5 Crazy Christmas Traditions That You Probably Don't Know About
I am guessing that these past weeks your average sleep has been at its lowest point, but don’t you worry! Finals are over and Christmas celebrations are here. So, before the magical night and the morning full of presents arrive, let me tell you about 5 crazy Christmas traditions you probably don't know about.
Common, you know you want to know them, so let’s get started!
1.Fancy, delicious, homemade Christmas Eve dinner? Mmm don’t think so. More like a Merry KFC Christmas Eve dinner!
Yes, you read that right. Actually in Japan, Christmas is not a national holiday. However, in 1974 KFC launched a campaign season called “Kentucky for Christmas” which advertised the party barrel of fried chicken.The idea came from Takeshi Okawara, KFC’S first manager in Japan after he overheard a foreign family saying they missed having turkey in Christmas. Although fried chicken is definitely not turkey, it is still fried chicken and who can say no to that?
The campaign was a national phenomenon and now every Christmas season an estimated of 3.6 million Japanese families eat KFC, meaning A LOT OF FRIED CHICKEN. Funny thing is that little kids actually think it is normal to have a Merry KFC Christmas Eve dinner. Therefore one thing is for sure, Christmas may not be a national holiday but ‘KFC for Christmas’ is absolutely a nationwide tradition.
2. Scared of getting coal this Christmas? Well how about meeting Krampus on the street.
If you are from Austria you may already know who I am talking about but if not, embrace yourselves because this is more scary than crazy!
Well now that you have met the lovely Krampus you understand what I was talking about when I said scary. Tell me about having nightmares because nothing can be worse than meeting Krampus. The half goat-half demon actually visits the town on December 5th, one day before Saint Nicholas days to punish evil kids. Getting coal on Christmas does not look that bad anymore huh?
3. Santa ridding a sleight? More like Santa running away...
If you are in Segovia, you might have missed this, but don’t worry! You can still see it or maybe be part of ‘La Carrera de Papa Noel” (Santa Clause’ Race) sponsored by El Corte Ingles in Madrid next year. For 6 years in a row now Madrid streets have been filled with different types of Santa’s running around Madrid’s center for a very special cause. The 5k race raises funds for INTHEOS (Investigational Therapeutics in Oncological Science) organization that aims to find the best treatment for children with cancer. So, start working out, tell your friends and get your Santa costume ready for next December.
4. Goat to see it?
Seeing a goat may be or may not be so usual for some of us. Now, seeing a 42-foot tall Yule Goat made of straw is most likely to be non-usual for everyone. However, in Gävle, Sweden that is very normal especially around this time, specifically since 1966. Sadly, the Yule Goat has a 50/50 chance of being burned down every year. Therefore it has become a sort of ‘tradition’ for some people to try to burn it down every year. In these 52 years, the Yule Goat has only survived 21 times. The most recent and fastest destruction was in 2016 at its 50-year anniversary when the Yule Goat was in fire within 24 hours of being constructed. This was pretty sad considering that it takes 1000 person-hours approximately to make it. However, people continue to hope every year that their goat will survive! But even if it doesn’t survive, that won’t let the 1000-hour construction to stop in the future.
5. The Nativity Scene: Virgin Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus…. and the Caganer?
Talk about crazy traditions! Well, the Caganer may be our last but definitely not our least crazy tradition. How can we end this article without Spanish traditions? Perhaps it may be good to be learning more about the country we live in. So let me ask you, have you ever planned to spend Christmas in Barcelona? Well if that is the case, the Caganer is something you will be seeing around. The figure resembles someone… lets say, mm… how do I phrase it… ugh never mind, the figure basically is a person pooping. Yes, a person doing the “number two” and to top that, it will probably stanf next to Virgin Mary or baby Jesus. Is this kind of a joke? Well it is actually not, and this Catalan tradition has been going on for 300 years at least, as its exact origin remains unknown. You may ask why and how this all began? Well that is still unknown as well. So, if you go to Barcelona around this time of the year, don’t be confused or feel uncomfortable by seeing the pooping figure next to baby Jesus, the tradition is probably older than your whole family tree combined. On the bright side, the Caganer nowadays does not have to be just an unknown person, it can literally be whoever you want it to be, from Lady Gaga to even Sponge Bob. If you are interested in buying or giving a strange Secret Santa gift, visit caganer.com
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Fun Fact: 2016’s most sold Caganer was the figure of Donald Trump...
Bibliography:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/christmas-gavle-goat-yule-fire-protection-sweden-video-spd/
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131217-krampus-christmas-santa-devil/
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20161216-why-japan-celebrates-christmas-with-kfc
https://www.momondo.com/discover/article/christmas-traditions-around-the-world
https://www.thelocal.es/20181210/ten-weird-and-wonderful-christmas-traditions-celebrated-across-spain
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