It's Christmas, but not as we know it

Shane Hegarty reports on how other countries celebrate each December

It's nearly Christmas, a time of many traditions. Dad losing his eyebrows while lighting the pudding. Mother and daughter-in-law quietly at loggerheads over the cooking of the turkey. A time of joy for the shopkeepers of the land.

Across the world Christmas is celebrated through long- established rituals, some that begin early in December, others that end late in January. Drenched in a commercialism that can begin in October, the Irish might seem short on grand Christmas traditions, but where else has a St Stephen's Day custom of killing a wren, then calling to houses to demand money for its "burial"?

Much of the literature also notes that Irish children often leave out sacks rather than socks in the hope of squeezing a few extra presents out of Santa. This sleight of hand is perhaps a subconscious reaction to feeling short- changed in comparison with children in other countries.

For many young Europeans, the gifts arrive not only on Christmas Day but also three weeks earlier, on St Nicholas Day, December 6th. In France and the Netherlands, children get presents as early as St Nicholas Eve. In Germany, where they take Christmas extremely seriously, advent calendars often have presents instead of cheap chocolate behind the windows.

In the Netherlands, St Nicholas arrives in Amsterdam by steamer on the last Saturday in November. He disembarks with his servant Black Peter and, riding a white horse and wearing bishop's robes, goes to the royal palace, where the princes and princesses - as with all children - must account for their behaviour during the year. Black Peter will beat any children who have been bad.

The crafty kids of Latvia have the sweetest deal. They receive presents on each of the 12 days of Christmas. In Italy, they get the remainders from Santa's workshop. The children must wait until Epiphany, January 6th, for their presents. According to tradition, these are delivered by a kind but ugly witch called Befana. Legend has it that, having told the Three Wise Men that she would catch up with them on their journey to meet the baby Jesus, she subsequently missed the Star of Bethlehem, became lost and has been flying about on a broomstick ever since.

Santa Claus appears in many guises. In Poland, having already received gifts on St Nicholas Day, the children receive a Christmas visit from Star Man. That he is often the parish priest in disguise, intent on testing their knowledge of the catechism, takes the fun out of things a little.

The Finnish, being Santa's nearest neighbours, believe he calls to them first. In Denmark he is Julemanden, and his elves, or Juul Nisse, live in his attic. In Sweden, Jultomten, a gnome who lives in the barn, brings the gifts. In Chile, Santa is known as Viejo Pascuero, or Old Man Christmas, but in a country whose warm climate means a lack of chimneys he risks being mistaken for a common criminal and climbs in through windows.

In many countries he arrives with a companion, a kind of anti-Santa whose role is to inform on misbehaving children and wave the birch at any particularly bold ones. These being more sensitive times, the child is these days more likely to be left with only a lump of coal.

In lots of places the main celebration takes place on Christmas Eve, leaving Christmas Day for rest. In Venezuela it is customary to roller-skate to early-morning Mass on Christmas Eve, but then Latin and South American countries have always been keen on the mardi-gras element. It is not unusual for processions to begin 10 days before Christmas, representing Joseph and Mary's journey to Bethlehem, before ending with massive revelry.

The Germans give much attention to baking biscuits, many of which will be shaped to represent the nature of their livelihoods. Newspapers and magazines are filled with recipes for the cookies for weeks in advance.

In Ecuador Christmas dinner is roast lamb. Iranian Christians (the land from where the Three Wise Men came) tuck into a chicken stew called harasa. In France, la reveillon is a massive dinner served after midnight Mass; it may consist of goose, foie gras or oysters, depending on the local tradition. The Portuguese meal is usually bacalao, or salted cod, and potatoes, at midnight. The Polish have a 12-course meal to represent the apostles. There is no word of a subsequent tradition of taking 12 anti-indigestion tablets.

Given that we have adopted most of our traditions from other countries, perhaps we could mix and match a little more. We could begin with the 12 days of presents and the 12-course meal. And granny roller-skating to Mass should be considered very seriously.