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10 Chr istmas Traditions from around the World

In Russiaand Ukraine, Christmas is celebrated on the 7thof

January and not the 25th of December like in most other

countries. This unusual date is because the Orthodox Church

uses the old Julian calendar for religious celebration days. In

the traditional Russian Christmas special prayers are said and

people fast sometimes for 39 days until January 6th (Christmas Eve) when the first

evening star in appears in the sky. Then it begins a twelve course supper in honor of

each of the twelve apostles.

In Ireland, it is traditional to leave mince pies and a bottle of Guinness out as a snack

for Santa.

In the Czech Republ ic, single women perform a very unusual ritual on Christmas Eve

Day to find out if they will marry in the following year. With their backs to the house

door, they throw one of their shoes over their shoulder. If the shoe lands with the heel

towards the door she will definitely stay single for another year while if the front of the

shoe points towards the door it means she will move out of her parent s house and sheshould start making wedding preparations.

For over 40 years the town of Gavle in Swedenhas erected a

giant Goat made of straw to mark the beginning of the holiday

season. Every year vandals do everything they can to burn

down the goat before Christmas Day. Since 1966, the straw

Goat has survived until Christmas Day only 10 times. People

disguise themselves as Santa Claus or elves to get past the

guardians and ignite the straw monument.

In Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, on Christmas Eve morning the roads of the city

are closed to cars, so people can roller skate to Mass.

According to Norwegian ancient belief, witches and evil spirits would emerge on

Christmas Eve to steal brooms to ride the skies. Thus, on Christmas Eve, all the brooms

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and similar cleaning implements are hidden and men would fire their shotguns outside

their houses to frighten these witches away.

People of the Netherlands, who celebrate the holiday on December 6th, await the

arrival of Sinterklaasand his sidekick Black Pete, who come by way of steamer to

leave candy and nuts for good little boys and girls who have filled their shoes with hay

and sugar for his horse.

For many people in Japan, traditional Christmas dinner is

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). It is so popular and well marketed

that you would have to make a reservation to eat at a KFC on

Christmas in the country.

In Greenland, rather than the more traditional Christmas food

like turkey, ham with cranberry sauce, meat pies, sucking pig, Christmas pudding,

people like kiviak which consists of raw flesh of an auk wrapped in seal skin and

placed under a rock for several months until it is well into decomposition. It is the order

of the day. It is a treat that most Greenland natives consider delicious. Mattak which

is whale skin with a strip of blubber inside is also served to everyone during their

celebrations.

In Slovakia, at the beginning of Christmas Eve dinner, the head of the family takes a

spoon of Loksa(a traditional Christmas dish made out of bread, poppy seed filling and

water and throws it up at the ceiling. The more mixture that remains glued on the

ceiling the richer his crops will be the following year.