Okay, I'm curious about how people celebrate not just christmas, but any winter holidays in general

Some things I wonder about:

How is Christmas celebrated in Europe? Is is more religious? Is it more traditional?

Why did they start the stocking thing? Putting things in your socks seems gross...

How do Asian countries treat Christmas? In a few anime, I've seen it treated as a lover's holiday, but is that how it really is?

How does the rest of the world celebrate things like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Saturnalia, or anything else associated with the holiday?


Okay, that's what I have to ask. Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Happy Christma-ukkah-wanzaa!

i know that you did not ask this but ALOT of things that have to do with christmas comes from the pagens. i was really shocked when my mom told me about it.

Originally Posted by kaihkc

i know that you did not ask this but ALOT of things that have to do with christmas comes from the pagens. i was really shocked when my mom told me about it.

Yea, that is true, but I never really care too much about where holidays came from except intellectually. It's kind of like how the word "gay" used to mean happy, but doesn't anymore. The holidays have a different meaning to us now and I'm going to enjoy them regardless of their origins. It's all about loving and caring and giving to me and I think that's beautiful.

Oh, I believe that they are all beautiful as well. But I just like to know as much as I can about other customs and cultures. It's kinda a hobby of mine.

@kaihkc I was never really all that shocked when I discovered this myself, as much of Christianity was merged with the Pagan traditions of the people in order to make it more accessible for the people that the monks/nuns/priests were attempting to convert.

See? Hobby.

Does anyone do anything "odd" for the holidays?

I know in Spain the holiday is pretty religious and that they exchange gifts on Kings' Day which is the 12th day of christmas or Jan 6.

well I dont know of many holiday traditions around the world but i was curious about the stockings too after reading this so i looked it up and i got pretty much the same story from each site

The idea of hanging stockings out on Christmas Eve is believed to have come from Amsterdam, where children leave out their shoes on St. Nicholas's Eve in hopes that he will fill them with goodies.

But where did the people of Amsterdam get the idea? Perhaps from St. Nicholas himself.

One of the most popular stories surrounding the saint concerns his generosity to the three daughters of a poor family. It seems the daughters were of marriageable age, but could not marry because they had no dowry.

Nicholas heard of their plight and set out to help them. In the middle of the night, Nicholas threw bags of gold coins down the girls' chimney. The bags landed in the girls' stockings, which they had hung out to dry

another had this one

Most people associate Christmas stockings with the story of St. Nicholas. Legend has it that a girl from a poor family needed a dowry and that St. Nicholas delivered a bag of gold which somehow ended up in the girl’s stocking that had been hung by the fireplace to dry.

Christmas stockings are also associated with a custom in Holland where children would put their clogs outside on Christmas Eve and Sintirklass (the Dutch version of St. Nicholas) would fill them with goodies.

so i guess its because of shoes xP

My family actually celebrates both St. Nick's Day and Christmas. We set our shoes out the night before and get chocolate and a stuffed toy usually, and on Christmas Eve we set out a stocking. We sort of forgot this year though. Oops.

well, the stockings probably started as sacks to hold the goodies, then evolved into the long stockings... hmmm... this probably is related to the great question of why people came up with santa...

I know that in China they do not celebrate Christmas. I'm pretty sure they know somewhat what it is, but not much. I have a host family over there and they don't know much about it. Also, I have some friends here who are from China. In Calculus class, there was a free response question that had to do with the date Christmas was on and this one kid didn't know when Christmas was since he's from China. Everyone made fun of him and that wasn't cool at all. :C

Aww, that's sad.
The poor chinese kid! It's not his fault. D :
* * *
...&I'm pretty sure in Korea Christmas is a pretty big deal.
...Gift-giving, decorations & stuff...

&In Japan, yes, it's pretty much a holiday for lovers. : D
Not very many people are Christians. Less than a percent I think?
Pssh... I don't know the numbers. That might be wrong. [knowing me, it prolly is.]
&Korea has quite a few Christians though, so that's why they're more... into it I guess? : ]

I mainly just spend some time with my family, we open presents and later on, on christmas day we go out to see a movie, this year we're going to go see Avatar. We really don't go to church or anything its more like a gift/relief for my family I guess. XD

meep.!
my dad forces Kwanzaa down our throats.
but we still do christmas. :]

What is Kwanzaa? I really have never been able to figure that out.

