Saint Nicholas Cookie
We have been living in Brussels for eight and a half months. Time is starting to move quickly now. We are still studying French, and Elizabeth really enjoys it. Dan is finding it one of the biggest challenges of his life. We are making lots of friends and acquaintances, and we both really enjoy that. We thought that you might like to know how we see Christmas celebrated in Brussels. (If anyone from Belgium is reading this and would like to add a clarification, please feel free.)
The Christmas season started to show up in the stores right after Halloween. Obviously they do not celebrate American Thanksgiving, so we were very curious when that would happen. We received our first Christmas catalog from a store about a week later; it looked very much like a US flyer. The intense shopping push began the first week of December and a little bit of the end of November. There are fantastic bargains - the price number is close to what you would see in the US, but the Euro is worth around 1.40 USD. They also pay twenty percent tax on everything and they include it on most prices advertised.
Children receive presents twice in December. Saint Nicholas arrives on December the 6th with presents. He was known as Nicholas the Wonderworker and was the Bishop of Turkey in the fourth century. He was the son of rich parents who died while he was young. He gave away his fortune to help the poor and he became a Bishop at a young age. He is portrayed as a bishop riding a donkey or mule. Père Noël, or Father Christmas, arrives Christmas Eve night bringing more gifts to the good girls and boys. He looks more like a North American Santa than Saint Nicholas. Everyone has a traditional family meal on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Christ does not seem to be as big a part of the festivities as in North America. We have seen a few manger scenes around the city though. Please think of us while you celebrate the Holy season. We will be thinking about you!
