With the holiday season in full swing, many of us are preparing with our favorite traditions. How does your family celebrate Christmas? Do you bake, sing carols, display a creche, or put up a tree? Whether or not you choose to celebrate Christmas, it can be interesting to learn how other cultures observe the holiday. This December why not teach your children about Christmas traditions around the world? Red Apple Reading would like to get you started by sharing how 5 particular countries are celebrating.
India– While the majority of the country of India is Hindu and does not observe the Christmas holiday, the 25 million Christians that do live in the country have some interesting traditions that they observe. In the Indian state of Maharashtra in Mumbai, some people hang star shaped paper lanterns between houses. In the north west region of India, Christians go out and sing carols all night (sometimes for a week) and share the Christmas story with their neighbors. In India Santa Clause (“Christmas Baba” in Hindi) delivers presents from a horse drawn cart.
Ethiopia – Ethiopians celebrate Christmas (Ganna) on January 7 each year. Traditionally, members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church wear all white to church on Christmas morning. As they enter the church, each person is given a candle and walks around the church three times. Traditional Christmas food usually consists of wat (a spicy stew) and injera bread. Ethiopian men and boys often play a game (also called ganna) during the Christmas season, similar to hockey, using a wooden ball and curved sticks.
Brazil – “Papai Noel” brings gifts to children on December 25 each year in Brazil. The night before, on Christmas eve, devout Catholics attend “Missa Do Galo” (midnight mass). Many Brazilians follow the Portuguese custom of displaying a “Presepio” (from “presepium” – the bed of straw that Jesus slept on in Bethlehem). Even though it is summer time and hot in Brazil during the Christmas season, some Brazilians put pieces of wool in the pine trees to represent snow!
Germany – In Germany, St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6. The night before, boys and girls leave their shoes out for the spirit of St. Nicholas to fill with small treats. The Christmas tree is perhaps one of the most important German Christmas traditions (after all, the Christmas tree originated in Germany!). However, the children do not usually participate in the decorating of the tree. The mother of the family traditionally decorates the tree on Christmas eve (December 24) while the children are kept in another room. Father Christmas (“der Weihnachtsmann”) brings presents that night.
France – Many French families display nativity cribs in their homes. The nativity figures (“santons”) are usually made out of clay. These figures are made in the southern part of France and sold at Christmas fairs during the holidays. “Pere Noel” visits the children on Christmas Eve and carries his presents in a basket on his back. A traditional Christmas dessert served by the French is “buche de noel”, a log-shaped sponge cake. Some French families burn cherry wood Yule logs on Christmas Eve.
We hope this inspires you to do a bit of research of your own to discover more Christmas traditions across the world. We found the following sites to be helpful in our research:
whychristmas?com
theholidayspot.com
crewsnest.vispa.com
santas.net
