Quote:
Originally Posted by desertblues
No Black Friday in The Netherlands, as Christmas wasn't a gift-giving tradition, until a few years ago. Our family goes for St Nicolas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas
I bought all my gifts for St Nicolas on 5 december; for us and the neighbors and their 3 girls….that was the easy part, as we had agreed not to spend more than $40 per person. 
For the neighbors we'll put the presents in a jute bag; bang hard on their door and run away so they won't see who brought the gift.
Now the difficult one:
Each gift has to be accompanied by a poem: preferably a long one, mentioning the weak and strong points of the recipient. But always mild and funny. Some years I made about 40 poems; for every tiny present, traditional chocolate character (I get a J) or traditional marzipan pig. 
This year I've only got 12 poems to compose. 
A lot of family's also make a special project of their presents; they disguise it as something typical for the recipient. For example; a video-lover will get a present that looks like a video-recorder on the outside. The aim of this disguises: to have a laugh and to make it hard to get to the present.
We don't do it any more in our family, as it really can be a lot of work. |
Croatians don't really give Christmas gifts, either. Let me tell you, I don't miss the gift giving in Canada at all! Sometimes my husband and I exchange gifts for Christmas, but when we are low on cash we skip the gifts.