Christmas In Asia

Christmas In South Korea
​ By Hillary Quach

메리 크리스마스 (Merry Christmas)!

Christmas is a national holiday in South Korea, so places like schools and government offices are closed on Christmas Day. There are lots of lights and decorations that can be seen around the city, especially in malls. Santa can often be seen in stores, handing out candies to the children and they call him Grandpa Santa (산타 할아버지). 

Shinsegae Department store in Myeongdong

COEX Mall

People tend to go to church on Christmas Eve and eat typical Korean foods after the mass/service. There are no specific foods that are eaten during the Christmas holiday, but younger people do get cakes from Baskin Robbins or Paris Baguette as a celebratory dessert. They also hang out with their friends on Christmas, exchanging presents and going out to eat, while spending New Years with family. 

Of course with South Korea, there is K-pop. During the holiday season, K-pop idols tend to create content like songs, christmas dance practices, covers, or going live to celebrate Christmas with their fans.

Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu16GWI3WMQ 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtFEm46-XdE 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WD5aFectt0 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO9GiPOLd3I

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Christmas in China
​By Emme Lee

In China, Christmas is celebrated as a non-religious holiday. Locals celebrate it similar to how we celebrate Valentine’s day in America. People in China will often spend the day shopping, ice skating, or going to karaoke bars and movie theaters with their friends. Couples will buy each other gifts to express their affection for each other. 

In Mandarin, Christmas Eve is called 平安夜 (ping’an ye), which can also translate into “peaceful night”. This translation led to a Christmas Eve tradition in China where friends gift each other “peace apples”. These apples are inscribed with messages like “love”, “peace”, or “Merry Christmas”. 

Santa is known in China as 圣诞老人 (sheng dan lao ren), which translates into Christmas Old Man. Instead of elves, he works with his sisters in his fairytale hometown of Christmas Village in the North Pole. His unique hobby of playing the saxophone sets him apart from other versions of Santa. In department store windows, you can see him happily playing his saxophone.

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​How the Philippines Celebrates Christmas
By John Aeron Ruiz

Christmas in the Philippines is unlike any other. For starters, the Christmas season starts not in December, but as early as September 1st. Their celebration lasts throughout all the -ber months and it is then when Christmas traditions such as putting up Christmas trees and decorations up are done. In this season, many stalls are also put up around the neighborhoods where decorations and fireworks are sold.
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A specific decoration found in the Philippines is the Parol which is a star shaped lantern made of wood and paper, sometimes metal, with a shell called capiz on the outside usually used for window panes. It is a beautiful ornament that glows in the dark at night. Furthermore, another unique tradition in the Philippines is Christmas Carolling. 

As early as September, many children gather to go around their own neighborhood to Christmas Carol door to door using makeshift instruments as their accompaniment. Christmas also has more of an emphasis on Jesus rather than Santa Claus to the people as well. This all together truly creates a festive and distinct celebration for Christmas and one of the longest in the world.

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Christmas In Vietnam
​By Tyson Nguyen

With Vietnam being a predominantly Buddhist country, many would believe that the Vietnamese people would not celebrate christmas. However, this is not the case. Although not many people in Vietnam are Christians, there are still country wide celebrations of the holiday. The small minority of Christians were the ones that are spreading this holiday around to non-Christians. The influence spread to children to where they believe in Santa Claus, who is also known as, 'Ông già Noel'. Attributed from Christian influence, people would go to Midnight Mass services to listen to Christmas music and watch many plays. Vietnamese people celebrate this holiday differently than what we are used to.

 There is a huge emphasis on Christmas eve and that is when the majority of the celebrations are happening. On Christmas Eve, the streets are filled with the people as they close down the street just for Christmas Eve. During Christmas,there are a variety of games played ranging from traditional drinking games to western games such as Monopoly and Uno. Vietnam has a heavy drinking culture so one of the games played would be to see who can outdrink everyone else! If you aren’t a heavy drinker, Monopoly and Uno would be the perfect game to play with the Vietnamese since these games are one of the more popular western games.

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Japan During Christmastime
​By Serina Kaochari

Christmas has only become widely celebrated in Japan in the last few decades. Several customs from the United States, such as gift and card giving are popular in Japan. Unlike the West's family gatherings, Christmas represents a time for friends and couples to celebrate. Moreover, Christmas is not seen as a religious holiday or celebration as there aren't many Christians in Japan.

Dubbed the most romantic holiday, Christmas Eve is renowned for couples spending time together and exchanging presents. It resembles Valentine's Day celebrations in the UK and the USA in many ways. Young couples like to go for walks to look at the Christmas lights and have a romantic meal in a restaurant.

Many families celebrate Christmas by eating Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), a popular Japanese Christmas tradition. This tradition started in 1974 with an ad campaign called "Kentucky for Christmas." This campaign was successful and kick-started KFC's popularity around Christmastime in Japan. 

Another popular Christmas food is the Japanese Christmas Cake (kurisumamu keike). It's a sponge cake decorated with layers of whipped cream, topped with cut strawberries. This beloved dessert is sold on practically every corner around the winter months. 

From gatherings to fried chicken, holiday traditions allow vast cultures to celebrate Christmas uniquely! 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from R.E.A.C.H. of Central Florida!!