While many Americans are well versed with the traditions of Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa, other families from across the globe celebrated similar winter holidays with a bit of a twist. From decorative lantern festivals and neighborhood radish carving competitions to celebratory wackiness involving KFC Christmas dinner galore and the destruction of wooden goats, their traditions stray quite far from our ideas of a normal December celebration. And a few of the customary holiday rituals, with which we’ve grown up to know and love, get some raised eyebrows for their bizarreness from the rest of the world as well.
Here’s a top eight countdown of the crazy ways people around the world celebrate this festive season!
8. Japan: KFC Dinner
Move over the holiday hams, and make space at the dinner table for a bucket of the Colonel Sanders’ finger lickin’ good fried chicken. During the run-up to Dec. 25, statues of the Colonel in front of KFC restaurants across the country are donned with Santa’s red robes and white trims. An estimated 3.6 million families pre-order weeks ahead or risk standing in hour-long lines to purchase their KFC meals, which are usually accompanied by chocolate cake and holiday packaged wine that are conveniently sold right at the fast food chain. This 1974 tradition in Japan is the brainchild and marketing campaign success of Takeshi Okawara, the manager of the first KFC store in the country. Given that 98% of the country are non-Christians, Christmas is not viewed as a religious holiday but is enjoyed as a secular celebration, nevertheless. KFC filled the commercial void of what to do on Christmas day by convincing some of the Japanese population to join in the yuletide festivities with a tub of fried chicken, in place of the time-honored American turkey feast.
7. Norway: Hide Your Brooms
In Norway, Christmas Eve is a time when witches and nefarious spirits lurk in dark corners of unexpectant homes in search of broomsticks. No, they are not good housekeepers who want to help sweep your messy kitchen floor. The twigged bristled flying machines are used by these evil doers for thrill rides through the nighttime sky. Superstitious Norwegians, who know better, have been hiding their broomsticks out-of-sight for over a thousand years, when this ancient pagan practice was believed to have been first introduced. Even if you don’t care about losing a broomstick, be sure to tuck them in the pantry before you head off to bed. Otherwise, imagine the confusion when little children “tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash” on Christmas Eve to find flying witches rather than old St. Nick and his eight tiny rein-deer.
6. Alpine and Middle European Nations: Krampus
You better not cry and you better not pout because Krampus is Comin’ to Town! In some European countries, Santa Claus has a menacing sidekick that comes to kidnap naughty children at Christmas. Krampus, the son of the Norse god of the underworld, is a vile half-goat, half-demon beast. Legends dating back to pagan times has it that this supernatural creature and his band of bad-tempered elves had roamed the Alps causing pandemonium while taking great pleasure in whipping do-nothings, miscreants, and disobedient children with their bundled twigs and branches. In the early morning hours of Saint Nicholas Day on Dec. 6, Krampus accompanies Santa Claus as he visits the homes of little boys and girls. Instead of milk and cookies, German children would lay their emptied boots on their doorsteps to awake the next morning in delight to rewards of sweets and treats in their shoes from St. Nick. Or, the naughty children, who if they were not already whisked away in the middle of the night to the underworld, might perhaps find in their shoes the remnants of old twigs broken off a branch from the Krampus.
5. U.S.: Elf on a Shelf
As if the impish Krampus wasn’t nerve-wracking enough to keep German children in line, Americans have their own version with the Scout Elves’ watchful eyes over little children. Every year starting after Thanksgiving, Santa deploys one of his many spy helpers to random households across the U.S. These tattle-talers magically station themselves in every part of the house. Out of the corners of their eyes, the elf dolls stare quietly but judgmentally at passersby. Then, at nightfall, the agents teleport back to the North Pole to their Chief Santa to recount every possible infraction observed! The tradition was inspired in 2005 by the book The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition, with over 13 million Scout Elves already deployed.
4. Czech Republic: Matchmaker shoes
Want to know if you will be tying the knot this year? Unmarried Czech women engage in shoe throwing experiments every Christmas Eve. While facing away from the door, a shoe is tossed over their shoulders and, depending on how it lands, determines if the thrower becomes a “Mrs” or remains a “Miss” in the coming year. If the pointy toe part of the shoe faces the door, wedding bells are in the near future. On the other hand (or maybe the other foot?), if the heel part of the shoe is closest to the door, the tosser has at least another year to embrace the fun of singlehood!
