Christmas is a widely celebrated holiday in the United States.  The shopping, decorations, lights, and gift-giving, all fills us with the true Christmas Spirit.  But have you ever thought about what other countries around the world did at Christmas time?  Since Christmas is centered around Christianity and the birth of Jesus, many countries do not celebrate Christmas as they don't believe in it.  But other countries, religious or not, have adopted some of our Christmas rituals just for the pure excitement of celebration. 

Christmas in the United States is characterized by decorations from Christmas trees, to wreaths, to mistletoe, to lights, to snow.  It is a time where family gathers together to celebrate the birth of Jesus and enjoy one another's company and to listen to carolers.  On Christmas Eve, Santa brings presents to all the kids by riding on his infamous sleigh and putting all the presents under the Christmas tree by going down the chimney.  Christmas is so popular in the United States for two reasons: the majority of the Americans practice Christianity and retailers encourage the holiday and all that comes along with it including the extreme amounts of shopping and gift giving.  Now what happens in the other parts of the world?

In the South American country of Chile, our typical Santa Claus is referred to as Viejo Pascuero, or Old Man Christmas.  Looking very similar to Santa Claus, Viejo Pascuero delivers presents to the children on a sleigh and takes the presents through the window instead of the chimney.  Although this sounds very similar to our traditions, it actually is quite different since it is summer in Chile and quite the opposite of the typical snowy Christmas.  Instead of wreaths and Christmas trees, the people of Chile decorate with native flowers.

Along with Chile, the islands in the Caribbean celebrate their Christmas in the hot tropical weather.  The children in the Caribbean receive their presents from Santa as well, but Santa sets the presents either in their stockings that hang on the mantle or in the sheets of their beds.

The country of Iceland celebrates Christmas in a different way as well.  The Christmas season is referred to as the Yuletide season in Iceland which lasts 13 days.  The people of Iceland believe in 13 Santa's known as Jólasveinar.  They start delivering the presents on Dec 12^th and finish by the 25^th . 

Moving east to Europe brings a lot of changes to the traditions of Christmas.  In Spain, it is not Santa who brings the children their presents but the Three Wise Men.  The Spanish Christmas starts December 25^th but doesn't end until a few weeks after on January 6^th when the Three Wise Men deliver the presents in the children's shoes.  From there a parade starts where candy and cakes are thrown to the children on the streets. 

Along with Spain, Italy celebrates gift giving on January 6^th but the gift giver is a little different.  In Italy the distributor of gifts differs depending on which region you are from.  Many Italian children receive presents from the Italian folk character named La Befana  In other areas, St. Lucia distributes gifts and in others Gesu' Bambino, or Child Jesus, brings Christmas gifts. Due to the increasing awareness of the United States and their Christmas traditions, the idea of Santa Claus has made its way into Italy's traditions, and now he makes his rounds in various regions on Christmas Eve as Babbo Natale, Father Christmas.

Moving farther east makes way for an entirely different Christmas celebration.  The countries in the Middle East do not celebrate Christmas, but they celebrate St. Nicholas.  To them, St. Nicholas is a thin figured man dressed in bishop's robes, contrary to  Americans believing that St. Nicholas looks like our plump, jolly Santa Claus.  In the city of Myra, located in Turkey, a St. Nicholas festival is held on December 6^th to celebrate and honor his life. 

In East Asia, Christmas has never been very popular due to the lack of people practicing Christianity.  But, along with Italy, China and Japan are starting to adopt Christmas rituals as well.  In Japan, the excitement of Christmas grew so much that they started the ritual of having Hoteiosho, one of the gods from the Japanese pantheon, bring gifts to the children. They believed that since he had eyes in the back of his head, it's natural for him to observe the behavior of the children in Japan.

Moving down under, Christmas in Australia would be just how you imagined it, hot!  Since it is mid-summer in Australia when December 25^th rolls around, the natives celebrate Christmas by having dinner on the beach or having backyard parties or barbecues.  They too decorate their houses with blooming flowers instead of Christmas trees and wreaths.

Christmas is celebrated twice in the country of New Zealand.  Since there are so many people from the Northern Hemisphere who now live in New Zealand they want to be able to have a white Christmas .  Therefore, Christmas is held on December 25^th and also in mid-July.  The people of New Zealand believe in Santa Claus as well and he actually rides into town on Christmas morning on a fire engine and throws candy out to the children on the street.

No matter what part of the world you are in, Christmas is the time of year where families get together and celebrate.  As we approach the holiday season, take the time to appreciate what you have and maybe adopt one of the many traditions around the world!

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