In African countries such as Ghana buses and trucks are decorated with shiny ornaments and lights and “Afishapa” is the special Christmas greeting. On Christmas Eve people visit the houses of relatives and friends. On Christmas Day a meal of cassava root porridge (fufu), meat stew and rice is eaten.

British children write letters to Father Christmas, which traditionally are then burnt in fireplaces so the smoke containing their wishes can be blown to Father Christmas.

In Liberia on the West Coast of Africa bells are hung in the palm trees outside houses.

In the Czech Republic and Poland people place a cherry tree branch in water. If it blossoms in time for Christmas, winter will be short.

In Russia Father Christmas also changes sex and becomes Babushka, a distant relative of La Befana, who also hands out presents.

In Rome cannons are fired from Castel St Angelo on Christmas Eve and people fast for 24 hours before the Christmas Day feast. Then children wait for La Befana - the female version of Father Christmas who's disguised as a witch - to hand out gifts to those who've been good and give playful hidings to those who've been bad.

The French are crazy about nativity scenes. The clay figurines, santons (meaning small saints), are so popular craftsmen make them throughout the year to meet the Christmas demand.

In Greece almost every household puts out a shallow wooden dish bearing a basil frond twined around a wooden cross. Every day someone must dip the basil and cross into holy water and sprinkle some in each room of the house to keep away the Killantzaroi that jumps on people's backs, plaits horses' tails and turns milk sour.

In Spain children place shoes filled with straw and carrots on windowsills. The next morning sweets fills the shoes of good children while bad children get only coal.

In Guatemala (Central America) adults exchange gifts on New Year's Day; only the kids get theirs on Christmas morning. Before it became an excuse to kiss someone, mistletoe was long thought by Celtic people to have magical powers. Celts hung mistletoe in their homes to bring good luck and scare off evil spirits. Mistletoe was also said to have the ability to heal wounds and increase fertility.

The average American household wraps 30 Christmas gifts each year, according to Gale Research.

Many religious festivals are celebrated at year-end in our rainbow nation. ( South Africa )

Around Christmas time Jewish people celebrate Hanukah, a festival commemorating a victory in 164 BC over the Syrians who for years had occupied, plundered and desecrated the temple in Jerusalem , Israel . It starts on the 25th day of the month of Kisley on the Jewish calendar. This year it will start at sunset on 7 December 2004. A menorah holding eight candles is used: one is lit each day until all are burning. To wish someone a happy Hanukah in Hebrew, you say "Chag sameag".

Muslim festivals, Eid-al-Fitr, is celebrated on the first day of the new moon at the end of the month-long fast of Ramadan.

The Eid-al-Adha festival will probably be celebrated on 21 January 2005 in accordance with the phases of the moon, to coincide with the end of the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca . An appropriate seasonal greeting to Muslims is "Eid Mubarak"

Hindus celebrate Diwali, also known as the Festival of Light and sometimes as the Hindu Christmas, in November. At the time of the festival, greet Hindus by saying "Diwali Mubarak".

Extracted from YOU - December 2004