Christmas Celebrations around the Globe

Christmas is a festive occasion that is celebrated every year around the world, though different people have different traditions and ways of celebrating this occasion. It turns more special when the entire family is involved in the festive preparation. There are favorite traditions related to Christmas that are consistent throughout much of the world. For example, many places use a Christmas tree and the children believe in Santa Claus. Writing letters to Santa Claus is a cherished tradition of the holiday season and personalized letters from Santa become treasured keepsakes.

People across the globe celebrate the Christmas holiday in different ways – below you will see some of the basic traditions from around the world.

France:
Christmas goes by the name of Noël in France and Santa Claus is called Pere Neol though they sure decorate the Christmas tree in the traditional way with red ribbons and real candles instead of the garland electrical artificial lights and fancy decorations that are used in America. The French also believe in decorating the real Christmas trees that are outside their own house like the evergreen tree. They trim it and shape it up to give it a perfect Christmas tree shape.

Hungary:
The Hungarians call Santa Claus as the Winter Grandfather or Mikulas in their language. But he doesn’t visit the children on Christmas Eve and instead visits them on December 6Th. So the children clean their rooms and prepare for Winter Grandfather’s visit. They expect Santa to leave candies and toys in their freshly cleaned boots and the children who don’t clean their rooms and shoes get a golden birch instead and no gift. And according to the Hungarian belief they visit their relative’s house to give Santa and his elves time to set up the gifts in the house.

Germany:
In Germany holidays are considered to be lively decorated to embattle the festive occasions. And the Germans simply love to put electric candles as Christmas lights and also cover and decorate their homes with lights of different colors. A special German decoration called Adventshranz which is actually a leaf like wreath which has four candles and most Germans prefer to dedicate the Christmas day with a manger scene that is the famous depiction of the stable and they believe that St Nicholas brings them gifts on December 6th.

Latvia:
Latvia is considered to be the home of the first Christmas tree. The whole family enjoys a traditional meal of bacon sauce, sausages and small pies.

New Zealand:
People of this country celebrate Christmas in the summer season as they have their summers during December. And the Christmas dinner usually includes BBQ, ham and shrimps.

United States:
Americans love to celebrate with the entire family exchanging gifts and enjoying a hearty meal.

It seems that adults everywhere enjoy giving gifts to young children whose joyful laughter and love fills the air during this joyous time of year.