Yuletide greetings, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, there many different ways to say Merry Christmas just as there are many different ways Christmas is celebrated around the world.

In Iceland, the holidays are celebrated a little differently than in typical American fashion. Icelanders go all out on Christmas — most people start celebrating Christmas on the first day of December! The main Christmas celebration occurs from December 23rd through the 26th. There are 13 different Santas, all named after their characteristics, such as doorslammer or candle snatcher. These different Santas deliver gifts in shoes, which people leave on their windowsill. If you are bad you’ll get something such as a potato and if your nice you will get some sort of toy or clothing item.

Christmas in Mexico is celebrated on December 25th just like many others around the world. However, unlike Christmas in the United States, Mexico enjoys mild weather and warm temperatures during their holiday season. In Mexico, people will put candles all over to decorate for Christmas, and on Christmas night they will attend midnight mass, after which the children will receive gifts from Santa Claus.

In the United Kingdom, Christmas is celebrated similar to American traditions. Families put trees in their homes, gather together for Christmas Eve and morning, and enjoy a big feast. Streets and towns are decorated with lights, and people will come from all over to watch the “Big Switch” of the lights being turned on.

Even in the United States, there is diversity around Christmas time; we all have different traditions or things we do around the holidays. Freshman Sydney Henderson commented that “[she] and [her] family gather around the living room on Christmas Eve and open [their] stockings.”

Christmas is celebrated many different ways around the world, but we all have our traditions that distinguish our celebration of the holiday.