The World’s Oddest Holiday Traditions

Introduction

Hello and welcome to today’s edition of the Live and Invest Overseas Podcast. I’m Kat Kalashian, and today, as you can see, we’re unabashedly embracing the holiday season.

I’m personally a big fan, so I’m going all in. Why not? Let all of the merriment shine through in these next few videos.

So today we’re going to talk about how the holidays are celebrated in some of our favorite destinations overseas. We’re starting here in Europe with a few fun traditions you might encounter if you are living in this part of the world.

Spain

In Spain, one of the oddest traditions I’ve ever heard of is the Catalan version of the yule log, called the Tió de Nadal, a little Christmas log.

The Caga Tió, as it is known, literally translates to a pooping log. These are brought home and placed by the fireplace on December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the Catholic calendar.

It is basically a little wooden log like you would expect in a fireplace, but with stick legs so it can stand up. It wears a little red Catalan hat at a jaunty angle and has a cheerful painted face with rosy cheeks and a smile.

Each evening, it is fed and watered and then covered with a blanket at night.

On Christmas Eve, family members take turns hitting it with a stick, ending with the youngest member of the family. As they do, everyone sings a song asking the log not to poop sardines because they are too salty, but to poop turrón instead, the nougat-and-nut sweets common in Spain.

The pace and enthusiasm of the hitting gradually picks up, and the final blow from the youngest child is meant to persuade the log to finally produce candy from under its blanket.

One detail I always found funny is how the parents actually make the log “poop” without the children seeing it. The usual explanation is that the log is too shy to do it in front of people, so the kids are sent into another room or outside for a few minutes. While they are away, the parents hide candy under the blanket, and when the children come back, it looks as though the miracle has happened.

This scatological streak does not end there. In the Catalan nativity scene, there is an extra character that does not appear in nativity scenes elsewhere. He is called the Caganer, the pooper.

He is a little figure with his trousers down, mooning the entire religious scene. There are many theories about why he is there. One of the kinder interpretations is that Catalans have a deep respect for the cycle of life, and even in a celestial or holy moment, they still acknowledge earthly realities like manure and fertilization.

Another interpretation is that Catalans simply enjoy poking fun at serious things and believe even solemn moments should have a bit of humor mixed in.

If you are ever in Catalonia during the holidays, it is well worth stopping into a Christmas shop or a Caganer store. These days, the figures are no longer just generic little imps. Anyone who has made headlines—celebrities, politicians, public figures, local or global—can be turned into a Caganer.

The U.K.

In the U.K., things are a little more refined, although not by much once you get into the world of panto.

In London especially, but really all over the U.K., pantomime shows—known simply as panto—are still performed live, and they remain a beloved Christmas tradition.

The tradition goes back to the Restoration after Cromwell’s Commonwealth. Under Cromwell’s puritanical rule, Christmas had actually been banned as a pagan holiday. When the monarchy returned, both theatre and Christmas celebrations were allowed again, and one of the things that emerged was the Christmas pantomime.

Originally intended for children, panto is just as much for adults, as any British person will tell you.

There are many conventions to it. The hero, in a reversal of roles, is usually played by a young actress. The older woman, or dame, is played by a man in drag. The good fairy and the wicked witch are often played by men in drag as well.

There is also a chorus that changes costume frequently, and sometimes children or even famous actors and actresses take part.

There is usually a scene involving a giant mess made through cooking or baking, with flour thrown around everywhere. The audience is heavily involved, with call-and-response moments, silly dialogue, and a lot of double entendre.

Half the jokes are aimed at the adults and are ideally meant to go over the children’s heads. These days the themes are more modern and diverse too, with influences from everything from Hanukkah to Bollywood to current television shows.

So if you are in London or elsewhere in the U.K. during the holidays, it is definitely something worth seeing.

France

In France, my adopted home overseas, Christmas is a very late-night affair, and it is one I am absolutely not made for.

The holiday traditionally begins with midnight mass. Of course, midnight mass exists in many parts of the world, including the United States, but in France it is still much more central to the entire celebration.

