U.S. Department of State
Other State Department Archive SitesU.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
The State Department web site below is a permanent electronic archive of information released online from January 1, 1997 to January 20, 2001. Please see www.state.gov for current material from the Department of State. Or visit http://2001-2009.state.gov for information from that period. Archive sites are not updated, so external links may no longer function. Contact us with any questions about finding information. NOTE: External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views contained therein.
U.S. Department of State


Feature Story:

A Season of Celebration
December is a time of festivals, feasts and special holiday traditions all over the world.

By Donna Miles
The author is the former deputy editor.

Santa arrives at the American School of Niamey.

Santa arrives at the American School of Niamey Community Center in a cart pulled by a donkey with reindeer antlers.

 
 


It's December, a month of celebrations and festivals all over the world. Since ancient times, people of all races and nationalities have held festivals or feast days during the winter months during which they ate, drank and made merry, generally in honor of their gods.

December is a spiritual time for the world's major religions. Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus beginning on the first Sunday in December through Twelfth Night on Jan. 6. Jews observe Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, to celebrate the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after it was freed from Greek captivity more than 2,300 years ago. Muslims observe the Night of Ascent in early December to commemorate Mohammed's ascension to heaven during the 7th century following his night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem.

And through much of the world, December celebrations focus on the winter solstice, the lengthening of the day and the return of the sun rites practiced by the Druids. Many of
the traditions generally associated with Christmas, such as gift giving, lighting a yule log, singing carols and decorating an evergreen, are rooted in ancient pagan customs observing the winter solstice.

No matter where they're posted overseas, members of the Foreign Service and their families can look forward to experiencing some of the world's many holiday celebrations--some with traditions similar to those back home and some much different.

Christmas is the major December holiday in the United States and throughout much of the world. Yet members of the Foreign Service serving overseas may find that even in predominantly Christian countries, many of the traditional American customs associated with the holiday take on a different twist.

Feasting is a big part of most December celebrations, and few countries take their feasting as seriously as Poland. Foreign Service families posted in Warsaw might want to fast for a day or two before sitting down to a traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner. It consists of 12 courses--one representing each apostle--and is served just as the evening star appears in the sky.

In Belgium, the Christmas morning treat is a sweet bread shaped like the baby Jesus. The Portuguese feast on a Christmas meal of salted dry codfish with boiled potatoes, eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve. And Swedes fill up on a special dinner of ham, herring and brown beans.

Gift giving, especially to children, is a major part of the many December celebrations. Brazilian children look forward to a visit, not from Santa Claus, but from the gift-bearing "Papa Noel." Finns watch for Father Christmas, who lives north of the Arctic Circle. In Belgium, Saint Nicholas brings presents to children, not on Dec. 25, but on Dec. 6, St. Nicholas Day. Spanish children don't receive their gifts until Jan. 6, the day three wise men are believed to have visited Bethlehem on the first Christmas.

In Latvia, Father Christmas brings presents on each of the 12 days of Christmas beginning on Dec. 24. In France, Pére Fouettard sternly reminds the gift-bearing Pére Noel how each child has behaved during the past year. In the days of the Soviet Union, Father Frost brought presents to children on New Year's Day, not Christmas. But with the fall of communism, Christmas is more openly celebrated throughout Russia and the New Independent States, often on Jan. 7--Christmas based on the old Julian calendar used by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Santa Claus.

Santa Claus, a volunteer from the embassy community, arrives on camelback for a celebration in Cairo.

Foreign Service members overseas may be introduced to a wide range of other holiday traditions around the world, many of them interwoven with ancient folklore and legends that have been handed down for generations. That's particularly true in parts of the world where Christianity is not the predominant religion, or where missionaries introduced Christianity only during the past century.

In Ethiopia, for example, embassy employees can expect to get awakened when the church bells start ringing at 4 a.m. on Christmas Day.

In South Africa, where Christmas is a summer holiday, Foreign Service families are likely to celebrate, not around a fireplace, but at beaches or on shaded mountain slopes. Families may be invited to make donations for Boxing Day, Dec. 26, when boxes of food and clothing are given to the poor.

During the traditional party at the embassy in Cairo, Santa Claus--a volunteer from the embassy community--traditionally rides into the Christmas party at the post recreation center on a camel. The delighted children take turns riding the camel around the chancery yard enjoying an Egyptian-style holiday. In Thailand, Santa arrives riding a water buffalo.

Christmas in Japan is celebrated much like it is in the United States, with tinsel and lights everywhere and department stores filled with Christmas tree decorations. In Manila, traditional Christmas trees aren't common, but lavish decorations abound--flags, bunting, palms, flowers, candles and a large crepe-paper star that hangs in front of every house.

Along with feasting, gift giving and decorating, December holidays bring with them a whole variety of special ways of celebrating.

For example, no Christmas festival in Mexico would be complete without the breaking of a piñata. And the mission staff might get treated to a glimpse of a traditional Mexican procession in which "Mary" on a donkey and "Joseph" are accompanied by small children who go knocking door to door along the streets in search of "room at the inn."

At the U.S. Mission in Australia, employees may get the opportunity to join in "Carols by Candlelight," the world's biggest carol-singing festival.

In New Delhi, celebrations focus on the Hindi winter solstice celebration, a sacred day when the gods are believed to awaken after sleeping for months. It's a time of feasting, visiting and exchanging gifts, and in southern India the cows and oxen are sprinkled with water, saffron and the flowers and leaves of sacred plants.

In China, the feast of the winter solstice is a day to honor ancestors. During the solstice feast, chairs are placed on the north side of the table for the deceased members of the family who "eat" the food spiritually, after which it is actually eaten by the living family members.

In Israel and other countries with Jewish populations, Chanukah celebrations center on the menorah. One candle is lit each night for eight nights, and gifts are frequently exchanged.

And in Poland, Foreign Service families may get to share in celebrations of Christmas Eve, when animals are believed to talk in human voice and people have the power to tell the future. It's considered a magical time.

December is a magical time--a time of feasting and celebrating, of reflecting on the previous year and anticipating the new one, and of focusing on what unites people rather than what divides them.

To members of the Foreign Service family around the world, no matter what you may be celebrating this month, State Magazinewishes you a happy and peaceful holiday season.

Homepage | Next Feature