As the Christmas season approaches, many of us are looking forward to gathering with friends and family, setting gifts under the tree, and hanging stockings full of goodies by the fire. We take our Christmas traditions for granted because they’re normal to us – but all over the world, different countries and cultures celebrate the season differently. These are just a few fun traditions that might be new to you:
Kentucky Friend Christmas Dinner (Japan)
Since Christmas isn’t a national holiday in Japan, Christmas dinner isn’t quite as big of an occasion – but it’s definitely a cause for some fast food. The tradition of going to the local Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas dinner began in 1974, when KFC ran a marketing campaign entitled “Kentucky for Christmas!” The restaurant became synonymous with the Christmas season, and today people wait in line for hours on Christmas to get the famous fried chicken.
Spiderweb Décor (Germany & Ukraine)
People in European countries like Germany and Ukraine often decorate their Christmas trees with small spider ornaments and artificial spider webs. According to an old legend, there was once a woman and her two children who had a Christmas tree but did not have the money to decorate it – so spiders took pity on them and wove their webs around the tree, causing it to glow in the morning sunlight. Today, finding a spider’s web on a Christmas tree is considered good luck!
Celebrating with a Bang (El Salvador & Guatemala)
Many Central American countries like to keep things exciting on Christmas by celebrating with fireworks. In El Salvador and Guatemala, for example, fireworks displays are scheduled for December 24 and 25. Children even join in the fun with small firecrackers known as volcancitos (little volcanoes) and estrellitas (little stars).
13 Yule Lads (Iceland)
In the U.S., we celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas. In Iceland, they celebrate 13 Yule Lads – and during each of the 13 nights before Christmas, children are visited by a new yule lad. They leave their shoes by the window, and if they’ve been good, the yule lad will leave candy inside their shoes. If they’ve been bad, the yule lad leaves rotten potatoes – similar to how children in the U.S. face the threat of receiving lumps of coal in their stockings.
Christmas Cookout (South Africa)
In the southern hemisphere, summer is just beginning – and what better way to celebrate than with a cookout? People in South Africa still come together with their families to celebrate the holidays, but instead of making snowmen and drinking cups of cocoa, they celebrate with a feast known as a braaing. They marinate steaks and sausages and serve the customary malva pudding for dessert.
This year, as you consider your own family’s Christmas traditions, ask yourself why you continue them. Do they make you feel closer to your history? Do they remind you of your childhood? Talk about them with your family to build your appreciation for traditions together – and if you want to add some diversity to your Christmas, consider sharing some of the traditions above with your family!
At IWU, we honor the value of diversity in every season – not just Christmas. To hear from one of our team members about the importance of diversity in education, check out “The Illusion of Inclusion: The Impact Diversity Can Have on the Value of Your Education.”
Bonus: Christmas Traditions Around IWU-National & Global
“It’s all about Jesus and the food in our family! We attend a Christmas Eve service, put up multiple nativity sets, have traditional Slovak Christmas Eve (kielbasa and kraut, salmon, peas, potato salad, mushroom soup, pierogies, and more), and have a Christmas Day brunch with breakfast casserole and my mother-in-law’s homemade monkey bread. My main Christmas tree is always decorated with peacocks for my Indian heritage.”
Dr. Karen A. Dowling, Vice President for Diversity & Intercultural Integration
“My best friend and I have been baking cookies on Christmas Eve for 30 years. We start at 10 p.m. and bake until midnight. At midnight we exchange and open gifts!”
Dr. Shelley M. Webb, Director of Faculty Support
“We always watch Elf after a full-day of soul food cooking and gift un-wrapping.”
Carla Biro, Director of Career Labs
“On Christmas Eve, we attend our church service, have a dinner of pozole with red chile, tamales, biscochitos, and other homemade cookies, and line the walkway and driveway with luminarias. Most of our adult children gather at our house (even coming from afar) for this.”
Dr. Reuben Rubio, Associate Professor of Education
“When my kids were little, we really emphasized Jesus’ birthday – so it became a tradition to have a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas morning, light candles, and sing happy birthday.”
Connie Crump, Associate Dean of Accreditation, Assessment, and Curriculum
“I grew up Catholic so we always had midnight mass on Christmas Eve. We would go out and drive around the neighborhood before mass to look at Christmas lights, and then we’d come home and all our gifts would be under the tree. We were allowed to open one gift before mass. It always felt really magical because to this day I have no idea how my parents got all our gifts under the tree while we were out.”
Deedee Smith, Director of Regional Alumni Engagement
“I lived on a farm next to my grandmother growing up; she basically raised me. From after Halloween until Christmas, Grandma and I would spend our time making homemade candy. Then, when Christmas came, we got to get all the candy out and make plates for the neighbors.”
Damon Seacott, Director of Strategic Enrollment Partnerships
“Growing up we spent Christmas Eve with my dad’s side and the day after Christmas with my mom’s side. I just loved being able to spend time with my entire family every Christmas holiday.”
Sarah Ralston, Associate Director of Enrollment Management
“My family always celebrated Ukrainian Christmas on January 7. All the other kids would have to go back to school, but we’d get to take the day off and spend time with family. To this day, I don’t take Christmas decorations down until January 7!”
Vaso Suhodolsky, Director of Regional Ventures & Operations