There are some Christmas traditions found around the world which might seem a bit odd to most Americans. For instance:
In South Africa, a Christmas Day delicacy is the deep fried caterpillar of the Emperor Moth.
It may not be much better in Greenland, where a Christmas favorite is raw whale skin served with blubber. For dessert, I suppose, they turn to dead auk birds which were stuffed in sealskins and allowed to ferment for months.
In Austria, children dread the possible arrival of Krampus, a Christmas devil who beats naughty children with branches.
In Germany, a pickle is hidden in the Christmas tree on Christmas eve, and the first child to find it on Christmas morning gets a small gift.
Perhaps the most hopeful custom is in the Czech Republic, where unmarried women stand by the door and throw a shoe over their shoulder. If the shoe lands pointing toward the door, then the woman will get married during the coming year!