“Christmas around the world”: Students have surfed the internet to look for customs and traditions in different countries related to Christmas celebrations around the world.

1. CHRISTMAS IN GERMANY
In Germany the period before Christmas is very important. For families, Christmas
cookies and Christmas cakes are the traditional customs of the period. The
Christmas markets in the centre of each city are a very typical characteristic of
this period from the first weekend of December to Christmas Eve. The counters
of the Christmas markets have sweets, decorations and red hot mulled wine. On
December 6 Sankt Niklaus ( Saint Nicholas ) is celebrated. It is similar to St.
Basil’s name day in Greece regarding the custom of exchanging gifts. In the
folklore version he brings gifts to good children and spanks children who were not
judicious.
The Germans, put candles or electric lights and colorful Christmas figures around
the windows. In most homes under the Christmas tree there is the traditional
manger (Nativity Scene). Also, there is the custom of the so-called Adventskran.
This is a candlestick with four positions, symbolizing the four weeks before
Christmas. Every Sunday they put a candle in the candlestick, counting down the
time remaining for the coming Christmas.The time before Christmas is very
important for the Germans. All families have Christmas cookies ,Plätzchen,
Christmas cake ,Christstolle ,and the traditional Advent Calendar with a gift for
each day from 1 to 24 of December. These are some of the traditional Christmas
customs in Germany.

2. .Immediately after Christmas we find the custom of the three magicians. From
December 27 until January 6, kids who are dressed up as wise men go from house
to house and sing. They represent the three magicians who return from Bethlehem.
People treat them with candies and nuts, while giving them money for charities. In
return, the three wise men write with chalk the initials ( Caspar , Balthazar and
Mechior ) and the current year , eg 20 * C + M + B + 08. The graffiti is considered
to bring good luck and therefore does not fade, so in some houses we find the
signatures of the magicians of the past decades.

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