November in Belgium fills the stores with toys, like here, because in Belgium people celebrate St Nicolas day on December 6th… So parents start taking the kids to the stores early to meet St Nicolas to tell him what they wish for him to bring them on that day.
Unlike the American Santa who is jolly old man who lives in the North Pole…
St Nicolas is a Catholic bishop who really lived years and years ago and who had a reputation for his goodness towards children.
There are many legends about him. Here is the one I was told while I was growing up.
Harvest time was over and poor people had permission to go through the fields to glean whatever was left behind by the farmers. One family had sent their three sons who had walked quite a way from home and decided to stop at the next village rather than walk home as night time was setting in. They knocked on the butcher’s door who reluctantly agreed to let them stay the night. The man had bad intentions on his mind however as they soon found out. Shortly after a meager dinner he did away with them and stored them up in his meat locker.
Later that night Saint Nicolas came knocking on his door too. Our ‘friend’ the butcher was much more pleasant with Saint Nicolas than he had been with the three little boys. Truth is… He KNEW… He unmasked the butcher for the killer that he was and restored them to life.
Saint Nicolas often pairs up with a more sinister character, named Whipping Father, whose job it is to punish the kids who have misbehaved.
On December 5th, little children place their shoes in front of the chimneys before going to bed. In their shoes they leave a carrot and some sugar cubes for Saint Nicolas’ mule and glass of wine to warm the good man.
Stories have been told since the 12th century that a disguised Saint Nicolas goes from house to house, during the night between December 5th and December 6th to ask children if
they have been obedient. Good children are rewarded with present and candy while the wicked children receive a spanking from Saint Nicolas’ companion.
In Belgium, it is also a tradition to give big Saint Nicolas gingerbread cookies, fruits, marzipan, chocolate and nuts.
There are many places you will be able to find recipes to make your own or you could purchase the mold and make your very own with your favorite recipe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculaas
Can someone ever remain totally true to his birthplace?
Is there disloyalty in establishing new traditions?
Languages become dead languages when they do not allow for the inclusion of new words, whether these words come from blending cultures or new technological developments.
So do we also doom ourselves to death when we close our minds to new thoughts, new traditions, new friendships, new futures?
mmm… Not quite sure what brought this on this morning…
I have lived in the US for almost 30 years now, have raised 5 children in the rural Midwest, have experienced annual Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with family, Deer season -which for a European is not always an easy thing to understand-, High School graduations –another odd tradition- , weddings, funerals,…
People do things differently here…
My sister seemed taken back that in Georgia the Governor asked the people of the state to pray for rain… This would not happen in Belgium…
Come to think of it, with all this mess over the Blue Orange in Belgium right now, I wonder if it had happened here, someone would have stepped in and suggested the country should begin praying that the statesmen find a way to mend fences and make things work…
That’s not the ‘Belgian way’ though… must be a leftover from the Celtic days…
But that seems to be ironing itself out… The Belgians do things their own way… that’s for sure…
Unlike the American Santa who is jolly old man who lives in the North Pole…
St Nicolas is a Catholic bishop who really lived years and years ago and who had a reputation for his goodness towards children.
There are many legends about him. Here is the one I was told while I was growing up.
Harvest time was over and poor people had permission to go through the fields to glean whatever was left behind by the farmers. One family had sent their three sons who had walked quite a way from home and decided to stop at the next village rather than walk home as night time was setting in. They knocked on the butcher’s door who reluctantly agreed to let them stay the night. The man had bad intentions on his mind however as they soon found out. Shortly after a meager dinner he did away with them and stored them up in his meat locker.
Later that night Saint Nicolas came knocking on his door too. Our ‘friend’ the butcher was much more pleasant with Saint Nicolas than he had been with the three little boys. Truth is… He KNEW… He unmasked the butcher for the killer that he was and restored them to life.
Saint Nicolas often pairs up with a more sinister character, named Whipping Father, whose job it is to punish the kids who have misbehaved.
On December 5th, little children place their shoes in front of the chimneys before going to bed. In their shoes they leave a carrot and some sugar cubes for Saint Nicolas’ mule and glass of wine to warm the good man.
Stories have been told since the 12th century that a disguised Saint Nicolas goes from house to house, during the night between December 5th and December 6th to ask children if
they have been obedient. Good children are rewarded with present and candy while the wicked children receive a spanking from Saint Nicolas’ companion.In Belgium, it is also a tradition to give big Saint Nicolas gingerbread cookies, fruits, marzipan, chocolate and nuts.
There are many places you will be able to find recipes to make your own or you could purchase the mold and make your very own with your favorite recipe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculaas
Can someone ever remain totally true to his birthplace?
Is there disloyalty in establishing new traditions?
Languages become dead languages when they do not allow for the inclusion of new words, whether these words come from blending cultures or new technological developments.
So do we also doom ourselves to death when we close our minds to new thoughts, new traditions, new friendships, new futures?
mmm… Not quite sure what brought this on this morning…
I have lived in the US for almost 30 years now, have raised 5 children in the rural Midwest, have experienced annual Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with family, Deer season -which for a European is not always an easy thing to understand-, High School graduations –another odd tradition- , weddings, funerals,…
People do things differently here…
My sister seemed taken back that in Georgia the Governor asked the people of the state to pray for rain… This would not happen in Belgium…
Come to think of it, with all this mess over the Blue Orange in Belgium right now, I wonder if it had happened here, someone would have stepped in and suggested the country should begin praying that the statesmen find a way to mend fences and make things work…
That’s not the ‘Belgian way’ though… must be a leftover from the Celtic days…
But that seems to be ironing itself out… The Belgians do things their own way… that’s for sure…
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