ETHIOPIA
In Ethiopia, Christmas is known as Ganna and is held on January 7, following the Orthodox Christian calendar. A sacred occasion focused on faith and community, it includes a group procession to the church in which worshippers dress in a white cotton wrap called a shamma. Ganna comes after a long period of fasting, so after the church service, families gather to enjoy a bountiful meal that often includes a spicy chicken stew called doro wat and a sourdough flatbread called injera.
VENEZUELA
The residents of Caracas and other Venezuelan cities also have a unique way of getting to church during the holidays— they roller skate. It’ s part of a joyous tradition called las patinates( the skating), in which participants gather at a local park and spend the night skating, singing Christmas songs, and drinking hot chocolate, then skate as a group to mass at dawn.
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ICELAND
On the 13 days of Christmas in Iceland, children place their shoes in the windowsill each night in anticipation of a visit from one of the 13 Yule Lads, who fill their shoes with either a rotten potato or small gifts and treats depending on whether the child has been good or bad that year.
GERMANY
Although its origins are disputed, the tradition of hanging a pickle ornament on your Christmas tree is believed by some to have been started by a German soldier named John Lower who was imprisoned in the U. S. Ill and starving, he begged his captors for food, and a guard took pity on him and gave him a pickle. Upon his release, Lower returned to Germany and started hanging a pickle ornament on his tree each year as a symbol of hope and good luck. Though not as commonplace in Germany as it is in the U. S., the custom involves parents hiding the ornament somewhere on the tree and giving an extra present to the first child who finds it on Christmas morning.
JAP
POLAND
Christmas Eve dinner holds a special place in Polish households. Known as Wigilia, it involves a feast of 12 dishes symbolizing the 12 apostles. They also share a pre-meal Christmas wafer decorated with religious images called an oplatek, taking turns breaking off a piece and offering well wishes for the coming year.
PHILIPPINES
In the city of San Fernando, the start of the Christmas season is marked by the Giant Lantern Festival. It’ s a friendly competition in which multiple villages create giant electric lanterns called parols that light up the night sky. The event has earned San Fernando the nickname“ The Christmas Capital of the Philippines.” nwgeorgialiving. com | 31