The evening of the 
5th of December is the feast day of Sv.Mikulas (Santa Claus) to both Slovak and Czech children. Sv.Mikulas walks around the town in his long red robe, accompanied by an angel and the devil who is rattling large chains. Sv.Mikulas asks the children if they have been good during the whole year. The child should sing a song or recite something for Sv.Mikulas. A bad child is told they could be put into the devil’s sack and taken to hell! On that evening if you have been good you could expect candy, nuts, fruit and small gifts in your shoes. If, on the other hand, you were not so good, expect potatoes, rocks, or lumps of coal. A tradition was that most children got at least one rock, as no child is perfect. 
We had to adapt the tradition a bit here in Cali and instead of us going around the village my friend Nicole arranged for all the interested children to come over to her house where St. Nick visited them. Some kids were so scared of the Devil that they couldn't even speak, but most of them did really good and promised to be even better the next year. I am very happy that my friends keep this tradition alive and that we are able to participate... even though in disguise.
5th of December is the feast day of Sv.Mikulas (Santa Claus) to both Slovak and Czech children. Sv.Mikulas walks around the town in his long red robe, accompanied by an angel and the devil who is rattling large chains. Sv.Mikulas asks the children if they have been good during the whole year. The child should sing a song or recite something for Sv.Mikulas. A bad child is told they could be put into the devil’s sack and taken to hell! On that evening if you have been good you could expect candy, nuts, fruit and small gifts in your shoes. If, on the other hand, you were not so good, expect potatoes, rocks, or lumps of coal. A tradition was that most children got at least one rock, as no child is perfect. 
We had to adapt the tradition a bit here in Cali and instead of us going around the village my friend Nicole arranged for all the interested children to come over to her house where St. Nick visited them. Some kids were so scared of the Devil that they couldn't even speak, but most of them did really good and promised to be even better the next year. I am very happy that my friends keep this tradition alive and that we are able to participate... even though in disguise.
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