This question originally appeared on Quora. 
Answer by Togi Chinbat,
Mongolia.
It was never a big deal.
I grew up thinking Christmas and the New Year were the same thing. In my mind, people in the U.S. just called theirs a different name and seemed start celebrating around the 25th or 26th. It was because of the obvious similarities of the two.
Santa
But we call ours "Winter Grandpa," and he doesn't keep Good/Bad list. He has a band of fairies following everywhere he goes. He hails from the land of Ice and Glacier.
Tree
It is the same except for one thing: people always put money as a gift on the trees when they visit their friends. And the children of the family would collect the money after holidays are over.
If this little girl was in Mongolia, she would be counting how much she has amassed on her tree.
Family gathering
I have spent every single New Year's celebration with my family. It has always been the most meaningful holiday for me.
Songs
On TV and at school parties, they used to play the same Christmas songs I would hear in movies made in the U.S. Imagine bunch of Mongolian high school kids dancing slowly to a Christmas music during New Years. It was probably because there were many others who were just as clueless as me.
People in Mongolia still don't care about Christmas much at all. Nowadays, it's just another excuse for young people to party.
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