When living in Germany as a child we celebrated St. Nick on Dec 6. My sister and I put out shoes (Dad’s because they were bigger!) by the front door. In the morning they were either full of coal if we were bad, and toys and candy if we were good. It’s a fun childhood memory!
Our daughters are their own version of Third Culture Kids, and it’s so interesting to see how their normal growing up is both similar and different to my husband and mine. Always an adventure, I love it! Also I love the steamboat element ❤️ and the carrots for the horses!
I am from the Netherlands, your neighbor from the north. We had Sinterklaas tonight as a tradition, instead of December 6th in Belgium. It’s a big thing here as well, we even have a daily news broadcast on his trip from Spain to here, with all sorts of adventures. The Sint leaves tonight and we get ready for Christmas as well.
We will visit Antwerp in the days up to Christmas. We look forward to the Christmas market there. Some local insights can always help ;-)
But interestingly here in Spain the 3 Kings or the 3 Wise Men from the nativity story would put presents in the shoes of children. Interesting shoe theme! It’s also the 6th, but the 6th of January.
With globalisation Santa, or Papa Noel as he’s known in Spanish, also comes. Some families have presents both days, others chose just one. Which is tricky waters when a teacher and asked who brings the presents! 🎁
The Sint arrived in our village last weekend on the train from Antwerp - I was thinking of you! Did you send him? Ash had a little flag and was very proud of himself altogether. Lovely:)
When we lived in a FSU Central Asian republic, my kids learned to celebrate Nowruz, an ancient Zoroastrian celebration of spring. I don’t know deep they got into the meaning and rituals, but my son was at peak pyromania and enjoyed the cleansing ritual of jumping over a bonfire.
We lived quite close to the president’s walled dacha that was patrolled by uniformed military guards, but my son being who he is, befriended those guards and I watched from a distance one evening as he talked them into building a bonfire fire at the street curb and they each in turn jumped through it.
I always marveled at how my 12 year old son was able to break through the grim, stony demeanor of those guards and bring out the 12 year olds in them. He often visited with them in the evenings and listened to their stories. He had a similar friendship with the local police and once, when a local bully attacked him, the police immediately responded and testified against the bully after they convinced my son to file a complaint.
I always wondered how quickly 12 year old boys and girls could turn the world into a beautiful place if we followed their examples and allowed them to infect the world with their spirit?
A little off topic, but still relevant, when we first arrived to live in that country, we stayed in our office guest rooms and within 2 evenings, my son befriended our night watchman who was a former Soviet aerospace engineer unemployed after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Without a common language at first, our watchman taught my son to play chess with him and they played for hours in the evening while my son very quickly learned Russian as they played. Before we moved to the country, I worried a little about how long it would take for my kids to feel at home. Not long at all, it turned out.
We always invited our office staff to our home on weekend afternoons, and it was only a few short weeks before boisterous big sister / little brother friendships formed between feisty Marina from Georgia, Elizabeth, our Georgian intern, Pathma, our Sri Lankan accountant, my Azerbaijani secretary and others who teased him and were teased in return. Anecdotally, big sister - little brother relationships must be universal.
Accepting that job may have been the been the best decision I made as a father for my kids.
Children are the greatest of blessings. Their stories and views of the world a precious treasure for their parents to experience the world anew. Thank you Candace for sharing!❤️
St. Niklaus comes to German children...and those of us transplanted German children on the night of December 5th. I still fill the shoes of anyone living in our house on the 5th! It's just that little bit extra fun ☺️ Sinterclaus makes me realize how we probably got the name Santa Claus!
When living in Germany as a child we celebrated St. Nick on Dec 6. My sister and I put out shoes (Dad’s because they were bigger!) by the front door. In the morning they were either full of coal if we were bad, and toys and candy if we were good. It’s a fun childhood memory!
I love the detail of leaving carrots for the horses! Somehow that's so much better than leaving cookies for Santa.
