Christmas around the World

Australia Some children like to go to the beach on Christmas Day because it is very hot in December. Santa Claus brings the children their presents. France The children eat a chocolate cake. It looks like wood burning in the fire at Christmas time. Spain On 6th January, three wise men visit the children. They bring presents for good boys and girls. The Netherlands In the Netherlands St Nicholas brings Christmas gifts early in December. He rides a white horse. Ukraine On Christmas Eve people walk in the cold snow. They carry stars on top of long poles. They sing Christmas songs. The United Kingdom People send Christmas cards to each other in the United Kingdom. Over one hundred million cards are sent every year. Italy La Befana, a good witch, visits the children. She brings children their presents. The name Santa Claus is a contraction of Sanctus Nicolaus.

Christmas The date which commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, is celebrated every year on 25th December by most Christians all over the year. It is one of the most important holidays of the Christian religious year. Modern traditions have come to include the display of Nativity scenes, Holly and Christmas trees, the exchange of gifts and cards, and the arrival of Father Christmas or Santa Claus on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. Popular Christmas themes include the promotion of goodwill and peace. In most places around the world, Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25. Christmas Eve is the preceding day, December 24. The Armenian Apostolic Church observes Christmas on January 6. Eastern Orthodox Churches that still use the Julian Calendar celebrate Christmas on the Julian version of 25 December, which is January 7 on the more widely used Gregorian calendar, because the two calendars are now 13 days apart. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the churches of Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Finland, Greece and Cyprus observe Christmas on December 25. In KENYA, the churches are decorated with balloons, ribbons, flowers and green plants as well as Christmas trees. Only half the people in Kenya celebrate Christmas because most of them are Muslims. In England the people celebrate Christmas with: Lights, Christmas Roast, Presents and Going to Church. Pere Noel is Father Christmas in French. On Christmas Eve, children leave their shoes by the fireplace to be filled with gifts from Pere Noel. In the morning they also find that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have been hung on the tree. Australians often celebrate by having their Christmas dinner on their local beach. Mexicans start celebrating Christmas on the 16th of December. It seems that there are so many Christmas activities, they have to take several weeks to enjoy them all!

 Mexicans share many traditions with the Spanish. Their main Christmas celebration is called La Posada, which is a religious procession that reenacts the search for shelter by Joseph and Mary before the birth of Jesus. South Korea recognizes Christmas as a public holiday. Non-Christian Koreans otherwise go about their daily routine on December 25 but may engage in some holiday customs such as gift-giving, sending Christmas cards, and setting up decorated trees in their homes; children, especially, appear to have embraced Santa Claus, whom they call Santa Haraboji (Grandfather Santa) in Korean, Local radio stations play holiday music on Christmas Day and a few days before, while television stations are known to air Christmas films and cartoon specials popular in the Western countries. In addition, increasing numbers of stores and buildings are displaying Christmas decorations. South Korea is the only East Asian country to recognize Christmas as a public holiday. Celebration of Christmas is popular in Japan, though Christmas is not a national holiday. The Japanese adopted the character of Santa Claus in their celebrations, but the Santa image does not carry the same social importance as in western countries. Christmas is not as important as New Year's Day, which is the most sacred holiday in Japan, whereas Christmas is not a holiday at all. In China, December 25 is not a legal holiday. The small percentage of Chinese citizens who consider themselves Christians unofficially, and usually privately, observe Christmas. Many other individuals celebrate Christmas-like festivities even though they do not consider themselves Christians. Many customs, including sending cards, exchanging gifts, and hanging stockings are very similar to Western celebrations. Both Hong Kong and Macau designate Christmas as a public holiday on December 25. Both are former colonies of Western powers with (nominal) Christian cultural heritage. However, commercial Christmas decorations, signs, and other symbolic items have become increasingly prevalent during the month of December in large urban centers of mainland China, reflecting a cultural interest in this Western phenomenon, and, sometimes, as part of retail marketing campaigns. Christmas celebration in Russia is on the 7th of January (which corresponds to December 25 in the Julian Calendar). The tradition of celebrating Christmas has been revived since 1992, after decades of
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suppression by the communist government. It is centered on the Christmas Eve "Holy Supper", which consists of twelve servings, one to honor each of Jesus' apostles. The Russian traditions were largely kept alive by shifting some of them, including the visit by gift-giving "Grandfather Frost" and his "Snowmaiden", to New Year's Day. Many current Russian Christmas customs, including their Christmas tree, or "yolka", were brought by Peter the Great, after his western travels in the late 17th century. The name Santa Claus is derived from Sinterklaas, the Dutch name for the character based on St. Nicholas. He is also known there by the name of Sint Nicolaas which explains the use of the two fairly dissimilar names Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas or St. Nick. The figure of Father Christmas (Santa Claus) is based on Saint Nicholas, who became one of the youngest bishops ever at age 17. At age 30 he became the Bishop of Myra, a port town on the Mediterranean Sea, that is part of modern-day Turkey. He hailed from a rich home and became well known for supporting the needy. He would often be seen, clad in red and white bishop's robes and riding on a donkey, handing out gifts to children. Images of Santa Claus were further cemented through Haddon Sundblom's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company's Christmas advertising. The popularity of the image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was in fact invented by Coca-Cola or that Santa wears red and white because those are the Coca-Cola colors. In fact, Coca-Cola was not even the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image Santa Claus in its advertising White Rock Beverages used Santa in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923 after first using him to sell mineral water in 1915. Even though Coca-Cola was not the first to do this, their massive campaign was one of the main reasons for why Santa Claus ended up depicted as wearing red and white, in contrast to the variety of colours he wore prior to the campaign.