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Egypt• The Coptic Church is an

Orthodox Church and in the Coptic Church Christmas is celebrated on the 7th January. Advent is observed for forty days and during this period people are expected to fast eating no meat, poultry or dairy products. Some people only do this during the last week of Advent.

December 1st

ChinaChristians in China celebrate

by lighting their houses with beautiful paper lanterns and decorating their Christmas trees, which they call "Trees of Light," with paper chains, paper flowers, and paper lanterns.

December 2nd

Since the vast majority of the Chinese people are not Christian, the main winter festival in China the Chinese New Year which takes place toward the end of January.

Denmark• They take much pride

making their own decorations with bright paper, bits of wood and straw. The parents secretly decorate the tree, and children are not permitted to see the tree until dinner on Christmas Eve. The tree is then lit up and families gather around to sing carols and hymns.

December 3rd

Japan• Christmas in Japan is

different from western countries like the USA or Australia. The major religions in Japan are Buddhism and Shinto, so Christmas is more commercial event. The main celebration revolves around Christmas eve and not Christmas day.

• Japan it is common to give Christmas presents. Within the family parents give presents to their children, but the children do not give presents to the parents. The reasoning behind this is that only Santa bring presents, so once the children no longer believe in Santa the presents are no longer given.

December 4th

Spain• In Spain it is a very festive

time at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, as the stars come out, tiny oil lamps are lit in every house, and after Midnight Mass and Christmas Dinner, streets fill with dancers and onlookers. There is a special Christmas dance called the Jota and the words and music have been handed down for hundreds of years.

The Spanish especially honour the cow at Christmas because it is thought that when Mary gave birth to Jesus the cow in the stable breathed on the Baby Jesus to keep him warm.

December 5th

Mexico• Mexicans share many

traditions with the Spanish. Their main Christmas celebration is called La Posada, which is a religious procession that re-enacts the search for shelter by Joseph and Mary before the birth of Jesus.

• The Mexican children receive gifts. On Christmas day they are blindfolded and taken to try and break a decorated clay piñata that dangles and swings at the end of a rope. Once the piñata has been broken, the children clamber to recover the candy that was inside the piñata. Those children who have been good also on January 6th receive a gift from the Three Wise Men.

December 6th

Hawaii• The Christmas traditions of

Hawaii is a labour of love and creativity. Hawaiians import their Xmas trees long before the season arrives from across the Pacific Ocean, which arrive on the Xmas Tree Ship. They look for the best grand firs, noble, and other popular varieties of fir or pine.

• Many grow their own trees in their backyard. More creative Hawaiians create Xmas trees by decorating the Palm trees for outdoor displays and they substitute Santa Claus’s sleigh and reindeers with an outrigger canoe and dolphins.

December 7th

Greece

• In Greece, Christmas, Easter and the assumption of the Virgin Mary are the most important religious celebrations in Greece. Many will agree that for the Greeks, Christmas is less significant than Easter with regard to religious celebrations. The measure of significance can be gauged by how many days during these religious festivals that the average Greek will go to church.

December 8th

• The traditional German celebrating begins on December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. As part of the tradition the children hang a shoe or boot in the fireplace. During the night, St Nicholas visit house by house, if the children have been good the boots are filling with delicious candies but if they have not been good the boot are filling with twigs.

Germany• According to legend, in

Germany during Christmas Eve a lot of magic things happen. The rivers turn to wine, the ringing of the church bells can be listened from the depths of the sea, animals speak to each other, tree blossoms are full of fruits and in a magical event the mountains open up and reveal precious gems; but only the pure of heart can be part of this magic.

December 9th

Holland• For most children in Holland, the most important day during the Christmas Celebrations

is 5th December, when Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) brings them their presents!• St. Nicholas' day is on the 6th December, but in Holland, the major celebrations are held

on the 5th December. The name Santa Claus comes from the name Sinterklaas.• On the morning of St. Nicholas' Day, Sinterklaas travels to a city or town in The

Netherlands, wearing his red bishop's robes. He travels with his servant called Zwarte Piet (Black Peter). When Sinterklaas and Black Peter come ashore from the boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinterklaas then leads a procession through the town, riding a white horse. If he has gone to Amsterdam that year he will to meet the Queen in the Palace.

