Christmas is mostly about celebrations, gift-giving, merry-making and church-attending. There are so many different elements that contribute to the celebration that we have come to know as Christmas: tucking into the Christmas feast of yummy pudding and turkey, hanging up socks and leaving out cookies and milk for Santa, opening presents under the Christmas trees, and having a great time with family and friends.

At least, that’s what the common notion of Christmas is to most of us. But in some parts of the world, you may find strange and bizarre traditions and customs that would raise an eyebrow or two.

Here are some of the strange things people around the world do for Christmas in the name of celebration.

More: Christmas related articles.

1. Go Bananas With Christmas [India]

In India, only about 2.3% of the population are Christians, but because of the large population they have, we are talking about 25 million people here! Christians here celebrate Christmas with midnight mass and gift-giving like the rest of the world, but with the absence of fir trees or pine trees to decorate, they usually made do with banana trees and mango trees instead.

(Image Source: Tom Elliot)

That means instead of Christmas pine trees lining up celebrating households, you’ll find brightly lit, well-decorated Christmas banana or mango trees on the streets. They even use the leaves of those trees to decorate their houses.

2. Toss Your Shoes and Get Hitched [Czech Republic, Slovakia]

If you don’t want to celebrate another Christmas single, then try this: stand with your back to the door and throw a shoe over your shoulders on Christmas day! If the shoe lands with the toe pointing to the door, congratulations, you’re going to get married soon! There’s no clue as to how long before you meet your prince charming though.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

3. Kentucky Fried Christmas [Japan]

No kidding – just like how Christmas turkey is a must on Christmas, for the Japanese it’s the Colonel’s Chicken. Since the beginning of this marketing campaign four decades ago, KFC has been associated with Christmas in the minds of the Japanese for generations, a tradition passed on from parent to child in spite of its commercialized beginnings. More than 240,000 barrels of chicken will be sold during Christmas, five to ten times its normal monthly sales. "In Japan, Christmas equals KFC."

(Image Source: katjamueller)

4. christmas Cakes [Japan]

Another Christmas food associated with Japan is the Christmas cake. These sponge cakes with whipped cream, chocolate and strawberries on top are ordered months in advanced and are eaten on Christmas Eve. Any cake that is not sold after the 25th is unwanted. For the same reason, single Japanese women over the age of 25 used to be called Christmas Cakes (yikes!).

(Image Source: Make Do & Mend)

5. A Christmas of Remembrance [Finland]

Families in Finland usually visit the graves of their ancestors and relatives on Christmas Eve to light candles in memory of the deceased. Even those who don’t have their kin’s graves nearby visit cemeteries to place candles in honor of their family members buried elsewhere. Hence, on Christmas eve, cemeteries would be lit up with candles presenting a beautiful sight.

(Image Source: Huffington Post)

Food will also be left on tables and family members leave their beds to sleep on the floor to give the dead a nice meal and a place to rest when they visit.

6. Skating your Way to Christmas [Venezuela]

In the capital city, Caracas, before young children go to bed on Christmas Eve, they tie one end of a string to their big toe, leaving the other end outside their bedroom window. The fun part of the Christmas celebration is on the day of the "Early Morning Mass". Streets were closed off to cars until 8 a.m. for people to roller-skate to the service, and they customarily proceed to tug on any of the strings they see hanging.

(Image Source: Mike Hartz)

7. Let the Goat Live Until Christmas [Sweden]

In 1966 a 13-metre tall goat figure made of straw was erected in the town square of Gavle. At the stroke of midnight, Christmas Eve, the goat went up in flames. But the town never stopped building it year after year, and vandals never stopped trying to burn the goat down! By 2011, the goat has already been burned down 25 times. The burning of the Gavle goat happened so often that bookmakers began taking bets for the survival of the goat since 1988.

(Image Source: Nicole)

Just to be clear, the town doesn’t want the goat to be burned down; in fact, In 2001, an American tourist served time in jail and was fined for successfully doing so.

8. A Spidey Christmas [Ukraine]

Instead of glittering ornaments and tinsel, Ukrainian Christmas trees are covered with an artificial spiders and cobwebs. Why the eccentric taste in spiders? According to the local folklore, there was a poor woman who could not afford to decorate their Christmas tree. But the next morning, her children woke up to see the tree covered with webs and when the first light of Christmas morning touched the web threads, they turned into gold and silver and the family was never left for wanting again. Hence, it is believed that seeing a spider web on Christmas morning brings luck.

(Image Source: Robin L. D. Rees)

9. The Christmas Sauna [Finland]

Most Finnish families have their own sauna because it’s believed that a sauna ‘elf’ lives in there to protect it and to make sure people behave themselves. And every Christmas Eve, people would head to their sauna, strip to their toes, and enjoy a nice, good soak, naked. After sunset though, the place is for the spirits of dead ancestors.

(Image Source: Destination 360)

10. Don’t Stuff It in My Socks [Phillipines]

Christmas is huge in the Phillipines since 80% of the population are Christians. Celebrations last all the way to January. Children will leave their brightly polished shoes and freshly washed socks on the window sills for the Three Kings to leave gifts in when they pass through their houses at night. The "Feast of the Three Kings" marks the end of the Christmas celebrations.

