Weird Christmas Facts, Explained Through Maps

[@than217]

I'm 38 years old and found out this year that Boxing Day isn't a holiday focused on the sport of Boxing. It was depressing too because I liked the idea of people being like "Okay Christmas cheer is over... now is a time for fighting."

[@kingding-a-ling9794]

I like your version better😂

[@DarwinskiYT]

Yeah I still refuse to believe that it’s about boxes

[@angelzavala2254]

This is what I thought for a long time 🤣

[@eliotguerin192]

For an unreasonably long time I thought Boxing Day was a day to commemorate the Boxer Rebellion. In my American mind I figured if Boxing Day is British, and the British fought in the Boxer Rebellion, that must be what it’s named after. 🤷‍♂️

[@Nabium]

I thought Brits called it boxing day because on christmas morning they give presents to their nearest family, on christmas day they have a big gathering and give gifts to extended friends and family, then on boxing day they stay home with the wife and give her their dick in a box. Hence the famous christmas song from Justin Timberlake. Maybe I'm just a confused continental European.

[@danielyaseen]

As someone from the Middle East, I think the reason is because here, Christmas, while it still is regarded as a big day, isn't like it is in the U.S. We don't really do gift giving, putting up Christmas tree/decorating, etc. We celebrate the birth of Jesus with prayers all day long. So while the Middle East doesn't celebrate Christmas like it is done in the U.S, we still celebrate in a way. Greetings from Syria (I know technically it isn’t a national holiday, but it is for the reasons mentioned above)!

[@ndnrb_]

The true way to celebrate

[@danielyaseen]

@@ndnrb_ fax

[@zero_gravity5861]

nothing like being hours early to midnight mass, when you are a small child it gives the parents time in the morning to sleep

[@DarwinskiYT]

So basically Middle Eastern Christmas is the complete opposite of Japanese Christmas

[@WizardToby]

Yes, the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus.

[@polymorphusis3614]

toycat’s gonna be amazed when he finds out they eat KFC in Japan on Christmas

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

Better tell him. He might not know yet

[@placeholdernameisplacehold7671]

There is no way he knows that!

[@carlose4314]

The reason that Russia, Ukraine, and Serbia celebrate Christmas in January is because of the Julian calendar. There are also the old calendarists who spilt from the orthodox church because the orthodox church fixed their calendar so that Christmas is in the winter.

[@shiina29]

This is why I read the comments.

[@Ebreh]

Pretty sure that in Ukraine is both December and January

[@VividReads]

the Orthodox church is the one that celebrates Christmas on the 7th, so technically the old calendarists align with the Orthodox Church.

[@ArnoldLokman]

and in Armenia it's on 6th of january

[@nicolasladner7113]

I always thought they celebrated at the day the 3 kings arrived and gave jesus his presents rather than the day of his birth

[@genowl]

As a Christian living in Dubai, I can say that although it isn’t a public holiday, a lot of the 1.4 million Christian population do get leave for at least Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, not to mention kids get a three week winter break during the holiday season. Public places like malls, shops, hotels, theme parks, (and obviously churches) do have Christmas trees and decorations. If and how you celebrate Christmas in your family depends on where you come from. Western families might exchange gifts and this idea has to a small extend spread to other families as well. Some progressive companies may even do secret Santa and Christmas parties.

[@inlizwetrusst7904]

Why are you guys polluting the Islamic world.

[@someoneunknown1928]

dubai is not a good representation of the entire middle east

[@inlizwetrusst7904]

@@someoneunknown1928 the rot has to start somewhere. ✝️

[@soliduszor]

@@someoneunknown1928 I agree but there the only ones with youtube

[@soliduszor]

Also hee was Sarcastic

[@schlawa]

In Germany Christmas is on the 25th, however the 24th is the "holy evening" where you get your gifts. And also the "unholy" part of the evening starts after that when everybody goes to the pubs after a good meal and opening presents.

[@Liggliluff]

Almost all of the world that does celebration of the 24-26 December, does it on the 24th, either early, late or at the night to the 25th. It's the Anglosphere being the 25th (US, CA minus Quebec, IE, UK, ZA, AU, NZ) and weirdly also Italy. There's too much of seeing the Anglosphere as the "normal" and the rest of the world as the "weird". But it really is the Anglosphere being the weird here. But due to the way everything is expressed, including in how your comment points of Germany being on the 24th, defaults so often to the 25th being the normal.

