Christmas Around The World

•Masiyaleti Mbewen All around the country, inside every mall and in every display window, Christmas decorations go up.

It’s that time of year again – a time of giving, sharing and apparently in some places, a time for weird traditions. YouthPaper looked beyond Namibia’s borders to find out what oddly spectacular things people get up to when 25 December rolls by.

The Krampus Run

A bit on the spooky side and described as “half-goat, half-demon”, in some regions in Austria, Krampus is known as a horned figure who punishes children who have misbehaved all throughout the festive season, unlike Father Christmas who stuffs stocking with gifts and goodies. In traditional parades and in such events as the Krampuslauf or the ‘Krampus Run’, young men dressed as Krampus participate. Krampus, much like Father Chistmas, is featured on holiday greeting cards called Krampuskarten.

Christmas In Japan

Not too far off from the traditional English tales of Santa Claus, children in Japan believe in Santa Kurohsu. He is believed to have eyes in the back of his head so he can watch the children all year long to make sure they are on their best behaviour. Christmas trees are usually erected in celebration of the relatively new holiday in Japan.

Rolling Around Caracas

In the Venezuelan capital Caracas, it is customary for the entire city to roller-skate to early morning Christmas Mass. The city is blocked off in many areas before 08h00 to allow this unconventional commute to take place, and the night before, children tie one end of string to their big toe and hang the other out of the window so that the passing roller skaters offer a friendly tug as they pass by in the morning.

Hide All the Brooms!

In Norway it is believed that Christmas Eve comes with witches, demons and evil spirits so to protect themselves, families usually hide all their brooms away before they go to bed.

A Pile of Rubbish

In Guatemala, there is a heavy smell of garbage and dirt on the morning of 25 December as people there clean their homes and make a pile of garbage on crossroads. They make a devil statue above these piles and then burn them as it is believed that devil lives in the dirt of our homes.

Donald Duck

Every year since 1959, at 15h00 on Christmas Eve, the TV station TV1 shows the Disney special ‘From All of Us to All of You’ or in Swedish it’s “Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul’, meaning ‘Donald Duck and his friends wish you a merry Christmas’. About 40 to 50% of the Swedish population stop whatever they’re doing to watch it.

Ganna

Ethiopia and especially the Ethiopian Orthodox Church still use the old Julian calendar, so they celebrate Christmas on 7 January, not 25 December! The Christmas celebration in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is called Ganna, and the early Ganna mass starts at 04h00.

Christmas in Namibia

According to an article in The Namibian (25 November 2015), the diverse cultures found in our land celebrate Christmas in different ways that move away from the ‘weird’ and lean towards more culturally unifying celebrations adapted from the west. Midnight mass, Christmas carols and exchanging gifts are usually practiced in most households.

In the article, Mathilda Riruako shared how Christmas for the OvaHerero people shared many commonalities with other cultures in the country. “On Christmas Eve, we have a small ceremony where we have children and old people study Bible verses that tell the story of how Christmas comes about”.

Rosalinda Namises, a social activist and former parliamentarian said Christmas is a special occasion on the calendar for the Damara people. “Christmas is a western culture so our ancestors didn’t celebrate the day. Today, though, we celebrate it like many other people. We go for Christmas carols at midnight and drive to our elders’ houses or farms early in the morning. We continue singing at their windows and celebrate for the rest of the day.”

The AaWambo people have big festivities around Christmas. Being a Christian holiday, most people make sure to start off Eshakalo (Christmas Eve celebrations) at church. Some go as early as 04h00 while others spend the evening at church and continue celebrating the day at their homes. A special meal is prepared, and if you are lucky, your elders could slaughter a goat to ensure that meat is free-flowing throughout the festivities.

Although Christmas in Namibia does not revolve around urban legends, myths or quirky practices like some other places in the world, its roots are firmly held in place by the celebration of family, friendship and love with traditional food at the heart of the celebrations.

Come January, when the new year is ushered in and the last Christmas decorations are taken down, one will always attest to how the unique blend of cultures make Christmas in Namibia one of a kind.

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