Traditions, customs, and Religious processions are common in many countries, and although they are completely normal to natives, to outsiders they can seem a little bit crazy.
1. Teeth.
In the UK and the US, when a child loses a tooth, the Tooth fairy takes it away, replacing it with a gift, usually money.
In Spain and France a similar thing happens but "The Tooth Fairy" is actually a mouse called "The Good Little Mouse" or "The Little Mouse Perez", in Jamaica, "The Tooth Fairy" is also a rodent, called "Ratta Ratta".
In the Middle East, the tooth is thrown into the sky so the sun will grant the child a brighter smile with a new tooth.
In Greece, they throw the tooth onto the roof for good luck, and in China, India, Korea, and Vietnam, only the lower teeth are thrown onto a roof for good luck, the upper teeth are placed on, or under the ground, so that the new tooth will grow straight and true.
2. Pomlazka.
The Czechs have an odd custom that supposedly improves a woman's luck, fertility, and health for the upcoming year.
Every Easter, young men braid whips from willow branches and tie ribbons on them, on Easter Monday, they go round the village whipping the girl's legs and buttocks and singing a song which roughly translates as.
"Feast, Feast, give me a painted egg,
if you don't have a painted one,
give me a white one instead,
and then the hen will bring you an egg again"
3. Kanamara festival
In Japan, they also have a fertility custom.
The Kanamara festival is held every year in spring at the Kanayama shrine in Kawasaki, Japan.
Kanamara Matsuri translates as "Festival of the Steel Phallus" and every year there are processions with three different portable shrines:
The Kanamara Boat Mikoshi, which is a roofed shrine on a boat with a shiny black steel penis inside,
The Kanamara Mikoshi, which has a square base and a roof with a wooden penis inside,
and The Elizabeth Mikoshi which is just a large pink penis tied to a platform.
This fertility festival offers penis and vulva-shaped candy for you to suck on, Daikon Radishes to carve penises out of, and a whole range of genitalia-themed goods to buy, from keychains to candles.
4. Pushers.
The Japanese people in general are very honorable, they avoid offending others and respect each other's personal space. However, Japan's Subway system, like every subway system in the world, is crowded and, left to their own devices, the Japanese would respect each other's personal space and the trains would leave half empty. This would make the system impunctual and inefficient.
To overcome this problem the subway system employs people they call "Pushers", their job, is to guide, push, and jam as many people into the trains as possible, increasing the number of passengers on each train and improving the system's efficiency.
5. Falaka.
Falaka is a light-hearted tradition from South Korea.
During a wedding, the friends and family of the groom will make him lie down on the floor or on a table and take his shoes and socks off. Next, they take it in turns to beat the soles of his feet with dried fish whilst someone asks him questions. This custom is supposed to prove that he is worthy to take his bride home with him and strong enough to endure the night ahead of them.
6. Año Nuevo.
In Spain, it is customary to welcome the New year by wearing red underwear for luck.
At midnight, as the clock chimes, they try to eat one grape per chime, that's 12 grapes in twelve seconds, and those that achieve this will have good health.
After eating the grapes they then make a toast, putting something made of gold into their glass of cava to ensure prosperity in the following year.
7. La Batalla del Vino.
Spain is also known for its San Fermin bull running festival and for its "Tomatina" tomato fight fiesta, but a festival you may not have heard of is La Batalla del Vino.
Taking place on the 29th of June in Haro, La Rioja. After days of festivities, over 10,000 people dressed in white, participate in the "wine battle".
More than 100,000 liters of red wine are fired from hoses, buckets, crop sprayers, and water pistols until everyone's clothes are purple.
8. Procreation Day.
In Russia, the 12th of September is a National holiday called Conception Day.
In 2005, in an effort to increase Russia's alarmingly low birth rate, the government invented Conception Day.
The general public is given time off work in order to go home and procreate, anyone who has their baby exactly 9 months after on the 12th of June enters a draw where they can win anything from a washing machine to a SUV.
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Which custom did you think was the craziest?
Comment below!
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