Featured Image by Pixabay.com from Pexels.
It will be Christmas Eve upon this post going up and so such a time has it that I would obviously take the chance of doing a Christmas blogpost, what better way to do a Christmas blogpost than to go through a number of different countries to see how they celebrate Christmas as it is not exactly the same from one country to the next, in fact quite a few countries celebrate Christmas in a very different way to what you may expect.
So get yourself a glass of milk or a mug of hot coco, perhaps some biscuits, cookies, maybe a candy cane as we go through 5 different countries and their Christmas traditions.
1. Christmas in Romania
In Romania, a country in south-east Europe bordered by Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria and has a coast along the Black Sea, they begin the festive holiday season from 30th November with the main days being 24th/25th December like most countries, but the celebrations and season does not properly end until 7th January after Epiphany, although this is more so for Christians celebrating the holiday, if you celebrate a secular Christmas it is most like the season would end for you after the New Year’s celebrations, so in many countries this is a common theme.
Before November 30th though in Romania, Eastern Christian Romanians begin the 7 week advent until Christmas from November 14th, this day being called Lăsata secului meaning the day the adstinence begins, during this time the Eastern Christians will have a more strict diet that does not consist of anything from animals and oil can also not be consumed on Wednesday’s and Friday’s during this time, Christmas Eve is a time of total abstinence for the Eastern Christians to thank God for sending the Savior.
As said earlier the Christmas season officially begins on November 30th on St. Andrew’s Day, more so if you are religious, it is also a time of supersition where people will hang garlic and a crucifix near to all doors and windows to keep away evil spirits, vampires and spells away from their home, between 29th-30th November and is known as Noaptea lupului meaning the Night of the Wolf.
This is followed by Great Union Day, Ziua Marii Uniri or the National Day of Romania on the 1st of December which is a day of great celebration for Romania, military parades happen in the countries capital Bucharest and also in the city of Alba lulia where the countries national anthem “Deșteaptă-te, române!” is also performed, the day marks the unification of the Kingdom of Romania with Transylvania, Bessarabia and Bukovina in 1918. Parties and celebrations on this day will last on into the night and common dishes on this day include Mici, which are ground meat rolls with a mixture of beef, lamb and pork with various spices and also Fasole cu cârnaţi which is a dish of beans and sausage including carrots, onions, tomatoes, parsnips, tomato sauce and bay leaf, these two dishes are normally cooked by Army cooks in the cities of Bucharest and Alba lulia during the parades and are handed out to the spectators and party-goers for free. Many other Romanian cities have free music concerts and street festivels on this day as well.
The beginning of December marks the time Christmas lights are turned on in many streets and the Saint Moş Nicolae delivers presents to the children early on December 5th-6th, traditional presents including books and sweets, it is also traditional for these gifts to be in laced up boots, a traditional present for a naughty child would be a wooden stick.
December 20th see’s in Saint Ignatius Day and is often when the last preparations for Christmas begin being made, a popular tradition is also to cut pigs on this date ready for the Christmas Eve supper, it is also a time where the most Christmas trees are sold.
December 24th is the traditional date for when children begin caroling to their neighbors and woman bake cookies to give to the caroling children. Then follows the day itself, Christmas Day on 25th December.
2. Christmas in Russia
When it comes to Christmas in Russia they celebrate it on a different date to us due to going by the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar to celebrate Christmas, so for them the 24th-25th December is the 6th-7th January and is when many in Russia celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The religious aspect of the holiday in Russia is very popular.
The main schedule proceeds as such for followers of the Russian Orthodox Church, the holiday is important for followers of this religion and Christmas is known as one of the 12 great feasts and is followed by a period of fasting. Long services such as the Royal Hours and Vespars combined with Divine Liturgy, after these services on Christmas Eve the family would return home for a traditional Holy Supper consisting of 12 dishes to honor each of the Twelve Apostles, after this these families would then return to church for the All Night Vigil service. On Christmas Day the families will once again return to church for another service, the Divine Liturgy of the Nativity.
So as you can see above religion remains are common part of Christmas in Russia and it falls on a very different time period to many western countries, Russia also gets a 10 day holiday during the Christmas period.
Russian cuisine on Christmas often includes many types of large meats such as roasted pig, stuffed pigs head, roasted meat chunks, goose with apples, sour cream hare, venison, lamb, whole fish and so on. Alongside this is aspic which can be various ingridients set into a gelatin of meat stock or consomme. Pies and numerous sweet dishes such as fruit, angel wings, cakes, biscuits and so on are also popular Christmas foods in Russia.