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

Christmas traditions being done on 24th are particularly difficult when 24th isn't even a day off, like it was throughout my entire childhood.

[@Shimanas527]

We have a similar thing in Lithuania, on 24th we celebrate kūčios, on which, in the evening the whole family gathers around to have a big fiest and everyone has to try atleast 12 dishes so you can open your present at the end of it

[@nanolfo_]

As a Norwegian, yes, it is the same here, and yes we work on the 24th, but it is only for 2-5hours depending on the company.

[@slabofgeography]

Toycat your sleep schedule is something else

[@nathanandsugar5252]

What’s a sleep schedule?

[@italrocraft]

it’s his second channel, he doesn’t care

[@hobbyl0s]

Yours too lol

[@TheResock]

In Norway we do the Christmas celebrations of gifts and the main dinner on the evening of the 24th, then we have the 25th and 26th as public holidays where I guess peoples traditions diverge more as to what they do. But I think it's quite traditional here to have your big dinner at dinner time on the 24th, most likely some form of slow cooked pork belly/ribs and potatoes, and then we do the gifts afterwards in the evening. Also although "gnome" is probably the best translation of "nisse" you could make, they more apply to the general mythological creature associated with the winter solstice that would live in barns and do nice things if you treated them well or do bad things if you didn't. In modern days, the term "nisse" has generalized a bit more, and although we call Santa as "julenissen", aka "the christmas nisse" or "christmas gnome" if you make that translation, he is not actually a gnome, he is the same Santa as everywhere. Also we have some christmas childrens shows that are about these "nisse" creatures, but in these shows they are played by normal humans and depicted more like outsiders or a tribe living in the mountains that live very different lives than normal humans, so I think for most of the newer generations they do not have much association between "nisse" and actual gnomes anymore.

[@lolsaXx]

Many European countries give the presents on the 24th. I think giving the presents on the 25th, like the UK does is less common in Europe.

[@Thor7148]

Everything is the same in Denmark fyi

[@Liggliluff]

Yes, in Swedish it's "jultomte" (Christmas gnome) very different from "trädgårdstomte" (garden gnome). Not at all the same.

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

@@lolsaXx The more I read these comments the more it becomes clear that English speaking countries are the odd ones out with gifts on 25th.

[@nanolfo_]

also, can't forget the Pinnekjøtt, which is based on lamb ribs, most common in the west. or Lutefisk, which I heard from my grandparrents (who are from Finmark) is common up there (at least when they were there)

[@theUnicornOfPower]

I'm a viewer from Poland and I confirm that in my childhood we had a live carp in the bathtub, and later my grandma killed it in the kitchen. That was a very long time ago, and now we don't practice it anymore. For some people it is very strange, in some regions of the country they don't know this custom at all, but I am sure that to this day there are still homes where this is done.

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

We did the same in Slovakia when I was a child. My Ukrainian spouse and my English, German, Spanish, Dutch etc friends find it funny.

[@ooi97]

Yeah, bathtub carp is not pleasant. I refused to eat it as a child. This practice is the reason I don't eat carp to this day.

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

@@ooi97 You prefer your food being treated inhumanely and killed somewhere out of sight?

[@JarinCOD]

In Czechia most people still do it.

[@zeibby9052]

I know the map says 25th for Czechia and it is technically true, the 25th is called "První svátek vánoční" which translates to the first day of Christmas, however people eat the Bathtub Carp and Baby Jesus comes with gifts on the 24th's evening, so basically people celebrate on the 24th (which is a holiday itself since 1990)

[@modmaker7617]

24th Dec is Christmas Eve

[@Megaranator]

While it my not be Christmas holiday, 24th is still a holiday when it comes to work

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

@@modmaker7617 In Czechia and Slovakia it is called the "Generous Evening" ("Štedrý Večer" in original).

[@modmaker7617]

@@olmostgudinaf8100 In Poland (my country), it's called Wigilia.

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

@@modmaker7617 What does it mean? I mean literally?

[@AriixYT]

By the way, here in Switzerland most people say christmas is on the 25th but we actually celebrate mostly on Christmas Eve, so the 24th. We open all the gifts etc in the evening and honestly I prefer it that way, the atmosphere is much more cozy than when you wake up, barely being awake and having to force yourself to be excited

[@KingOfTresune]

Same in Sweden

[@Liggliluff]

Same in almost all of the world. Only the Anglospwhere being the weird one, not Swizterland (or Sweden).