Families stay up for mass, then come home and have a huge Christmas dinner afterward. If mass ends around 1:00 in the morning, dinner may run from 1:30 until 4:30 or even later.

This is meant to be a long, formal French meal with many courses and coffee at the end. It often finishes well before dawn. Since the sun does not rise until around 9:00 in the morning at that time of year, you may end up opening presents and having coffee at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning before everyone finally goes to bed.

Most people then sleep until noon or later, and the rest of Christmas Day is very quiet. There is not much ceremony or activity left by that point. It is simply a day to relax, rest, and spend time with family.

One of my favorite things about Christmas in France, especially in Paris, is the seafood tradition. Paris is a landlocked city, of course, but at Christmas time it becomes completely overtaken by oysters and shellfish.

You will see oysters everywhere—outside grocery stores, at cafés, in restaurants, and even being sold from trucks and side stalls. Mussels are also a favorite at this time of year.

It is not something most North Americans associate with Christmas, but I love having an excuse for shellfish during the holidays.

One of the funny little details you notice in Paris in December is that people often store oysters outside their windows. If they do not have a terrace or extra room in the fridge, they hang the bags from a windowsill, balcony, or planter box. If you are in Paris in December, look up and you will probably see oysters somewhere above you.

There is also a bit of trivia behind this tradition. Oysters in Paris are often associated with King Henry IV, who was famously fond of food and pleasure. He was said to have had oysters brought to him regularly from Brittany during the winter season.

That helped establish the habit of eating oysters in Paris in December. Some even say that Henry IV may be partly responsible for the idea that oysters are an aphrodisiac, simply because his love of oysters and his love life became linked in popular imagination.

Ireland

In Ireland, where I lived for seven years, the Christmas season traditionally begins on the last Friday in November with the broadcast of The Late Late Toy Show, which has been on air since 1975.

Children across the country are allowed to stay up late to watch it, usually with the whole family gathered around the fireplace. It becomes a major event and really marks the unofficial beginning of Christmas.

The day after Christmas, Saint Stephen’s Day, is another major part of Irish holiday tradition. It is also known as Wren’s Day, or simply the Wren.

This dates back to the 1800s, when boys would hunt a real wren, tie it to a holly branch or pole, and parade it through town going door to door asking for money. The bird was thought to be evil, and people were expected to thank the boys for killing it. The money they collected would then go toward a Christmas dance for the whole town on Boxing Day.

This tradition is fading and is now quite rare. Live birds are no longer used, of course, but in places like Dingle in County Kerry, December 26 is still a significant social event tied to the Wren tradition. If you want to witness it, that is one of the last places to do so.

Then, on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, Ireland celebrates what is known as Nollaig na mBan, or Women’s Christmas.

This is especially strong in the southwest, in counties like Cork and Kerry, where it is considered women’s annual day off. The tradition goes back to a time when Irish women were doing the overwhelming majority of the work involved in raising children, running households, and putting on Christmas for the family.

So January 6 became the day dedicated to them. The men took care of the house for the day while the women went out, often to the pub, to enjoy tea and fruitcake—or perhaps something stronger.

Going back to Christmas Day itself, one of the traditions I remember most vividly is the Christmas swim. Ireland is not warm at any time of year, let alone at Christmas, but all across the country people of every age still run into the sea on Christmas morning.

It is called the Christmas swim, though for most people it is more of a dip. You do not actually have to swim any distance. Going in up to your ankles or splashing your arms is enough to count.

It draws huge crowds, so there are always people on the beach cheering everyone on. Children may wear wetsuits these days, but among adults there is an unspoken rule that wetsuits are not really done.

I could never bring myself to participate. Every one of my friends did, and I never heard the end of it because I stayed on the beach in many layers cheering everybody else on.

Still, it is definitely a fun thing to witness, even if you do not take part yourself.

And there you have it: some of Europe’s funniest and most memorable Christmas traditions and the kinds of things you might encounter if you end up becoming an expat on this side of the Atlantic.