By Katedra_Chrystusa_Zbawiciela_w_Moskwie_2.jpg: Voytek sderivative work: B7elijah (talk) – Katedra_Chrystusa_Zbawiciela_w_Moskwie_2.jpg, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16202424
3. Christmas in Japan
In Japan the Christmas holiday is much more of a secular holiday as the Christian tradition is not as common as it is further to the West. Christmas in Japan is a lot more about spending time spreading happiness and having fun with friends and family as well as the commercial customs of exchanging gifts and Christmas cards which they picked up from western traditions.
Christmas Eve in Japan could also be argued as a more popular day than even Christmas Day itself and is also seen by couples as a Valentine’s Day of sorts, a romantic day that many couples will spend with each other going for walks, exchanging gifts, eating out or just spending time with each other.
On Christmas Day a tradition of ordering fried chicken is very common with many of the chains such as KFC allowing customers to place orders in advance and is in fact their busiest time of the year in Japan.
Since Christmas is not a main custom of Japan Christmas Day is often treated as a working day and not a national holiday, but the 23rd December is instead treated as a national holiday due to it being the Emperor of Japan’s birthday, so often the festive period fully begins at that point. Schools are often closed on these days though including on Christmas Day.
The New Year’s celebrations that follow the festive period are a bigger holiday and celebration time in Japan than Christmas with it often being a busy period that lasts from 31st December until the 4th Janaury, parties, family get togethers, prayer and greetings are much more common on New Year celebrations rather than Christmas.
4. Christmas in Argentina
Going into Argentina, where you will find the Christmas weather to be warm instead of cold, you will see that Christmas is once again a lot more of a religious celebration rather than a secular or commercial holiday, gifts and presents giving are not as common among people, but the religous masses and festive decorations are. Advent is also part of this time of year in Argentina as many people are of the Catholic faith.
Christmas decorations and trees will often be up and finished by the 8th December here which is when the Feast of the Immaculate Conception takes place where Catholics celebrate when Mary was concieved. When it comes to Christmas decorations in Argentina the Nativity Scene is often an important centre-piece placed next to the Christmas tree.
Christmas Eve is a busy day as this is when the main celebrations take place and Catholics will go to mass in the late afternoon. Christmas Eve will also see families eating a big meal, normally late at night, the food can include BBQ due to the warm weather and include meats from Turkey’s and Pork and many sandwich types are also common as well as pies. As well as that many sweet foods are also popular, puddings, cakes, ice cream, sugar coated peanuts, chocolate covered raisins and so on. Fireworks are also popular on Christmas Eve in Argentina as well.
In many aspects Christmas Eve is again the main day in Argentina rather than Christmas Day itself, although some will still see a service at a church on the main day, many people will laze around, sleep and eat left-overs from the night before instead.
5. Christmas in Iceland
Christmas in Iceland can be a very magical and exciting experience and is why I decided to put it last as it can be very different to many other countries or to what you would expect, for a start Christmas is a long period in Iceland lasting from 11th December all the way until the 6th January, Iceland also does not just have one Santa Claus or one specific character who is known for delivering presents to the young but they have 13!, known as Yule Lads and they are said to come one after the other giving presents, the first one coming 12 days before Christmas Eve.
Christmas in Iceland is known as ‘Jól’ which means Yule and before this in Iceland celebration for the Winter Solstice were already popular before Christians transformed the holiday in the country.
Christmas decorations are very popular in Iceland and can often be seen going up very early in the country, the weather in Iceland is also cold and often snowy during the Christmas period making it all the more magical and exciting. Christmas Markets are also a popular part of the holiday in the country that cannot be missed.
Iceland during this period also has many supersitions and strange and amusing beliefs that are told to the children, such as about cows talking, elves moving house and so on. Popular food in Iceland on Christmas includes Skate, leg of roast lamb, gamebirds, leaf bread upon much more. Presents are often opened by the children on Christmas Eve evening rather than Christmas Day itself and largely in Iceland Christmas remains a secular holiday and is often a common holiday destination for tourists on Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
So as can be seen many countries celebrate Christmas or the festive period very different to how you or I may celebrate it, some countries are more secular, others more religious, different Santa Clauses, foods and other traditions.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and please share it far and wide as it really helps and have a Merry Christmas or a Happy Holiday and a Happy New Year of 2019! I will be back after the New Year in 2019 with a new blog post.