ARGENTINA | People
go to the church with family, then come back to a family gathering. At
midnight after eating they toast, then the adults dance while younger
people go out to see the fireworks. After this they go to sleep, but
before opening the presents under the Christmas tree. That day is very
special for because they are Christian and celebrate Jesus' birth on the
24th of December. The dinner food is pork, turkey, and a great variety
of meals. Then the table is covered with sweet things, cider, beer,
juice for consuming while waiting for the time of the toast. After the
toast all the family chat, others play.
Houses are decorated with red and white garlands; on the door Father Christmas's Boots are placed. The Christmas tree is decorated with coloured lights, ornaments and Father Christmas placed on top of it. Mothers make different kinds of meals such as roasted turkey, roasted pork, stuffed tomatoes, mince pies, Christmas's bread and puddings. The toast: drink prepared with different kinds of fruit which is cut into pieces, then it is mixed with juice and cider. |
ALASKA | Most Alaskan Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th. Santa Claus may arrive for a pre-Christmas visit, but, food, gift giving, and decorations are like what you might see in Texas or Wisconsin. The songs sang at each home include Aleut words Gristuusaaq suu'uq, or Christ is born. Everyone joins in the closing words, Mnogaya leta, or god grant yoou many years. At the end og the carols the host provides carolers with maple-frosted doughnuts, cookies, candy, piruk/, or fisdh pie, adn sometimes smaked salmon. |
AUSTRALIA | Christmas
in Australia is often very hot. Whereas the northen hemisphere is in the
middle of Winter, Australians are baking in Summer heat. It is not
unusual to have Christmas Day well into the mid 30 degrees celcius, or
near 100 degrees farenheit.
A traditional meal includes a turkey dinner, with ham, and pork. A flaming Christmas plum pudding is added for dessert. In the Australian gold rushes, Christmas puddings often contained a gold nugget. Today a small favor is baked inside. Whoever finds this knows s/he will enjoy good luck. Another treat is Mince Pies. Some Australians and particularly tourists often have their Christmas dinner (midday) on a local beach, Bondy Beach in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs attracts thousands of people on Christmas Day. Other families enjoy their day on a picnic. If they are at home, the day is punctuated by swimming pool, playing Cricket out the backyard, and other outdoor activities. The warm weather allows Australians to enjoy a tradition which commenced in 1937. Carols by Candlelight is held every year on Christmas Eve, where tens of thousands of people gather in the city of Melbourne to sing their fsvorite Christmas songs. The evening is lit by as many candles singing under a clean cut night sky. The sky with its Southern Cross stars is like a mirror. Sydney and the other capital cities also enjoy Carols in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Australians surround themselves with Christmas Bush, a native plant which has little red flowered leaves. Christmas shopping is often done in shorts and t-shirts. At many beaches Santa Claus arrives on a surfboard, or even on a surf lifesaving boat. Australia's worst Christmas was in 1974, when Cyclone Tracy devestated Darwin in the Northen Territory. More than 60 people were killed. |
AUSTRIA | The
feast of St Nicholas marks the beginning of Christmas in Austria. The
saint accompanied by the devil, asks children for a list of their good
and bad deeds. God children are given sweets, toys and nuts. Gifts which
are placed under the tree are opened after dinner on Christmas Eve.
Brass instruments play chorale music rom church steeples, and carol singers, carrying blazing torches and a manger from house to house, gather on the church steps. |
BANGLADESH | In Bangladesh (which was formerly known as East Pakistan) the christian village men would cut down scores of banana trees and replant them in pairs along the paths to churches and outside their homes. They would then bend over the huge leaves of the banana trees to form an arch, they would then make small holes in the bamboo poles, fill them with oil and tie them across the arches. When the oil is lit, the way to the church is lit up bright enough for all to see. |
BELGIUM | In
Belgium there are two santa claus figures. There is St. Nicholas and
Pere Noel.
St Nicholas visits those who speak the Waloon language, in fact he visits them twice. The first time is on the December 4th he does this so he can find out which children have been good and which children have been bad. If a child is good he returns on December 6th with the presents the good children deserve if they were bad they are left twigs. The good children usually received candy and toys. With the bad children he leaves the twigs inside their shoes or in small baskets that are left just inside the doorway. Pere Noel visits those who speak french. He visits with his companion Pere Fouettard and asks about whether the children have been good or bad. If they have been good they receive chocolates and candies if they have been bad they are more likely to receive a handful of sticks. Christmas for both gift-givers is on December 6th, the feast of St Nicholas, it is a religious occasion and is observed with services in churches and quiet family gatherings. Special cakes are baked and served during the holiday season and are a treat for children and adults |
CANADA | Christmas
celebrations are quite similar in the variety to America. In some
provinces, a big winter festival, called Sinck tuck, is celebrated by
the Eskimos, with dancing and a present-giving party.
In Labrador, turnips are saved from the summer harvest and are given to children, with a lighted candle pushed into a hollowed out hole. In Nova Scotia, a country settled by Scottish highlanders, songs and carols brought from Britain two centuries ago are sung each Christmas morning. |
CHILE | In
Chile little figures made of clay are placed under the Christmas tree
called pesebre.
Father Christmas is known as Viejito Pascuero adn he would wish everyone a Feliz Navidad y un Prospero Anc Nuevo or Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. |
BULGARIA | Christmas
Eve is as important as Christmas day in Bulgaria. A special diner,
consisting of at least twelve dishes is prepared. All of them are
without meat and each of them represents a separate month of the year;
in this way if the dishes are more that twelve the people from the house
have what to eat during the whole year. The dishes consist of beans,
different kinds of nuts, dried plums, cakes, and the traditional for our
country Banitza. On this day the whole family gathers, eat on straw and
get off the table in the same time.
In the past Christmas was celebrated differently. There were boys and non-married young men who were visiting the houses, singing songs for wealth and health for the hosts. They were rewarded with money, food and so on. They were bringing long sticks to put kravai (round breads with hole it). They were called RkoledariS. In the houses the families gathered sitting on the ground or on dry grass and eating meatless food. There were 7 or 12 meals: wine, rakia ,sarmy and so on. There always was a huge round bread where all the cattle, the house and things like that were carved |
EGITTO | The
Coptic Church is an Orthodox Church and in the Coptic Church Christmas
is celebrated on the 7th December. Advent is observed for forty days and
during this period people are expected to fast eating no meat, poultry
or dairy products. Some people only do this during the last week of
Advent.
On the Eve of Christmas everyone goes to church wearing a completely new outfit. The christmas service ends at midnight with the ringing of church bells, then people go home to eat a special Christmas meal knwon as fata, which consists of bread, rice,garlic and boiled meat. On Christmas morning people in Egypt and other parts of the Middle East, visit friends and neighbours. They take with them kaik which is a type of shortbread, which they take with them to give to the people they visit and eaten with a drink known as shortbat. Christmas Day is a public holiday for Christians. |
ENGLAND | The
English enjoy beautiful Christmas music. They love to decorate Christmas
Trees and hang up evergreen branches.
One England's customs is mumming. In the Middle Ages, people called mummers put on masks and acted out Christmas plays. These plays are still performed in towns and villages. The English gift giver is called Father Christmas. He wears a long red or green robe, and leaves presents in stockings on Christmas Eve. However, the gifts are not usually opened until the following afternoon. Christmas in England began in AD 596, when St Augustine landed on her shores with monks who wanted to bring Christianity to the Anglo Saxons. |