Tonight is December 5th. Children in Romania clean their boots and leave them on the windowsill for St Nicholas to fill them with gifts. I years gone by these would have been small tokens, fruit, nuts and a decorated branch. The branch has stayed but the expectation of a significant gift has grown. High streets and malls are full of anxious flustered parents trying to outdo fellow parents of their offsprings' school mates. In England children have to wait until the 24th when they pin their stockings to the mantlepiece over the fireplace for Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas) to leave them their presents. To encourage him to stop by on his rooftop round they traditionally leave him a mince pie and a glass of something warming and perhaps some milk for the raindeers that pull his sleigh. Romanian children are lucky, they now get to celebrate Christmas on the 25th as well. More presents to buy.
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