Christmas traditions in the United States are very familiar; eating a Christmas ham, opening presents on Christmas morning, singing carols, and spending time with family are all some of the time-honored practices. But what do other countries do on the day of Christmas?

The U.K.’s traditions are not too different from the traditions of the United States. They eat ham, sing carols, and gather together to celebrate the holiday. However, Australia actually has Christmas come during the summer. So hearing of Christmas beach parties is not too uncommon. Australia also rewrites Christmas carols to fit with their slang and time of the year:

(To the tune of Jingle Bells)

Engine’s getting hot/We dodge the kangaroos

The swaggie climbs aboard/He is welcome too

All the family’s there/Sitting by the pool

Christmas day, the Aussie way/By the barbecue!

Some countries have some very different food for their Christmas meal in comparison to here in the states. Estonians prepare verivorstid, which translates to “blood sausages”. Sparing some gruesome details, the sausages are basically filled with pigs’ blood, grain, and a filler meat. Even more different is Greenland’s kiviak. They take about 500 Auks, kill them, wrap up all of the birds in seal skin and fat, and then bury them for about three months to ferment. On Christmas day, they “dig in”, literally and figuratively; they dig them up and then feast on them.

Along with unique foods, countries also have very unique traditions and events. For example, many Japanese actually eat KFC on the day of Christmas because of a 1974 marketing campaign called Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii–Kentucky for Christmas. Mexicans celebrate Christmas in many ways such as building life sized nativity scenes in their houses, going door to door singing carols until someone lets them in to pray, and also baking Roscón de reyes which contains a small figurine of the newborn Jesus. Serbians hold a bonfire on Christmas Eve of badnjaks (small trees). China practices Christmas in its large cities, but many Chinese do not understand its significance as only 1% of the country is Christian. Russians are relatively new to Christmas because, in 1929, all religious holidays were banned due to Communist beliefs. However, in 1991, with the fall of the Soviet Union this was not the case anymore. Now it is celebrated on January 6th (the day of the advent).

This Christmas, while cherishing the holiday while it lasts, think of all of the other people around the world celebrating the same occasion. Think about their nationality, their food, and their traditions. Remember that Christmas is not just a holiday, but instead, one of the many unifying events that brings together a chunk of the world for one day in peace and solidarity. From the Coffee Press staff, Merry Christmas!

Source: www.whychristmas.com