December 06, 2005
Christmas Around the World
By: Diane Kennedy
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to celebrate Christmas in another country? Following are a few examples of how other people celebrate Christmas around the world. If you would like to visit other countries and discover their traditions, go to http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson041.shtml
CHRISTMAS IN IRELAND
by Bill Egan, Christmas Historian and Christmas.com Content Specialist
Candles, decorated with greenery, are placed in the windows of Irish homes on Christmas Eve to light the way of the Holy Family as well as any other poor travelers out on such a night. During the British occupation of all of Ireland, three candles were placed in the window at Christmas. One for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Spirit. Fellow Catholics passing by would know that the house was a Catholic home, and that all friends were welcome there to celebrate Christmas. The candles were also an invitation to priests to enter the home, say the Christmas Mass, eat dinner, and spend the night with the family. After the evening meal, the table is set with bread and milk and the door left unlatched as a symbol of the hospitality that the family is offering to Mary and Joseph and the little one to come.
To the Irish, Christmas is a time for religious celebration rather than revelry. A manger scene is displayed in most homes and there are few Christmas trees. The one festive note that is struck is in the special pudding that caps the meal.
St. Stephen's Day is celebrated in Ireland in a different way, but is similar to Boxing Day in that it also has to do with the solicitation of money. Young men in extravagant dress, sometimes wearing masks, parade noisily through the streets in the Wren Boys' Procession. They carry long pole on top of which is attached a holly bush. The bush supposedly contains a captured wren, and for whose sake the young men beg for money.
AUSTRALIA
Boxing Day, December 26, is a public holiday in Australia. The day probably takes its name from the fact that on the day after Christmas in Britain the alms [charity] boxes which had been placed in the churches over the Christmas period were opened. The contents were distributed to the poor. On the same day, apprentices and servants broke open small earthenware boxes in which their masters had deposited small sums of money. In large households, the family may have used this day to distribute Christmas boxes to their staff. In Canberra [Boxing Day] is the start of the annual exodus to the beach and a holiday at the coast.
MEXICAN CHRISTMAS
Joaquim Gabriel Andrade
My family and I celebrate Christmas the Mexican way because we are all from Mexico. We begin to celebrate on the 24th because that is Christmas Eve. We start opening presents at midnight or the 25th in the morning.
We always have a party every Sunday before Christmas. It is called a “posada.� It’s a party where you celebrate the arrival of Mary & Joseph in Bethlehem. You have a �piñata� which has candy & prizes in it. We also celebrate with fireworks.
On the 24th we celebrate Christmas Eve with the whole family gathered together: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We have turkey with cranberry-chili sauce, mashed potatoes, buttered veggies, turkey soup, and cod with chili gravy. Afterwards we have punch with marshmallows. At twelve we open our presents and after that we all go to our own houses.
On Christmas morning my brothers wake me up to open our Santa’s presents. Then I always go to my other grandparent's homes to spend Christmas. We eat a good meal. We break another piñata & then we exchange presents and see each other in one year.
SWEDEN
December 13th is a special day that children look forward to all year long. Saint Lucia [Day] is celebrated all over Sweden on December 13th. The custom with the girl dressed in white with candles on her head has a complicated background ... In our school we celebrate Saint Lucia Day outside very early in the morning while it's still dark. Our Saint Lucia is coming in a carriage pulled by a very small horse. She is followed by Santa Claus on a big horse and a lot of girls and boys in white gowns and a lot of candles. They all sing traditional Christmas songs and read poems. After the ceremony we all eat ginger cookies and bread with saffron. To celebrate is very important to Swedish people.