December Celebrations Around the World

Nicole Negedu
IST - Tanzania

What are you celebrating this December?

Christmas — December 25
Known as the most popular holiday in the world, Christmas is an event celebrated with family, Christmas trees and warm holiday traditions. Christmas originated from the christian bible, which talks about the birth of Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe is their saviour, and whom “Christmas” is named after. Fun fact: Did you know Christmas is not truly Jesus’ birthday? The real date is unknown, but it is said that the Romans pushed it backwards to mark the end of one
of their seasonal celebrations.
Kwanzaa — December 26 to January 1
Kwanzaa is an African American celebration that takes place over the course of several days and even carries on to the new year. Kwanzaa celebrates several principles that stem from sub-Saharan African cultures and are denoted with a Swahili word, one for each of them. Families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their homes in kente cloth, and women wear kaftans. All the events and celebrations lead up to a feast called Karamu, which is towards the end of the celebration. Kwanzaa is about celebrating their African heritage, even in situations and locations where they may face prejudice for it.
Hanukkah — November 28 to December 27
Well, to be completely honest, the text above is a bit inaccurate. Like a few other countries, the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah is not based on the Gregorian calendar, but rather a different one. The celebration starts on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev, which is on the Jewish calendar. Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration where, for each night, a candle on the hanukkiah is lit. The history of this celebration stems from an event in their past, where they recaptured one of their
temples, and they needed to light the Menorah. But they only found enough pure olive oil to light it for seven days, which was way too short to make more. However, miraculously, it burned for eight! The holiday Hanukkah is about remembering this occasion and sharing the joy with family.
New Year’s Eve
Happy New Year! New Year's Eve is the last day of the year, and is the ‘eve’ of the first day of the next year, New Year's Day. New Year's is traditionally celebrated by counting down to the next year and engaging in a somewhat unusual consumption of alcohol, twice as much as at any other celebration. This is usually followed by a New Year’s Resolution, which is a plan for a better you.