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Christmas in Germany

In Germany, the Christmas season begins with Advent. A wreath of evergreens with four red candles is placed in the house. One candle is lit on each Sunday before Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, 24th December, families go to church, then feast on a large dinner of roast goose or duck (stuffed with apples), “stollen” (Christmas bread) and marzipan candy. Prior to the evening feast, is the presentation of the tree. The Christmas tree, as we know it, originated in Germany. It has a mysterious magic for the young because they are not allowed to see it until Christmas Eve. While Father amuses children in another room, Mother brings out the Christmas tree and decorates it with apples, sweets, cookies, angels, tinsel and candles or lights. The presents are placed under the tree. When all is ready a bell is rung as a signal for the children to enter. Children believe that it’s Weihnachtsmann (Santa Claus) who brings them Christmas presents.

Christmas Eve is the main day when Germans exchange gifts with their families but on St. Nicholas’ Day (December 6th) “der Nikolaus” also brings some small gifts, such as sweets and chocolates, to the children. He comes in the night between the 5th and the 6th and puts the Christmas presents into the shoes of the children, who usually place them by their doors on the previous evening. In some regions of Germany, there is a character called “Knecht Ruprecht” who accompanies Nikolaus. He punishes the children who were bad and gives them a birch as a present.

At small work and school parties, secret gifts are often exchanged. A door is opened just wide enough for small gifts to be thrown into the room. The gifts are then passed around among the people until each person has the right one! It is thought to be bad luck to find out who sent each present.

For many Christmas gift ideas visit our website www.giftbasketsoverseas.com

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Christmas in Denmark

In Denmark Christmas is celebrated on December 24th. Preparations begin several weeks before Christmas Eve with the baking of cookies, breads and sweets, the making of gifts and the visiting of friends and family.

Christmas Eve is a special time. At this time parents secretly decorate the Christmas tree with home made wood and straw baubles. The children are only able to see the tree before dinner when it is lit up and the family gathers to sing carols and hymns.

The main Christmas meal in Denmark is eaten on Christmas Eve. It begins with ‘ris á la mande’ (a special kind of rice pudding, made of milk, rice, vanilla, almonds and whipped cream) that has a magic almond inside. Whoever finds the almond receives a small Christmas gift. After dinner, family and friends get together in the parlor where they sing and dance around the tree. Finally, gifts are exchanged and opened as cookies, chocolate, nuget, marzipan, sweets and wine are passed around.

In Denmark, children beleive that their Christmas gifts are brought by the ‘Julemanden’ (‘Christmas Man’). He looks very similar to Santa Claus and also travels with a sleigh and reindeer. He lives in Greenland, likes rice pudding and is helped by ‘nisser’ who are similar to elves.

For many Christmas gift ideas visit our website www.giftbasketsoverseas.com

Christmas in France

Like many countries in Western Europe, the Christmas season in France begins with Saint Nicholas’ Day, December 6th. Family celebrations begin with the decoration of the Christmas tree a few days before Christmas.

At Christmas time nearly every French home, as well as many churches, displays a Nativity scene or crèche, which serves as the focus for the Christmas celebration. The crèche is often peopled with little clay figures called santons or “little saints.”

At midnight everyone attends the Christmas mass. All the churches and cathedrals are magnificently lit and echo the joyful melodies of carols ans bells. Ordinarily, young children do not attend midnight mass with their parents, but go to bed early to dream of their Christmas gifts. Before going to bed, they put their shoes by the fireside to get a gift from “le père de Noël” (Santa Claus). When the children are asleep, little toys, sweets and fruits are hung on the branches of the tree as a supplement to the gifts from “le père de Noël”.

The main Christmas feast is quite grand and is known as ‘Le Reveillon’, served as a very late supper held after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The meal varies according to the region of France. Once dinner is over and the family has retired to bed, they leave a fire burning and food and drink on the table in case the Virgin Mary calls in.

For many Christmas gift ideas visit our website www.giftbasketsoverseas.com

Business gift for Christmas

Is it Christmas time, or any other holiday, and you are having trouble thinking of a good gift to give to your colleague, boss or just someone you don’t know well enough to know what they like? Here’s some help to find the perfect gift.

First of all, think of what you know about the person you are going to give a present to. This will help you to form at least a small personality profile on them and then you can start brainstorming on what types of things they may like.

Then, decide how much you want to spend. If your budget is not big enough and you are giving a present to your boss, you can ask some of the co-workers if they want to chip in.

Tips
Don’t waste your precious time trying to find a shop to buy an appropriate gift. Online shop is a perfect choice.

It’s very convenient and fast to buy one of the pre-made gift baskets or even better, cheaper and much more thoughtful is to gather items separately and create your own custom gift-basket. This way you can truly personalize the basket and buy items you know they will not only like, but truly love (i.e. their favorite sweets/spirits/snack).

If you absolutely can’t think of any gift, give flowers. It’s a really universal gift for both men and women that suits any occasion.

Consumable or disposable items work well since the person won’t feel like the gift is ‘just taking up space.’ For this purpose suit for example spa kits, gourmet baskets, fruit baskets, spirits and sweets.

Your boss or a colleague will be much more impressed if you give the present not by yourself but order a special gift delivery.