Phillip Rice

Here in South Africa, Christmas is celebrated in various ways depending on the cultural background of the people you are with. We have celebrated with Portuguese, Afrikaans, and Pedi families, each having their own distinct traditions, over the past decade. Each one has similarities to the way we celebrated Christmas back in Texas with an emphasis on food and family, but also had the cultural elements which made them each unique.

Christmas in the Philippines begins with the “-ber” months–September, October, November, and December. On September 1 you will see Christmas trees in the malls and hear Christmas music in grocery stores, markets, and shopping centers. We are amazed that Christmas is not the most celebrated of the holidays, but the most celebrated is New Years. New Year’s Day is celebrated bigger and louder with lots of fireworks! And of course, the roasted pig!

In the Southeast Asian country we serve in, Christmas is generally not preceded by a whole month of festive decorations, parties and gatherings. Instead, the people that decorate might put up a few decorations only the week before Christmas Day at the earliest. Exchanging gifts on Christmas is also still a very new concept, and the people that do adopt this Western tradition may just gift one or two small presents.