Christmas Vacations
Virtual Tour of Christmas Vacations Around the World
I know, the holiday season is a time of getting together with family and friends and remembering the birth of Jesus Christ. With that said – if you are looking at possible Christmas vacations then you’ll enjoy this guide through the world of travel. And, you can still take your family with you, can’t you?
Celebrating the holidays – But where?
It seems that nowadays everyone wants to celebrate America’s multi-ethnic and multicultural background in this country; and, this holiday season, Christmas customs and conventions from around the world seem to everyone like the best way to live up the Yuletide glow now.
How do people celebrate the birth of Jesus differently elsewhere in the world? If you took Christmas vacations elsewhere, what kind of celebration could you look forward to?
Let’s visit the holidays of Australia
The oddest Christmas experience has to be Down Under. The seasons on the southern hemisphere, are at odds with the seasons up here. Down there, you could look forward to a sweltering hot Christmas.
People gather outdoors for fine Christmas summer nights under the stars with candles and carols. The actress Nicole Kidman in an interview on the Tonight Show once claimed that the heat of summer always reminded her of Christmas. Christmas vacations down there must feel like it was on another planet.
Christmas in China? Yes, they do!
China is a Buddhist country; Christians are in the minority there, as are Muslims. Christmas vacations in China, you would have to call Sheng Dan Jieh, and would be filled with traditional Chinese hand-printed posters and paper lanterns.
China’s needle pine forests are quite famous; families bring home decorated Evergreen trees and call it a Tree of Light. China’s international cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong are especially festive for the season. But Christmas in China doesn’t feel lonely at all; the Chinese festival of peace falls around this time, and the festivity for Eastern and Western beliefs all put together feels great.
Christmas vacations in Islam country
Cut to Africa, a predominantly Islamic continent; Ethiopia stands out as a mainly Christian nation in this sea of Islam. Christmas vacations in Ethiopia would have to be called Ganna, the local term for the birth of Jesus. People mark the date before Christmas with austerity and fasting.
On this special day, Ethiopians wear their traditional white robes and congregate at church; except for the fact that their churches are nothing like you’ve ever seen.
A Christian sanctuary
A traditional Ethiopian church is rectangular and is carved out of a monolith of volcanic rock. The roof is built out of arranged straw and the priests arrive done up spectacularly in flowing dresses with fringed turbans and they rest under bright embroidered umbrellas.
The men play a traditional hockey-like game called Ganna. Right after Christmas comes a special Christmas-related festival known by the same name; a traditional Christmas feast of a rich stew and bread is enjoyed by everyone.
Mexican Christmas vacations and holidays
Closer to home, Catholic Mexico happens to be very serious about its Christmas traditions. Christmas vacations over there could really turn out to be touching and colorful. Christmas is not that cold and a lot of outdoor activity is possible.
The celebrations begin on December 16; on this day starts a period when families observe nine holy days, to coincide with the nine-day journey the Holy Family took to Bethlehem to give birth to the baby Jesus. Children lead a procession on the streets up to their local church for a midnight Mass.
Christmas decor
The streets are lined with homes decorated with paper lanterns and lilies all over. The church bells peal at midnight and fireworks erupt in the skies. The children sing carols carrying little figurines of Mary and Joseph, and they stop house to house singing a song asking for shelter for the parents-to-be.
When they find a home willing to take them, everyone enjoys a feast there and they leave the figurines. Perhaps this would be quite a spectacular way to understand the meaning of Christmas, to see it through new eyes, and in the new land.
So, you might be a homebody and look forward to spending Christmas vacations with your family (me too!) but, if you are looking for adventure this holiday season, then you might consider these or other countries to take a trip of a lifetime!