As South Africa is the southern hemisphere,
Christmas comes the summer.
So there's lots of sun and beautiful flowers full bloom.
The schools are closed the Christmas holidays and some people like to go camping.
Going carol singing, Christmas Eve,
is very popular towns and cities. Carols by Candlelight services are also popular on Christmas Eve.
And many people go a Christmas morning Church Service.
Because traditional 'fir' Christmas Trees would die the heat, South Africans usually put up plastic trees.
Children leave a stocking out Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
The Christmas meal is either turkey, duck, roast beef or suckling pig yellow rice & raisins and vegetables,
followed Christmas Pudding or a traditional South African dessert called Malva Pudding (sometimes also called Lekker Pudding)
Malva pudding is a sweet pudding, containing apricot jam and has a spongy caramelized texture. A cream sauce is often poured over it while it is hot, and it is usually served hot custard and/or ice-cream.
The meal is often eaten outside the summer sun! If it's really hot they might even have a barbecue or ‚braai'.
South Africa also has several other UK Christmas traditions, because of its history the UK, e.g. people also like to pull Christmas Crackers!
Christmas day afternoon,
people visit family and friends or might go a trip into the country side to play games or have a swim.
Boxing Day is also a public holiday South Africa and again people like to be 'out and about' having a good time!
Just in case you bump into friends from South Africa and would like to impress them, here’s what you need to know: In Afrikaans (one the languages spoken in South Africa)
Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Geseënde Kersfees'; Zulu it's 'UKhisimusi omuhle', in Sesotho it's 'Le be le keresemese e monate' and in Xhosa it's 'Krismesi emnandi'.
Santa Claus is also known Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) & Kersvader (Father Christmas) for people who speak Afrikaans (which has a base in Dutch).
