Christmas Traditions

We’re all used to Polish Christmas traditions and they don’t seem to be weird for us but some foreigners might find them unusual. Just like we consider many of their habits quite bizarre. Here’s the list of 8 that I find particularly different.

1. In Austria, parents threat their children with Krampus- the evil brother of Santa that comes overnight on 5^th and 6^th of December and punishes bad kids. He’s truly scary and has goat’s horns on his head. During this night we may encounter many people dressed as Krampus in the streets.

2. Japanese eat KFC on Christmas Day.

3. In India the traditional Christmas tree is a banana or mango tree.

4. Women in Czech Republic have a tradition to make some predictions or foretells during the Holiday. For example they throw a shoe over the shoulder and if it lays in the way that the tip of the shoe points the door, it means that the girl, that was throwing, will get married in the next year.

5. In Caracas, they don’t use cars on Christmas Eve, cause the streets are closed and everyone is roller-blading to the Church.

6. Germans like pickles so much that they even hang them on the Christmas tree. I mean, of course, not the real ones but Christmas balls in the shape of pickle.

7. In Poland we leave a spare place setting for an unexpected wanderer, meanwhile in Portugal, they leave one for a dead person.

8. And last, but not least, in Italy: presents are not brought by Santa but by a witch called Befana. And they don’t even get them on Christmas Day, but poor Italian kids have to wait till the 6^th of January.

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