Christmas Around the World (Countries)

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Across
  1. 2. Since December 25 arrives during our summer, many of our Christmas traditions and celebrations are outdoors. It's great! When we carol by candlelight, we don't have to bundle up!
  2. 4. Beginning on December 16, our Las Posada procession depicts Mary and Joseph's search for lodging. The poinsettia is native to our country and it has been incorporated into Christmas celebrations since the 17th century. Some children place their shoes in a windowsill on the Eve of Epiphany for presents to be placed in (Epiphany is also known as Three Kings Day and is usually observed on January 6).
  3. 5. We place our Christmas lists in old shoes for Papa Noel and on Christmas we usually find new shoes and presents!
  4. 10. Mekulash, our version of Santa Claus, visits us on December 6 (St. Nicholas Day). Children put boots in the windows. If they've been good, Mekulash fills the boots with yummy treats like candy, chocolates, fruits, and nuts. If they've been bad, the boots contain a switch.
  5. 11. Our traditions begin early in December with the lighting of candles on December 7. On December 8, we have a national holiday to celebrate the Virgin Mary. Then, on December 16, we decorate our Christmas trees and begin the Novenaa nine-day prayer ritual. On Christmas, El Niño Jesus delivers presents at the foot of children's beds.
  6. 14. Christmas became a federal holiday for us in 1870. Our Santa Claus was inspired by Clement C. Moore's poem "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" and Thomas Nast's drawing. We not only decorate the inside of our houses, but the outsides as well. We hang stockings by our fireplaces and write letters to Santa Claus who visits us Christmas Eve.
  7. 17. In the weeks before Christmas, our towns and churches traditionally set up beautiful and elaborate nativity scenes. On January 5, the night before Epiphany, La Befana, an old woman who travels on a broom, leaves gifts of toys, candy, and fruit for good children. Bad children find their shoes filled with coal.
  8. 18. Most of our churches use the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar so our Christmas celebrations come 13 days after most of the Western world has celebrated Christmas. Our Grandfather Frost wears red robes trimmed in white fur and he has a long white beard. He brings gifts to good children and ignores the bad children. In 1917, Christmas celebrations were outlawed and many became New Year's celebrations, but in 1991, we were once again allowed to celebrate Christmas!
  9. 21. less than 1% of the people in our country celebrate Christmas. Dun Che Lao Ren, Old Man Christmas, leaves gifts in stockings for the children in our small Christian communities. We decorate our Christmas trees with lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains.
  10. 22. Our Christmas celebrations begin on St. Lucia Day (December 13) and continue through Saint Knut's Day on January 13. Our Santa Claus is a dwarf or gnome called Jultomten who delivers presents on Christmas Eve. Many of our Christmas decorations are made out of straw which remind us of Jesus' birth in a stable. Traditionally, our Christmas presents are called Christmas knocks since people used to sneak up to the doors of friends and families, knock on the door and throw the presents inside to escape notice. Our presents often include a Christmas rhyme.
  11. 23. Since we are a large and diverse nation, we have a wide variety of Christmas traditions including having one of the oldest Santa parades, eating Chicken Bones (a cinnamon candy filled with bittersweet chocolate), and having a Réveillon, a Christmas Eve feast. We're also one of the world's largest exporters of Christmas trees.
Down
  1. 1. On Christmas Eve, we place our shoes by the fireplace for Pere Noel to fill with presents. Pere Fouettard is a scary figure who accompanies Pere Noel and tells him how each child has behaved. In some areas, Pere Noel distributes gifts on St. Nicholas Eve (December 5).
  2. 3. During Las Posadas, statues of Joseph and Mary are carried to different houses where they are given food and shelter for the evening. The ritual is repeated each day for ten days. On Christmas Eve, the statues return to the church for the Dance of the Pastores which symbolizes the shepherds bringing gifts to Jesus after his birth.
  3. 6. On New Year's Eve, handkerchiefs hanging from our roofs are traditionally filled with fried wheat, raisins, and coins by Gah-ghant Baba, the Old Father.
  4. 7. We were home to the first decorated Christmas trees. It wasn't until our Prince Albert married Queen Victoria that the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree spread to England and around the world!
  5. 8. Our Christmas season ends with the Festival of the Three Kings on January 6. On this day, children traditionally carry lighted stars while going from house to house singing carols.
  6. 9. Our Christmas trees are traditionally not seen by children until Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, children set out bowls of rice pudding in the attic to pacify the Nisse. He is a mischievous old man who wears grey pants, wooden shoes, and a red hat. Those who don't give him rice pudding may find broken decorations and missing presents!
  7. 12. Our Father Christmas is a very serious looking man who dresses in gray and has a long white beard. He leaves presents for good children and switches for the bad ones.
  8. 13. When St. Nicholas appears here on December 6, he traditionally leaves fruit, nuts, and candy for children who have been good. After the appearance of St. Nicholas, we wait until Christmas day to hear the song "Silent Night" (it was composed in 1818 by our own josephMohr and Franz Gruber in 1818).
  9. 15. During the month of December, Christians here do not eat any animal products including meat, poultry, and dairy. We celebrate Christmas Eve on January 6 by going to church and having a traditional meal of fata (rice, garlic, and boiled meat) and qurban (a biscuit marked with a cross and twelve dots).
  10. 16. Strange things happen between December 13 and Christmas: animals talk to one another; trolls, gnomes, goblins and a powerful enchantress named Lossi roam the nights. Our first holiday celebration occurs on St. Lucia Day (December 13) when a young girl with a crown of lights and a candle in her hand brings light into the winter darkness.
  11. 19. 13 days before Christmas, the Jolasveinar (goblins or elves from the mountains who are dressed in red) start appearing in our towns. Years ago, they used to play tricks on people, but now the Jolasveinar leave a gift in children's shoes that we place in the windowsills. If a child has been bad, the Jolasveinar leave a potato instead of a gift.
  12. 20. We are the only Middle Eastern country where Christmas is an official holiday. On Christmas Eve, we traditionally attend midnight mass. Papa Noel gives children gifts of clothes and candy at mass or later at home.
  13. 22. Noche-buena begins on Christmas Eve and continues through January 6 (Epiphany). We usually exchange presents on Epiphany, not Christmas Eve.