• On December 5th children leave clogs or shoes out to be filled with presents. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for horse, they will be left some sweets. Children are told that Zwarte Piet keeps a re Sinterklaas’s cord of all the things they have done in the past year in a book and that good children will get presents from Sinterklaas, but bad children will get chased by Zwarte Piet with a stick!! Dutch tradition says that he lives in Madrid, Spain and every year he chooses a different harbour to arrive in Holland, so as many children as possible get a chance to see him. Every town in Holland has a few Sinterklaas helpers, dressed the same as Sinter Klaas who help give the presents out.

December 10th

Venezuela• The interiors as well as the

exteriors of all houses are decorated with bright lights. It is traditional to decorate a Pecebre or a manger, which depicts the nativity scene. This Pecebre is set up like a miniature farm with some cows and sheep. However the crucial part of it is the infant Jesus and his parents.

December 11th

Norway• Norway's traditional

Christmas customs include Nisse, a gnome or an elf guarding animals. It is said in Norway that Nisse can have goat-like features (Christmas Buck, or Julebukk in Norwegian). Children get bowls of a certain type of porridge ready for him - if they don't, he will play tricks on them.

• Norway

December 12th

FINLAND• In Finland, Santa might also be known as Joulupukki!• In Finnish Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Hyvää Joulua'.

Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.• Everyone tries to be at home for Christmas, including

fishermen who try to get their boats into the harbour by December 21st, St. Thomas' Day

• Animals are given their own Christmas in Finland, with farmers sometimes hanging a sheaf of wheat on a tree to be eaten and pecked at by the birds. Nuts and pieces of suet are also hung on trees in bags from the branches.

• Everyone cleans their houses ready for the three holy days of Christmas - Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. Christmas Eve is very special, when people eat rice porridge and plum fruit juice in the morning. They will then decorate a spruce tree in the home. At midday, the 'peace of Christmas' is broadcast on radio and TV by the City Mayor of Turku (which is south Finland). In the evening, a traditional Christmas dinner is eaten. The meal will include 'casseroles' containing macaroni, rutabaga, carrot and potato, with cooked ham or turkey.

December 13th

December 14th

In Hong Kong, Father Christmas/Santa Claus, is known as "Sing Daan Lou Yan" (Christmas Old Man) in Cantonese or "Sheng Dan Lo Ren" in Mandarin. Most people in Hong Kong speak Caontonese and would use "Sing Daan Lou Yan".

HONG KONG Every year in Hong Kong There is a 'Winterfest'. It's a huge winter party that involves the shops, theme parks and other attractions in Hong Kong. In 2008 Winterfest is from 28th November to the 4th January and will include a giant Christmas tree in Statue Square, a sparkling castle at Disneyland Hong Kong and a forest of 200 Christmas trees and an ice skating extravaganza at Ocean Park!

Sweden Christmas trees are usually found in Swedish homes two days before Christmas. Decoration may include candles, apples, Swedish flags, small gnomes wearing red tasselled caps, straw ornaments. The houses may filled with red tulips and smell like pepparkakor, which is a heart-star, or goat-shaped gingerbread biscuit.

December 15th

Switzerland• Christmas celebrations in Switzerland do

not differ very much from those in other western European nations and the United States, for that matter. Christmas is an important celebration throughout Switzerland. Most families gather on Christmas Eve, the evening of December 24. This Christian tradition retains traces of pre-Christian customs, both Roman and Nordic (such as the tree, which goes back to the almost universal symbol of the Tree of Life.)

December 16th

Scotland• Usually families will get together to open their presents

and have a big Christmas lunch. Everyone looks hopefully out of the window to see if it will snow, and I remember it did once. Presents are unwrapped carefully so that the wrapping paper can be used again. Often dads and grandpas get socks. Lunch is usually turkey with all the trimmings and one or two glasses of wine or champagne. Pudding is usually a Christmas cake - some people who don't like fruit cake may have a Yule log, which is a chocolate cake from Sweden. Most people have Christmas crackers and eat their dinner wearing a paper crown.

December 17th

America• The United States has such a diversity of cultures and traditions, it is actually

quite difficult to say what is uniquely American. Many of the Christmas holiday activities vary from family to family and often depend on the cultural heritage of the family members.

A typical Christmas celebration in America mix Irish, Austrian, Polish and Belgian traditions into something that is its own.

Notwithstanding the variety of cultures and nationalities, there is an 'ideal' Christmas tradition which seems to be accepted by many is that Christmas is a family time with a great deal of travel happening over the holidays. The differing climates of the United States also have an influence on what happens at Christmas time. For some places the idea of a Christmas with a sparkling blanket of snow is perfect, for some planning to spend the day at the beach is ideal while some look forward to warm temperatures and lots of sunshine.

