The night before Nikolaustag (St. Nicholas’ Day), many German children put out a boot, hoping St. Nicholas will fill it over night with sweets. (The Austrian version, Krampus, is less benign.)

We had a fabulous Nikolaus celebration on Dec. 6 (St. Nicholas Day)!  Christmas songs were sung, delicacies enjoyed, and heaps of praise and mild admonishments were delivered. The highlight, of course, was a visit from St. Nick himself. He had brought his Golden Book and seemed to know everything about our students’ behavior in class.

Iris Hengst led us in singing German Christmas carols, accompanied on the piano by a Deutsch 3 student.

And then it was time for our special guest: Nikolaus called up each child by name and congratulated them on their accomplishments  — but he also let them know where there was still room for improvement (top three: clean up your room, be nicer to your brother/sister, speak more German). Most children took their conversation with him in stride.

Everybody was handed a little gift bag.

And then it was time for our potluck dinner. While in line, guests could study the Krampus pictures produced during our weekend class.

A big thank you to our volunteers for all their work in making the event happen, our teachers for providing St. Nick with important information, and, of course, to St. Nick himself for taking the time to visit our school.

Wir wünschen allen eine schöne Adventszeit!

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