[@olmostgudinaf8100]

What do you mean? In the morning you are fresh and full of excitement of a new day. In the evening you are tired and just want the day to be over.

[@AriixYT]

@@olmostgudinaf8100 Really? For me it's the opposite. I usually stay up till 1am, and we start celebrating around 6 or 7pm. Meanwhile, it always takes me a while to get fully awake.

[@Tuberex]

Same in Poland We also have a big dinner on 24th

[@emmeline.reinhardt]

I thought it was rly wholesome when Toycat acknowledged how some people spend their Christmas with parasocial relationships, rather than family. Thanks for all of your videos, Toycat- I think deep down you actually do care about the second channel :)

[@jiggy7108]

In Finland, we do know Christmas is on the 25th, however we just celebrate it on Christmas Eve

[@MikevanMeer]

I'm dutch. I love gourmetten. Its usually with tiny meats and vegetables; but sometimes we even roasted bananas or mini pancakes! It's truly a kids joy to prepare your own food for the first time, and it really kept you busy lol. And it's still a fun social thing once you're older

[@jm.evh3]

jaa gourmetten is zo heerlijk

[@fonkbadonk5370]

Is this different to raclette other than not using that cheese on nearly everything? Because raclette has been the traditional xmas food in our German family for many years, despite not having known about gourmetten until now! Great choice, dear neighbours :)

[@plasticbag7390]

in russia we don’t really celebrate christmas, new year’s is a much bigger holiday here. also had no idea that goose is apparently our traditional christmas food haha

[@твоипроблемы-ф9й]

yeah i googled it apparently it is, just crazy

[@YujiUedaFan]

@@твоипроблемы-ф9й How is that crazy? Goose used to be normal in the UK too. Honestly, I find Turkey meat kinda gross, since it's easy to dry out and it has the texture of a wet flannel. Additionally, goose fat can be used for future meals and you don't have to eat goose sandwiches for a solid week due to all of the excess meat.

[@jaexiusnem1267]

Imagine not being able to have a bath or shower for 3 days because there’s a carp living in it and then your crazy grandpa just runs in & starts smashing it with a hammer.

[@KanyeTheGayFish69]

People didn’t bathe that often back then anyway

[@shiina29]

In Japan, Christmas is a big date day/night, so it's basically another valentine's day. New Years is the big long holiday where everyone goes home and there are tons and tons of traditions related to it.

[@great_icosahedron]

The reason why eastern europe celebrates in January is because Orthodox christians still use the julian calendar to calculate holidays. The julian calendar does not have a leap day, which is why it slowly shifts. Edit: *shifted. In modern times, the gregorian calendar is used.

[@roerd]

The Julian calendar does have the basic leapday rule (every 4th year is a leap year). That innovation is why Julius Caesar's invention stuck around so long. What it doesn't have are the extra rules (every 100th year isn't a leap year, but every 400th year again is) that came under pope Gregory.

[@axelexiscus8660]

*some orthodox christians in greece we're going by the gregorian one

[@Glegh]

We're all telling toycat to sleep, but we aren't asleep

[@thecodemachine]

It’s like 7pm in Las Vegas.

[@FXVNDER]

fr fr. I live in Portugal (same timezone as the UK) and I was like "bro go to sleep lol" then I realized that I was awake as well.

[@Dawott]

It’s 1pm in Australia

[@FXVNDER]

@@Dawott good afternoon

[@Dawott]

@@FXVNDER and goodnight to you I suppose

[@SpaceSwimmer69]

In eastern Europe we don't celebrate Christmas that much, however new year's eve is the biggest holiday for us

[@Nabium]

Norway is entirely split in two when it comes to christmas dinner. The West/coast eats mutton ribs, and the East/interior eats pork ribs. I guess we all eat ribs. Except in the north where they're weird and eat cod. But they eat cod every day the rest of the year as well, so why ruin the streak and have something nice for Christmas I guess..

[@glntv5217]

6:24 it's an Orthodox thing. We celebrate on 7th in Ethiopia too

[@americannightmare425]

Everyone saying “go to bed” forgetting that videos can take a hot minute to upload

[@Voix1000x]

In Sweden we celebrate on the 24th, christmas eve. And on the 25th, christmas day, it’s basically boxing day.