December 18th

Africa• In Africa, Christmas day begins with groups of carollers walking to and fro through the

village, along the roadway, by the houses of the missionaries, singing the lovely carols known the world around. Often people may be awakened by a group of carollers beginning to converge on the house of worship. They return home to make final preparation as to the clothes one must wear and also as to his offering for the Christmas service.

The most important part of their Christmas worship service is the love offering, this is the gift in honour of Jesus. Then at about 8 or 9 o'clock everyone makes their way to the celebration of the birthday of Jesus. Everyone who attends the service goes forward to lay down their gift upon the raised platform near the Communion table. Not one person will attend the service without giving a gift.

Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday. There is no snow, but it has many flowers, many beautiful varieties of cultivated and wild flowers being in their full pride.

December 19th

Russia• The icon of St. Nicholas is especially popular in Russia. The legend is that the 11th-

century Prince Vladimir travelled to Constantinople to be baptized, and returned with stories of miracles performed by St. Nicholas of Myra. The feast of St. Nicholas (December 6) was observed for many centuries, but after the communist revolution, the celebration of the feast was suppressed, only to return after the fall of Communism.

Most Christian Russians belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church, and it is customary to fast until after the first church service on January 6, Christmas Eve. The church in Russia still uses the old Julian calendar, therefore their Christmas celebration is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar that we use.

Christmas Eve dinner is meatless but festive. The most important ingredient is a special porridge called kutya. It is made of wheatberries or other grains which symbolize hope and immortality, and honey and poppy seeds which ensure happiness, success, and untroubled rest. A ceremony involving the blessing of the home is frequently observed. The kutya is eaten from a common dish to symbolize unity. Some families used to throw a spoonful of kutya up to the ceiling. According to tradition, if the kutya stuck, there would be a plentiful honey harvest.

December 20th

New Zealand

December 21st

The New Zealand Christmas tree is called Pohutukawa and its flowers are a brilliant scarlet throughout the Christmas season. Since Christmas occurs in summer, New Zealanders do not have a tradition of snow and ice. That, however, doesn't stop Santa who still visits the cities and towns while dressed in his red and white outfit. Small towns and suburban areas have Santa parades where community groups proudly display brightly decorated floats. It is not always hot enough in the early summer to have Christmas dinner on the beach (February is usually the hottest month). Many people in New Zealand follow the old English traditions and have turkey and plum pudding, but these are often served with cold salads. Sometimes the traditional dinner is cooked on the barbecue outside and may include a whole variety of typical Kiwi treats, such as lamb chops, along with the usual Christmas fare.

Greenland

December 22nd

Typical, traditional Greenlandic Christmas begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas (the first day of Advent). In Greenland, this an important day celebrated in churches and homes. Local men may wear the white anorak typical for festive dates, others may be in the traditional Greenlandic costume (photo). In the weeks leading up to Christmas in Greenland, colourful decorations are put up and illuminated Christmas stars are hung in many windows. Every village in Greenland puts up a lit Christmas tree on a hill, so everyone can see it - and whoever can afford to have a tree sent from Denmark, decorates it at home on December 23. Typical tree decorations include candles, ornaments

Ireland• Traditionally the Christmas season begins on 8 December in Ireland

and lasts until 6 January. Christmas is a wonderful time to be in Ireland. In Ireland there is still a deeper sense of the meaning of the season here. As you walk through the streets of cities like Cork you may hear choirs large and small singing on the sidewalks, street musicians with flutes, harps, violins or guitars playing the strains of familiar carols or favourite Christmas recordings wafting from the shops .While few private homes decorate outside beyond the festive wreath on the door, the towns, cities and shops go all out. The Christmas season doesn't really get into full swing in Ireland until December when streets are lined with lit decorations and live Christmas trees are often mounted like flag staffs from building fronts. Larger department stores and shops fill their windows with animated scenes and figures.

December 23rd

Portugal

• In Portugal the tradition of gift-giving was defined mostly by the strong Christian religious beliefs of the people. Children await the coming of the Three Wise Men during Christmas time. On the eve of January 5th children place their shoes along windowsills and doorways and fill them with carrots and straw. They do this hoping that this will lure the wise men's horses to their houses during the night and that they will find their shoes packed with gifts and treats in the morning. The treats left is more likely to be candied fruits and sweet breads.

December 24th