Christmas Weird & Wonderful

Christmas is celebrated differently around the world. Take a peek into a few countries and their traditions

To much of the Western world, Christmas isn’t Christmas without a turkey in the oven and stockings by the fireplace. But around the world, different cultures have adapted age-old traditions and religious beliefs, to form their own unique ways of celebrating the holiday.

Respecting the departed

In Portugal, Christmas morning brings a feast known as the consada, with a difference – the dead are invited. Extra places are laid for departed loved ones, and they are offered food as the family celebrates their Christmas meal.
In Finland, families spend Christmas Eve visiting the cemetery to pay their respects and sing carols. The figure of Joulupukki later delivers gifts to well-behaved children.
In Estonia, it’s believed that ancestors’ spirits visit the home on Christmas Day, and many consult fortune-tellers to forecast the weather and harvest for the year ahead. It’s also traditional for the entire family to have a sauna together on Christmas Eve.

Not so nice Santas

In Austria, Christmas festivities begin on 5 December, the eve of St Nicholas’ Day. Young men dress up as the Krampus – a demon wearing cow-bells, who roams the streets looking for naughty children. The Christmas feast included traditional delicacies like fried carp, gluhwein (spiced hot wine) and sachertorte (a rich chocolate and apricot cake). Farmers also chalk the initials of the three wise men above their doors, to protect the head of the family from illness in the year ahead.
In rural areas of Wales, men dress up as the ‘Mari Llwyd’ or grey mare, draped in a sheet and carrying a horse’s skull on a pole. This scary figure wanders from house to house, singing carols and collecting cakes and ale.
In Italy, the influence of the Vatican means that the figure of Santa Claus is frowned upon. Instead, an old witch named La Befana reportedly comes to visit, bringing candy to good children and lumps of coal to those who’ve been naughty.
In Belgium, there are two Father Christmas figures. St Nicholas is believed to visit homes on 4 December to investigate whether children have been good or bad. He then relays the message to Pere Noel (‘Father Christmas’ in French) who
either brings them gifts on Christmas Day, or leaves twigs in their stockings if they’ve been bad.

Strange but true

In the Czech Republic, single women go outside on Christmas Eve and toss a shoe over their shoulder. If it lands with the heel facing towards the front door, they will remain single for the coming year. If the toe faces the door, they will marry within the year.
In the Ukraine, most Christmas trees include a fake spider’s web, as it’s considered great luck to find a spider in your house on Christmas morning.
In Spain, one of the many strange traditions is the feeding of the Christmas log or Caga Tió. This hollowed-out log is decorated with a face and legs, and parents ‘feed’ him treats such as sweets, nuts and dried fruit, every day from December 8th. On Christmas Eve he is placed in the fireplace, and children beat him with sticks to release his treasure.
In Norway, all brooms are hidden away on Christmas Eve, so that witches cannot steal them during the night. Believe it or not, in Venezuela, it is traditional for the streets of the capital Caracas to be blocked off on Christmas Eve, so that worshippers can rollerblade to church!
In Japan, Christmas is more a commercial celebration than a religious one, and tends to be devoted to romantic love, a lot like Valentine’s Day. Lovers exchange heart-shaped cakes, and believe it or not, one of the most traditional Christmas Eve feasts is to go out for KFC!

Fabulous Feasts

In Poland, Christmas Eve is a day of fasting, but as the first star appears, families gather for a meatless feast. The typical delicacy is pierniki, a gingerbread biscuit.
In Liberia, Christmas dinner is usually eaten out of doors, with the whole family sitting in a circle to share a meal of rice, beef and biscuits. In Ghana, the Christmas dinner is not complete without fufu (mashed yam) and okra soup. In Ethiopia, Christmas is celebrated on 7 January. Traditional Christmas food includes injera, a sour-dough bread, and dora wat, a spicy chicken stew.
In the Philippines, families celebrate midnight mass, followed by a feast which typically includes ham, cheese and two special desserts – puto bumbong, a purple pudding made of sweet rice, and bibingka, a dessert baked with flour and coconut milk.
Greek families used to hold their main family celebration on New Year’s Day, but most have moved this to Christmas Day in line with Western influences.  Their Father Christmas is called Ayios Vassilis. One of the highlights of the family feast is the cutting of the Vassilopita cake, which has a gold coin hidden inside it. The person who finds the coin in their slice, is said to have luck for the year ahead.

Be sure you have a strong stomach if spending Christmas in Greenland… the traditional delicacy is kiviak – raw auk flesh which has been buried in a seal-skin for several months to decompose!

Sources: clicks.co.za