CHRISTMAS IN ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia still uses the old Julian calendar, so they celebrate Christmas on January 7th, not
december 25th! The Christmas celebration in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is called
Ganna or Genna. Most people go to church on Christmas day.

For Ganna, people get dressed in white. Most people wear traditional garment called a
Netela. it's a thin white cotton piece of cloth with brightly colored stripes across the ends.
it's worn like a shawl or toga. If you live in a big town or city you might wear 'western'
clothes. People go to church mass on Christmas Eve at 6.00pm and the service finishes
about 3.00am on Christmas Day.

People don't give and receive present during Ganna, sometimes children might be given a
small gift of some clothes from their family members. It's more a time for going to church,
eating lots and playing games!

In Ethiopia, in the Amharic language, father Christmas or Santa Claus is called 'Yàgena
Abat' and Happy/ Merry Christmas in Amharic is 'Melikam Gena'!

CHRISTMAS IN SOUTH KOREA

Christmas in South Korea

Churches are decorated with lights. Going to church for christmas is becoming more
popular.
The lights are all over the capital city including the bridges over the Han River.
Santa Claus can be seen around Korea wearing red or blue. He's known as "Santa
Kullosu" or "Santa Grandfather".
A popular christmas food is a sponge cake covered in cream or an ice cream cake.

CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE

They use a crib to decorate the house.

In French “Marry Christmas” is “Joyeus Noël”.

They eat Yuge logs. And old tradition is that the log is sprinkled with red wine.

In France Santa Claus is called Père Noël, and in eastern France he is accompanied by
Le Pere Fouettard.

Their main meal is called “Réveille”.

In some parts of France there’s a celebration in which 13 different desserts are eaten.

CHRISTMAS IN CHINA
In China, only about one percent of people are Christians, so most people only know a few
things about Christmas. Because of this, Christmas is only often celebrated in major cities.
In these big cities there are Christmas Trees, lights and other decorations on the streets
and in department stores. Santa Claus is called 'Shen Dan Lao Ren' and has grottos in
shops like in Europe and America. The post men might dress up as Santa when delivering
letters before Christmas!

More young people are celebrating Christmas in cities where Christmas parties are
becoming popular and it's also a time where young couples will be gifts for each other, a
bit like Valentine's day. In Chinese Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Sheng Dan Kuai Le. In
China, Santa is known as 'Sheng dan lao ren' (means Old Christmas Man).

CHRISTMAS IN NORWAY

Christmas wasn’t celebrated in Norway until about 100 or 1100 when Christianity first
came to the area.

The gifs are brought by “Julenissen” or by the small gnomes called “Nisse”.

Sometimes small gifts are given on each day of December.

A traditional Norwegian Christmas Tree decoration is small paper baskets called

“Julekurver” which made in the shape of the heart.

Families light a candle every night from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day.

The main meal is normally pork or mutton ribs and the most popular bread in Christmas is
called “Julekake”.

A very popular at Christmas time in Norway is “The musevisa”.

CHRISTMAS IN ITALY

"One of the most important ways of celebrating Christmas in Italy is the Nativity crib scene.
Using a crib to help tell the Christmas story was made very popular by St. Francis of Assisi
in 1223 (Assisi is in mid-Italy). The previous year he had visited Bethlehem and saw where
it was thought that Jesus was born. A lot of Italian families have a Nativity crib in their
homes.

Having cribs in your own home became popular in the 16th century and it's still popular
today. Cribs are traditionally put out on the 8th December. But the figure of the baby Jesus
isn't put into the crib until the evening/night of December 24th!

One old Italian custom is that children go out Carol singing and playing songs on
shepherds pipes, wearing shepherds sandals and hats.
On Christmas Eve, it's common that no meat (and also sometimes no dairy) is eaten.
Often a light seafood meal is eaten and then people go to the Midnight Mass service.
When people return from Mass, if it's cold, you might have a slice of Italian Christmas
Cake called 'Panettone'.

Finally, in Italian Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Buon Natale', in Sicilian it's 'Bon Natali' and in
Ladin (spoken in some parts of the northern Italian region of South Tyrol) it's 'Bon/Bun
Nadèl'".

CHRISTMAS IN PAKISTAN

In Pakistan, December 25th is a public holiday, but it is in memory of Jinnah, the founder
of Pakistan. Like in India, Christians make up a very small part of the population. But as
Pakistan has a population over 162 million people, there are more than 5 millions
Christians! At Christian festivals, like Christmas and Easter, a big procession takes place,
in Lahore, from St. Anthony's Church to the Cathedral.

During the last week of Advent, in many Christian areas, carol singing is performed by
various groups. Mostly the money collected from such carols is used for charity works or
is given to the church.

In the big Christian areas, each house is decorated and has a star on the roof. The streets
are also decorated and lit. The crib and Christmas tree are also important decorations.
Sometimes there are crib competitions! People dance, exchange presents and enjoy the
special night. In Pakistan Santa Claus/Father Christmas is known as 'Christmas Baba'.

CHRISTMAS IN NEW ZEALAND

In New Zealand, like its neighbor Australia, Christmas comes in the middle of the summer
holidays. Lots of people like to spend time of the beach, camping or at their Baches
(holiday homes) for Christmas. Many towns have a Santa parade with decorated floats
(made by local businesses and churches, etc.), bands and marching teams. As it's warm,
Santa is sometimes seen wearing 'jandals' (New Zealand sandals) and he might even
swaps his red top for a New Zealand 'All Blacks' rugby shirt! Children in New Zealand
leave out carrots for Santa's reindeer and Santa might be left a beer and some pineapple
chunks!

There are big carol services throughout the country, even in small town, villages and rural
areas. New Zealand has some special carols of its own. Many people have a Christmas
Tree in their homes and decorate it like people in the USA or UK. Kiwis also have their
own special Christmas Tree, the Pōhutukawa. It can grow to be a very large tree and has
bright red flowers which are popular decorations and also feature on Christmas cards.
CHRISTMAS IN COSA RICA

Christmas in Costa Rica comes at the end of the school year and the start of the holidays.
People like to decorate their houses with beautiful tropical flowers and sometimes with
fruits.
Christmas wreaths are made of cypress branches and are decorated with red coffee
berries and ribbons. The most important buildings are decorated with Christmas lights. The
gift bringer is often “Colacho” (another name for St.Nicholas)
On Christmas Eve, everyone puts on their best clothes and go to Midnight Mass (Misa de
Gallo)
After Midnight Mass the main Christmas meal is eaten. It nomal includes chicken and pork
tamales that have been wrapped for cooking in plantain leaves.

CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO

In Mexico, Christmas is celebrated from December 12th to January 6th, The mexican
children often perform the Posada (The history of Joseph, Mary and Jesus) , The
mexicans use to drink tequila, eat turkey and a lot of chipotle, for them, the Christmas tree
is the most important decoration, They eat a cake called Rosca de Reyes, at midnight,
they dance a lot (also they prepare Christmas tacos).