News

The ABC’S of Foreign Christmas Traditions

By Maria Dodson, Reporter
December 3, 2018

The Christmas traditions are vastly different around the world. No matter how you celebrate, Christmas will always be about spending time with the ones you love.

But enough sappiness. Nearly every letter of the alphabet has a corresponding country with its own traditions. Here are a few of them!

A – Australia: Santa uses kangaroos to get around instead of reindeer and wears cooler clothes.

B – Brazil: Children may leave a sock by the window. If Santa (called “Papai Noel” here) finds the sock, he exchanges it for a present.

C – Chile: Presents are opened at midnight. The children may sometimes go around to other houses to show off what they got in the middle of the night.

D – Denmark: Christmas trees are topped with a gold or silver star, usually with silver ‘fair hair’ on it that makes it sparkle.

E – Egypt: Instead of being celebrated on December 25, Christmas is celebrated on January 7.

F – France: In some parts of France, 13 different desserts are eaten, all made from different fruits and nuts.

G – Greece: Although Christmas trees are popular in Greece, an older, more traditional decoration is a shallow wooden bowl. A piece of wire is suspended across the rim. From the wire hangs a wooden cross wrapped in a sprig of basil. Water is kept in the bowl. Once a day, the mother dips the cross into some holy water and uses it to sprinkle water in each room of the house.

H – Hungary: Children will leave out shoes on a windowsill. When Santa (called “Mikulás”) visits, he will fill them with small presents and candies.

I – Iceland: Here, Christmas is often called “Yule.” The Yule season is comprised of many different days: “Þorláksmessa,” St. Thorlakur Day; “Aðfangadagur,” Christmas Eve/Yule Eve; “Jóladagur,” Christmas Day/Yule Day; “Annar Jóladagur,” Boxing Day; “Gamlárskvöld/ Nýársdagur,” New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day; and “Þrettándinn,” Epiphany.

J – Jamaica: In Jamaica, many people paint their houses and put up new curtains for Christmas along with their decorations.

K – Kazakhstan: Roughly 70% of Kazakhs are Muslim, so Christmas is just like any other day. Instead, New Year is celebrated with New Year trees and New Year presents.

L – Latvia: Sometimes children will have to recite a poem, sing, play an instrument, or do a dance in from of the Christmas tree to get a present.

M – Madagascar: Fresh lychees (a tropical fruit) are served as a special Christmas food. The streets get covered in the skins of the fruit.

N – Norway: Norwegian Christmas trees are traditionally decorated with small, heart-shaped paper baskets called ‘Julekurver.’ Hans Christian Andersen may have been the creator of these decorations, though no one knows for sure.

O – Oman: Christmas is not very commonly celebrated in Oman, as it is a mostly Muslim country. It does, however, have a celebration called Eid al-Fitr to celebrate the end of the fasting period. It usually carries the same significance as Christmas and is celebrated for three days.

P – Philippines: Christmas carols can start playing in shops in September. Formal Christmas celebrations start on December 16 and usually end on January 6 on “Epiphany.”

Q – Qatar: Qatar is a mostly Muslim country, so Christmas isn’t as widely celebrated, though there has been an increase in Christmas popularity over the years.

R – Romania: In much of Romania, it’s traditional for someone to dress up as a goat with a multi-colored mask when caroling. The goat is the “Capra,” jumping and dancing and getting in to lots of mischief.

S – Switzerland: In the Bernese Oberland region, parades starting on Christmas Day and finishing on New Year’s Eve known as the ‘Rychle’ are common. The people wear a big cow bell called a ‘Trychler’ or carry drums to scare away evil spirits. Normally the participants also wear masks.

T – Trinidad and Tobago: Most people buy new electrical appliances and furniture around Christmas time.

U – Ukraine: Christmas trees are often decorated with fake spider webs. Finding a spider on the web is meant to be good luck, inspired by the popular story of The Christmas Spider.

V – Vietnam: Christmas Eve is usually more important than Christmas itself. Christmas isn’t actually an official public holiday, causing many people to believe that the holiday is only for Christians.

W – Wales: Prior to the 19th century, a common tradition was “holly-beating” or “holming” the day after Christmas. Young men and boys would hit the arms or legs of young women with holly branches until they bled. Sometimes, it would not be young women but the last person out of bed.

X – There are no countries in English that start with the letter X. In Catalan, some countries do start with an X, such as Xina (China) and Xile (Chile).

Y – Yemen: In Yemen, Hanukkah is more commonly celebrated than Christmas. The seventh night is reserved for celebrating women, inspired by Hannah, a mother that sacrificed seven sons to protect Judaism and Judith, a woman who seduced and killed an Assyrian general and led the Jewish army to victory.

Z – Zimbabwe: Christmas day usually starts with a church service here. On the way home, everyone has a party with a meal and a present exchange in each home on the way to their houses. This sometimes takes the rest of the day.

https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/trees.shtml#spider

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/646618458970589729/

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/australia.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/brazil.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/chile.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/denmark.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/egypt.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/france.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/greece.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/hungary.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/iceland.shtml

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/jamaica.shtml