The most magical time of the year; AKA Christmas. To me, Christmas is one of the most magical times of the year. Personally, I think the month of December brings joy and cheer and makes everyone happy and joyful. In my household, Christmas is celebrated by everyone gathered around the Christmas tree as a family listening to Christmas music and chilling as a family that morning. Christmas is celebrated in many different forms and in various countries around the world. I would say here in America we celebrate Christmas in a more magical and simple way. Many U.S. citizens start their festivities off by either cutting down a Christmas tree, decorating their living area, or celebrating with friends, movies, and dinners. When Christmas Eve comes around, many U.S. citizens celebrate with a dinner or sometimes Christmases with other family members or friends.
Other countries celebrate Christmas in unique and special ways. In Japan, people recently started celebrating Christmas. It has only been widely recognized in the past couple of decades and is typically seen as a time to spread joy and cheer. Something that might spark your interest is the Japanese celebrate with an annual KFC (that’s right… Kentucky Fried Chicken) Christmas dinner, or book a reservation with a restaurant. In Poland, they celebrate Christmas by sharing a pre-dinner wafer. The wafer is a paper-thin square wafer and it is made of flour and water and usually has a type of printed nativity on it. Everyone at the table breaks off a piece and shares a holiday greeting before passing it along in a communion-like fashion.
In Slovakia, and all over Central Europe, people have carp for dinner. In case you don’t know what carp is, it is a fish found all over the world, normally in the bottom of muddy lakes, ponds, and rivers, and is a non-desirable food according to Brittanica.com. In Slovakia, the carp are known as their Christmas meal, but instead of picking up the fish from the market or a store, traditionalists are known to let the fish live in a bathtub for a couple of days till it is ready for the feast. In Slovakia, legend says the scales of the fish are to bring good luck and fortune to the upcoming year.
One of my favorite traditions is the German Christmas markets. In Germany, they do a majority of their Christmas shopping at different German festivals and markets. There Germans typically do their shopping with a mug of different spirits and drinks in one hand and a huge bratwurst in the other. A local option is if you ever are in the Carmel, Indiana area there is the ChristKIndlmarkt. It is a German Christmas market with amazing foods, decorative items, and gifts for the Christmas season.
One of the most interesting ways of celebration is in Austria, where they do Krampus hunts for naughty children. Krampus is a legend of a half-man half goat, and he comes around and drags the bad kids away. In some places in Austria, the men dress up in Krampus costumes and parade through the streets blowing off steam and scare the little kids back into line.
A type of tradition that would intrigue most is in Australia. Australia’s tradition is to have Christmas on the beach. All of the cold-haters would love to have an Australian Christmas. They celebrate by having barbecues on hot days and playing lots of backyard cricket. An Australian Christmas meal will consist of tons of prawns (which are a type of shrimp), and then various desserts and Aussie drinks. Some Australian families also celebrate something more original with a normal Thanksgiving dinner.
Iceland celebrates in an interesting way. Iceland celebrates Christmas thirteen days before Christmas. Children in Iceland get presents from thirteen different Santa Clauses. Each of these Santas has its own different type of qualities (similar to the seven dwarfs), some are nice and some are feisty and mean. They believe that if you leave boots wrapped in wrapping paper, and have to put them on windowsill. The yule lads will leave them little gifts. Something very interesting is that if they have been naughty or bad, rotten potatoes will show up in their shoes instead. In Mexico, and other Latinx and Hispanic countries, families celebrate Noche Buena on Christmas Eve. That includes a huge feast, singing and dancing, and often a pinata for the kids. More religious observers will attend a midnight mass, but most of all prioritize family and time with friends for their Christmas. All of this information is according to The Good Housekeeping.
After hearing about all of these types of traditions and celebrations, what is your favorite or what intrigues you the most, leave your comment below. Happy Holidays to all!
