Christmas Around the World

Christmas Around the World

I know one thing is for sure- Christmas sure isn't the Christmas I remember as a kid. When I was younger, I used to be able to not sleep on Christmas Eve, wondering what 'Santa' brought for me because I was good. And when I got up, I would run like a marathon runner into the living room sitting there until my parents woke up and we would all open gifts together and after that, we'd have some breakfast. Well, in past years, that kind of stuff has been altered. With the divorce of my parents, that forced us to basically go to my aunt's house and then on Christmas Day, go to my mom's and come home and go to my aunt Mary's house up the street, where she would give us stuff better suited for an older woman, not a kid. I'm serious on this one, she gave me this gaudy watch that an older lady would wear. I hated having to leave my mom's house and go to my stupid aunt Mary's house. Don't get me wrong, I loved her, but I don't think she was fully aware we were kids, not old ladies.

And another thing that has me ticked about Christmas is the TV keeps showing commercials with people getting expensive cars, and diamonds and all things pricey. That's not what Christmas is all about. I hate these stupid, greedy-ass kids, pardon my French, sorry. It's just I'm not even a parent and even I hate Christmas anymore. It's gotten away from the true meaning. And for those out there too thick to see it, it's about the birth of Christ, it's in the name for God's sake!! Are people really that mental to where they can't see that? Well, I guess they are. They're more occupied with standing for long hours in long lines for useless garbage for their greedy-ass kids. These kids that beg for useless garbage on Christmas like homeless people at Christmastime, what they need is a good slap upside the head. They need to be f---ing thankful that they can get gifts or that they have a loving family to begin with. Some kids don't have that, some kids are not in the richest areas and they can't live in houses, but instead foster care, or they're so poor they don't get gifts, so they may not know what Christmas gifts are. I'm so sick and so tired of seeing commercial after commercial showing women getting pricey diamonds, people getting Lexuses, Caddys, Lincolns, etc, expensive game systems, expensive music systems, anything expensive in general. Last time I checked, I'm not rich, and I'm also not spoiled. I get happy if I get a CD or a piece of clothing, so you can tell I'm not spoiled. Sorry, I just needed to vent. I'm so sick and so damn tired of seeing these kids out there who have the world at their feet and yet still they want more. Why do they worry? When they get old and die they can't take it with them anyway. Besides, last time I checked, Greed is one of the 7 Deadly Sins.

You ever wonder how they celebrate the holidays in other countries? Well, here's how.

Yugoslavia
-The kids celebrate the 2nd Sunday before Christmas as Mother's Day. They creep in and tie her feet to a chair and shout Mother's Day, Mother's Day, what will you pay to get away? She then gives them presents. They play the same trick on the father a week later. This is kind of barbaric!
-They also have a Christmas cake called a chestnitsa, contains gold or silver coin and is said that whoever gets it can expect lots of good luck

Wales
-Great lovers of music and every year at Christmas, carol singing is the most enjoyed activity.
-Spent with lots of people gathering in the public square for announcement of whom during the year has won the prize for submitting the best music for a new carol, and the formal pronouncement of it as the carol of the year.
-Alot of their traditions and customs have been derived from England, such as Christmas stockings, holly, mistletoe, pudding, carols, oranges, crackers and lots of snow.

Vietnam
-Christmas is one of the 4 most important festivals of the Vietnamese New Year. They are the birthday of Buddha, the New Year, and mid autumn festival.
-They attend mass at midnight. Dinner consists of chicken up, and richer people eat turkey and Christmas pudding.
-The European cousin of Santa leaves presents in the shoes of good children.

Venezuela
-On Dec. 16, families bring out their pesebres, which is a specially designed and thought out depiction of the nativity scene.
-Firecrackers explode and bells ring out to call worshippers from bed in the predawn hours. The last of the masses take place on Nochebuena de Navidad. Famillies attend a mass on this night and return home to a huge and fancy dinner.
-On Uan. 6, the children awake to discover the straw they had left beside their bed the night before is gone and in it's place are gifts the kids know the Magi and their camels brought. And if they go to the bathroom and look in the mirror, they might see a black smudge on their cheek and that's how they know that Balthazar, King of the Ethiopians, kissed them while they slept.

US
-In 1863, he was given the name Santa Claus, and bore the red suit, pipe, and reindeer.
-In Alaska, a star on a pole is taken from door to door, followed by Herrod's men, who try to capture the star. Boys and girls with lanterns on poles carry a large figure of a star from door to door.
-In Boston, carols are singing everywhere.
-New Orleans: a huge ox is paraded around the streets decorated with holly and ribbons on it's horns
-Arizona: the Mexican ritual Las Posadas is kept up. This is a ritual procession and play representing the search of Mary and Joseph for a room at the inn.
-Hawaii: Christmas starts with the coming of the Christmas Tree Ship, which is a ship bringing a great load of Christmas fare. It's also believed Santa comes by boat
-California: Santa comes in on a surfboard
-America celebrates with the exchange of gifts, greetings, dinner together with family and friends.
-Houses are decorated with holly, garland, trees heavily decorated, mistletoe, candy canes

Switzerland
-A tinkling of silver bells heralds the arrival of Christkindli- a white clad angel with a face held in place by a jeweled crown. The tree candles are lit as she enters each house and hands out gifts from her basket by her child helpers.
-The week before Christmas, kids dress up and visit homes with small gifts.

Sweden
-Begins with the Saint Lucia ceremony. Before dawn on the morning of Dec. 13, the youngest daughter from each family puts on a white robe and red sash. She wears a crown of evergreens with tall lighted candles attached. She wakes her parents and serves them coffee and Lucia buns.

Russia
-Is replaced by Festival of Winter.
-Special prayers are said and people fast, sometimes for 39 days. Christmas Eve is when the first evening star appears in the sky. Then begins a 12 course supper in honor of each of the 12 Apostles. Hay is spread on the floor and people make chicken noises to help their chickens to lay eggs
-Babushka is a traditional Christmas figure who gives out gifts to kids. Her name means grandmother and it is known that she declined going with the Wise Men to see Jesus because of the cold weather.

Scotland
-They have their celebrations on New Year's day called Hogmanay.
People make big bonfires and dance around them to playing bagpipes. Bannock cakes are made of oatmeal and eaten at Christmas.

Mexico
-They celebrate La Posada, which reenacts the search for a room at the inn that Mary and Joseph endured.
-The flower of the season is pointsettia. It's believed a young boy walking to church to see the nativity showing the birth of Christ put a pointsettia near the manger
-They get gifts, on Christmas Day they are blindfolded and try to break open a pinata. At midnight they sing lullabies to Jesus

Japan
-Only 1% of Japanese people believe in Christ. The dominant religion here is Shintoism.
-They have a Buddhist monk named Hotei-osho who acts like Santa. Kids act like he is nearby because he's said to have eyes in the back of his head and he brings gifts to each house

England
-The gift giver is called Father Christmas
-Wears a long red/green robe and leaves gifts in stockings, but are not opened until the following afternoon
-Kids usually leave a stocking or pillow case at the end of their bed to be filled with presents
-The traditional dinner consists of turkey and veg. For dessert, it's Christmas pudding, mince pies, pastry cases filled with chopped dry fruit
-England is where alot of the traditions here in the US stem from

Australia
-A traditional meal consists of turkey dinner, for dessert, a flaming Christmas pudding.
-They even have their Christmas dinner on a local beach, mostly Bondi Beach in Sydney. And as for shopping for gifts, they do it in T-shirts and shorts
-They also believe Santa comes in on a surfboard

How Merry Christmas is said in diff. countries