peace of Christ with their Muslim neighbors. Christians share cakes and sweets and exchange gifts as well with their Muslim friends. Churches and Christian organizations arrange special Christmas dinners and invite government officials. Almost all mainstream Muslim political parties try to send delegates with cakes to offer Christmas greetings before or during Christmas services. The midnight Christmas Eve service thus has become an opportunity for efforts toward building peace and harmony between Muslims and Christians.
God became incarnate in Jesus Christ to show that every human being is loved by God. He was born in Bethlehem to show that every piece of land is God’s footstool. And he was born in time to show that in every age, we can celebrate his birth. God proved his love to the world by becoming human, by choosing a particular geographical place and time in history to announce good news to the whole world. We can share his story with each generation in every place, also in Pakistan.
Barra Din Mubarak to all of you!

Christmas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is more of a religious festival than being commercial. Most people won’t have any presents.
Christmas Eve is very important with Churches having big musical evenings (many churches have at least 5 or 6 choirs) and a nativity play. These plays last a very long time. They start at the beginning of the evening with the creation and the Garden of Eden and end with the story of King Herod killing the baby boys.
People taking part in the play really like to show off their ‘best’ acting skills and tend to go over the top and ‘ham it up’! King Herod and the soldiers are often figures of fun (like pantomime ‘baddies’) and Mary is often well advanced in labour before she arrives!
The birth of Jesus is timed to happen as close to midnight as possible and after that come the shepherds, the wise men and the slaughter of the innocents. This means the play normally finishes about 1am. However, in some places there will be further singing until dawn! The Christmas day service then starts at 9am with lots more singing.
On Christmas day, most families try to have a better meal than usual. If they can afford it, they will have some meat (normally chicken or pork). The rest of the day is spent quite quietly, maybe sleeping after a busy and late night on Christmas Eve!
People go back to work on the 26th (Boxing Day).
In the Lingala language, which is spoken in the DRC and some other African countries, Happy/Merry Christmas is ‘Mbotama Malamu’

In Colombia, Christmas celebrations and preparations start on the evening of December 7th which is known as ‘Día de las Velitas’ or ‘Day of the little Candles’. Houses and streets are decorated with candles, lanterns and lots of lights. There are also big firework displays and music to dance to and foods like ‘buñuelos’ and ’empanadas’. This day is celebrated by Catholics around the world as The Feast of the Immaculate Conception but is especially popular in Colombia.
From December 16th until Christmas Eve, many Colombians take part in ‘novenas’. These are special times when family, friends and neighbors come together to pray in the days leading up to Christmas. They are known as the ‘Novena de Aguinaldos’ (Christmas Novena) and often a different house hosts the meeting every night. As well as the prayers, people sing carols and eat lots of yummy foods!
People like to decorate their homes with Christmas Trees and other decorations. It’s very common for there to be candles (normally red and white) and other lights displayed in windows or on balconies. In and around Medellín, for example, people place the candles in the streets, often creating unique designs with the candles as they burn out. Another very important Christmas decoration in Colombia is a nativity scene or ‘el pesebre’. In early December, children write a ‘Carta al Niño Dios’ (letter to the baby Jesus) asking for what presents they would like. The letter is placed in the pesebre. They hope that Jesus will bring them presents on Christmas Eve.
The main Christmas meal is eaten on Christmas Eve night and it’s called ‘Cena de Navidad’. The dishes often include ‘lechona’ (pork stuffed with rice and peas), ham, turkey or a chicken soup called ‘Ajiaco Bogotano’. Popular foods include natillas, a flan like dessert made from milk, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour, and buñuelos, a fried dough ball which tastes something like a donut, arepas (a thick dish made from corn) and ‘hojuelas’ (a fried pastry with sugar and jam).
After the Christmas Meal, many people will go to a Midnight Church Service. Some people stay up all night, so Christmas Day is a day for relaxing and eating up leftovers!

Christmas in South Korea
Christmas is a national holiday in Korea, which means that most employees have the day off of work to spend with family and friends.
Some families celebrate Christmas with meals and gatherings at homes, but Koreans also celebrate Christmas by going out. Restaurants are busy on Christmas, as it is considered a romantic holiday for couples (much like Valentine’s Day), and theme parks and shows have special Christmas events.
Churches are decorated with lights and many have a bright red neon cross on. Most churches will have a service on Christmas day. Since Most Koreans live in apartments, few people decorate the outside of their homes or have a Christmas tree inside. However, churches, shopping malls, and streets are lit up during the season. Youth groups frequently organize caroling parties for Christmas in Korea. Starting from the church, they will visit the homes of older church members singing Christmas Carols. It is traditional to invite carolers in and they will give them cookies, candy and many many treats.
Santa Claus can also be seen around Korea but he might be wearing red or blue! He is seen wearing traditional robes and a “gat”, the historic flat topped hat worn by men during the Joseun Dynasty. He’s also known as 산타 클로스 (Santa Kullosu) or 산타 할아버지 (Santa Grandfather or Santa Haraboji).
Korean traditions are rooted in family. As such, a large potluck dinner often occurs at Christmas. The holiday menu features foods like Bulgogi (barbecued beef), sweet potato noodles, and kimchi. The family will finish the meal with a Christmas cake (often a steamed rice cake decorated with fruits) or a buffet of all the best Korean sweets the family has to offer, like sugar candy, steamed pear (called baesuk), walnuts wrapped in persimmons, and Christmas themed cakes with sweet red bean paste. Another famous winter snacks is hotteok (호떡), a warm, sweet pancake that is served by vendors all over the streets of Seoul.
People in Korea usually exchange presents on Christmas Eve, and instead of piles of presents, one present (or a gift of money) is customary.
Happy/Merry Christmas in Korean is ‘Meri krismas’ (메리 크리스마스) or ‘seongtanjeol jal bonaeyo’ (성탄절 잘 보내요) or ‘Jeulgaeun krismas doeseyo’ (즐거운 크리스마스 되세요). Christians can say ‘Sungtan chukhahaeyo’ (성탄 축하해요) to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

