This time every year, we all get busy making ourselves ready for Christmas. We decorate our home, make arrangements for Christmas parties or simply surrender ourselves to the pulsating atmosphere of our surroundings. Even the shiny, bedecked Christmas tree in your neighbourhood store joins the party and builds up the spirit of Christmas. To get further soaked into the true spirit of Christmas, let’s check ‘how the world celebrates Christmas’.

How Our World Celebrates Christmas?
This is how our world celebrates Christmas:

• Christmas Celebration in Belgium:Every year, on the 6th of December, Belgium celebrates Sinterklaas or Saint-Nicholas especially dedicated to their children. Here, Santa assumes a different name, de Kerstman or le Père Noël. The midnight mass of 24th December is generally held at 6 PM to 8 PM. People of Belgium enjoys Christmas breakfast with special sweet bread known as ‘cougnolle‘ or ‘cougnou‘. The speciality of this sweet is in its shape, which is like that of baby Jesus.
• Christmas Celebration in Brazil: Here, Santa is known as ‘Papai Noel’ or ‘Father Noel’. Since in Brazil, Christmas arrives during summer months, people put cottons on the trees outside to represent snow! As a former Portuguese colony, Brazilians share some of their Christmas customs with the Portuguese heritage. One such custom is building ‘Prepsepio’. Prepsepios refer to the straw bed on which Jesus slept immediately after birth in Bethelhem. In December, Brazilians build prepsepios in their stores, homes and churches which they dismantle in January.
• Christmas Celebration in France: Christmas in France is marked by family reunions, Midnight mass and le Réveillon (to revive or wake up). Le Réveillon is a huge Christmas feast consisting of dishes such as boudin blanc, turkey, capon, chicken, goose, etc. Christmas trees are decorated with traditional red ribbons, colored stars, and white wax candles. Nearly every home displays a Nativity scene or crèche with small terra-cota figures called santons or “little saints” to depict the Holy family and other characters associated with the birth of Jesus.
• Christmas Celebration in Germany: In Germany, preparation of Christmas or ‘Weihnachten’ starts with Advent. As compared to other countries, Christmas decoration here is somewhat subdued. The main focus is on decorating the fir trees which are decorated with lights, ornaments and tinsel. Germans also hang special cookies on the branches of trees. On Christmas Eve, people feast on traditional German dinner such as roast goose or duck stuffed with potatoes and apples, potato dumplings (Kartoffelkloesse), baked apple in Vanilla sauce (Brataepfel in Vanillesosse) and special Christmas bread known as “stollen”.
• Christmas Celebration in the United States: The celebration of Christmas is in the honour of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Celebration of Christmas in America truly reflects its vast cultural diversity. On one hand, modern Americans buy fresh evergreen tree, cut tree or reusable plastic and aluminium model to celebrate Christmas. On the other hand, special Christmas Eve dances (buffalo, eagle and turtle dances) are held by people wearing masks, animal skins, corals, etc. In America, the traditional Christmas dinner consists of roast turkey with oodles of sauces and vegetables along with special Christmas pudding with brandy sauce.

No matter how Christmas is celebrated all over the world, the true spirit of Christmas lies in its generosity. Christmas is also the time to see the goodness in another fellow human being and spread the message of love to everyone.