Every year when the days get shorter, pumpkins and ghosts creep into yards and storefronts. After candy filled pillow cases are stashed under beds, cornucopias and turkeys decorate a brief time of familial gluttony before the consumer insanity of Black Friday, and before you know it the Big One is upon us.

While the whirlwind of food and family can help keep cold months jovial, the leap from autumn equinox to New Years Eve seems shorter and shorter each year. Scrooges everywhere bemoan the holiday season as an excuse for useless consumerism. Indeed, the season seems to be more about food and gifts, and less about appreciating and reminiscing. Americans might be getting bored of the same themes and weary of lean wallets, but what does the international community think of our holiday season, and how do they do it differently?

"The English make fun of Americans for their holidays. You have a holiday every three days," says Josie Davis, an exchange student from Kingston University in London. Despite taking the piss, Brits have appropriated some American traditions, though the first carved pumpkins and original popularization of Halloween resulted from an influx of Irish and English immigrants.

"We decided we'd nick your Halloween," Davis says. Similar to American children, English children don costumes and collect free candy. In addition to Halloween, Davis believes America's tendency toward over consumption during Christmas is making its way to England, with Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) starting off big New Years sales akin to the day after Thanksgiving. Though ready for a day of feasting with her international exchange appointed buddy in Long Beach, she does not mind the absence of a Thanksgiving-esque holiday back home. "Everyone keeps talking about turkeys, but we have a roast dinner every Sunday," she says.

In China the Halloween theme is catching on, but it is not for kids. "It's more for people my age to dress up and go out," says Fiona Shang, a marketing major from Shandong province.

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, China celebrates an autumn moon festival, typically occurring during September or October. The character for full moon resembles that of "reunion," so relatives make an effort to come together during the festival. Moon cakes, a confection with various fillings like red bean or taro, are popular during the festival, with regional variations on popular holiday snacks. "They're sweeter than most Chinese candy," Shang says. "Almost as sweet as American candy."

In Poland, holidays are still intrinsically linked with the church, which means you will not find Halloween in Krakow. Christmas brings three days of church services, but when the first star appears on Christmas eve, kids are let loose upon their presents. The next day is spent "drinking vodka and visiting friends and family," says Polish student PeteTarasiewicz.

Even with the retained religious importance in Polish festivities, there is a day to let loose. Known as Smingus Dyngus, or "wet Monday," the entire day after Easter is spent playfully dumping water on each other. "First thing, you wake up and splash people," Tarasiewicz says.

In Paris, there is only a trace of Halloween spirit, and the spooky celebration is mostly an excuse for costume parties. "In the South of France, where my grandpa lives, it's a small village where it's safe for kids to trick or treat," says Anne-Claire Girard, an exchange student from Paris. "We tried it when I was in middle school. It's not our culture."

Instead the country continues to recognize All Saints' Day on November 1, a religious precursor to the modern American version of Halloween. The day is spent bringing flowers to the graves of loved ones - an acknowledgment of death and remembrance of the deceased mostly absent from U.S. holidays.

Girard recalls her visit to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where a friend's mother incredulously asked if the French do not celebrate Thanksgiving. "I was embarrassed, I didn't say anything. I think she saw the look on my face and knew she said something wrong." Even after the awkward encounter in the birthplace of Thanksgiving, Girard is looking forward to spending the holiday with a friend in Texas who happens to be a chef. "A lot of (international) students will probably not celebrate Thanksgiving," says Girard. "

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is similar to the Catholic All Saints' Day and involves the same ideas of remembering the dead as well as celebrating life in Mexico and many other countries. Marigolds and candy skulls are part of the colorful decorations, and seasonal sweet bread called "Pan de Muerto" is baked. Former exchange student Sarah Dutra recalls her experience in Queretaro, Mexico: "Altars remembering loved ones that have passed away are put up not only to remember them but to celebrate them and celebrate death as a part of life instead of the end of it." Memories of the dead are rehashed, but the mood remains celebratory instead of macabre.

"By starting the season off in this celebration of family... it put a different emphasis on the season, a little more tranquility and a little more focus on what or better yet who really matters during this time of year."