The 6th of December is St. Nikolaus` Day in Germany. It starts the night before when kiddos shine up their boots and set them outside their bedroom door to see what St. Nikolaus will put inside by morning. There is also an alternative to shoe shining: red "Nikolausstiefel" (St. Nikolaus` boots) made out of plastic, which are sold in all major German grocery stores. (Some of my fellow Scobeyites may remember putting our shoes outside in the hall at Scobey elementary and waited for Mr. Wahl to put a few softies inside or one of the high school kids was cruel enough to steal the candy and replace it with a few sticks.) According to folklore, St. Nikolaus will appear over night and if the kids were good throughout the year they get candy and gifts but if they were bad they receive a bunch of twigs. Traditional St. Nikolaus gifts include apples, oranges, Christmas cookies, specially wrapped candy, and small toys. Not sure if the twig gifting ever really occurs but I’m sure some kids could build themselves a tree house if tradition and truth followed through. (I still wonder where Caro got the cute wicker basket in her room ;) )My gift this year from St. Nikolaus (Anke) was a new box of tea and a super cute clear bottle filled with special Olive Oil purchased from Italy. I was informed it also comes with refills :) Loving German Christmas season tradition and celebration!
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