Happy St. Nicholas Day!!
Last week was an American holiday and this week there's a German one!
If you don't know, St. Nicholas day has a tradition similar to Santa. On December 5, kids clean their shoes (or a "Nikolaus Stiefel," boot) and put them outside the front door. If the kids are good, St. Nicholas will come overnight and fill their shoes with nuts, oranges and chocolates but in the case that they're bad, they'll receive a tree branch.
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| Before... |
I've been looking forward to this holiday for a while because we don't celebrate it in the US, it's a German tradition. The night before St. Nicholas day, my host mom said that my host brother and I needed to clean our shoes, but I thought she was joking until I finally clarified it and learned that she was serious. I made sure my shoes were spotless because my host brother warned me that if our shoes weren't "spiffy clean," our shoes would be passed over.
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| After |
When we woke up the next day, I found all of our shoes filled with all sorts of traditional sweets like walnuts, hazelnuts, oranges, gummy bears and of course, chocolate as well as some small gifts like nail polish and socks! It reminded me a lot of looking through my stocking before opening gifts on Christmas day as a kid.
Even as 11th graders, all of my friends asked one another what they got for St. Nicholas day. Most of my friends got gifts similar to mine but a few received gifts like a new pair of shoes, a purse, scarf and gloves. Once school got out, the festivities continued at the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market,) where I got together with some friends where we drank Gluehwein or hot chocolate and did a little Christmas shopping. (I'll post pics of that later!)
I wish we had this holiday in the U.S. It puts everyone, young and old in the Christmas mood! Plus, everybody loves getting a little bit candy and gifts before Christmas. ;)
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