Ever since I was young I always knew there was one way to celebrate Christmas and it was the way it was celebrated across the world universally. There were also those days where I thought that Santa Clause was someone that every living, breathing human being believed in. Truth be told, I was and am still rather naive when it comes to many things – one being holiday traditions.
My boyfriend and I have been going back and forth about what we should be doing for Christmas this year since I’m living in Germany but the traditions are all wrong (at least in my eyes). Of course I don’t mean wrong in a literal sense, but what would Christmas be without stockings?
Here are 7 ways that the world can celebrate Christmas
1. Germany: Instead of stockings hung by the chimney, they have St. Nicholas Day which is held on the 6th of every December and children wake up to their boots filled with coins and chocolate.
It has just been quite the eye opener to realize how different Christmas is across the world and I’ve now been inspired to write this post on the 7 worldly ways to celebrate Christmas.
2. Ethiopia: Christmas isn’t even on the 25th of December, boy if I had of known this as a child, I would have known something was up. All those novels and movies telling me Santa only works one day a year, pffft. Christmas in Ethiopia is celebrated on January 7. In Canada, some of us visit church on Christmas Eve which is similar to the Ethiopian Christians, although they stay at the church until 4:00 in the morning the next day while going through prayer after prayer. Boy, do I give you guys credit!
3. Philippines: The Christian Filipinos are wild about Christmas! They don’t just celebrate the advent of Christmas, they start celebrating well before December, November and October. People start to sing carols, decorate houses and buy presents nearly early September! The best part about Christmas in the Philippines is that it doesn’t end after Christmas, it ends on the first Sunday after New Years where they celebrate the Feast of the Three Kings. Amazing.
4. East Mediterranean: You probably already think I am crazy, but there are people among the Eastern Mediterranean who are Catholic and who celebrate Christmas. They celebrate Christmas very different than we do in Canada, it’s remarkable. They refer to Christmas in English as a ‘little feast’ (someone must have forget to tell them that the feast sure ain’t little). Many people who are part of the Assyrians (an indigenous group) choose to fast up until Christmas Eve from the first of the month. In celebration of the end to the fast they light candles out front of their homes and have the children read nativity scenes out loud.
5. Lebanon: The Lebanese celebrate Christmas in a very unique way and I knew I had to share it with you guys. Though not all Lebanese celebrate Christmas, the ones who do will either celebrate on the 25th or on January 6th for the Armenian’s. Instead of roast beef, stuffing and pecan pie, they all come together to butcher a sheep in respect of Jesus. Following dinner, the host will pass along one piece of coal to the entire family, following the circle the coal will be lit to flames. The best part of Lebanese Christmas’ is that Santa actually shows his face to all the children!
6. Mexico: The Mexican’s should definitely win an award for having the most unique ways of celebrating Christmas. They have 30+ traditions to date and only seem to be coming up with more. One of my favorites is the breaking of the pinata… they have pinata’s for Christmas, this is incredible! Christmas celebrations run from December 12th until January 6th and is filled with event, after event, never a dull moment. PS. Almost all traditions are celebrated within these dates!
7. Colombia: Christmas runs between December 7th and ends around January 6th. They start their celebrations by celebrating the “Day of Candles” on the 7th and lining the cities with candles (I’d love to experience a Christmas in Colombia). On December 8th the entire town or city will come together to decorate the streets. December 16th is celebrated as the first day of Christmas Novena and is celebrated for 9 days straight. Between these 9 days, games are played, rules are set out and prizes are decided for the winners, punishments for the losers. Haha, it sounds so enjoyable and I hope to set off to Colombia one year for Christmas.
If there is one post that I would ask you to share, it would be this one. I LOVE learning about new traditions and new cultures and even just these 7 different Christmas traditions have sparked my curiosity and I would love to know how you celebrate Christmas in your home country. SHARE WITH ME!
Don’t forget to check out my YouTube Channel for more Christmas #holidaycountdown fun: www.youtube.com/user/giveforgranted
