Christmas comes a little early here in Slovakia. December 6th. Well, not exactly Christmas, but Father Christmas. To be more exact - Mikkulas: a kind of a slimmer, more priestly, Gandolf-ish Santa. And if that wasn't enough Mikkulas comes with too assistants: the lovely Angel and the devilishly mischievous 'Chert'. So, if you have been naughty and thought you had a few weeks to reform your ways... well, you are too late. Fortunately Mikkulas grades on a curve. Actually, his only standard for assessing proper behavior over the last year is if your boots are clean or not. Clean shoes are filled with sweets and mandarins. Dirty shoes are usually filled with coal or sticks. My kids could use both!Anyways, Mikkulas day is a really fun day here in Slovakia. It's a day that people are exchanging small sweet gifts and generally enjoying each others company. If you are a real extrovert you might get decked out in a white dress and sport some angel wings (girls). However, the horned and coal smeared face of Chert is for sure the more popular. Gabie had a visit from Mikkulas and his friends at school. He loved it. His only comment was - "where were the reindeers?"