Oooh, this thread will be fun.
I was born and raised in Korea, and then moved to Canada so I'm really observing the differences between the two countries in how they celebrate holidays.
People in Korea to celebrate Christmas, but it is actually more of a lover's holiday rather than invite the family over, have a big dinner thing. Lot of lovers go out on date and dinners and stuff. People decorate shops and sometimes put up trees but not everyone does.
What happens in Christmas happens in New Years though, in Korea. That's when everyone comes over, celebrate, have a big meal and exchange gifts(money). Same thing in autumn :3

I like this discussion :) I'm a history major in college ( I know, boring right ) and have been learing in depth a bit about the origins of a lot of cool stuff.

Pagan actually means "country dweller" in I think Latin. In the late roman period and early mediaval period Christianity spread in cities because of the communal support. Those in the countryside however refused to give up their way of life. So since the majority of those refusing to switch to Christianity was living in the country, pagans, they all came to be called that.

Christmas itself came from several different places....
The name...The Mass of Christ
The day...pagan holidy. Bishops changed the reason for celebrating to convert pagans....
The tree...um, well, from a unkosher custom to be said delicately
the wreath...same as the tree
Coals in stockings....in Russia back a long time ago coal was precious to get, so a nice guy gave it out at orphanages...
Another nice guy something in Europe placed small gifts in the shoes of children at orphanages

There are many neat things that come together to create this awesome holiday we now celebrate...and I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I am a Christian and for me this holiday represents Jesus birth. For others it represents many other things. I love learning about all of it :) No bias here :)

@ az_stars Oh neat! So if new years is like Christmas, and Christmas is a lovers holiday in Korea how was it different when you got to Canada? Was it a big let-down or did you just celebrate the way you always had?

I love learning about it too! Especially how it can have the same name but is Celebrated so many ways!

I love learning about it too! Especially how it can have the same name but is Celebrated so many ways!

I was born in japan and I lived there most of my young life. My family was Shinto and my dad was a B***** so we didn't celebrate the "foreign" holidays. New years was a big thing for us though. We cleaned the house from top to bottom to sweep out the old year and help bring in the fresh prosperity of the new year. We gave offerings to the ancestors so they would look over us through the year and lit tons of incense (that smell is engraved into my brain!).

When I got older, I taught myself about other religions and fell in love with the Pagan ways. I now celebrate Yule and Solstice this time of year. It's the giving to each other to help us survive the winter, Praying for the green god as he sleeps through the cold and welcoming sister winter. I do a lot of baking and making things, I always decorate a live pine with gifts to mother nature and the green god. I take a few branches and make a wreath covered in things that mean a lot to me and can be given to the earth in spring.

This year is very special, however. The end of this month there is a blue moon, a very good omen! My friends and I are tying it into our festivities.

I remember going to El Salvador one year for Christmas. On the night of Christmas Eve, the neighborhood parents and children will dress up as shepherds, with some people playing as either Mary, Joseph, the angel, or the 3 wise men. They would congregate at the Church and walk around the neighborhood with candles while they follow Mary and Joseph (I think they were even riding a donkey). Anyways, they travel back to the church where mass would be held, and Baby Jesus (I presume a doll) would be placed into their bed. Then they would celebrate Christmas (at about midnight) with fireworks.

It was very enlightening to watch. I didn't believe that so many Salvadorans were so religious.
As for celebrating Christmas at home, my family and I usually have a very formal dinner on Christmas Eve and then we would attend mass. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Wow! That is so interesting!
@ KageShio What is a blue moon exactly?
@ pinkii Even if it is just the mass, that is still interesting! My family doesn't go to church for Christmas and I have never attended a Mass. What's a mass like?

on Christmas eve i get to open one Christmas then on Christmas day we eat monkey bread after we open all the gifts then we have a big christmas fest ^^

When there are two full moons in one month, the second is called a blue moon. It's a fairly rare thing, hence the phrase "Once in a blue moon." The full moon is a time of power and prosperity so the blue moon occurring on New Years Eve is an amazing thing!

I remember first hearing about a blue moon, I was too little to understand so I assumed the moon would actually turn blue. When I was finally old enough to understand, I saw an episode on Gilligand's Island where the moon really was blue...but that was just making fun of different stuff so it was all cool.

Wow! So New Years this year is doubly lucky? That's awesome!

What's monkey bread?

@ Akinmytua: Christmas mass is like church but longer LOL. The church recognizes Jesus and his birth through a formal mass. Sometimes, they'll even have a little play for the birth of Jesus. It's pretty cool, unless you're too worn out for midnight mass like some of my relatives :P