Christmas is a great time of year, and not just because of the food, presents, and spending time with family, but because it’s a holiday celebrated all around the world. Here in the states we have traditions such as leaving cookies and milk out for Santa, opening presents on Christmas Day, and decorating our trees with lights and ornaments. Other countries have equally charming traditions or somewhat bizarre customs which are interesting to learn about. We’ve gathered some of the best ones below.

Yule Goat

In Sweden, families decorate their Christmas Trees and homes with the Yule Goat (Julbock). Made of straw and tied up with a pretty red ribbon, Yule Goats are a popular item to hang on the tree or place under it. The city of Gavle, Sweden, is well known for erecting the largest Yule Goat in the world each December. Located in Castle Square the Gavle Yule Goat has been erected annually since 1966. Unfortunately, it’s also been a tradition for vandals to burn down the straw goat which has happened 36 times so far.

KFC

Thanks to a wildly successful marketing campaign Kentucky Fried Chicken did in 1974, it’s become a tradition in Japan to eat a bucket of the Colonel’s golden fried goodness for dinner on Christmas Day. It’s estimated that 3.6 million Japanese families enjoy some KFC for Christmas. It’s so popular, that orders must be placed months in advance.

Radish Sculptures

Celebrated every December 23rd, the tradition of creating intricately carved out of oversized radishes began a century ago when merchants tried to attract potential shoppers on their way to and from Christmas church services. In 1897, the mayor of Oaxaca, which is a region already well-known for the wood carving skills, officially declared Dec. 23 to be “Night of the Radishes.” Each year artists transform the lowly radish into nativity scenes, animals, people, churches and more.

Christmas Pickle

A tradition in Germany is to hide a sparkly, green pickle ornament deep within the boughs of the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. When the children wake up on Christmas Day, they search for it excitedly. The first child to find the Christmas Pickle either gets the honor to open the first present, or is given a special gift.

Stars

In Poland and Ukraine, presents can not be opened until the first star of the night has appeared. Typically, the youngest child in the family watches the evening sky for the star which signals it’s time to unwrap the gifts.

Spider Webs

In the Ukraine, you will see Christmas Trees decorated with fake spider webs made from all sorts of different materials. Based on an old legend about spiders who decorate the tree of a family who were too poor to do it themselves, spider webs are believed to bring good luck and fortune.

Brooms

When Christmas Eve arrives in Norway, people make sure to hide their brooms and mops to prevent evil spirits from stealing them. Supposedly, these evil spirits like to take any brooms they see for a mischievous joy ride on the night before Christmas cause havoc and chaos in your home.

Log

A Christmas Log with four legs, a painted-on face, and a Santa Hat is something you’ll see everywhere across Spain. This small wooden log is given to children a week or two before Christmas and they are to care for the log by feeding it and keeping it warm with a blanket. Then, on Christmas Eve, the poor log is tossed into the fire and is beaten with sticks whereupon it will “poop” out gifts for the children. That took a weird turn…

Another tradition for the holidays that we love here is sending beautiful wintertime flowers to family and loved ones.