How do they do Christmas?

Posted by Barbara on December 8, 2025 in Blog, Christmas, Consumer issues, Food, Japan, Seasonal, Ukraine | 2 comments

I was looking back at damesnet blogs focusing on aspects of our Christmas activities and customs; they cover Christmas cards, presents, the order of play on The Day itself, favourite dishes, gifts we crave but never somehow receive; rituals of all types. But what if you’re not somewhere in the UK, but are washed up on foreign shores without a clue as to what the locals are planning?

Fear not, because a bit of research has revealed a huge variety of ways in which to celebrate. So let’s head off abroad where ‘they do it differently.’ 

As some of us may be familiar with our near neighbours’ celebrations in France, Italy and Spain, it makes sense to look further afield, starting with China.  Only a small percentage of the population of China is Christian, so much of the festivities are limited to major cities, where they decorate with Christmas trees, lights, and more. In China, Santa is called ‘Shengdan Laoren,’ which means ‘Old Christmas Man.’  Apparently a new trend in China on Christmas Eve is to give apples to your friends and it’s particularly popular among youngsters. Some teenagers wrap their apples with colourful wrapping paper – the amount of wrapping paper used measures the depth of the friendship.

As in China, only about one percent of the Japanese population is Christian, so Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan. Nevertheless, ‘Christmas Chicken’ is widely eaten on that day, with many families heading to their local branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  This dates back to a ‘Kentucky for Christmas!’ marketing campaign in 1974.  Apparently, when a group of foreigners couldn’t find turkey on Christmas day and opted for fried chicken instead, the company saw this as a prime commercial opportunity and launched its first Christmas meal that year.  The rest is history, make of it what you will.

Iceland does not have a Santa Claus, but they do have 13 Yule Lads, called Jolasveinar. They live in the highlands with their troll parents Grýla and Leppalúði, and their black cat, Jólakötturinn (the Christmas Cat). Their mother will cook and eat naughty children in a pot, while Jólakötturinn eats anyone who doesn’t receive a new item of clothing. The Yule lads are pranksters, who leave children small presents (or, if you’ve been naughty, rotten potatoes), in shoes on windowsills.  

In Ukraine on Christmas Eve, families come together for Sviata Vecheria (Holy Dinner), where the table is laid with 12 dishes, each representing a different apostle. However, the main dish is Kutia, a mixture of boiled wheat, poppy seeds, and honey. In many homes, there is a didukh, which is a sheaf of wheat stalks, meant to symbolize the spirits of ancestors. Sometimes dishes are left at the table for the departed.

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is thought by many to be the birthplace of the public Christmas tree tradition, dating back to 1411, when a fir tree was put up by the guild of the Brotherhood of Black Heads. 

Finally, I have to highlight a tradition in Spain which cemented my son’s love of the Spanish language and culture at the end of his first term in secondary school. Amongst the traditional nativity personnel in Catalonia and other areas of Spain can be found an extra person squatting amongst the group – el caganer, or to put it bluntly ‘the shitter.’ Who knew?