# Christmas is two days long?



## fenixpollo

My company's event calendar says that in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Czech Rep., Hungary, Poland, Hong Kong & New Zealand, *December 26th is "the 2nd day of Christmas*." *Is that true?* If so, how is the 2nd day of Christmas celebrated? Does this day have a special name in your country/language?

Thanks in advance.


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## Chaska Ñawi

We celebrate it in Canada too, and it's a paid holiday.  Like the English, we call it Boxing Day.  The idea (in England) was that you boxed up all your leftovers from Christmas Dinner and took them down to the local almshouse.  At least that's one version - the other one is that this is when the lords and ladies prepared boxes of goods for their tenants, a little like a Christmas bonus.

Personally I see Boxing Day as an opportunity for me to wash my way through all the dirty dishes from Christmas Dinner, and to take a long restorative nap.  Other hardier souls see it as a chance to hit Boxing Day sales.


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## marinax

in argentina christmas begins on the 24th.
some companies won't work that day, some may work only until lunch time.
we begin the celebrations that night, during dinner and waiting until midnight, and end usually on the 25th having lunch with the family (your own or your spouse's).
same happens with the 31st and 1st of january.


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## Samaruc

December 26th is traditionally known in Valencia as "segon dia de Nadal" (second day of Christmas). However (and unfortunately), nowadays it is not a paid holiday...


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## fenixpollo

Samaruc said:
			
		

> December 26th is traditionally known in Valencia as "segon dia de Nadal". However, nowadays it is not a paid holiday...


 How is (was) it celebrated... traditionally?


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## Samaruc

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> How is (was) it celebrated... traditionally?



Well, it is just a prolongation of the Christmas day in which people used to visit the relatives they hadn't seen the day before. As in any other place where Christmas is celebrated, besides its religious meaning (today almost lost) it is a very familiar celebration.


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## fenixpollo

Familiar in the sense of "family-oriented", correct?


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## Samaruc

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> Familiar in the sense of "family-oriented", correct?



Yes, family-oriented.


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## Laia

Samaruc said:
			
		

> December 26th is traditionally known in Valencia as "segon dia de Nadal" (second day of Christmas). However (and unfortunately), nowadays it is not a paid holiday...


 
In Catalonia we say is St Esteve day (el dia de Sant Esteve). It is yes a paid holiday, I think.


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## timpeac

I thought it was called "boxing day" because you opened your presents on that day in the past. Maybe that's an old wives' tale.


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## mjscott

The "Twelve Days of Christmas" start on Christmas and culminate on January 6, Three Kings Day. Usually the days _after_ Christmas and New Year's (in the US) are paid holidays.


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## I.C.

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> If so, how is the 2nd day of Christmas celebrated? Does this day have a special name in your country/language?


True for Germany. No special name I heard of. To my knowledge most commonly spent eating too much third day in a row.
Presents are opened on Christmas Eve, by the way.


			
				mjscott said:
			
		

> The "Twelve Days of Christmas" start on Christmas and culminate on January 6, Three Kings Day.


Known in Germany as “Rauhnächte”. Pagan origin. According to mythology Odin and his crew are on their Wild Hunt. Dead souls and ghosts in the air. A dangerous time for the living.


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## Hakro

The second Christmas day is in Finland (and in Scandinavia, I believe, probably also in Germany) called St. Stephen's day (for the first martyr). 

In Finland it's very popular to visit related families and friends on St. Stephens day. We even have an expression "St. Stephen's ride" that means (originally) a sleigh-riding to meet neighbours and friends. Nowadays we use the horsepower of tha cars.

Both 25th and 26th of December are holidays in Finland. Practically all business is closed.

Also in  Finland (and Scandinavia) the Christmas gifts are opened on Christmas Eve.


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## luis masci

Here is not holiday anyway. As this year Christmas and New Year Day are Sunday we haven’t any extra holiday.  
I didn’t know Boxing Day until I began surfing the web. In the first moment that sounded to me as if it were something in relation with boxing sport.


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## jinti

I thought the term "Boxing Day" was a reference to the churches opening the poorboxes the day after Christmas and distributing the money among the poor.  But now I'm reading so many alternative explanations....


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## Maika

In Mexico we commonly celebrate same way as in Argentina, 24th delicious dinner with family, and 25th lunch.

The official holiday is the 25th, and it's a paid holiday
24th is not official holiday and most of the business work until lunch time.

Same with Dec. 31/Jan. 1st


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## Godfather

Switzerland 

December 24 - Heiligabend (Christmas Eve)
December 25 - Weihnachten (Christmas)
December 26 - Stefanstag (Saint Stephen Day)

To make things complicated Heiligabend is not a holiday in spite of its literal translation. Many families celebrate on December 24 and 25 but not on St. Stephen Day.


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## I.C.

