So, today is day 3 of Christmas here in Germany... Now to a girl from America this is a rather odd thing... 3 days for Christmas???? I am used to the commercials on TV raging about how great their after Christmas Sale is going to be. I am used to crazy people getting up at 4 a.m. on the 26th to be the first in line for their favorite store's sale. Crazy people! yes. Mind you, I think I have been part of the crazy people crowd a couple times in my life... but not being a huge fan of shopping malls... I quickly lost any excitment for that tradition.
So, here I am in Germany and it is Boxing Day/St. Stephens Day. I decided to look these up to find out why I get another day off. :-)
From what I could find... Boxing Day originated in the UK and St. Stephens Day originated in Ireland.
Boxing Day (from wikipedia)
There is much dispute over the true origins of Boxing Day, but one common story of the holiday's origins is that servants and tradesmen received Christmas gifts from their employers on the first weekday after Christmas, the day after the family celebrations. These were generally called their "Christmas boxes." Another story is that this is the day that priests broke open the collection boxes and distributed the money to the poor.
And from numerous other websites....
St. Stephens Day is after the first martyr Stephen who was stoned to death.
also from wikipedia:
St Stephen's Day is also a popular day for visiting family members. A popular rhyme, known to many Irish children and sung at each house visited by the mummers goes as follows:
The wren, the wren, the king of all birds,
On St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze,
Up with the penny and down with the pan,
Give us a penny to bury the wren.
Interesting eh? And it started snowing this evening... lovely big flakes that pile on top of each other and cover everything very quickly. Gorgeous!!!!!
I had a good Christmas and my friend Jamie is coming to visit in a couple days... I am almost giddy with excitement. We will drive to Slovenia to visit some dear friends and I will also get to see my "sister" Bekah. It has been too long Beks!
Say hi to everyone in Slovenia...and also to Bekah!! I know you will have a lot of fun!!
ReplyDeleteI may be totally wrong here (maybe I'm mixing my German holidays) but as a child I remember walking around around outside in the evening holding lanterns with a bunch of other kids and our parents, sort of in a line and possibly singing songs but I can't quite remember. I also remember that there would be a guy on horse. that might have been St. Stephen. I'll ask my parents and get back to you. I might just be having halucinations and making the whole memory up. That happens sometimes. :)
ReplyDeleteI beat ya to it! :) On the phone anyways! Enjoy Jamie, and have tons of fun! Hope you enjoy the snow for us too!
ReplyDeleteTabs, that is a different day...the kids did that sometime in November. :-) something about seasons changing.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe we'll FINALLY get to see eachother!! Can't wait to see you... tonight I saw Ljubljiana and it's so gorgeous with Christmas lights, covered in snow. I met Johnny and Christina... and Christina said she met you and thought you were cool. We agreed that you are. Love you friend!!
ReplyDeleteYES! I am one of those dear slovene friends! Oh and I met your friend Bekah. She was sweet. Cant wait to see ya!
ReplyDeleteFinally got to catch up on your recent bloggings! I think if I come to visit and sip a cup of coffee with you in your flat that I will never want to leave...do you have a spare room? ;)
ReplyDeletehey, mel! so glad to see that God is providing for your heart in allowing you this chance to see the lovely bt and then your friend from multnomah too ... i pray that it would just be sweet times of fellowship. one of the girls in a 24:6 Bible study told me that they had footage of women fist-fighting at the local WalMart at a day-after-Thanksgiving sale ... over a TV, i think. she's from rural Washington, so it was quite exciting :)
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