Christmas Traditions Around the World
There are so many places that celebrate Christmas and have different traditions. For example, in South America, they like to do something called Las Posadas, which is a nine-night procession that starts on December 16th. On this day, people dress up as Mary and Joseph because it is a couple’s search for shelter on their way to Bethlehem. During December 7th in Columbia, families celebrate El Día De Las Velitas, which is where they place candles and paper lanterns in their home and streets. In many places they celebrate El Día de Los Reyes Magos which is also known as Three Kings Day; this is celebrated on January 6th, it’s also known as a second Christmas.
Another interesting place that likes to celebrate is Asia. They celebrate Christmas with gift-giving, food, and fun times with their loved ones; they like making special Christmas foods like chicken soup, turkey, and pudding. In Japan, they celebrate Christmas by spending time with friends, couples, and having parties. They like to make plans to meet up at dinner and celebrate with the people they love, they also like to exchange gifts and attend religious ceremonies.
In Germany, people celebrate Advent Sunday, which is on December 1st. It is a day where people light the first candle out of four on their Advent wreath, and every Sunday until Christmas they light a candle. They also do advent calendars, which most people in the US do as well. From the 1st of December to the 24th of December, they use 24 “doors”, or rather sacks filled with some kind of present. For food they eat a “Weihnachtsstollen” which has a lot of sugar and butter in it, and a lot of them even have raisins. They also like to eat gingerbread and cookies which are called “Lebkuchen”. Another tradition on December 6, is St. Nikolaus Tag. This is a day which is celebrated for families with kids, children put their boots and/or shoes by the door and St. Nikolaus fills it with goodies such as sweets or even toys. Even though it is not an official holiday, many families celebrate this tradition, even in the US. There are so many more places around the world that celebrate Christmas, and this was just scratching the surface.
