It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!
Christmas is one of the most celebrated Holidays not just in America, but worldwide!
If one thing unites everyone it is the yearly race to max out credit cards, pick that perfect gift, fight over who's house we are visiting, and would you look at that "Santa has the same wrapping paper as mommy".
Listen, I wrote a whole blog about how much the commercialization of Holidays has made me gift experiences not material things. So, although my grandma called me Sammy Lou Who I am not a participating resident of Whoville.
So, let's dive into how the world celebrates Christmas in case you also want to escape the yearly hustle and bustle and have an excuse not to eat Aunt Joan's fruit cake.
AMERICA
We celebrate it on December 25th contrary to the stores having you believe it's the day after Halloween. I mean poor Thanksgiving; we try and skip right over it. Our decorations consist of decorative lights EVERYWHERE competing with Jerry down the street for highest electricity bill on the block, though it's not for nothing we love to drive around and look at all of them. It's expected we will be baking cookies, wear matching pjs, and have our favorite movies on repeat.
(The best Christmas Movie in History)
There is also a nationwide debate on whether white lights or colored lights are better.
TEAM COLORED LIGHTS...I'M NOT GOING TO ARGUE ABOUT IT.
Christmas Eve is spent together enjoying good food, midnight mass for some, and anxiously awaiting if Santa deemed us naughty or nice this year. I am just going to put in my little tradition, we get to open one present that night and yes you have to yell at the kids to not grab the biggest one.
After we rip thru the wrapping paper that took hours for someone to wrap (mom), we spend the rest of the day blaming our partners for not getting batteries knowing we need them for these dang toys, reading directions, and telling the kids to share knowing they all just got brand new stuff. If you're lucky enough you remember the reason for the season and that is celebrating the birth of Jesus, however inaccurate the timing of year is.
EUROPE
Unlike the US the Main Event for most European countries is December 24th. The most common celebration that all of these amazing countries have in common?
FOOOOOOOOOOODDDD
They all come together around the dinner table to celebrate, from 12 course meals to fasting all day until the big meal! When everyone is nice and full, grab those coats because it's off to midnight mass or a pub depending on where you are in the world.
If you are strolling in places like Iceland, you might notice shoes hanging in the windows where children have hung them hoping for some goodies the next morning. Be careful entering doors in Czech Republic that time of year as single ladies will be throwing shoes over their shoulders hoping it lands facing the door, and a marriage is in her future for the coming year. (I see the Hallmark movie now, where the handsome lost traveler opens the door, a flying shoe comes at him, hits him in the head and lands pointing right at him....if anyone makes a movie out of that it was my idea!)
Ireland celebrates by lighting a red candle in the window to light the way to Bethlehem for Mary and Joseph, because you know Joseph is not going to stop and ask for directions. They then say good luck and head dressed in Christmas sweaters down to pub crawls, pints, and games.
Germany decorates with pickles...... I won't be giving context on that.
Ukraine uses cobwebs for their decorations and don't make a mess in Norway, you won't be able to find a broom, they hide them so the witches can't scoop them up and take them away. (Can you imagine threatening your children with a witch that's going to scoop the up all year? So much better than coal in their stockings)
I couldn't write this blog post about Christmas in Europe without mentioning the amazing Christmas Markets. This tradition started hundreds of years ago and continues today with entire squares transformed into a winter wonderland of shopping, food, and lights. These events carry in people from all over the world to experience this. Can you blame them when an already magical place like Edinburgh Scotland gets turned into this?
(I am a little biased to Scotland)
ASIA
Christmas in most Asian countries is seen as a chance to spread happiness and cheer while spending time with loved ones. Since Christianity is "young" there the religious aspect is not forefront to their celebrations. They have embraced the western traditions when it comes to decorations, Santa Claus, and carols among other things. In a continent made up of so many different cultures, festivals and celebrations are in no short demand.
Heads up the next Chinese New Year begins January 29th 2025, you want to go?
I think we sometimes forget that we are all human (minus the aliens who are here) and all inhabit the same planet.
Whether your Christmas is throwing shoes at doors, hanging up stockings with care, coming together for a family feast, shopping in the dreamy markets, hiding your brooms, letting those cobwebs stay a little longer in the corner, or celebrating Jesus. I speak for everyone when I say I don't care what kind of list I end up on as long as this fellow doesn't visit me.
(HECK NO)
So from me to you........... ¡Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noël Frohe Weihnachten! Buon Natale!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Samantha Cooley
Worth The Miles Travel
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