[@flawyerlawyertv7454]

We call it "Daddy Noel" in Brazil and in Portugal, they call it "Father Christmas". 🎅🎄

[@Thor7148]

Omg it’s noel deyzel

[@Riomojo]

Daddy Noel lmao

[@DaanBruins]

Let me introduce you to Gourmetten. A gourmette is basically a grill for indoors, but so much better. There are two levels. On top is an normal grill, that you can put all kinds of meat on and let it grill for a few minutes until it's ready to eat. On the bottom, there are little pans, one for each person. You can put meat in there too, as well as other things like potatoes, little pancakes, mushrooms and other things you can cook/bake/grill/whatever-the-hell. You do this with the whole family. The cooking is a part of the dining experience. It's like a barbecue or a buffet, where there isn't a main course, but you have multipe rounds where you can just put a food in the pan/on the grill and eat it a few minutes later. There are usually other stuff you can eat too like baguettes. It's so nice and cozy and fun where the family comes to eat and you don't need to prepare a whole meal beforehand. It's honestly my favourite part of Christmas.

[@pelle.h1809]

Gourmetten is very similar to Korean bbq, but instead of only meats we eat all sorts of things, miniature pancakes, toast bread, meat, egg etc

[@LisaMarie0588]

Its funny watching you just zoom around google street view. I do that all the time. I love seeing how different towns/cities/countries look.

[@AD-yq8rl]

How did you find Turkey?

[@Jake-nl3er]

In Wales kids are thought that he's called Father Christmas, he's from Finland, and you burn your present lists in a fire so they reach him. If you don't have a fire then you can read your lists to one of his elfs (decorations) and they telepathically tell him.

[@gyorokpeter]

In Hungary, only 25-26 Dec are official holidays, but 24 is a de facto half-holiday, with shops and businesses closing early and public transport switching to nighttime service (or no service at all if they normally don't have nighttime service). Gifts are given in the evening of the 24th and the next two days are mostly for visiting far-away relatives.

[@Tuberex]

That last part is also true in Poland

[@mlgsty8880]

This is first time I actually heard Joulupukki translated (christmas goat) and I never actually thought about the goat part. Pukki sounds lot like Ukki which can mean grandpa (depending on the dialect) and I always thought the "p" was just addition to the word slipped in between the centuries.

[@romanbogyra4045]

The map is kinda old, cuz Ukraine actually celebrates on both 25th and 7th for few years now and both dates are official state holidays, and there’s even a bigger trend now to move to 25th (to move further away from russia culturally) 6:17

[@SpearMKW]

here in the netherlands we have christmas day split into First Christmas Day on the 25th and Second Christmas Day on the 26th, and families get together with either side of the family seperately each day. never celebrated christmas eve here, but i cant speak for other families. im just used to the 24th being a completely normal day. as for gourmetting, my family no longer wants to do it because it makes the house and everyones clothes smell for weeks, lol.

[@davy_657]

As a fellow dutchie i can agree on all points, also my family eats gourmetten for New Year's Eve instead of Christmas but that might just be us

[@nova-vv4kv]

in belgium we also gourmet ! even if the map didn't mention it it! You basically go to the store to get a gourmet tray and cook it in these little pans (like a combination of raclette pans and korean bbq tray) on the 24th we gourmet and on the 25th we celebrate christmas dinner/brunch with our entire family

[@Nabium]

In one or both parts of Belgium? (yes I am willfully ignoring the third German part, those guys don't exist in my opinion)

[@j3gg]

@@Nabium I'm gonna go ahead and assume it it mostly just the flamish, since it is a culturally Dutch custom

[@Nabium]

@@j3gg yeah that was my thoughts too, that's prob why the map said something else here in Norway the country is also split between two different traditional meals, and the more populous eastern part where they eat pork won their place on this map, but half the country eats mutton ribs.

[@nova-vv4kv]

@@Nabium I'm from flanders! The dutch part

[@Nyx_AT]

In Upper Austria, something like Gourmetten is the #1 Dish (It's called Raclette here, Carp used to be eaten but doesn't anymore. Vienna and Lower Austria eat turkey or goose, the rest of Austria is pretty mixed.

[@keagaming9837]

2:18 That's because even though Christmas is originally a Christian holiday, over the years it has become more about presents than the birth of Jesus. it can be argued that Christmas is becoming less about the mass of Christ (Where Christmas gets its name from, in English at least.) aka less religious. Also, here is America we call "Father Christmas" Santa Clause, so yes the name of the present under tree giver varies from country to country.

