Blogmas Day 4: Christmas Around the World
This has been my favorite post to write so far for blogmas! I truly loved reading about how other countries celebrate my favorite holiday!
In Australia, Christmas comes in the summertime. Much of what they do is similar to what we do here in the U.S.
Here are a few differences:
Some Australians decorate their houses with bunches of 'Christmas Bush', a native Australian tree with small green leaves and cream-colored flowers. In summer the flowers turn a deep shiny red over a period of weeks.
In each State capital city there is a large Carols by Candlelight service. These carol services, held in different cities, are broadcast on TV across Australia. In some places, there are fireworks displays at the local park.
Also, sometimes Santa will use kangaroos in the land down under!
Botswana is in the southern hemisphere, so Christmas comes during the summer there as well. It is usually very hot.
On Christmas Day, many people walk or drive out to their cattlepost. Each family's cattlepost is about six kilometres from the next family's cattlepost. The families sing Christmas songs acapella in beautiful four-part harmony. The people of Botswana often dance as they sing.
Most families will have a goat or a cow at Christmas time and enjoy eating a lot of meat during the Christmas holidays. Very few families have a tree.
There are more Christians in South Korea than in many other Asian countries, so Christmas is celebrated more widely. Christians make up about 25-30% of the population.
Churches are decorated with lights and many have a bright red neon cross on top (all the year!) so that goes very well with the Christmas lights! Most churches will have a service on Christmas day. Going to Church for Christmas is becoming more popular, even among non-Christians.
Presents are exchanged and a popular present is money! Giving actual gifts has become more popular, but giving money is still very common.
Santa Claus can also be seen around Korea but he might be wearing red or blue!
A popular Christmas food is a Christmas Cake, but it's often a sponge cake covered in cream brought from a local bakery!
Christians can say 'Sungtan chukhahaeyo' (성탄 축하해요) to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages
A big part of the Christmas celebrations in Germany is Advent. One popular type of Advent calendar is made out of a wreath of Fir tree branches with 24 decorated boxes or bags hanging from it. Each box or bag has a little present in it. Another type is called a 'Advent Kranz' and is a ring of fir branches that has four candles on it. This is like the Advent candles that are sometimes used in Churches. One candle is lit at the beginning of each week in Advent.
Christmas Trees are very important in Germany. They were first used in Germany during the late Middle Ages. If there are young children in the house, the trees are usually secretly decorated by the mother of the family. In some parts of Germany, during the evening, the family would read the Bible and sing Christmas songs such as O Tannenbaum, Ihr Kinderlein Kommet and Stille Nacht (Slient Night).
Another tradition is the Sternsinger (or star singers) who go from house to house, sing a song and collect money for charity (this is a predominantly Catholic tradition). The singers are normally four children, three who dress up like the Wise men and one carries a star on a stick as a symbol for the Star of Bethlehem.
In German Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Frohe Weihnachten'. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.
Christmas is very important in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank as it contains Bethlehem, the town in which Jesus was born. Bethlehem is about six miles south of Jerusalem. Bethlehem means 'house of bread' in Hebrew/Aramaic (בֵּית לֶחֶם) and 'house of meat' in Arabic (بيت لحم).
Only about 20% of Palestinians are Christian, but many Muslim Palestinians are also proud that Jesus was born in a Palestinian Territory!
On Christmas Eve there is a parade through the town. This is very important to the Christian part of the population. There are bagpipe bands in the parade, which you might not expect! People also dress up as Santa Claus and give out sweets.
Perhaps the most famous part of Christmas in Bethlehem is the church service of the Mass of the Nativity. It is held on Christmas Eve midnight in the Church of the Nativity. The Church is built over the place where Jesus was born. There's a small door into the Church called the door of humility. The church was built, by the romans, about 500 years after Jesus was born. The most holy part of the church is the Grotto of the Nativity, which is under the main altar. A silver star marks the place where Jesus was born.
Many local political people go to the service, Christians, Muslims and Jews. The church is crowded and lots of frankincense, one of the gifts bought to the baby Jesus, is burnt. People also sing Christmas Carols on Christmas Eve evening in Manger Square, a large paved courtyard in front of the Church.
In Arabic Happy/Merry Christmas is Eid Milad Majid (عيد ميلاد مجيد) which means 'Glorious Birth Feast'. In Aramaic, the language Jesus would have spoken, it's 'Eedookh Breekha' which means 'Blessed be your Christmas'.
In Jamaica, on Christmas Eve the 'Grand Market' happens. It is a really exciting time, especially for children. In every town and city there is a cross between a festival and a market. During the day, people go shopping for Christmas foods, sweets and toys, etc.
Around 6.00pm the evening part of Grand Market starts and it lasts until the morning! Everyone comes out on their new or best clothes, including children, to celebrate and party all night. All the streets, shops and many houses are decorated with lights. There are normally street vendors selling food like jerk chicken, boiled corn, and sweets like candy canes and sugarcane.
Following the Grand Market, some people will go to a Midnight Mass Church Service and others will party all night. Many people will also go to a Church Service on Christmas Day morning before the end of Grand Market.
The Christmas day meal is usually prepared on Christmas Eve. The Christmas Day breakfast includes ackee and saltfish, breadfruit, fried plantains, boiled bananas, freshly squeezed fruit juice and tea. Dinner is usually served in the late afternoon and this may include turkey, chicken, curry goat, stewed oxtail and very importantly rice and peas.
I hope that you enjoyed this quick look at Christmas around the world! I found this information on Why Christmas. There are a lot of other countries to read about and much more.
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