Celebrating Christmas Around the World

It’s the last month of the year and for most people around the world, it means only one thing: CHRISTMAS!

Let’s take a look at some of the more unconventional ways people from around the world celebrate this festive occasion.

Merry Christmas!—Australia

While the common notion for Christmas is snow and reindeers pulling Santa’s sleigh, it’s the opposite for Australia. As the season falls in the middle of their summer, most Australians celebrate Christmas with barbecues on the beach.

Joyeux Noël!—Canada

Want to send mail to dear old Santa Claus? Then, you might want to spend the holidays in Canada. In this country, there’s an actual postal code you can use to send a letter to the North Pole: H0H 0H0. While Santa seems to be too busy to answer all letters that this address receives, volunteers act as Santa’s elves and help answer the letters, ensuring that each and every sender will get a personal reply.

Veselé Vánoce!—Czech Republic

Hate being single during the holidays? Well, Czech women, too!
In this country, there’s a tradition for Czech women to find out if they will remain single or not. Come Christmas Eve, women will turn their backs to the door and throw a shoe over their shoulder. If the front of the shoe faces the door, then it means she’ll be lucky in love. However, if it’s the heel, then she’ll have to resign herself to being blessedly single for the rest of her life.

Hyvää Joulua!—Finland

Visit the sauna on Christmas Eve? While most countries around the world celebrate Christmas with a meal with their loved ones, it’s customary for Finns to go to the sauna on this day and listen to the national “Peace of Christmas” broadcast. It’s also tradition for people to visit the graves of their loved ones on this day.

メリークリスマス!—Japan

Colonel Sanders is one happy camper during Christmas season in Japan. Due to a successful marketing campaign in the 1970s, most families celebrate Christmas Eve with a bucket of KFC’s fried chicken. Most even reserve their orders early as it’s not uncommon for some stores to run out of this finger lickin’ delight.

Maligayang Pasko!—Philippines

As soon as the “Ber” (SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, and DecemBER) months starts setting in, you’ll likely see most homes and commercial establishments putting up colorful lights and décor in honor of the season. Perhaps because the Philippines has a huge Christian population and are naturally inclined to celebrate festivities with family and friends, it’s probably the only country in the world that celebrates this holiday from September and even well into January.

Sources:
HISTORY
Elite Daily