But brace yourself. Our ‘strange’ South African ‘ways’ is just one part of a global quilt of curious Christmas customs. See the following compilation from Green Global Travel.

In Argentina, Christmas is a blend of American, European, and Hispanic traditions. Their celebrations typically include the boots of Father Christmas, red and white flowers, and putting cotton on Xmas trees to simulate snow. But most family gatherings take place on Christmas Eve, with huge feasts, gifts exchanged at midnight, and children going to sleep to the sound of fireworks.

In the Marshall Islands, people prepare for Christmas months in advance, stockpiling gifts and dividing into jeptas, or teams, that hold song-and-dance competitions on Christmas Day. They also build a piñata-like wojke containing little presents.

People in Iceland will often exchange books on Christmas Eve, then spend the rest of the night reading them and eating chocolate. The tradition is part of a season called Jolabokaflod, or “The Christmas Book Flood.” As a result, Iceland publishes more books per capita then any other country selling most of them between September and November.

Greenland’s traditional Christmas dish, kiviak, takes a full seven months to prepare. It begins with hollowing out a seal skin and stuffing it with 500 auks – a sea bird (feathers and all) – to ferment. When the holiday rolls around, it’s served straight from the seal.

There are 12 courses in the traditional Ukrainian Christmas Eve supper, each of them dedicated to one of Christ’s apostles.

In Ghana many people observe a traditional folk libation ritual at Christmastime. In it, people drink from a cup and then pour some of its contents on the ground as a symbolic offering to their ancestors.

The tradition of tinsel, which was invented in Germany in 1610, is based on a legend about spiders whose web turned into silver when they were spun in a Christmas tree.

Spider webs are common Christmas tree decorations in Poland because, according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. Many Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity.

In Greek culture, kissing under the mistletoe was considered an unspoken promise to marry your mate.

Bolivians celebrate Misa del Gallo (“Mass of the Rooster”) on Christmas Eve, with people bringing roosters to midnight mass to symbolize the belief that a rooster was the first animal to announce the birth of Jesus Christ.

In Estonia, people believed that the first visitor on Christmas, called the “first-footer,” would determine the household’s luck. Dark-haired men were seen as desirable first-footers, but women and fair-haired or red-headed men were often deemed unlucky.

“The Night of the Radishes” is one of the annual Christmas customs in Oaxaca, Mexico. On December 23rd, competitors carve nativity scenes into large radishes, which are proudly displayed at the Christmas market. Oaxaca has land dedicated to cultivating special vegetables just for this event.

The Norwegian tradition of Julbukk, or “Christmas goat,” finds groups of costumed people walking through their neighborhood on Christmas Day, entertaining people with songs in exchange for treats. These groups will bring a goat along or have someone impersonate a goat’s typically unruly behavior. If two costumed goats meet, they’ll often engage in a play fight to entertain the crowd.

See more curious traditions at Green Global Travel and Why Christmas.