Aloha everyone! Check out some of the pictures from our Christmas party. Everyone enjoyed delicious food, fun activities, and great entertainment. For all of those boys and girls who were good this year, Santa made a special appearance to hand out Christmas presents.Here at the Maui Language Institute, we have students from all over the world. We have students from Japan, Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Thailand.
Here are some of the ways people around the world celebrate Christmas (Santa's Net and Wikipedia).
In Japan, even though only about 1% of the population is Christian, Christmas is widely celebrated. You can find many places decorated with Christmas lights and huge Christmas trees. Hotei-osho, an amiable deity who is often represented in the form of a Buddhist priest, acts as Japan's version of Santa Claus.
Brazil has many Christmas customs that come from the Portuguese heritage. Papai Noel or Father Noel is Brazil's version of Santa Claus. You can see fireworks and Christmas lights adoring the night skies of the major cities in Brazil. January 6th is the day the people of Brazil call Three Kings Day. It is believed to be the day that the three wise men visited Jesus to bring him gifts. Their festivities of folk dancing and singing continues on until this day.
In Argentina, many people go to church with their family and have a family get together afterwards. At midnight, they have a toast and the adults dance while younger people go out to watch fireworks. Some of the foods that might be prepared are turkey, pork, mince pies, Christmas breads and puddings. There are also sweet drinks like cider, beer, and juices to be enjoyed while waiting for the Christmas toast.
South Korea is the only East Asian country to recognize Christmas as a national holiday. While about 50% of the population is Christian, both Christians and non-Christians participate in some holiday customs like gift-giving, sending Christmas cards, and decorating trees in their homes. It seems that many children have embraced Santa Claus, whom they call Santa Haraboji (Grandfather Santa). Radio stations play Christmas music as well as television stations airing Christmas movies and cartoons popular in Western countries.
In Vietnam, Christmas is one of the four most important festivals of the year. Devout Christians attend a midnight mass and then return to their homes for a Christmas supper. For most people, the traditional food is chicken soup. Turkey and Christmas pudding are served in the more affluent homes. The children there believe in Santa Claus, and leave their shoes in front of their door on Christmas Eve. On Christmas day, they awake to find Christmas presents as well as their shoes filled with treats.
Mongolia does not celebrate Christmas as a national holiday, as the Christian population there is very low. Although there are places where Christmas decorations are displayed.
Even though the majority of people are Buddhist in Thailand, you can find Christmas decorations and apparel sold in many of the stores there. You can also see Christmas trees and decorations displayed at various area throughout the country. You may even see children signing Christmas carols and people dressed up as Santa Claus.
Here's one last piece of trivia about Christmas. Santa Claus goes by many different names, one of which is Kris Kringle. This name actually evolved through an error. Although we use the name Kris Kringle to refer to Santa Claus, it actually comes from the German word "Christkindlein" which means "Christ Child."
