Thanks for sharing the knowledge :))
I thought all the Western countries have similar, if not the same, traditions for Christmas and New Year...
Things have actually just recently become very similar. Most places had their own Yule traditions, which were eventually overlayed by christianity. Back then, there wasn't much communication between the areas of the world (at least not among peasantry), so Christams was basically Yule with christian elements added. These days we have all this mass media and with aerican christmas movies being so widespread, many emulate what they see there (at least here in easter Europe). So things have definitely become more homogenous. Some old traditions do survive though. So a christmas in different countries will still be different.