Every culture celebrates the holidays differently. For example, there is Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, etc. Those are the most common ones, and you probably know what those are and who celebrates them. I am going to show you some wacky traditions different countries/cultures have when celebrating the holidays.
Most families usually have ham and mashed potatoes as Christmas dinner, but in Japan…their route was KFC. Around 3.5 million Japanese families eat fried chicken on Christmas Eve due to a marketing stunt by KFC in the 1970’s called Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii (“Kentucky for Christmas”). The KFC Christmas meal was made because only a small percentage of Christians make up Japan, so they came up with this to make up for a lack of holiday traditions from the United States. The meal is so popular customers pre-order it months before. The meal consists of fried chicken, cake, and champagne.
In the southern hemisphere, the holiday season falls during the summer. During this time, the average temperatures range from 65-75 degrees. So naturally, most Australians head to the beach. Volleyball, surfing, and swimming will all be seen during Christmas in the South. You may even encounter a surfing Santa!
In Norway, some people believe that evil spirits and witches roam the nights on Christmas Eve. And as you may know, a witch’s mode of transport is a broomstick. So in response, Norwegians hide their broomsticks in the house, so the witches can’t get a hold of them. Some people even take it a step further by firing a gunshot into the air to scare them off.
