December is well-known for Christmas but do you know how people in countries around the world celebrate it? Here are some customs from various parts of the world.

Australia

Greeting – Merry Christmas
Santa’s Name – Santa Claus. Children leave him a piece of cake or biscuits and a glass of milk or a bottle of beer.
Food – Many Christmas dinners include roasted meats and vegetables, special fruit cakes, and puddings with a coin baked inside. Since the temperature can reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit, people are starting to eat cold meats and salads, tropical fruits like mangoes, and stone fruits like plums. Often, the main meal is eaten for lunch.
Gifts – These are left under the Christmas tree and opened Christmas morning.
Decorations – Shops and homes are decorated with tinsel, Christmas trees, decorations for the holiday, and special lights.
Customs – Traditional and Australian carols are sung by candlelight on Christmas Eve and are broadcast on television. On Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, two sporting events take place:
The Boxing Day Test Match (cricket game) and the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Brazil

Greeting – Feliz Natal
Santa’s Name – Papai Noel (Father Noel), who is dressed in a red, silk suit with boots.
Food – Many people eat a traditional feast with roast turkey and vegetables, while others eat chicken and rice or beans. Beer and wine are also served. Some regions begin eating around 9 PM on Christmas Eve, while others eat around midnight.
Gifts – Local charities take in donations but do not seem to have enough presents for all the children.
Decorations – Brazil has a mixture of people so Christmas is celebrated in different ways. In the northeastern area, it is common to find Nativity Scenes; in the southern part, snow is simulated with little pieces of cotton on pine trees.
Customs – Brazilians sing a number of Christmas carols.

Greece

Greeting – Eftihismena Christougenna
Food – Special holiday cakes are baked.
Gifts – Most Greek people exchange gifts on Saint Basil’s Day, January 1.
Customs – To honor Saint Basil, the holiday cakes have gold coins hidden inside them. The cakes are cut at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Whoever has a gold coin in his piece of cake will have good luck the following year.

Hungary

Santa’s Name – Actually, the Baby Jesus is said to bring presents on Christmas Eve. A bell sounds signaling that the Angels have brought the tree and gifts.
Customs – On December 5, children leave out their shoes. During the night, Mikulas and Black Peter come to fill them with goodies for well-behaved children and switches for naughty children.

India

Decorations – Sometimes, houses are decorated with mango leaves; mango or banana trees are also decorated. Small, clay, oil-burning lamps are placed on the edges of flat roofs as decorations.

Israel

Greeting – Chag Semeach (Happy Chanukah)
Santa’s Name – Actually, parents, grandparents, and other family members give presents to the children.
Food – Because oil is an important part of the holiday, many foods are prepared with it. A favorite is potato latkes (pancakes).
Gifts – Since Chanukah lasts for eight days, children may receive one present each night.
Decorations – Jewish stars, blue or silver foil garlands,
dreidels (spinning tops), Chanukah gelt (chocolate coins), and pictures of the Macabees (Jewish army that recaptured the Holy Temple and Jerusalem from the Assyrian Greek King Antiochus) are found around the house.
Customs – The menorah (candelabra) is lit each night. On the first night, one candle is lit; on, the second night, two candles; and so on until all the candles are lit on the eighth night. After lighting the candles, families eat a festive meal, dance, play games, and open presents. They also attend Chanukah parties.

Japan

Greeting – Kurisumasu Omedeto
Santa’s Name – Santa Kurohsu. He does not appear in person but is pictured in advertisements as a kind old man with a round sack on his back.
Food – Depending upon the family’s custom, they eat turkey on Christmas Day or on Christmas Eve. Japanese families also eat Christmas cake.
Gifts – Stores sell merchandise for men, women, and children; and on Christmas Day, families exchange gifts.
Decorations – More and more artificial Christmas trees are beginning to appear. They are decorated with small toys, gold paper fans, dolls, lanterns, paper ornaments, and wind chimes. A popular ornament is the origami swan. Other decorations are mistletoe, evergreen, tinsel, and lights. An amulet is put on the front door for good luck and children exchange ‘birds of peace,’ pledging there must not be anymore war.
Customs – The daiku, or Great Nine, refers to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and is performed many places.

