Christmas
There is no Thanks Giving Day in the Netherlands. Instead there are 2 Christmas Days, the 25th and 26th. First Christmas Day can be seen as a combination of Thanks Giving and Christmas. Why a second day? Honestly, I never knew and it still beats me, haha.
When I was young ( yeah, ages ago, hehe), Christmas gifts were not common at all and hardly anybody gave presents at Christmas. There is another celebration day for that: December 6th. That day is dedicated to Sint Nicolaas. Young and old would and still give each other presents.
My suspicion is that Sint Nicolaas and Santa Claus may have the same origin but I wouldn't know who came first and where the differences would have occurred and why. Both have the same red outfit, although St.Nic's is a robe. Both have the same features, white beard and all. Where Santa has elves for helpers, St. Nic has "black Peters". Both know who has been good or bad. Both go from roof to roof and slide through chimney's to deliver presents, Santa in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, St. Nic is on a white horse. Basically it sound pretty similar, huh?
Since several years there is a shift noticeable. More and more people are making it a habit to give and receive presents at Christmas. I think retail had a huge hand in that:-). Even all the outdoor Christmas decorations are slowly increasing. Most common is a decorated tree, a star or electric candles in the window and more indoor decorations. Outdoor decorations were not seen at all. All those lights framing the houses and the lighted ornaments in the yards here, are a real treat for me to see and each year I enjoy it tremendously. We take drives especially for that. There is one thing that we have and the Dutch don't...eggnog!!! Yeah, we take a special drive for that too, haha.
Celebrating the birth of our Savior fills me with joy and gratitude. Thank you Father, for that great sacrifice made out of love:-)
MERRY CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL!
Luke 2:10-11 10
Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
When I was young ( yeah, ages ago, hehe), Christmas gifts were not common at all and hardly anybody gave presents at Christmas. There is another celebration day for that: December 6th. That day is dedicated to Sint Nicolaas. Young and old would and still give each other presents.
My suspicion is that Sint Nicolaas and Santa Claus may have the same origin but I wouldn't know who came first and where the differences would have occurred and why. Both have the same red outfit, although St.Nic's is a robe. Both have the same features, white beard and all. Where Santa has elves for helpers, St. Nic has "black Peters". Both know who has been good or bad. Both go from roof to roof and slide through chimney's to deliver presents, Santa in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, St. Nic is on a white horse. Basically it sound pretty similar, huh?
Since several years there is a shift noticeable. More and more people are making it a habit to give and receive presents at Christmas. I think retail had a huge hand in that:-). Even all the outdoor Christmas decorations are slowly increasing. Most common is a decorated tree, a star or electric candles in the window and more indoor decorations. Outdoor decorations were not seen at all. All those lights framing the houses and the lighted ornaments in the yards here, are a real treat for me to see and each year I enjoy it tremendously. We take drives especially for that. There is one thing that we have and the Dutch don't...eggnog!!! Yeah, we take a special drive for that too, haha.Celebrating the birth of our Savior fills me with joy and gratitude. Thank you Father, for that great sacrifice made out of love:-)
MERRY CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL!
Luke 2:10-11 10
Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
18 Comments:
Jayne:
I laughed so hard when I read your comment. I am really grateful for that gift! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the gift and for the laugh(grin).
God's Grace.
Merry Christmas Corry, hope you and your family have a really great one this year.
Patty
Patty:
Thank you and y'all too!
God's Grace.
Hi there. My daughter just did a report for school how Christmas inJapan is different than in the US. They have a Saint Nic sort-of-dude that is like a sort-of Santa Claus. Interesting entry, thanks.
Corry, I'm back! :)
Your entry reminds me of when we lived in Germany and we celebrated Dec 6th by putting our shoes outside of our door. In the morning we found treats and a small present.
Merry Christmas, Corry!
i like jayne's gift. haha... okay, mine is this --- MMMWWAHHHH!!! luv yah!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Andrea:
Nice to see you:-)
That is interesting. I didn't know the St.Nic dude (haha) had spread as far as that. Makes me wonder how it got there, maybe the tradesmen spread it.
The other night on History Channel, they had researched how Santa Claus came to existance and apparently his origin is from St. Nic. The latter was brought to the US by Dutch settlers and the custom was already very old. Santa came to "life" in the US in the 19th century.
I hope your daughter got a good grade on her report:-)
Keeping you in our prayers!
Claire:
Welcome back! I hope y'all had a great time.
Yes, everyone sets one shoe (inside) the house. They often put a carrot or apple in it for the horse and a wish-list. The next morning there are presents and candy in/next to the shoe. Mysteryous huh, hehe?
Pia:
Aawww, you make me feel all warm and loved. Thank you so much:-)
MMMWWWAAAHHHH to you as well, a big hug to go with it and a tickle to make you smile and brighten up your day a little and for encouragement: If God is for us, who can be against us? :-)
Praying for you, little one.
God's Grace.
blessed Christmas, Corry :D
Audrey:
A very blessed and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
God's Grace.
Merry Christmas to you, and thanks for the virtual bag of Reeses!!
Kisti:
You are more then welcome and thank you. You can discuss with Jayne if you should eat it, haha.
Jayne:
You are too kind!!:-)
My gift to you is... a roll of duct-tape (grin).
God's Grace.
Corry & Andrew, in fact the St.Nic (or Santa Claus) dude was not only spread to Japan, it also went to China and Hong Kong (where I was born). We've known him since ages ago.
Merry Christmas all!
Kitty:
Thanks for sharing, I had no clue. Is the custom the same or are there differences in celebrating? I would love to hear about it:-)
Merry Christmas!!!
God's Grace.
yes the customs and celebration are more or less the samem but of course the St. Nic is an Asian dude hehe.
Kitty, I can imagine he would be, hehe.
God's Grace.
Lovely post, Corry. I do not want to know the nutritional facts about eggnog or reeses pieces, thank you :)
Merry Christmas kisses and hugs Southern style, dahlin'
Corry, thank you so much for visiting my blog and your very nice comments :)
Gina:
I don't want to know either, I prolly wouldn't enjoy it that much if I knew, haha!
Ok, suthern style it is...Merry Christmas, hugs and kisses back, shug, hehe.
Jayne:
That is funny. I wonder too. And btw... you are more then welcome to come over. I will "loose" the duct-tape especially for that occasion, haha.
Audrey:
Look who is talking! You are so sweet:-)
Thank YOU for your nice and encouraging comments on my blog!
I always loved your comments and the way you ended them with "Jesus loves you". It is such a heartwarming reminder:-)
God's Grace.
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