(Image Source: Magical Holiday Home)

11. pudding & Wishes [Britain]

The Christmas pudding is served on Christmas Day but the traditions we’re looking at has to do with how it is made. Every member of the family (especially the kids) is to stir the mix clockwise while making a wish. Earlier traditions include putting a coin in the mix which brings wealth to whoever finds it in their serving. Other additions include a ring for luck in marriage and a thimble for good luck in life.

(Image Source: 99holidays)

12. Santa’s own Postal Code [H0H 0H0]

Where do you send your letters to Santa to? The North Pole? Santa’s workshop? Actually Santa has his own postal code, H0H 0H0 (with zeros instead of the letter ‘o’) and it’s in Canada where postal codes are alphanumeric. Letters – the kind that bypass parents – used to end up undelivered because there was no centralized address for Kris Kringle.

(Image source: The Big Red Box)

But for the past 30 years, Canada Post volunteers (in the thousands) had been helping Santa reply to a million letters (every year!) from children around the world in different languages, including Braille.

Would you rather have a dull and plain shopping or grocery bag with you or have something that complements your style and personality, or at least something that captures the attention of by-passers? Well, as you shall see in the list below, some shopping bags are designed to be seen and to put a smile on someone’s face. Others are out to make a voiceless statement and to create awareness of global issues.

Regardless of their agenda, a captivating bag design – be it paper or plastic, canvas or cloth – can bring positive attention to the brands or organizations they represent. See if you agree after checking out these 40 eye-catching bag designs you don’t see every day.

Recommended Reading: 36 Clever (And Quirky) Packaging Designs

Kong: Shoe Bag (Image Credit: Jamie Buckingham)

ReVital (Image Credit: Antje Gerwien)

Meralco: Unplug to Save Bags (Image Credit: TBWA, Philippines)

Fitness Company: Shopping Bag (Image Credit: Gert Maehnicke)

Shumensko Beer: Beer Crate (Image Credit: Chavdar Kenarov & Marsel Levi)

Lipton Clear Green Tea Bag: Carry Bag (Image Credit: Imtiyaz Khan)

Lee: Never Wasted (Image Credit: Praveen Das & Kartik Lyer)

Kiwi (Image Credit: Inch)

Coffee Concepts (Image Credit: Quantum Concept)

Moo Shoes (Image Credit: Alistair Marshall)

YKM Skipping Bag (Image Credit: TBWA, Istanbul)

Canon EOS 500D Bag (Image Credit: One Paradox)

Max Factor Eye Bag (Image Credit: Andreas Pauli)

Fred & Friends Xposed Bag (Image Credit: Fred & Friends)

Index Living Mall: Model Room Bags (Image Credit: Suthisak Sucharittanonta & Nikrom Kulkosa)

Sandisk – Space For 4,000 Photos (Image Credit: Tom Cullinan)

"Carbon Neutral Challenge" – Reusable Bag (Image Credit: Santiago Mangada Puno)

Donation Appeal: Umbrella Bags (Image Credit: Keith Ho & Ray Lam)

Total Nutrition Corporation: Burn Bag (Image Credit: Merlee Jayme & Eugene Demata)

LG Steam Direct Drive Washing Machine: Laundry Bag Takeover (Image Credit: Shahir Zag)

Craftsman Tools: Drill Bag (Image Credit: Ken Erke)

Gortz 17 Shoelace Box Bag (Image Credit: Kempertrautmann, Hamburg, Germany)

Red Cross (Image Credit: Michael Cheung)

HLX Air Sickness Bag (Image Credit: Jan Leube)

San Li Tun Village: Dinosaurian Egg (Image Credit: Johnson Sheng)

This Human World – Austrian Film Festival of Human Rights (Image Credit: Wien Nord, Vienna, Austria)

Photon Life Slimming Experts Bag (Image Credit: Farrah Bianca)

Clothes in Closets: Knucle Bag (Image Credit: Chacho Puebla)

Christian Child & Youth Aid – "Bag For More" (Image Credit: Waldemar Konopka & Roland Vanoni)

Panadol Extra Bags (Image Credit: Panadol)

Pantene Shampoo Bag (Image Credit: Tony Sarmiento III & Peachy Pacquing)

Get The Hang Of It (Image Credit: DEDE DextrousDesign)

City Harvest – Help Cure Hunger In New York (Image Credit: James Kuczynski & Dana Tiel)

Paper Bag with Dog Ear Handles (Image Credit: The Barkitect)

Volkswagen Golf GTI: Bag (Image Credit: Christian Vince)

Stop’n Grow – Nail Biter Bag (Image Credit: David Mously)

Brain Bag: IBM OpenPower Project (Image Credit: Shigehiko Ichinosawa)

Triumph – No! Eco Shopping Bag Bra (Image Credit: Triumph Japan)

Dragonet Diving – ‘Plastic Bag’ (Image Credit: Ronald Ng)

ASPE Crime Stories Bag (Image Credit: Duval Guillaume)