December 24

[Nic Corelli]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Pheew... Just finished watching Enterprise on telly. "Detained" had its premiere here, tonight, believe it or not. Really liked the episode...

St. Nicholas... Oh, it`s common. It`s practically a national holiday in Croatia. ALL children get presents in the morning of 6 December... well, except of me, of course, Every elementary school (kids 7-14) has a St. Nicholas festivity.

The specific detail about Croatia`s version of this is that St. Nicholas brings presents for the good kids, and his little helper, a black elf of some sort is supposed to be bringing dry wooden branches to bad kids. The black elf is called Krampus, which roughly translated means "little demon." The kids are usually scared by this, parents telling them: "If you`re going to be naughty during the next week or so, you`re getting a branch from Krampus instead of a nice present from St.Nicholas." Well, Sv.Nikola, actually.

I remember when my sister accidentally noticed my mother pretending to be St.Nicholas and putting a present in her boot, thus realizing St.Nicholas doesn`t exist. She cried for hours, Similar to the reaction of children when they discover that Santa doesn`t exist too...[/colorost_uid0]