Our daughters are their own version of Third Culture Kids, and it’s so interesting to see how their normal growing up is both similar and different to my husband and mine. Always an adventure, I love it! Also I love the steamboat element ❤️ and the carrots for the horses!
I am from the Netherlands, your neighbor from the north. We had Sinterklaas tonight as a tradition, instead of December 6th in Belgium. It’s a big thing here as well, we even have a daily news broadcast on his trip from Spain to here, with all sorts of adventures. The Sint leaves tonight and we get ready for Christmas as well.
We will visit Antwerp in the days up to Christmas. We look forward to the Christmas market there. Some local insights can always help ;-)
From Spain? Haha!
But interestingly here in Spain the 3 Kings or the 3 Wise Men from the nativity story would put presents in the shoes of children. Interesting shoe theme! It’s also the 6th, but the 6th of January.
With globalisation Santa, or Papa Noel as he’s known in Spanish, also comes. Some families have presents both days, others chose just one. Which is tricky waters when a teacher and asked who brings the presents! 🎁
The Sint arrived in our village last weekend on the train from Antwerp - I was thinking of you! Did you send him? Ash had a little flag and was very proud of himself altogether. Lovely:)
How lovely is this!!!!
When we lived in a FSU Central Asian republic, my kids learned to celebrate Nowruz, an ancient Zoroastrian celebration of spring. I don’t know deep they got into the meaning and rituals, but my son was at peak pyromania and enjoyed the cleansing ritual of jumping over a bonfire.
We lived quite close to the president’s walled dacha that was patrolled by uniformed military guards, but my son being who he is, befriended those guards and I watched from a distance one evening as he talked them into building a bonfire fire at the street curb and they each in turn jumped through it.
I always marveled at how my 12 year old son was able to break through the grim, stony demeanor of those guards and bring out the 12 year olds in them. He often visited with them in the evenings and listened to their stories. He had a similar friendship with the local police and once, when a local bully attacked him, the police immediately responded and testified against the bully after they convinced my son to file a complaint.
I always wondered how quickly 12 year old boys and girls could turn the world into a beautiful place if we followed their examples and allowed them to infect the world with their spirit?
A little off topic, but still relevant, when we first arrived to live in that country, we stayed in our office guest rooms and within 2 evenings, my son befriended our night watchman who was a former Soviet aerospace engineer unemployed after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Without a common language at first, our watchman taught my son to play chess with him and they played for hours in the evening while my son very quickly learned Russian as they played. Before we moved to the country, I worried a little about how long it would take for my kids to feel at home. Not long at all, it turned out.
We always invited our office staff to our home on weekend afternoons, and it was only a few short weeks before boisterous big sister / little brother friendships formed between feisty Marina from Georgia, Elizabeth, our Georgian intern, Pathma, our Sri Lankan accountant, my Azerbaijani secretary and others who teased him and were teased in return. Anecdotally, big sister - little brother relationships must be universal.
Accepting that job may have been the been the best decision I made as a father for my kids.
Thank you, Candace! I love your tree and your story. I can see how a child might want to borrow a larger shoe for December 5th-6th!
That sounds like a much saner holiday for children, giving them small gifts and sweets instead of the indulgence a lot of American kids get.
Love this Candace. So charming and wonderful to experience an old world tradition from another culture’s perspective.
Oh we used to leave out shoes for Saint Nick!
Children are the greatest of blessings. Their stories and views of the world a precious treasure for their parents to experience the world anew. Thank you Candace for sharing!❤️
St. Niklaus comes to German children...and those of us transplanted German children on the night of December 5th. I still fill the shoes of anyone living in our house on the 5th! It's just that little bit extra fun ☺️ Sinterclaus makes me realize how we probably got the name Santa Claus!
I had never heard that story/tradition, and it is charming. And loved the tall, tall, tall fir tree.
Grateful you share wonder and joy with each post! 😊