[@hehesecret552]

we call him Santa Claus in Scotland too 🎅

[@MyNameHandle]

Christmas day is on the 25th but many countries celebrate on Christmas eve (the 24th). We do that because (at lest in Sweden) a new day started when the sun had gone down, this was before the modern watch.

[@Veroxzes]

Sweden celebrates christmas on the 24th. Christmas eve. What kind of weirdo does it the 25th? That’s the day after. That’s the day you relax.

[@cedrickterrick]

Beeing a German I never realized that "Weihnachtsmann" -> "Christmasman" actually sounds like a superhero. xD I mean he's the same like as Santa anyways, just his actual mantle so to speak. We just don't say Santa Claus.

[@alexpotts6520]

1:15 the consistency with with Norway is at the top of the list of international comparisons really is incredible

[@Aras14]

In Germany we call Gourmetten Racklett, it's normally eaten "between the years" (between Christmas and new year's) alongside Käsefondue (bread dipping in molten cheese, often spiked with whine, and you shouldn't loose the bread!).

[@CarJul666]

This was very interesting. Thanks Toycat. Sadly the Christmas gnome replaced the Christmas goat in Sweden. And the reason Christianity is so high in Sweden is that we used to have a state church. You joined the church the just by being born in Sweden.

[@kevinwacharapol7092]

5:20 I think the map shows on what day christmas day is (25th) for the countries. Not the day the countries celebrate. For example in Sweden we celebrate on christmas eve (24th) but christmas day is still on the 25th.

[@viviflam]

For anyone interested in the Yule Lads (Christmas Lads), they are 13 trolls that come down from the mountains during the 13 nights preceeding xmas eve and give little gifts to kids who put shoes in their windowsill. It's usually some candy or a clementine while the bad kids get a potato. They also have parents named Grýla and Leppalúði. Grýla is an evil witch that throws the worst children in her soup. Then there's their pet, the Yule Cat, which eats children that don't get new clothes for xmas. And while christmas day is on the 25th, presents and the big xmas dinner are traditionally done on xmas eve. (and our Boxing Day is called the 2nd of Christmas)

[@springlink3188]

11:56 Wait I actually did not know they eat KFC on Christmas that's hilarious

[@persianedits]

0:47 The GOAT 🐐🐐🐐🎅🏻

[@y2kona]

SIUUUUUUUUUUU

[@persianedits]

@@y2kona SIUUUUUUUUU

[@Lemonz1989]

I can’t believe that he talked about the geese, but not Denmark being the only country mainly eating ducks for Christmas.

[@SadMatte]

Tbf duck tastes really damn good. Denmark is a 50/50 between pork and duck, so it's really unfair that germany got 2 on their country.

[@Lemonz1989]

@@SadMatte Yeah, I love duck too. We usually eat duck or goose for Christmas at my place. :) But it’s usually duck because geese cost a fortune.

[@quinnjohnson9750]

For the US on the 26th of Dec. we either go back to work the next day or just have an extra day off. Boxing day really isn't a thing here.

[@gearoidp]

In Ireland, I would say we don't call him 'Father Christmas'. 'Santa' and 'Santy' are common, maybe 'Santa Claus' to a lesser extent. But, in Irish he is 'Daidi na Nollag' the literal translation is ~'Daddy of Christmas' /'father Christmas' .

[@Albent]

People gather to dinner on the 24th, toasting when it hits midnight, celebrating Christmas as it's already the 25th, much like people gather to dinner on the 31th to celebrate the New Year, toasting when the clock hits 12. The 25th is the resting day, probably to recover from some nasty hangovers.

[@Booperino.]

Dinner, presents etc. The 24th is the big day to say the least, while the first Christmas day, aka the 25th, is the resting day after it all

[@Tuberex]

In Poland (At least in my region), we don't drink alcohol on Christmas New year is a different story though

[@Albent]

@@Tuberex People have to deal with their families WHILE SOBER? That's nightmare fuel.

