Last weekend was the feast of St. Nicholas. The feast were according to the story the Saint – together with his helpers who are all named Piet – give gifts to children on the night of his birthday the 5th of december.
In The Netherlands there is a cultural diversity. Some families celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas (Sinterklaas in Dutch) and give at that moment presents to the children, but choose to don’t give presents at Christmas. Or some celebrate both with presents, or they only celebrate Christmas. The most important thing: let the children be happy! Have happy memories to remember.
In my family we draw lots with a name. And when you got a name that is other than yourself, you write a poem for that person. The try is to let it be a rhyming poem and say something about his or her life, goals, dreams or reveal a bit about the present. Yes, you buy a present for the one you write a poem for. And to make things fair and easy (when the children are all grown up) everybody has a budget, for example like €25,- in total for the presents of a person.
When you are little and believe in the story of St. Nicholas, a man who means good for all children in the world and when you were brave through the whole year you get a present, the feast is celebrated a bit different.
This year I got a very nice poem about my new sport cycling. I also got a very nice present of my wish list:
The autobiography of Chris Froome! The Climb!
I am gonna read this biography during the Christmas holidays.
If you celebrated the feast of St. Nicholas, how was yours?
Greetings by Sophie