Nikolaus Tag

German children celebrate a jolly old man, dressed in red with a long white beard, on the 6th of December. He is known as Nikolaus or Weihnachtsmann. Children leave their shoes outside their door on the evening of the 5th and wake up to little presents from Nikolaus.  On Christmas Day, presents are brought by Christkind (Christ child).  Therefore, Santa Claus, the man who sneaks down the chimney and leaves gifts under the Christmas tree, is a foreign idea.  We celebrated the day by hosting a lovely party.  There were 20 or so children and 20 or so adults.  Quite a house full!  The itinerary was as follows, Nikolaus made an appearance, dinner was served, a film was shown.  Nikolaus was great fun!  He called every child up to sit with him and discussed what they had promised last year.  They also discussed new promises for the future.  He then gave them a gift.  It was incredibly organized.  Each parent had sneakily brought a gift and a letter for each of their childen.  A book was created in which each letter was placed.  This was Nikolaus' book.  Therefore, he knew what each child was supposed to own up to.  I can see myself creating a similar event!  Dinner was delicious!  Tapas for the adults and naturally, Wuerstchen und Smiley's for the children.  My room was turned into the "movie theater".  We watched Mickey's Christmas, in German of course.  It was a wonderful and successful evening!