Forget
the old-fashioned mistletoe and the traditional carol singing, some of the Christmas traditions from around the world will have you laughing, crying… and wondering just how these unusual customs came about.
JAPAN: Chicken and cake
Christmas is a time for joy, celebration – and KFC?
The Colonel’s chicken is a festive season must-have in Japan. It is a tradition that began 40 years ago and, true to the Japanese culture, has been passed down from generation to generation. More than 240 000 barrels of chicken will be sold throughout Christmas, about four to five times the regular monthly sales.
And what would follow a takeaway Christmas lunch better than fruit cake? But these are no ordinary fruit cakes. Covered in whipped cream, chocolate and strawberries, these highly-coveted cakes have to be ordered months in advance. And any cake not sold by December 25 is unwanted.
Unmarried women older than 25 were once referred to as “Christmas cakes”, although this term has long since fallen by the wayside.
SWITZERLAND: Santa champs
Since November 2011, men and women from across the globe have dressed up like old Saint Nick to duke it out in the Santa World Championship held at the Samnaum ski resort in Switzerland.
Each year, four-person teams compete in 10 events during the ClauWau, including snow sculpting, gingerbread house decorating, chimney climbing and sleigh racing, all over a two-day period.
A crowd favourite is Santa’s chimney climb. The Santas are made to climb a ladder carrying a bag of gifts up to the chimney. They must then place the gifts at a fireplace on top of a column and ting a bell. They then drop the empty bag down the chimney and the next teammate starts the process all over again. The first team to drop all their empty bags wins.
CZECH REPUBLIC and SLOVAKIA: Wedding bells
Many of us have had to endure the yuletide on our own at one point or another. But fear not, there is a solution.
Stand with your back to the door and throw a shoe over your shoulder on Christmas Day.
If the shoe lands with the toe pointing towards the door, then congrats, wedding bells may be heard within the near future. If not, gear yourself for yet another year alone – and try again next Christmas.
UKRAINE: A creepy Christmas:
Put away those old ornaments and deck that Christmas tree with spiders and cobwebs instead.
Well, the spiders are not real, but you get the point. According to local legend, a woman was heartbroken when she could not afford to decorate the Christmas tree for her children. But when the family woke up the next morning, the tree was covered in spider webs.
When the light from the morning sun hit the threads of the webs, they turned to gold and silver, and the family was never left wanting again.
So next time you think of hauling out that old box of lights, consider an alternative maybe?
AUSTRIA: Anti-Santa:
Every hero needs an evil arch-enemy, and Santa Claus is no different as he faces off against his diabolical counterpart, Krampus.
Krampus has been described as an evil demon, the anti-Santa or the jolly old man’s twin brother.
Whatever the case may be, he is on a mission to punish naughty children.
Krampus Night is celebrated on December 5, the eve of St Nicholas Day in Austria and other parts of Europe.
People dress as Krampus and roam the streets at night, frightening children with rusty chains and bells.
If naughty children are ever caught within Krampus’s reach, he will throw them in his bag and whisk them away – or so the story goes.
VENEZUELA: Holy skates:
The morning mass on Christmas day is more than a breeze when you are allowed to roller skate your way into church.
In the capital city of Caracas, most people get to church by skating there through the streets.
Many of the roads are shut down for the day, so rolling around is one of the best, if not unusual, forms of Christmas transport.
On Christmas Eve, children will tie one end of a string to their toes and leave the other end outside, to allow skaters to give them a friendly tug as they pass by.
WALES: Horsing around
Some Welsh people celebrate Christmas by putting a sheet over their bodies and walking around with a horse’s skull on a stick.
Mari Lwyd, translated as the grey mare in English, is an old tradition said to bring luck.
The Mari Lwyd walks from door to door, and sometimes pubs, singing songs and hoping to be rewarded for their efforts.
The jaw is sometimes spring-loaded, so the Mari Lwyd literally snaps at those who pass by.
CATALONIA: Poop log
It could well be argued that the people of Catalonia may have taken things a bit too far with the pooping log.
A hollowed-out log is filled with sweets and nuts, and decorated with a face.
On Christmas morning, the log is thrown into a fire or beaten with sticks until it “poops” out its gifts.
Although the tradition has evolved somewhat, losing the fire so that more elaborate gifts can be placed inside, it is still regarded as one of the most bizarre Christmas traditions in the world.
Our friends from Catalonia have also given us the Caganer (the defecator). As part of the Nativity, this unfortunate character was caught in the toilet when baby Jesus was born, and immortalised as a children’s figurine with his pants down.
INDIA: Tree of different kind
India is not the best place to find the traditional Christmas tree, so they use mango and banana trees instead.
About 25 million Christians decorate the streets and their homes with these trees.
Santa Claus is known as Christmas Baba in Hindi, Baba Christmas in Urdu, Christmas Thaathaa’ (Christmas old man) in Tamil, Christmas Thatha (Christmas old man) in Telugu, Natal Bua (Christmas old man) in Marathi, and in the Kerala state he is known as “Christmas Papa”.
GERMANY: Pass the pickle
Germans use a glass-blown green pickle as the last decoration on their Christmas trees, and these pickles are often passed down from generation to generation.
The pickle is placed somewhere on the tree, and the first child to find it will get a special gift and good luck for the rest of the year.
The tradition of glass ornaments carried over to the US, when FW Woolworth began importing them in the 1880s.