It is a German tradition that St. Nicolas visits the children on this day, to give them sweets and gifts, nuts and mandarin oranges in a boot (similar to the Christmas socks) that the children would hang outside their door on the night of 5 December. For the past 5 years, St. Nicolas had visited the children in their schools to pass them the filled-up boots individually, at the same time making a comment or two if the children had been good or bad in the year.
I had never heard of St. Nicolas Day before until the boys were introduced to this gift-bringing saint when they began their German education in Malaysia. To me, St. Nicolas is just a borrowed name to one of Singapore top girls' secondary school. In fact, after being shallowly exposed to St. Nicolas, one can say he is Santa Claus, the only difference is St. Nicolas appears on the 6th, while Santa on the eve of Christmas. In Germany, only St. Nicolas Day is celebrated, while Santa Claus visits the children from other parts of the world... haha...
This morning, we ate small mandarin oranges and various kinds of nuts as a part of the custom. It is still hard for me to grasp the true meaning of this day, I am at the moment, a blind but happy to oblige follower of the custom.
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