Hakro said:
			
		

> The second Christmas day is in Finland (and in Scandinavia, I believe, probably also in Germany) called St. Stephen's day (for the first martyr).


 Ok, interviewed two people who both are in their sixties now. One of them originally from a rural catholic area (C), the other with an urban Lutheran-Protestant background (P).

Q: Did you know 2nd Christmas Day (2.Weihnachtstag) is also called Stephanstag?
C: Yes, yes, it’s the day of St.Stephanus. 
P: Never heard of it.

Q: Was it a custom to visit relatives on this day?
C: Yes, I remember how we would walk miles and miles through the deep snow to visit relatives who lived a few villages away. On !st Christmas Day we'd stay at home.
C: No. We had no relatives in the area. Don't remember that others did it out of custom.

Q: How would you have commonly called this day, 2nd Christmas Day or Stephanstag?
C: 2nd Christmas Day. It was known to be Stephanstag also, but commonly called 2nd Christmas Day.
P: 2nd Christmas Day.

My comment: I’ve never heard of 2nd Christmas day being called Stephanstag. Don’t remember seeing any calendar that listed it as Stephanstag, always just as 2nd Christmas Day. 

Visiting relatives is common, I'd say, but you get to see a lot of them around this time anyway. For example, quite a few couples, in particular ones with kids, spend Christmas Eve at the place of the parents of one of them and switch to the place of the parents of the other one on 1st Christmas Day.


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## Benjy

timpeac said:
			
		

> I thought it was called "boxing day" because you opened your presents on that day in the past. Maybe that's an old wives' tale.



i'm sure that's true. at least in england


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## Agnès E.

December 26 is no special day in France. We use to spend it digesting both preceeding feasts (the one of 24th diner and the one of 25th lunch). 
Presents are usually opened on Christmas day (25th) before taking our breakfast!


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## charlie2

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> My company's event calendar says that in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Czech Rep., Hungary, Poland, New Zealand, Hong Kong & New Zealand, *December 26th is "the 2nd day of Christmas*." *Is that true?* If so, how is the 2nd day of Christmas celebrated? Does this day have a special name in your country/language?
> 
> Thanks in advance.


Hong Kong is in your company's event calendar?!

In Hong Kong, it is called the day after Christmas rather than the second day of Christmas. In Chinese, these two can be really similar.

Christmas day and the day after are always public holidays. As these days fell on a Sunday and a Monday respectively for 2005, the 26th and the 27th of December "became" public holidays to make up for the loss, so to speak.

Celebration starts on Christmas Eve which we call the Peaceful Night. In fact it is not always that peaceful. People now drink and drive more often. Ask the police and the people responsible for clearing out the rubbish every year. Celebration : Countdown, fireworks, parties, etc.

The day after Christmas? I guess Christmas gifts are only for small children, perhaps your girlfriends too. I don't know any particular way to celebrate it. It is a holiday for the family to go out, I guess.


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## cirrus

The summary in wiki seems fairly comprehensive and clears up some of the doubts above.  Here's the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_day

BTW 

Happy new year!


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## Jana337

Czech Republic: Everything like in Germany, more or less. 
The days are officially called:
24th - Christmas Eve (presents unpacked after the dinner)
25th - 1st Christmas Holiday
26th - 2nd Christmas Holiday
From the religious point of view, the numbering is quite logical, but everyone considers December 24th the actual first day of Christmas. While a working day until a couple of years ago (but almost everyone took a day off), it is a paid holiday now.

After 1989, people have been increasingly aware of the religious meanings of the Christmas days (although we are a very atheist country) and alternative names for the two holidays have gained some popularity:
25th - Boží hod vánoční. The few Google links with an English translation offer Christmas Feast as an equivalent but a more literaral translation would be God's Christmas Feast
26th - Svatý Štěpán, St. Stephen

Jana


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## Alundra

As far as I know, in Spain there isn't 2nd day of Christmas (I didn't know about Valencia and Catalonia, I hadn't heard it in all of my life), but I think that in the rest of Spain, 26th December is merely the day after Christmas, and the people go to work, and it isn't a special day at all. The following special day is 31th December... but not in the morning, only when the night comes... 


Alundra.


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## Noel Acevedo

How unfortunate, just two days for Christmas!  Perhaps that's why Puertorricans are called party animals.  We start Christmas just after Thanksgiving (Nov 25) and by the 25th (december) we are on a roll.  Then we hit New Years day, take a breather and aim towards Epiphany (Jan 6).  Then when everyone else is dead tired we aim towards the San Sebastian festival (which in the Municipality of San Sebastian starts on Jan 8th and ends on the 19th) and in San Juan, during the weekend of 19-21 is held in the street of that name. For everyone else there is always the excuse of the "Octavitas", the 8 days after Epiphany.  Yes, we do work, if any one asks....

Noel


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