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Most of you are familiar with American, Canadian and English Christmas customs, which are largely the same, including Santa bringing presents that sit below a lit up tree. But have you ever wondered just how Christmas is celebrated in China, or in Finland? Whether you’re just interested in learning more about other cultures or want to incorporate some new traditions into your holiday celebrations, this article is filled with all you need to know about international Christmases.
Austrian children still get to celebrate the arrival of Ol’ Saint Nick, but they also have to brace themselves for the arrival of his evil counterpart, Krampus. Where Saint Nicholas rewards good behavior with treats and toys on December 6, the demonic Krampus arrives on December 5, looking to punish all the bad children. His weapons of choice are birch switches to beat children with and burlap sacks to kidnap them and throw them into the river.
The worst part is that local men actually dress up like Krampus (just like many men dress up as Santa in America) and terrorize the streets. In some villages, kids are even made to run what is known as a Krampus-gauntlet, in an attempt to outrun the switches.
The Czech version of Saint Nick is known as Svaty Mikulas, who is said to climb down to Earth from the heavens using a golden rope. Mikulas is accompanied by an angel and a devil who help him decide which girls and boys deserve treats and toys, and which ones deserve a swatch.
There are a lot of fortune-telling traditions that are associated with Christmas as well. One involves a family member cutting a branch from a cherry tree and putting it inside in water. If it blooms in time for Christmas it is good luck. It also may represent that the winter will be short, or if a single woman picked the branch, it could mean she will get married in the next year.
On Christmas Eve, single woman also try to see if they will get married in the next year by standing outside with their back to their front door, removing one of their shoes and throwing it over their shoulder. If the shoe lands with the toe facing the door, then she will marry in the next year. If not, she will have to wait at least another 12 months.
Image via tomu [Flickr]
In the beginning, the German U-boats were hardly a threat to the world’s largest naval powers. Even after the U-l’s dreadful collision during its first test during a training exercise, the German engineers stayed hopeful. Germany now had a powerful weapon.
The Lusitania, carrying war supplies for the war effort, had already been warned prior to its maiden voyage. In fact, the German embassy posted a full page advertisement in the New York Times, warning Americans that German U-boats would be in the water and may attack due to the wartime cargo aboard the ship. Against warnings, the Lusitania sailed. On May 7, 1915, the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat, killing close to 1200 people, 124 of which were Americans. Rumors serviced that blamed German U-boats for the second explosion, after the Lusitania was already sinking. Further investigations, however, proved that the explosion was due to the ammunition aboard Lusitania.
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Every culture has some traditional dishes that make those from elsewhere cringe. The author of this post heard from quite a few people in India that pizza is clearly disgusting! Here are some other offbeat delicacies from around the world. I think I would have to try some of these before I make a judgement. For example, in Iceland, you may encounter Hákarl, or rotten shark.
Typically, a Greenland or basking shark is the Hákarl shark of choice. First, gut and behead it. Next, place it in a shallow hole, dug in gravelly-sand, then cover it with the sand and gravel. Place stones on top of the sand in order to press the shark and extract any fluids out of the body. Allow the shark to ferment for 6-12 weeks. Following the curing period, cut the shark into strips and hang them to dry for several months. During this drying period a brown crust will develop. Remove the crust prior to cutting the shark into small pieces and presto, ready to serve.
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Watch videos of ten child prodigies in action, in the fields of medicine, geography, music, business, and of course school subjects like science and math. Shown is Adi Putra Ghani, who gives lectures on business even though he’s only ten years old!
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As winter begins, festivals of light flicker across the globe. From the meticulous and pretty to dazzlingly overloaded, light displays are a testament to shiny visions of high electric bills to come. Oddee takes a look at some doozies, including the above photo taken at Seoul Plaza, Seoul, South Korea (from Carpe Feline‘s Flickr stream).
Link. (Happy next couple of days… whatever your faith, I hope the light shines brightly on you, Neatoreaders!)
Hey, Neatoramanauts I’m back from my little hiatus with my family and I’ve got a fascinating video about a little cat named “Kitty” and its owners Laetitia and Guillaume backpacking from Miami to Argentina.
Thankfully, Google has a French to English translating option (the translation is a little rough, though) so using that I’ll give you the low down on this neat adventure:
1 euro each, 15 000km, 13 countries, 3 years running. Some are willing to kill people for a paper called money.
In a world of economic crisis where money becomes obsessive and when life is hard without money, this young couple from discovering the concept of money through meetings, poor, rich, middle class, everyone tells them how they live or survive.
Still believe in the phrase “money does not buy happiness, it is through their journey that no man will discover, learn, suffer and seek answers to their questions.
He will share the adventure at breast height with both cameras and their companion Kitty, a kitten appeared two months on the road in Louisiana. Sacred destiny for a cat!
More than a walk, a look at a changing society.
Check out more here:
Official site – Link
Blog – Link
** For those of you with no experience reading or understanding French scroll all the way down the page (on the blog) and you’ll see a tiny bar that says “Google Translate”. Use that to choose your language and you should be set!
