The Most Unusual and Unbelievable Christmas Traditions from Abroad

If you think stealing a kiss underneath a sprig of an invasive sometimes toxic plant, or nailing socks to the fireplace mantle or toasting Santa with a cup of raw egg, brandy and cream leans towards weird in holiday traditions, we’ve got nothing on the unusual Christmas traditions in other countries.

Letters to Santa Began in France

Let’s start with inspiring.

I thought this was an American tradition but credit goes to the French, Pere Noel and a postal worker with a heart of gold.

At the beginning of the 1950s, Magdeleine Homo, a postal worker from Veules-les-Rose in Seine-Maritime, Normandy, decided to ignore the custom of having letters addressed to Père Noel destroyed.

The usual procedure had been to leave them undelivered and send them on to the national Dead Letter Office in Paris, but Ms Homo started to open them – which was against the rules – and reply to them herself.

Today the service, which has now been running for over 50 years, consists of 60 volunteer La Poste workers who handle sending the responses from Libourne, in the Gironde.

La Connexion

Last year, the free service received more than 1.2 million letters and 123,600 emails from 140 countries across the world.

For more information about how to write a letter or email to Le Sécretariat du Père Noël, visit: Père Noël.

Kentucky is Christmas ( in Japan )

One fairly recent Christmas tradition from the mid-80’s has taken hold in Japan, where every year like-sized Colonel Sanders of KFC fame, are dressed as Santas. There was a bit of a hiccup during Covid, but prior years saw lines out the door starting on December 23.

How did this happen? One enterprising manager of Japan’s first KFC decided to promote “party buckets” to boost sales and the idea went viral with the slogan ケンタッキーはクリスマス！(Kentucky is Christmas!).

A tradition was born. According to the fast food retailer, the days leading up to and including the 25th make up a third of KFC’s yearly sales! Considering Christmas is NOT a national holiday in Japan, the Japanese have created their own unique spin on a Christian tradition.

South Africa’s Fried Caterpillar Christmas Delicacy

Since Emperor Moth caterpillars are harvested around Christmas time in South Africa, and are a great source of protein, why not include them in your holiday feast? According to my Google search,

These juicy caterpillars are deep fried and served on Christmas Day. They have a flavour similar to tea and are surprisingly nutritious.

Google

Tea? Not what I was expecting.

Pass the sugar cookies, please.

From food to trolls, then.

Iceland’s Christmas Troll, Gryla

Those on the “naughty List” in Iceland have scarier things to anticipate than a stocking filled with coal. Sometimes they get eaten. A charming Christmas troll, Grýla, is the fearsome parental threat in this part of the world, borrowed from the country’s folk legends. Word has it that she comes down from her mountain cave, gathers up the little miscreants and brings them home to her lazy, henpecked husband Leppalúði to make into stew.

Pretty graphic stuff for kids in this land of endless nights! She seems to be a featured performer in the country’s Christmas parades.

Perchta, Austria’s Wicked Fairy Goddess

Not to be outdone, Austria has a belly-slitting, half woman demon fairy goddess who prowls around during the twelve days of Christmas, carting off mischievous kids in her sack and wreaking havoc throughout the country.

People believed that Perchta could enter their homes while they slept. If she found the inhabitants had not behaved during the year, Perchta ripped open their stomachs and disemboweled them, stuffing their cavity with straw, rocks, and other rubbish. She then stitched them up before moving onto her next victim. Perchta was particularly intolerant of unruly children and liked to bring a posse of zombie-like helpers with her on her rampages. Her large and misshapen “goose foot” is sometimes linked to the tradition of eating goose at Christmas.

vice.com

I’m speechless.

Hide Your Brooms in Norway

I need a break from fried chicken and caterpillars, half-woman demons and trolls. Norway has a charming Christmas Eve tradition. People hide their brooms on Christmas Eve. It’s a tradition that dates back centuries to when people believed that witches and evil spirits came out on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve (Julaften) is the big event for Norwegians and families gather to have their main Christmas feast and open presents on this evening. Singing Christmas carols is an important part of the Christmas traditions and for this family members join hands and walk around the Christmas tree.  They make two concentric circles, and walk around the Christmas tree in opposite directions.

For the superstitious, all the brooms in the house are hidden. Norwegians long ago believed that witches and mischievous spirits come out on Christmas Eve and would steal their brooms for riding.

Travelsignposts.com

Can’t argue that…no brooms, no evil spirits.

Give me a Griswold Christmas…

Still a viewing tradition for our family that never gets old…along with good old eggnog, mistletoe and stockings.

Happy to be home for the holidays and researching five trips scheduled for 2023.

xoxo