Straw goat on Christmas Eve – a burning question
In 1966, a straw goat was erected in the town square and it happened to get burned down at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve. Ever year after that, the straw goat was built and vandals tried to burn it. The vandals succeeded 25 times between 1966 and 2011! This has become such an interesting part of the Christmas celebrations that people actually bet on whether or not the goat would get burnt that year!
Cobwebs and Christmas
In Ukraine, a fancy Christmas tree is not one decorated with bright ornaments but with cobwebs and spiders! Though they’re only artificial spiders, one wonders about the eccentric taste. The story goes that a very long time ago, a poor woman had nothing to decorate her tree with; the next morning, she found the tree covered with cobwebs and when sunlight touched them, they turned into gold and silver threads!
Stocking tradition different version
We all know about kids leaving stockings for Santa to fill with gifts, but in the Philippines, kids leave new or well-polished shoes by the windowsill or door around the time of Feast of the Three Kings for treats. Occasionally, some grass and water are also left as an offering for the camels.
Santa’s postal pincode
Gone are the days when it wasn’t clear where exactly Santa lived. The North Pole? No, just a little farther down. Santa now has an official postal code – HOHOHO. And that’s in Canada. The ‘elves’ at Canada Post have been kind enough to respond to millions of mails sent to Santa that somehow bypassed the parents. They not only write back in different languages but even in Braille!
A Christmas cake like no other
The Philippines has so many unique and interesting customs different from those practised in the West. For instance, we are so used to seeing plum cakes and the regular kind we bake or buy, right? In Ilocano, the cake is cylindrical, two feet long and two inches in diameter! That’s because it is baked inside a long bamboo pole after stuffing it with fragrant rice, sugar and coconut milk.
Attending Mass in style
In Carcas, the capital of Venezuela, people don’t walk or drive to church for the midnight Mass they skate instead! And to accommodate this eccentric but fun custom, the city closes all traffic until 8 in the morning. Bells are rung and firecrackers burst to wake people up in time for the Mass.
Picture Credit : Google