[@blumoogle2901]

The biggest difference in the Southern hemisphere is that you have a lot of cold meats for Christmas; leg of lamb, beef tongue, roast chicken and gammon with strong mustard or mint sauce spread over everything, potato salad, pasta salad, so much starchy cold salads. Then for desert: cherries, condensed milk, sugar, marshmallows, pineapple, cream and jello tart with a crumbly crushed biscuit base. Then everyone gets a tin of biscuits as part of the gift exchange. Eating a hot formal lunch at noon on Christmas day in the sweltering heat with relatives you can't stand would be torture, so you eat a cold formal lunch instead with relatives you can't stand. Then the relatives you like even less show up one after the other for the obligatory chat and cheap Christmas card and gift exchange until you get to go home for the blissful silence. Then on boxing day you get to do the same thing all over, only with people you actually like.

[@stonemansteveiii3135]

Fish soup is your Christmas dish?!!?! Turkeys are native to eastern and southern United States!

[@The0Stroy]

5:03 - This map is only partially true for Poland. We start celebrating on 24th December with "Christmas Eve" which is a traditional, official late afternoon dinner that all families gather on. We get Christmas presents then. 25 and 26th are public holidays. The 7th of January is the "Three Kings Holiday", it's seen as part of Christmas time celebrations and it's a public holiday. When comes to Carp in the bathtub. People stopped doing it - either choose to get it killed upon buying it or just buy other, already killed fish. Fewer homes have bathtubs and there is no need for them - Carps are kept in freshwater before being sold so don't smell mud and people have fridges. Also, people like to get a bath before Christmas...

[@Liggliluff]

(2:40) Note about the Christianity map about Sweden. Everyone born in Sweden in the year 1995 or earlier was automatically Christian unless otherwise stated. So while Sweden officially has 61% Christianity, a lot of that isn't practiced. But it does drop every year, and no affiliation is at 36%.

[@Spacemongerr]

Was the same in Norway. But in reality, polls show over 50% are atheists and below 20% are christians here. Only 1% regularly go to church.

[@perfilgenerico8717]

Portugal living up to the stereotype and eating cod and turkey is quite cool to see, now i know why we do it too here in brazil Here in Brazil the tradition is to start celebrating on 24th by having supper, watch/go to a mass (we call it "missa do galo", rooster mas) and then have a big lunch on 25th

[@shrimpfry880]

hungary is a mixed bag because the western father christmas/santa claus puts small sweets in your boots on december 6th-Saint Nicholas' day, and then the baby jesus puts the big presents under the christmas tree on december 24th, people usually open them after dinner

[@shrimpfry880]

dec. 6th isn't a public holiday but people are usually wearing santa hats in public, and in schools there's a teacher/student who dresses up as santa and gives candy to the students.

[@mbs._.]

In orthodoxic countries we celebrate Christmas on 7 January also its more of a religious holyday than a celebration so that explains google searches

[@SuperMaxHODL79]

Geese used to be a very popular British Christmas dish

[@andrewprahst2529]

In Ohio we eat chinese food for Christmas. This is not a joke, its a reference to A Christmas Story, and the line was super long last year.

[@compatriot852]

Meanwhile Greece is shining bright red when it comes to Christmas spirit

[@Nabium]

Fun Fact, Christmas is the season with the highest numbers of suicide here in Norway. Another funny fact there for you all to enjoy this season :) ( But it kinda ruins kittyman's 'let's all not do suicide for a week' theory. )

[@FroZenMemes]

Making colour coded maps that are red, dark red and light red should be illegal

[@jaexiusnem1267]

Does the commercialisation of Christmas have anything to do with ‘Christmas spirit’ I wonder.

[@Sunday_Woodward]

I’ll be 35 in a couple of weeks, and today I learned that Boxing Day is just Xmas Day Part 2.

[@shayyuss]

people with split up parents already know about christmas part 2 😆

[@svr5423]

In Germany, traditionally we had goose for christmas. Not everyone does it of course, but I never heard of someone serving fried carp.

[@marmac83]

"Black Christmas" doesn't make any sense. "White Christmas" refers to snow, at least.

[@great_icosahedron]

Boxing day is also not a holiday here in Germany. Probably because we celebrate and get our presents on christmas eve, which _is_ a holiday. And that map that said we celebrate on christmas day is bs.

[@xeode]

christmas cod, who knew

[@mikvan9849]

@6:18 it's partially due to the calendar but the reason the East didnt adopt the Gregorian (a bishop of rome) calendar was because of the East-West Church schism. The Western Christians celebrate on the 25th while the Eastern celebrate it on the 7th of January. That's why countries with relatively equal levels of western and orthodox do both days.

