Elves in Hawaiian shirts? Reindeer rodeo? Whale sashimi? From the Arctic Circle to the Aloha State, we celebrate the multicultural mania inspired by the president-elect to bring you global Christmas traditions. Yes, Virginia. It’s holiday party time around the world.

The Scandinavians have the perfect excuse for hard Christmas partying: It’s dark by 3 p.m. In December, our Nordic friends start distracting themselves from the never-ending twilight by placing candles in their windows and breaking out the Acquavit (a liquor so strong that it was once thought to raise the dead).

The Danish Christmas Eve is called “Julaften,” and the parties go on all night. Yuletide hospitality features roast goose, rice pudding, red cabbage, and our personal favorite: pickled tongue. Look for horse-drawn Carlsberg wagons delivering the year’s specially brewed Christmas beer, with staff in Santa hats giving away free samples. Danes also like their “glögg”—a potent variety of mulled wine jazzed up with raisins, nuts and cloves steeped in pure Aquavit. Travel advisory: A Danish elf named Nisse in gray trousers and a red cap likes to play pranks during Christmas. On Julaften, many families put out a bowl of rice pudding for him so that he doesn’t take his mischief too far.

In Sweden, the Christmas season launches with Santa Lucia Day, when young women wear white robes and candle wreaths to wake their family with songs and saffron buns. This charming ritual completed, the Swedes get down to drinking “snaps,” a flavored form of Aquavit. Across the country, revelers enjoy the splendid Christmas Smorgasbord, complete with ham, “lutfisk” (dried white fish), rice porridge, and succulent little jellied pig’s feet. Yum. Not to be outdone, the Finns kick things off at Christmas dinner with ice-cold vodka to accompany cold fish hors d’oeuvres.