Gift

_{8-10 minutes read – grab a cuppa and join me for some gift giving:)}

Another classic of almost any celebration is a gift. Everywhere around the globe people find reasons to bear gifts (with a little help of magical friends sometimes;)). The only holiday where gifts are not part of the culture that I have found is Vesak – but Buddhists really are a different kind of people (that I hold in high regard – it was meant positively – so even their celebrations are genteel and non-materialistic – I have never seen or heard of a holiday like that: no feast of food, no gifts, no drinking, no wild dancing; but I’ll blog on that in May, if you stick around;). All other major holidays, however, include some kind of gift-giving. But what do people give each other at this winter opportunity?

Gifts under the Christmas tree are the classics that so many of us grew up with…

When I was researching customs of winter gift-giving from across the world for this series I was amazed at how different the traditions are – some were very close to my heart – like the Finnish tradition of giving books for Christmas and others were very foreign to me – like giving money in a red envelope like in China for Chinese new years; they traditionally don’t give gifts on Christmas but a new habit has emerged among the younger generation – they give each other decorated/beautifully wrapped apples – the tradition probably has something to do with the fact that Chinese name for apple is similar to the one for Christmas Eve and the fruit also symbolises good fortune and peace. It could also derive from their tradition of exchanging mandarines on New Year’s.

Chinese give money in red envelopes for the Chinese New Year.

In Japan, more than the gift itself, the presentation – the wrapping is important. Their culture of minimalism and esthetics calls for attention to detail and unusual wrapping techniques (without the cello-tape or wrapping in fabrics that is a form of art). They look incredible and I hope to do it once my kids grow up a bit (they still choose to believe in Grandpa Frost so I can’t use my fabrics :D). Similarly important but a very different style of wrapping is found in Egypt, where presents are wrapped twice – first in ordinary paper and then in shiny bright coloured paper.

Gifts from years ago in the shiny coloured wrapping…

In the majority of Africa, Christmas is only a religious holiday and gifts are not exchanged (but they sometimes have other holidays with gifts). However, some countries follow the gift-giving tradition: Nigeria, Madagascar, South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe and Kenya, while Zambians bring gifts to Church for the poor or sick members of the community.

The necessary traditional gift in the UK is a cracker – a small gift in a decorated tube that cracks when pulled apart. It is filled with confetti and contains a small gift and a joke. I have never seen it in person but really like the idea (not the sweeping of the confetti, though – probably that’s why we haven’t tried it yet:D).

A small little gift of sweets is one of the classic stocking stuffers for St. Nicolaus. To make things prettier, more economical and healthier you could divide a bag of candies into more and wrap them individually with a cute snowman:). Kids much prefer this to the normal big bag :).

The Danish and Polish traditionally give presents to their animals – usually a treat… That is actually very much a custom where I live, as well – our “good man” (we have 3, you will meet them all;) give gifts to all members of the family and pets are usually included – again often that is a delicious treat but it could also be a toy, a blanket…

A birthday gift, wrapped in recycled gift wrap – my kiddo has bd in January and she actually likes this kind of recycling:)

Some countries, like Norway and Canada, have the habit of giving fir trees – one city to another, sometimes even from one country to another (Oslo gives fir to London). That also happens in other parts of Europe and in some cities in the USA.

Even further north, Inuits usually give sleighs or mittens – very practical gifts given the cold temperatures they live in.

These mittens would be useless for Inuits in their cold but they were very much appreciated by the black-cat-loving girl (who specifically wished for the same fingerless pattern as my daughter has). Even her mom said she’d wear ones like these:) – although they are made from a blanket!

In Scotland, the tradition of Hogmanay requires the first person over the threshold of a home to bring whisky, a black bun (fruit cake) and shortbread. In our country, people usually give each other wine and cookies, so very similar to Scotland (which is not a surprise as both cultures are known for their drinking). As for kids they usually get toys and something to wear.

Making DIY gifts is our family tradition that came from necessity (weird wishes for gifts that can not be bought and finite finance;)

It is our family tradition that Grandpa Frost brings at least one book for each member of the family (we all love books). And since the third of December is “the day of culture” here, our elves usually give us tickets for the museum in our advent calendar:). Today we went to the national museum and nature museum (they are in the same building:). I’ll post about this kind of “filling our art wells” next year:).

What do you like to give or get during this time? What gift is customary where you live?