Christmas - Have your Say
Christmas customs
Ever lived abroad and enjoyed a different kind of Christmas?
How is Christmas celebrated in your culture?
Share your experiences of festive traditions and customs in other countries!
Have your say
Christmas recipe
Christmas elsewhere on the BBC
CBBC
Make your own pop-up Christmas card
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Videos about the history of Christmas
Comments
In Italia we have fish for dinner on Christmas, and la befana gives children candy and toys for all the good girls and boys. Three Wise Men stopped at her hut to ask directions on their way to Bethlehem and to invite her to join them she said no spell no! And for the bad kids she leaves pieces of coal (nowadays carbone dolce, a rock candy that looks remarkably like coal) for the bad ones.
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In Venezuela on 24th December, we usually have a traditional
dinner on holy night. We spend time
with the family and friends. On Christmas day the kids open
their gifts brought by the little Jesus. We also have a guy like
Santa Claus but we call him "San Nicolas", he brings toys for the kids too. Our tradionally food on December is the "Hallaca". In
each house the family make a little representation of the
place where Jesus born.
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In Spain, the Christmas holidays are a big season. We put our Christmas tree with the lights on and set the Nativity Scene. We have the
24th and 25th to spend with the family. New year´s eve and New Year´s day is another big holiday with family and friends.
The 3 Wise Kings arrive January 6th riding on their camels with presents for the children. I love it...!!!!
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I've spent 2 Christmas in the US: San Diego, CA and Des Moines, IA. The one in San Diego was wonderful without snow but cold, but in Des Moines it did not stop snowing and freezing outside... This year, in my hometown, in the Northwest part of Spain: Baby Jesus comes on the 24th and puts some presents under the tree...we celebrate 25th with delicious food.
The 31th with a family dinner we eat 12 grapes, the last minute of the year...then we go to a party with our friends...and...January 1st we have lunch with our family and the best is the coming of the 3 wise kings on January 6th...on January 5th there is a parade for the children and they will have all their presents if they were good if not they will have a sweet coal.... and then as a snack chocolate con churros ...
I LOVE MY CHRISTMAS...I LOVE SPAIN...
Thanks everybody for letting me sharing with all of you my beautiful holidays...Thanks!!!
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In the Philippines, we start decorating our houses when the month starts with "ber" - September, October, November and December. In Dec. 16 we have dawn masses where we go to church at 5 am. After the mass, we enjoy the hot cakes, and rice cakes freshly cooked. At 24th night the mass will start at 10:30 to 11:30- enough time to go home for Christmas. Eat with the family and exchange gifts. Have karaoke til morning. It is a wonderful time for reunions!
Happy Holidays everyone!
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I'm from Greece. Here we have a ship as a Christmas symbol. For many years the children used to walk from door to door, holding a small ship in their hands and sing Christmas carols. Nowadays we also have Christmas trees in every house. Merry Christmas! ÊáëÜ ×ñéóôïýãåííá êáé Åõôõ÷éóìÝíï ôï ÍÝï Åôïò
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My most memorable Christmas in a foreign country was 1990 in the Philippines. We had been travelling and visiting various humanitarian organisations and when the holidays came we decided to travel to a 'resort' to rest for a few days. It was unknown to our new friends that the resort had been hit by a recent typhoon. This meant there were no services, no electricity, no running water, and no operating restaurants. We arrived to a very run down facility with one caretaker and a few squatters. Our Christmas dinner consisted of tuna sandwiches from the resources in our back packs and in the morning a kind squatter family shared some cooked rice with us. We had no access to telephone and so it was just the two of us and plenty of silence for contemplation of our lives and our work. I still remember this feeling of relief from all the hustle and bustle of the holidays... I remember the peace of just being and the simplicity of my most memorable Christmas ever.
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My 1st Xmas abroad was in 1964 in Labuan, Borneo ... we shared our beer with the squaddies stationed there and held an inpromptu concert on the deck of the ship.
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I have celebrated Christmas a few times in Argentina as my wife is from there. The biggest difference to a British Christmas for me is that it is more important that the families spend time together. Not exchanging presents and spending ridiculous amounts of money. The media in the UK seem to think it's important that we spend, spend, spend at Christmas in order to keep the economy going. We don't realise how lucky we are.
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In Norway we have a festive meal in the evening of the 24th which in my part of Norway consists of pork, potatoes, meatballs, Christmas sausages, cranberry sauce, white and red cabbage. For desert we have rice cream pudding with raspberry sauce. Inside the pudding there is a blanched almond. Whoever get this almond wins a gift. We then sing Christmas songs whilst we walk around the Christmas tree, and finally Santa will appear. We then open all our presents whilst eating Christmas cakes. In Norway the tradition is to bake 12 different kinds of cake.
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