3. Denmark: Break a Plate
The front entrance seems to be of fascination in the world of superstition, as another tradition evolves around doors. If you’re in Denmark, don’t call the police to report a burglary if you are jolted awake in the middle of the night with the shattering of plates and bowls at your front steps. What some might consider vandalism actually means you’re well-loved. The Danish stock up on ammunition the weeks approaching New Years, and at the strike of midnight on the eve, neighbors would emerge, hurling a “friend-zy” of chinaware at the front doors and steps of their loved ones. The size of the broken ceramics and glass is indicative of how popular you are and the good fortune that awaits in the new year.
2. Sweden: Gävle Goat
If you thought you’ve had a dreadful holiday season, the Gävle Goat has had it worse for the past five decades, having been smashed, burned, roadkilled, drowned or even stolen by trucks and once, almost by helicopter. Unlike his U.S. counterpart, Sweden’s Santa happens to prefer riding through the night on his goat. To lure tourists to the area, the Danish fire department built the first Gävle Goat in 1966. Obviously not everyone was on board with this marketing scheme as coincidentally, the unlawful tradition of burning down the goat began the same year. Annually, tourists from all over the world gather to see the goat, and locals bet on the straw beast’s fate: Will Santa’s beloved goat survive until the end of the season, or is it fated for an early demise? Due to frequent vandalism, the challenge of constructing a display that survives the holidays has passed many hands. Currently, two goats are constructed as backup by different organizations. In the meanwhile, may I suggest our Swedish Santa forgo his horned pet and consider dusting off the old sleigh to use instead?
1. Ukraine: Spider Web Decorations
When the holidays are fast approaching, many of us will be dusting our furniture, sweeping away the messy cobwebs in the corners of our homes and hanging our stockings by the mantle. Families in the Ukraine do it a bit differently. In fact, many Ukrainians decorate their Christmas trees with artificial spider webs, as real spiders and their silky artworks are considered a sign of good luck. This superstition derives from the folklore of a poor family who tended and grew a pine tree whose cone planted itself in the dirt floor of their home. By the time Christmas Eve arrived, they had no money to buy decorations for their tree, so they went to bed that night feeling dejected. The spiders heard the family’s cry over their unadorned tree. All through the night, the arachnids spun their silk webs as fast as they could about the evergreen. When the family awakened the next morning, they found a pine tree glistened in silk artwork that sparkled gold and silver under the sunlight.
Holiday traditions, as bizarre as some might seem, are well loved by those who grew up with them. While households around the world celebrate the season in their unique ways, local families have their own set of traditions.
For instance Cabin John Middle School seventh-grader Neil Mandir celebrates Hanukkah similar to other Jewish families, with eight days of prayers, candle-lighting, special foods and gift-giving.
Another seventh-grader, Gabrielle Orringer, and her family add a twist to the candle-lighting tradition: “We sing the birthday song and then blow them out! Technically, you’re supposed to let the candles just stay [lit] until there is no candle left.”
My family has lots of different winter customs, with one being an annual visit to see the New York City famous storefront holiday displays.
“Every year, my parents spend at least two weeks building a massive Christmas village underneath our tree,” my brother, Huy, said. “It has always been placed at the front entrance so it can be enjoyed whenever we come home from school.”
This year, we stayed home to build on another annual tradition: We moved furniture to relocate our large Christmas display to the family room in full view from where Huy and I do our virtual learning.
Many others host or visit extended family and friends in usual years. This season with the pandemic, typical celebrations, especially those involving those outside of the nuclear family, looked slightly different for some.
While some traditions remained the same, like Robert Frost Middle Schooler Quinn Lam-Vu’s scavenger hunt for Christmas gifts, new ones were adopted. In fact, this season provided a great opportunity to be creative.
Article by Huan Changvu of Cabin John Middle School
Photo by May Pham of Walter Johnson High School