Christmas’ Across the Seas
By: Savanna Davis (7)
Christmas, a fun holiday for the whole family. You get to unwrap presents and have quality family time, but what about how people in different parts of the world celebrate? Or, if they celebrate something else how do they celebrate that? Wonder no more, here are Christmas’ around the world.
Japan
Christmas in Japan has been celebrated for the last couple of decades. It’s not seen as a religious holiday because there aren’t many Christians in Japan. The USA influenced the giving and receiving of gifts and cards. Christmas in Japan is more about spreading happiness and not about its religious origins.
Christmas Eve is celebrated more than Christmas itself. Christmas Eve is considered to be more romantic; it is a day couples spend together and exchange gifts. It’s kind of like Valentine’s Day in December. Instead of a huge feast, fried chicken is eaten during this time. It is a really busy time for restaurants that have a main delicacy of fried chicken.
Dessert, now that you’ve had dinner with your family it’s time to have something sweet. In Japan, a dessert that is made for Christmas is usually just a sponge cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Christmas in Japan is not a national holiday but students usually have Christmas Day off, since it is close to the New Year school break.
Now that you know a couple of things done during Christmas in Japan, let’s move on to Australia.
Australia
Christmas in Australia comes right before the summer holidays. Children celebrate their summer holidays from mid December to early February, so most people may be camping during Christmas. Since it is so hot during Christmas time in Australia, there are a lot of bushfires. “Many volunteer bush fire fighters are involved in saving people and property.” (whychristmas.com) They also travel to fight bus fires in other places.
Some Australians hang wreaths on their doors and some go out caroling on Christmas Eve. “People also decorate their houses and gardens with Christmas Trees and Christmas lights. Neighbors sometimes have little competitions to see who has the best light display.” (whychristmas.com) Neighbors visit each other’s houses to see the competing displays.
Other than the regular basic Christmas tree, Australians also have the ‘Christmas Bush’ that also decorates the homes for the season. A ‘Christmas Bush’ is a native Australian tree with small green leaves and cream colored flowers. “In summer, the flowers turn a deep shiny red over a period of weeks. Poinsettia plants are also popular plants used as decorations.” (whychristmas.com)
Since most Australians are traveling away from home at this time of year, their Christmas dinner is usually held around lunch time which is either a cold meal or a barbeque with seafood like prawns and lobster. On Christmas Eve fish markets are usually packed with people looking for their main course for the holiday. Some like to have ‘traditional’ Christmas pudding but also cold desserts like pavlova and trifle. Christmas Crackers are also eaten with Australian Christmas dinners. Now let’s move on to Australia’s neighbor, New Zealand.
New Zealand
Just like Australia, December holidays come right in the middle of the summer holidays in New Zealand. People usually spend time at the beach, camping, or at their holiday homes. Many towns have a Santa parade with decorated floats made by the country’s citizens. This can be anytime between mid November and so on. Since it is warm, Santa is seen to be wearing ‘jandals’ or a New Zealand ‘All Blacks’ rugby shirt.
“In the main cities like Auckland, Wellington, Christchruch and Hamilton, there are big Christmas light shows and displays.” (whychristmas.com) There are big carol services throughout the country, even in the areas that are less populated. New Zealand even has its own special carols. “These include ‘Te Harinui’, Christmas in New Zealand and A Kiwiana Christmas. They are sung at most of the carol services in the country.” (whychristmas.com)
Just like in the US people have Christmas trees in their homes. Kiwis also have their own special Christmas tree, the Pohutukawa is also important in Maori culture. Most Pohutukawa grow on the North Island where they flower from the middle of December until about the 2nd week of January. The earlier it flowers the hotter the summer will be and likewise, the longer it takes to flower is how long summer will be.
Many people have barbecues for Christmas lunch and this is becoming more popular. The food cooked is often sliced ham, venison (deer), or other exotic meats. Shrimps and other fish are also barbecued. It’s common to have Christmas Crackers on the table just like in Australia.
Desserts are obviously very popular; many have a hot fruit pudding with custard and ice cream but cold desserts are usually more popular. “These include pavlova and whipped cream, meringues, cold fruit salad, jelly and ice cream. Drinks are usually just a range of soft drinks.” (whychristmas.com)
People open presents on Christmas day when all of the family is together; this is usually before Christmas lunch. A popular present from Santa is usually ‘jandals’ it’s a mix of ‘Japanese Sandals’. They’ve been popular in New Zealand since the late 1950s.
Of course there are so many other countries to cover with different traditions, and I encourage you to research the ones that you are interested in because it’s fascinating to see what other parts of the world do.
All information came from whychristmas.com. If you would like to learn about Christmas in more countries, make sure to check it out.