Second Entry (Three Countries: Christmas) 1. Christmas in Spain (Christmas traditions & customs) Christmas is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. Most people in Spain go to Midnight Mass or La Misa Del Gallo (The Mass of the Rooster) it is called The Mass of the Rooster because it is supposed to have crowed the night that Jesus was born. Most families eat their main Christmas meal on Christmas Eve before the service. The traditional Spanish Christmas dinner is Pavo Trufado de Navidad which is Turkey stuffed with truffles (the mushrooms, not the chocolate ones!) In Galicia (a region in north-west Spain, surrounded by water) the most popular meal for Christmas Eve and for Christmas Day is seafood. This can have all kinds of different seafood, from shellfish and mollusks, to lobster and small edible crabs. After the midnight service, people walk through the streets carrying torches, playing guitars and beating on tambourines and drums. One Spanish saying is Esta noche es Noche-Buena, Y no Es noche de dormir which means Tonight is the good night and it is not meant for sleeping! New Years Eve is called Nochevieja or The Old Night in Spain and one special tradition is that you eat 12 grapes with the 12 strokes of the clock at Midnight! Each grape represents a month of the coming year, so if you eat the twelve grapes, you are said to be lucky in the new year. Apart from Christmas, there is another festival that is celebrated in Spain that is about the Christmas Story. It is called Epiphany or Kings Day and is celebrated on 6th January. This is the twelfth night after Christmas. In Spanish, Epiphany is called Fiesta de Los tres Reyes Mages: in English this means The festival of the three Magic Kings. Epiphany celebrates when the Kings or Wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Children have some presents on Christmas Day, but most are opened at Epiphany. Some children believe that the Kings bring presents to them at Epiphany. They write letters to the Kings on Boxing Day, December 26th, asking for toys and presents. And on Epiphany Eve (January 5th) they leave shoes on windowsills or balconies or under the Christmas Tree to be filled with presents. Gifts are often left by children for the Kings, a class of Cognac for each King, a satsuma and some walnuts. Sometimes a bucket of water is left for the camels that bring the Kings! If the children have been bad, the Kings might leave pieces of coal made out of sugar in the presents! Some big towns and cities have Epiphany Parades with each King having a big float that is shaped like a camel. Sometimes there are also real camels in the parade. The Three Kings in the the Spanish Epiphany are: Gaspar, who has brown hair and a brown beard (or no beard!) and wears a green cloak and a gold crown with green jewels on it. He is the King of Sheba. Gaspar represents the Frankincense brought to Jesus. Frankincense is sometimes used in worship in Churches and showed that people worship Jesus. Melchior, who has long white hair and a white beard and wears a gold cloak. He is the King of Arabia. Melchior represents the Gold brought to Jesus. Gold is associated with Kings and Christians believe that Jesus is the King of Kings. Balthazar, who has black skin and a black beard (or no beard!) and wears a purple cloak. He is the King of Tarse and Egypt. Balthazar represents the gift of Myrrh that was brought to Jesus. Myrrh is a perfume that is put on dead bodies to make them smell nice and showed that Jesus would suffer and die. Christmas in the Basque Country In the Basque country (which is a part of northern Spain and southern France), on Christmas Eve, childrens presents are delivered by a magical man called Olentzero. Hes a big, overweight man wearing a beret and smoking a pipe. He dresses like a Basque farmer. Christmas in Catalonia In the Catalonia province of Spain theres a Christmas character called Tió de Nadal (the Christmas log) or hes sometimes known as Caga tio (the pooping log!). Its a small hollow log propped up on two legs with a smiling face painted on one end. From the 8th December (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception) Catalan families gives the log a few morsels of food to eat and a blanket to keep it warm. On Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, the log then gives out small gifts! People sing songs and hit the log with sticks to help its digestion and the log drops sweets, nuts, and dried fruits. When garlic or an onion falls out of the log, all of the treats are finished for the year. Nativity Scenes Pesebres are also popular in Catalonia (and all throughout Spain!). Many towns also hold Pastorets which are big plays/presentations about the Christmas story, the birth of Jesus. They have lots of music and readings from the Bible. A special cake called Roscón is eaten at Epiphany. Roscón means ring shape roll. It is very doughy and is bought from a bakery on Epiphany morning. Roscón can be filled with cream or chocolate and contain a little gift. Christmas is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. The countrys patron saint is the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season officially begins December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is celebrated each year in front of the great Gothic cathedral in Seville with a ceremony called los Seises or the dance of six. Oddly, the elaborate ritual dance is now performed by not six but ten elaborately costumed boys. It is a series of precise movements and gestures and is said to be quite moving and beautiful. In Spain it is a very festive time at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, as the stars come out, tiny oil lamps are lit in every house, and after Midnight Mass and Christmas Dinner, streets fill with dancers and onlookers. There is a special Christmas dance called the Jota and the words and music have been handed down for hundreds of years. They dance to the sound of guitars and castanets. Most homes have a manger, like cathedrals and churches. These are complete with carved figures. Children think of the Three Wise Man as the gift bearers. The Spanish especially honor the cow at Christmas because it is thought that when Mary gave birth to Jesus the cow in the stable breathed on the Baby Jesus to keep him warm. Shoes are filled with straw or barley for the tired camels that must carry their riders through the busy night. By morning the camel food is gone and in place of the straw or barley are presents. Shoes also may be placed on balconies on the night of the 6th January in the hope that the Wise Men will fill them with gifts. Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena or the Good Night. It is a time for family members to gather together to rejoice and feast around the Nativity scenes that are present in nearly every home. A traditional Christmas treat is turron, a kind of almond candy. A few different languages are spoken in different regions in Spain. In Spanish Happy/Merry Christmas is Feliz Navidad; in Catalan its Bon Nadal; and in Galician Bo Nadal. ===== 2. Christmas in Japan (Christmas traditions & customs) Christmas is not widely celebrated in Japan as not many people there are Christians. However, several customs have come to Japan from the USA such as sending and receiving Christmas Cards and Presents. In Japan, Christmas in known as more of a time to spread happiness rather than a religious celebration. Christmas eve is often celebrated more than Christmas Day. Christmas Eve is thought of as a romantic day, in which couples spend together and exchange presents. In many ways it resembles Valentines Day celebrations in the UK and the USA. Young couples like to go for walks to look at the Christmas lights and have a romantic meal in a restaurant - booking a table on Christmas Eve can be very difficult as its so popular! Christmas is not a national holiday in Japan, so schools and businesses are normally open on December 25th. Parties are often held for children, with games and dancing. Japanese Christmas Cake is a sponge cake decorated with trees, flowers and a figure of Santa Claus. In Japan Santa is known as サンタさん、サンタクロース santa-san (Mr Santa). Another Japanese gift bringer is Hoteiosho, a Japanese god of good fortune from Buddhism and not really related to Christmas. Fried chicken is often eaten on Christmas day. It is the busiest time of year for restaurants such as KFC and people can place orders at their local fast food restaurant in advance! The traditional Japanese christmas food is christmas cake, but its not a rich fruit cake, but is usually a sponge cake decorated with strawberries and whipped cream. The Japanese New Year (called o shogatsu) is more like a traditional Western Christmas. New Year is the period where families get together, have a special meal, pray and send greetings cards. New Year is celebrated over five days from December 31st to January 4th and is a very busy time. In Japanese Happy/Merry Christmas is Meri Kurisumasu. And its written in the two Japanese scripts like this; Hiragana: めりーくりすます; Katakana: メリークリスマス. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages. ==== 3. Christmas in India (Christmas traditions & customs) Shub Naya Baras! Compared to other religious festivals, Christmas is quite a small festival in India, due to the number of people who are Christians (about 2.3%) compared to people who belong to other religions. Having said this, the population of India is over 1 Billion, so there are over 25 million Christians in India! One of the largest Indian Christian Communities is in Bombay. A lot of the Christians in Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) are Roman Catholics. Midnight mass is a very important service for Christians in India, especially Catholics. The whole family will walk to the mass and this will be followed by a massive feast of different delicacies, (mostly curries) and the giving and receiving of presents. Churches in India are decorated with Poinsettia flowers and candles for the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass service. Instead of having traditional Christmas Trees, a banana or mango tree is decorated (or whatever tree people can find to decorate!). Sometimes people use mango leaves to decorate their homes. In Southern India, Christians often put small oil burning clay lamps on the flat roofs of their homes to show their neighbors that Jesus is the light of the world. Christians in Mumbai often display a manger in a front window, (theres great competition in making the nativity scene). Also families go to great lengths to hang giant paper lanterns, in the shape of stars, between the houses so that the stars float above you as you walk down the road. Every household also makes sure that they have a stock of home made sweets ready to visitors. In north-west India, the tribal Christians of the Bhil folk, go out night after night for a week at Christmas to sing their own carols the whole night through. They go to surrounding villages singing to people and telling the Christmas story. In South West India, in the state of Kerala Were, 22% of the states 33 Million population are Christians and Christmas is important festival. Traditional Catholics fast dont eat from 1st to 24th of December - until the midnight service. Every house will be decorated with a Christmas star. During the start of the Christmas season, almost all the stationary shops will be filled with new and variety Christmas stars. People make cribs in their homes and Churches. In India, Father Christmas or Santa Claus delivers presents to children from a horse and cart. Hes known as Christmas Baba in Hindi, Baba Christmas in Urdu (both of those mean Father Christmas); Christmas Thaathaa in Tamil and Christmas Thatha in Telugu (both of those mean Christmas old man); and Natal Bua (Christmas Elder Man) in Marathi. In Kerla Were state, hes known as Christmas Papa. MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGES ARE SPOKEN IN INDIA. In Hindi Happy/Merry Christmas is Śubh krisamas (शुभ क्रिसमस); Urdu its krismas mubarak (کرسمس); In Gujarati its Anandi Natal or Khushi Natal (આનંદી નાતાલ); In Sanskrit its Krismasasya shubhkaamnaa; In Bengali shubho bôṛodin (শুভ বড়দিন); In Tamil its Christmas matrum puthaandu vaazthukkal (கிறிஸ்துமஸ் மற்றும் இனிய புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துக்கள்); In Punjabi its karisama te nawāṃ sāla khušayāṃwālā hewe (ਕਰਿਸਮ ਤੇ ਨਵਾੰ ਸਾਲ ਖੁਸ਼ਿਯਾੰਵਾਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ); In Konkani its Khushal Borit Natala; In Malayalam its Christmas inte mangalaashamsakal.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 11:20:29 +0000
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