Mexico

Greeting – Feliz Navidad
Customs – Beginning on December 15, some families carry colorful lanterns and walk from house to house in their neighborhoods, each night, until Christmas Eve. This is called La Posada, which means ‘the procession.’ On each of the nights, the families are invited into different houses where they become guests at a party. There is plenty to eat and drink. Children play the pinata game, trying to break open the papier-mache figure with a stick while blindfolded; when it is cracked open, candies and small gifts fall out.

Netherlands

Greeting – Hartelijke Kerstroeten
Santa’s Name – Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas), who wears a red bishop’s hat and bishop’s cloak and has white hair and a white beard. He arrives on a white horse with his servant, Black Pete, to put small gifts in children’s wooden shoes.
Food – The Dutch people eat lots of marzipan, spiced ginger biscuits, tall chocolate letters, and ‘bankletter’ – initials made of pastry and filled with almond paste. When they are around the Christmas tree singing songs, they eat ‘Kerstkrans’ – a Christmas ring.
Gifts – On December 6, after hearing a knock at their door, children find a bag full of toys, nuts, and gifts.
Decorations – The Christmas tree is known as the Paradise Tree. Decorations of the season include dolls, musical instruments, fruit, candies, and lights.
Customs – The Dutch sing carols, the most popular one being “O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.”

Sweden

Greeting – God Jul
Food – Coffee, cakes, and special buns are served on Santa Lucia Day, December 13.
Customs – Santa Lucia Day honors Saint Lucy, who helped blind people. The oldest daughter in each Swedish household dresses in a white gown with a red sash, wears a crown of evergreen
with seven candles in it, awakens the family with a song, and serves the coffee, cakes, and buns. Each town and city also chooses a young woman to be Lucia for the day. She then serves coffee and food to the townspeople at schools, hospitals, and other public buildings. From these women, a national Lucia is chosen; followed by a parade, feast, and dance.

Now that you have this data, let your children put the information in a comparison chart. Label the left side with the names of the countries and the bottom with the various information (ie: Greeting, Food, and so on). Then fill in the boxes!

Let your children do research to find out the information I left out.

Conduct research to find out the same customs for other countries, especially the heritage countries of students in your class or your own family.

However you celebrate the holidays, have a safe, wonderful season and a Happy New Year!

I hope these ideas are useful and inspire your own creative thinking.

And remember…Reading is FUNdamental!

On a recent tour through Mexico and Central America, I realized that I had forgotten many things for my journey. For some reason I made it out of my house without my toothbrush and toothpaste, but fortunately I was able to replace them as soon as I realized my mistake. I also forgot film for my camera but was able to purchase some once I got to Mexico as well. Far worse than forgetting those things, however, was the realization that I had forgotten my Spanish dictionary that I had received and practiced with just for this trip.

My best friend gave me the Spanish dictionary a few months before I headed out on my trip because she remembered what a difficult time I had in high school Spanish class. She assumed rightly that my Spanish skills were even more poor fifteen years after my last Spanish class. She handed me the Spanish dictionary and wisely advised me to practice the basic words and phrases found in the front of the dictionary every day until I left on my trip. I’ve never been good at following any advice that included the phrase “every day,” so naturally I only picked up my Spanish dictionary a few times before I headed out on my journey.

Many people warned me that having a Spanish dictionary would be one of the best tools for me as I traveled alone throughout several Spanish speaking and foreign countries. I certainly believed the warnings of friends and family, but I had no real idea until I landed in Mexico how true their warnings had been. I was like a lost puppy or a child without her mother. I couldn’t talk with locals or even begin to make out the words on signs or billboards.

I made it through the three week tour, but not without much stress and too many miscommunications. I learned quickly that gestures and pointing can go a long way when no words can be communicated. I made it to every city on my itinerary, so I did not miss out on anything in that sense, but I realized quite quickly that forgetting my Spanish dictionary made me miss out on what would have perhaps been the biggest blessing of the trip. Without a tool to help me communicate with the locals, I missed out on a lot of potentially amazing conversations and on getting to know the ins and outs of Spanish cultures from locals.

I will always regret forgetting my Spanish dictionary when I went on that trip, and not just because I couldn’t get around with ease. I’ll regret it even more because of the lovely Spanish people that I didn’t have the privilege of conversing with during my journey.