In a few weeks is Christmas and this event is celebrated nearly everywhere! In our article of last week we talked about the Christmas traditions in the United Kingdom, Zew Zealand and Japan. (You could read it here.)
In this article we want to present the traditions in Germany, Sri Lanka and Jamaica because every country has its own characteristics.
Christmas traditions in …
… Germany
A lot of Germans celebrate the weeks before Christmas, which are called “Advent”. Nearly every child has an Advents Calendar to get through the last weeks before the big day. An Advents Calendar consists of 24 boxes with chocolate or other things, one for every day in December.
Also the Christmas tree has a long tradition in Germany. The first one was used during the Middle Ages. The most families buy one and decorate it before Christmas Eve, but traditionally the Christmas tree is brought into the house on Christmas Eve.
In addition Christmas songs are very popular. The most famous ones are “O Tannenbaum”, “Ihr Kinderlein Kommet” and “Stille Nacht”.
The special thing in Germany is that the presents are brought by the “Christkind” and not by Santa Claus. The “Christkind” looks like an angel with a white dress and blond hair.
… Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka Christmas is celebrated as a public holiday – although it is a mostly Buddhist country. The most families also invite friends – Christians and non Christians – to have a big Christmas party at home.
Traditionally the Christmas season starts on 1st December. At the same time the streets and buildings are decorated and big companies have Christmas parties for their employees.
Santa Clause is called Naththal Seeya.
… Jamaica
For the people in Jamaica Christmas is very important. Christmas songs are played in the radio stations and the houses are decorated with Christmas stuff.
Christmas Eve is also called “Grand Market” because there is a market in every big city. It is more a cross between a festival and a market. The market starts normally at 6 pm and lasts until the morning. So everybody comes in their best clothes to celebrate Christmas.
The typical dish for Christmas includes fresh fruits, sorrel, rum punch and meat and is normally prepared on Christmas Eve. But they have also a traditional cake with rum and fruits.
If you want to attend a language school in one of these countries, check these links:
But you could also read the article “Language schools in different cities – a summary” or search for your favourite country on CourseFinders.
Come back to CourseFinders.com for more articles about languages and studying abroad.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and don’t miss another article on CourseFinders.com!
Find your perfect language school Search CourseFinders to find the course for you