In Ghana traditional Christmas observances revolve around large family gatherings, feasts, singing, and church services. Starting with Advent, many churches blossom with flowers and palm branches. In the last few days before Christmas jam-packed buses, trucks, cars, and boats crisscross the country, ferrying people back to their ancestral towns and villages.
On Christmas Eve families gather for a special dinner, often consisting of chicken stew or dishes made from rice and goat meat. Christmas Eve night is the time when the celebrations really start with Church services that have drumming and dancing. Children often put on a Nativity Play or other drama. Songs are mostly sung in the languages that the people understand best. This makes them realize that God speaks their language. Sometimes these services and dancing go on all night long! After church, people greet one another and exchange good wishes for the holiday. Processions form and ramble joyfully through the streets, led by bands of musicians. Children dash about shouting, “Egbona hee, egogo vo!”, “Christ is coming, he is near!”
On the big day, Christmas Day, festivities begin quite before dawn as groups of carolers go door to door singing songs. House-holders typically offer small presents to the singers, who represent the band of angels that brought the good news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. Christmas Day church services, in which people dress in their colorful traditional clothes, feature the retelling of the Nativity story and the singing of many hymns and carols in local languages. After the service is over, children collect candies and other sweet treats said to have come from Father Christmas. Chocolate is popular because Ghana is the world’s second biggest cocoa producer, and December is the start of the cocoa harvest in Ghana. Some also receive a book, new clothes, or shoes as Christmas presents. People greet each other, saying “Afishiapa,” which means “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” Christmas celebrations continue through the day as families, friends, and neighbors gather for feasts and dances. Typical foods eaten at Christmas time include peanut soup, fufu, okra soup, and a meat such as chicken, goat, sheep, beef, or pork. Brightly colored paper ornaments pinned up throughout the house set a cheery mood for the festivities. Many Ghanaian families also decorate a mango, guava, or cashew tree growing in their courtyard with paper ornaments. Other families will bring a single tree branch into the house and decorate it with lights and ornaments.
Like many western countries Christmas in Ghana is all about family, friends, goodwill and food! However importantly the message of the birth Christ does not get lost and remains the focus of the celebrations which is good to see.

In Ghana traditional Christmas observances revolve around large family gatherings, feasts, singing, and church services. Starting with Advent, many churches blossom with flowers and palm branches. In the last few days before Christmas jam-packed buses, trucks, cars, and boats crisscross the country, ferrying people back to their ancestral towns and villages.
On Christmas Eve families gather for a special dinner, often consisting of chicken stew or dishes made from rice and goat meat. Christmas Eve night is the time when the celebrations really start with Church services that have drumming and dancing. Children often put on a Nativity Play or other drama. Songs are mostly sung in the languages that the people understand best. This makes them realize that God speaks their language. Sometimes these services and dancing go on all night long! After church, people greet one another and exchange good wishes for the holiday. Processions form and ramble joyfully through the streets, led by bands of musicians. Children dash about shouting, “Egbona hee, egogo vo!”, “Christ is coming, he is near!”
On the big day, Christmas Day, festivities begin quite before dawn as groups of carolers go door to door singing songs. House-holders typically offer small presents to the singers, who represent the band of angels that brought the good news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. Christmas Day church services, in which people dress in their colorful traditional clothes, feature the retelling of the Nativity story and the singing of many hymns and carols in local languages. After the service is over, children collect candies and other sweet treats said to have come from Father Christmas. Chocolate is popular because Ghana is the world’s second biggest cocoa producer, and December is the start of the cocoa harvest in Ghana. Some also receive a book, new clothes, or shoes as Christmas presents. People greet each other, saying “Afishiapa,” which means “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” Christmas celebrations continue through the day as families, friends, and neighbors gather for feasts and dances. Typical foods eaten at Christmas time include peanut soup, fufu, okra soup, and a meat such as chicken, goat, sheep, beef, or pork. Brightly colored paper ornaments pinned up throughout the house set a cheery mood for the festivities. Many Ghanaian families also decorate a mango, guava, or cashew tree growing in their courtyard with paper ornaments. Other families will bring a single tree branch into the house and decorate it with lights and ornaments.
Like many western countries Christmas in Ghana is all about family, friends, goodwill and food! However importantly the message of the birth Christ does not get lost and remains the focus of the celebrations which is good to see.