(Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty)
By Jake Cappuccino
Christmas may be widely celebrated around the world, but Christmas traditions are hardly universal. Just like different U.S. states observe a wide variety of Christmas traditions, many countries have developed their own traditions and celebrations.
Though holiday trees, wreaths, yard decorations, egg nog, mistletoe and more might embody Christmas for Americans, many other nations focus on entirely different traditions that just might surprise you.
From traditions of roller-skating to Christmas mass to sitting down to watch a Donald Duck cartoon, every country celebrates Christmas in its own way.
Japan
If Americans are familiar with only one other country's unique Christmas celebrations, they'll likely know that many people in Japan celebrate Christmas dinner with KFC.
According to CNN, Kentucky Fried Chicken successfully captured Japan's secular Christmas imagination with well-placed ads in the '70s and '80s, successfully marketing itself as a traditional American Christmas dinner and eventually transforming itself into the go-to restaurant for Christmas dinner in Japan.
Chicken also reportedly matched cultural sensibilities in that it resembled kaarage and katsu, which are breaded and fried meats.
Sweden
Every year on Christmas Eve at 3 p.m. since 1959, large swaths of Swedes take to their couches to watch "Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul" or, in English, "Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas" on Sweden's main public television channel, according to Atlas Obscura.
When the special first aired in Sweden, the nation only had two TV channels, prompting many Swedes to tune in, and the tradition has stuck ever since.
According to Slate's Jeremy Stahl, who partook in the tradition with his wife's Swedish family, somewhere between 40% and 50% percent of Swedes tune in to watch.
Stahl said, "The show’s cultural significance cannot be overstated. You do not tape or DVR 'Kalle Anka' for later viewing. You do not eat or prepare dinner while watching 'Kalle Anka.' Age does not matter—every member of the family is expected to sit quietly together and watch a program that generations of Swedes have been watching for 50 years."
Greenland
While Americans won't see whale blubber on any holiday-themed menus, mattak, or strips of whale blubber, are the centerpiece of a traditional Christmas dinner in Greenland, according to Mental Floss.
Part of the holiday tradition also includes the men serving the women as well as another Greenlandic dish, kiviak, flesh from auks buried in sealskin for months and served once everything's fermented.
Mexico
Two days before Christmas, people in Mexico carve intricate shapes into radishes as they celebrate Noche de Rabanos, or Night of the Radishes, according to the BBC.
The Oaxacan tradition, which is over 100 years old, originated with merchants who sought to attract shoppers to town plazas before and after Christmas church services. People ended up buying the carved radishes for their Christmas centerpieces, and the tradition stuck, especially after the mayor of Oaxaca made the tradition an official celebration in 1897.
Popular images reportedly include the nativity scene, local wildlife and mission-style architecture.
Venezuela
For a more active Christmas tradition, head to Caracas, Venezuela, where families don roller skates to make their way to mass, according to Metro.
The skating reportedly became so popular that the government began closing the streets until 8 a.m. so families and groups could safely skate together.
Russia
Russians celebrate Christmas with a few special traditions, including fortune-telling, baking krendel, a sweet yeast bread, and sharing popular folktales of Russian Santa Claus, Ded Moroz or Father Frost, and his granddaughter, Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden, according to The Spruce.
But what really separates Russia from the pack is not how Russians celebrate Christmas but when they celebrate it. Because the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates traditions according to the Julian Calendar, which is 13 days off from the standard Gregorian Calendar, Russians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, the Julian equivalent of Dec. 25.
Spain
If you're an American traveling through Catalonia, Spain, around Christmas time, you'll appreciate the bevy of traditional western Christmas decorations. But come across a nativity scene and even the casual observer might notice what appears to be a figure of a man defecating.
Yes, as a part of its Christmas traditions, Catalonia often includes a figure called the caganer doing his part to fertilize the Earth and bring luck and happiness for the year ahead, according to Caganer.com.
Catalonia historian Dani Cortijo told Catalan News, "It’s normal in Catalonia to have the caganer in the nativity scene."
Cortijo explained, "It starts maybe as a joke, but it's also a symbol of fertilization,” stemming from a time when people were much more closely linked to the land itself.
In recent years, the tradition has expanded to include figures from pop culture, including sports, entertainment and political and historical figures.
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