Merry Christmas!

While personally, to me Christmas is not much more than a reason to stay home and buy/get some presents and wishful thoughts, I'd like to wish a happy Christmas to everyone keeping eye on my blog! From those, to whom it represents a pagan or christian religion, to those in the middle and to those, who got nothing to do with it, but are caught in a spirit that fills the internet, the streets and the homes.

There is one wish I would like to share with everyone. Regardless of the meaning of the holiday, it is generally accepted as the peak the "Happy December" and all I'd want to add is, it doesn't have to be a special part of the year to make sure you do good things, to make sure you let your family and friends know how much you care about them.

As for the "Kind men that bring gifts"...(Slovenian culture incoming, run all, run!)

The red and white Coca-cola's Santa Claus has been known in Slovenia since I am aware of myself, but wasn't too widely used to bring gifts to little children. This year, there was full of them around, for example. I think it has started around the start of new millennium. I could say that is the "man" for most of the modern slovenian families nowadays. As abroad, he comes around in a night from 24th to 25th.

More christian families still hold on to Miklavž (ž is pronounced as j in french name jacques or something :P) (the name comes from Saint Nicholas of Myra (just as Santa Claus). He gifts in a night from 5th to 6th of December. Local churches still make an event of it, where a guy dressed in "Miklavž" comes to church, perhaps does a giro around a town. He is accompanied by Parklji and Angeli, devils and angels. The devils are really loud and terrify little (and little bigger) kids.
I remember getting modest presents for Miklavž, like mandarines or oranges and dried apples and toys later :P

Dedek Mraz (Grandpa Cold) was used in the socialism and is a mythological man from Eastern Europe. Slovenian Dedek Mraz got slovenian clothes, to make him feel more welcomed, as the russian one. As in most communist countries the religions were forbidden, he was the one to take place of Miklavž. I am not sure religion was forbidden as such in Yugoslavia, but it was generally not welcomed. As he is not connected to any religions and such, he was gifting children on a new years' eve.


Aaaand all together now: