Christmas Traditions from Around the World
By Janet Elaine Smith

Every family has their own Christmas traditions. Many of them come from practices in the homeland of their ancestry. Others create new customs of their own as the families meld together through marriage, or in some cases even through adoption. Living in a largely Scandinavian region of the US, I hear every year about “lutefisk and lefse.” Lefse is a very thin fried bread-like big round thing, made from mashed potatoes, flour and cream. It is sort of a Norwegian version of a taco. It is really quite good. Now lutefisk—that’s another matter! It is the most horrible smelling fish (it is soaked in lye) you can imagine! It is served with melted butter poured over it. I’m sure the butter is to kill the taste of the fish! Now let’s take a peek at how people in other countries celebrate Christmas.

In Iceland, they have a Christmas cat who supposedly comes and eats you if you don’t have new clothes for Christmas. Everybody is sure to sport a new outfit for the holidays. They also have a boiled fish, similar to the lutefisk I described above, but they call it “skata.” In Iceland they believe in thirteen Santa Clauses who all come down from the mountains one by one, beginning on the 12 th of December. When the last one arrives, the families all celebrate Christmas together, then the Santa Clauses all return to their homes in the mountains, again one at a time, so Christmas lasts officially until the 6 th of January, when they all put away the Christmas celebrations and take down the Christmas tree.

In Mexico, the celebration begins on the Sunday before Christmas with a posada. That is a party where you celebrate the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. The children have a piñata—a fancy-shaped figure that hangs from a long stick and is filled with toys and candy. A blindfolded child tries to hit it with a stick and break it, as an older child or an adult moves it around to try to fool them. When it breaks, all the children scramble to try to get as many toys and as much candy as they can. On Christmas Eve, the families all gather together. Many families go to midnight Mass. They parade through the streets, ringing bells and singing Christmas carols, carrying the baby Jesus in a manger. When they return they open some of their presents. On either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day everyone has a big meal. The main dish is a turkey with a molé sauce, which is a chocolate sauce the turkey is baked in. Often on Christmas Eve there are a lot of fireworks.

In Ireland, the children put out Christmas sacks instead of stockings. Instead of leaving milk and cookies for Santa, they leave mince meat pies and a bottle of Guinness for the jolly old man.

In Spain, Papa Noel delivers the presents for the children instead of Santa Claus. Since many of the homes do not have chimneys, he climbs up the balconies and sneaks into the houses. The children get to celebrate twice with presents, as the Wise Men bring them gifts again on January 6 th.     more >>