It is an old tradition here in Germany that someone dresses up as St. Nikolaus and his scary companion Krampus bring gifts to the kids.
This is actually a pretty scary thing - I have seen grown woman and man weep and sacred to death when facing (a student dressed up as) St. Nikolaus.
I also still remember that evening as well. All the other kids ran away and were nowhere to be seen while I had to hold St. Nikolaus staff and listen to what he had to say about my ‘performance’ since his last checkin.
When he left and the other kids appeared again they got some presents too - which I thought was pretty unfair since I alone had faced the red giant …