[@70n24]

I can get eating goose or duck or chicken, it probably followed the turkey tradition in some way like "we don't have turkey but it also counts if it is a bird, right?"... I don't get the carp tradition at all. Happy holidays, toycat!

[@Nabium]

they eat fish in countries where they're traditionally not allowed to eat meat yet due to the fast before christmas the exception being northern norway where they eat fish because that's all they had to eat every day all year around anyways

[@70n24]

@@Nabium Ohh that's cool, thanks

[@YujiUedaFan]

We're eating chicken this year because the geese died to bird flu. :(

[@hvermout4248]

What makes you believe that the 25th of December is "the right day" for Christmas?! That just wht the Roman Catholic church defined it to be ...

[@hunbarni1118]

0:41 In Hungary Father Christmas is called Father Winter, the confusion is most probably that he comes on the 6th of December here, and Christ-child/Baby Jesus comes on 25th. I do not know if this is true for the other places with Baby Jesus.

[@meino6465]

Ah, gourmetten, the number 1 cause of burns on christmas in the Netherlands Totally worth it though!

[@pommedapie8450]

As a French-English person I also hate celebrating Christmas on the 24th, and everyone here thinks I'm weird because we don't do much on Christmas eve

[@simplicitylost]

1:55 Much of “Christmas” was shifted to New Years in the USSR due to state-sponsored atheism. Even the Дед Мороз (Grandfather Frost) character is New Years related. So, that map might be misleading because the search results in former USSR may be “new years” related and æsthetically it looks very similar to our idea of Christmas.

[@ardwark5438]

Well, here in scandinavia we dont celebrate christmas, we celebrate jul/yul, traditionally its to celebrate the darkest day of the year, the midwinter solestuss.

[@linusfotograf]

Solstice

[@ardwark5438]

@@linusfotograf yes, that word.

[@bxdonny]

Toycat turkeys are native to the eastern United States

[@MellonVegan]

5:30 If you look closely, you'll see that Germany is included here bc you only have a map of when Christmas is, not when people get their presents. Although actually Christmas is not a single day thing, so that map is incorrect anyways.

[@springlink3188]

You haven't heard of Kuwait's Christmas Mega Tower? My FAVORITE version of Santa.

[@brev4497]

I live in Michigan and there's a town called Christmas

[@JarinCOD]

I kill carp every Christmas. All those animals we eat on Christmas have to die somehow.

[@telotawa]

5:07 it's... complicated poland's "christmas" is on the 25th but you get your gifts in the evening on the 24th, and also you have a big meal then?

[@JamieEmmons]

apparently the whole of finland agrees that christmas is the GOAT

[@Ussurin]

7:51 - the fish thing is actually due to main celebration being on 24th. It's still time of post, so meat is forbidden until the midnight. Fish aren't meat in christian tradition, so it's allowed to eat it. In Poland we actually have tradition of 12 Dishes, were we prepare at least 12 dishes for Christmass Eve. There isn't any list of them, but carp is amongst the most populars. I guess it was included on the map, cause it's the most meme-y. We keep it alive till Christmass Eve, usually in bathtoobs or similar. But other than carp we also traditionally prepare bortsch and various mushroom based dishes.

[@Vescilla]

12 dishes is a tradition but not many people actually do it, at least not my family. We're also supposed to leave an empty plate for some stranger in need who can come to eat a hot meal but I've never encountered anyone who'd either knock on the door and ask for that, nor a person who'd let a stranger inside and offer a meal on Christmas Eve. But maybe my experience isn't a depiction of a perfect catholic Christmas Eve since my closest family is atheist and we celebrate "Christmas" on 24th-26th but my mother's family is Orthodox (we live in Podlasie, north-east Poland) so we have Christmas also on January 6th and 7th.

[@Ussurin]

@@Vescilla Pomerania here, catholic, moxed family between locals and Kresowiacy, 12 dishes happen, empty place too, tho never once anyone requested. Once a guy knocked on but when we offered he just requested some food on the go, didn't want to stay.

[@dutchigamemania]

Gourmetten is actually a verb (to grill on this gourmet station). It is kinda like korean bbq in the sense that you grill meat in front of you. Sometimes gourmette stations also have room for mini-pancakes. With the grilled meat you often eat bread with garlic butter or some other toping.

