We all have our own well-established ways of celebrating Christmas.

For some, the only way to spend Christmas is to eat Christmas porridge on the morning of Christmas Eve, calm down at noon with the declaration of Christmas Peace, go to a Christmas sauna, and gather with the family for Christmas ham and treats before Santa arrives in the evening.

But the people next door may celebrate Christmas at a different time and in a different way. Which is a good thing – to each their own.

In one way or another, the celebration of Christmas has spread around the world, regardless of religion. In many cultures, Christmas is no longer particularly Christian, but rather a commercial or winter celebration.

There are many differences in Christmas traditions. Americans tend to do plenty of decoration. Their Christmas drink is an eggnog instead of mulled wine, and on the morning of Christmas Day, they rush to see what presents Santa Claus has brought. In the UK, the Christmas tree can be a pine, the main Christmas dish is turkey, Christmas stockings are hung on the fireplace and Santa Claus slips gifts into the stockings on Christmas night. On Christmas Eve, people might go down to the pub for a Christmas cider. In Germany, gifts are brought not by Santa Claus, but by the Christkind. Germans serve fish at the Christmas dinner, while the Japanese prefer to eat fried chicken.

Christmas isn’t celebrated at exactly the same time everywhere. In Russia, Christmas is celebrated on 7 January, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. In the Netherlands, gifts are given to children already on 5 December. Mexico has a 12-day Posadas celebration, which runs from early December until Christmas. Muslims don’t celebrate Christmas at all. In many Asian and Arab countries, Christmas can be seen in the streets, but primarily as a commercial and tourist celebration.

In Finland, people are used to celebrating on Christmas Eve and resting on Christmas Day, but this is also changing. For example, some people in Finland have started having a winter celebration at the winter solstice instead of celebrating Christmas. Habits and traditions live and change as cultures and the world unite.

We will soon see what Christmas looks like across Finland this year.