Investigating holiday traditions from around the world

Parker Foutch - Sophomore | Features

Although the holiday scene in Tennessee is pretty consistent throughout, many cultures around the world celebrate some interesting variations on the classic American Christmas.

In Japan, one of the main celebrations revolves around something that we take for granted, KFC. That’s right, Kentucky Fried Chicken is one of the most popular holiday traditions in Japan. The Colonel Sanders statues outside of the restaurants are decorated as Santa Claus, and the chicken buckets feature a special christmas design.

Across the pond in Catalonia, Spain, they enjoy Christmas poopy. The Catolonians make figurines out of logs and beat them with sticks while singing “If you don’t crap well, I’ll beat you with a stick.” Two weeks before this interesting ritual, they feed the log snacks, such as fruits and nuts.

Here in Tennessee, the “plastic pine” is the traditional tree, but if we turn our heads upside down, we will see that the Christmas trees in New Zealand are a little different. The Kiwis use a type of tree called the pohutukawa, which has bright red flowers. Their homes are decorated with these beautiful trees, which make the New Zealand holiday scene particularly unique.