Christmas in Switzerland!!

First of all I just want to say ..
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm so happy and I love Switzerland so much. I've already been here FOUR months!! The time is going way too fast, and it really needs to slow down now.. thanks mother time!!

I'd like to add that this blog is NOT for children that believe in certain things.
Okay, the Christmas in Switzerland is SO different than in Canada!! A fat jolly man in a red suit is unheard of here. No man creeps down the chimney on Christmas Eve, you don't have to make a plate of cookies for Santa and put out some carrots for Rudolph.

December 6th is a very special day in Switzerland and here's how the tradition goes.. Each village or town is a little different than the next since it's based on size and what's possible to do to keep the similar tradition going. In my village we have a Sport Hall that I have mentioned in previous posts, since I am apart of it. The men club have people aged 18 and up, I believe. They dress up two men, a Santa Claus (which is not our Santa, it's a man with a long red robe, kind of like a monk robe) and his partner Schmotsli. The parents signed up prior to this night, and the two people go door to door, to the houses that have kids. They bring the traditional Christmas Swiss food with them: oranges, chocolate and peanuts. That food is wrapped in a baggy and each kid is given one if they are good. When the mother or father sign up Samiclaus and Schmotsli to come to their house, they write down the places their child needs to improve in!! Samiclaus has a book and he reads out to the kids what he didn't like in the past year, and what they need to do differently. The kid agrees and get their treat.

This is what they look like:

Samiclaus and Schmotsli come from the Black Forest in Germany, and when they're finished talking to the boys and girls of Buus then they have to go back. It's a really cool tradition!!
It was quite funny because they are friends of ours, and since all the kids were 12 and older (family came over, about 15 people had dinner at my house) they knew that they weren't real. So Samiclaus and Schmotsli sat down, took off their robes and had a beer, I had a good laugh as I watched that.

Of course on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the day after there are constant full family dinners, just like in Canada. However, on Christmas Eve everyone goes to the church at 11:00 pm I believe, and watch a service in the local church. That is going to be beautiful. Then on the 24th or 25th, it changes every year and depends on the family, you open the presents then. Everywhere you go Christmas is a time for family to come together, but here it seems really focussed on the fact that you are together as a family and that is what is important to everyone. I haven't heard many whispers about gifts, it's about getting dinners ready for the family. I'm very excited for Christmas here.

The table beautifully set on December 6th :)

Tonight there was Christmas carolers outside my house, at the fountain in the centre of my village. It was absolutely gorgeous. They decorate so many random trees here, it is stunning on Christmas. The centre fountain has a giant decorated Christmas tree standing up in it. I took some pictures of the Choir singing, it may be hard to see the tree in the fountain but I hope you can!

Here's a video I took of it !!

I hope everyone is enjoying their cold transition into Winter! xo.

PS!!! I met my 3rd host family. I ate dinner with them at their house and it made me SO happy. They seem like an incredible family, and I felt really comfortable there already! It keeps me so excited for the future, since it's going to be really hard to leave the family I'm staying with now. It showed me that it's going to be really hard, but just take it one step at a time and it'll be okay because you're going to another amazing one.