[@robertjug8515]

In Slovenia we have 3 ''good men of December''. The Catholics give most presents on the 6th of December (Miklavž -st. Nicholas). We adapted Santa Claus (we call him Božiček) for Christmas (Christmas=Božič) and on the New Years eve we have Dedek Mraz (Grandpa Frost) - from Yugoslavia times.

[@nordriket]

I think the reason we celebrate christmas more in northern Europe is because this holiday originates here and in other parts of western/northern Europe like Germany. We still call it the old heathen word Jul or Yule. The spanish speaking countries etc. are more christian, yes, but they never were involved in northern germanic paganism, which is the true origin of christmas aka Yule. The warmer countries do not have the long dark winter as we do and never had the need for a big celebration around winter solstice.

[@the_chandler]

As an American: Turkey is the cornerstone food of Thanksgiving. If any other holiday wants a claim on turkey, they are encroaching on the territory of Thanksgiving. Christmas more often has ham as the focal point, but goose or duck isn't uncommon too. I've ever actually had Christmas Goose or Duck, but I think it's a big thing in the northeast or upper midwest. Also, turkeys are NOT cute. Turkeys are absolutely vicious. They are not like a goose or a chicken. If you meet one in the wild, he will chase you until you leave his territory,

[@THE_bchat]

Also an American here, and while growing up, Xmas dinner was dependent on who was hosting, as either turkey or ham would be served. My one aunt always served ham, my mother usually made turkey, but would have ham every few years just to change it up. Since moving out of my parents' home, when I make Xmas dinner, it's always turkey, as ham is left for Easter.

[@Cole_1]

Arnt turkey native to the new world? Sure they could be in Turkey because trade or something but they're from america right?

[@lauracohrt9065]

In Denmark we celebrate christmas on the 24th where we eat the big christmas dinner which usually consists of duck, but a lot of people eat both duck and pork. After dinner we sing and dance around the Christmas tree and open the gifts. The 25th or/ and the 26th we meet up with friends and family for “christmas lunch”, where we eat christmas food and play something called “pakkeleg”.

[@Ankky22]

I didn't even realize before this video that "joulupukki" actually does literally translate to christmas goat

[@babel_UV]

in Spain it would actually be "Christmas Dad" and christmas would be said in french: "Papá Noel"

[@tomaszadamowski]

The bathtub carp in Poland was a thing, true, but in the 90s

[@stickystick1048]

It was a thing only in 90s? In Czechia it is a thing since i dont know when. There is other tradition when they let out the carp in the river and dont kill it. But it was discovered that the carp dies anyway from the shock of different temperatures and so, so i hope people just kill it since thats actually more human to the fish.

[@DavidSolimano]

If you think killing the bathtub carp is bad, just wait until you hear that other animals are also killed before being eaten.

[@franaking]

5:06 Idk if it’s already been said but I’m pretty sure that they celebrate Christmas on the 7th is because it’s the day of the Epiphany of Jesus (when the 3 kings delivered their gifts to the baby). For that reason in Spain we don’t have as much of a Santa Christmas rather a 3 kings one (but more and more people are celebrating both).

[@divingdave2945]

We celebrate Christmas on 25th and 26th in Germany. But we begin on holy evening on the evening of 24th, which is also where we get the present stuff behind us.

[@DJPJ.]

0:30 There is no such thing as "Christmas gnome" in Scandinavia, but we do have "Christmas nisse". 5:20 This is wrong. Most countries celebrate the 24th, the 25th is just the day after. 9:10 Are you just gonna ignore that Denmark also eats geese?

[@PotVon]

To be fair, at least in Finland, the 25th is Christmas day, but it's still celebrated on the 24th.

[@Hivod01]

tomte does translate to gnome

[@DJPJ.]

@@Hivod01 No it doesn't. They are quite different creatures.

[@DJPJ.]

@@PotVon Yes ofc. the 25th is Christmas day, but that is beside the point.

[@Hivod01]

@@DJPJ. they are different creatures but they have the same name. "en tomte" is just a gnome, but "jultomten" is santa claus.

[@shiina29]

Last time I went home to Minnesota there were these huge wild birds in the fields and apparently they've reintroduced wild turkeys to the area.

[@KanyeTheGayFish69]

Wild turkeys are everywhere in the Midwest

[@Liggliluff]

(5:30) But people celebrate on Hallows Eve, so why not celebrate on Christmas Eve too?

[@TheMightyKinkle]

The fact that Greece eats Turkey for Christmas is hilarious