The Murder of Santa Claus (Reader Submission)
When my wife Oy came to the Netherlands in 1995, she knew little or nothing about Christmas, but that would soon change. She was completely sold upon her first introduction to the party; Songkran or Loy Krathong couldn't match this.
After my explanation about the origins of Christmas, she was initially disappointed. How could the birth of a pauper in a stable, surrounded by a donkey and an ox, be connected to a party full of glitz and glamour? No, according to her, Santa Claus was the reason for the party: a very wealthy older man who was so wealthy that he could afford to give all the children in the world a present on his birthday. This is how her own definition of Christmas was born, and she now has many supporters.
I will never forget how we put up the Christmas tree together for the first time. While others can complete this job in an hour, for us it takes at least a few days. My job is to set up the tree, wait for approval and then hang the lights. The branches must be at exactly the same height and the side branches must be the same everywhere. The lights must also have exactly the same distance and height. I have now become so adept at it that I no longer need my spirit level.
Then the artist goes to work. With the precision of a plastic surgeon, every ball, every bell and every angel is placed in perfect symmetry. After this, the artist looks at her work from all sides and makes some adjustments if necessary. This process may take a few more days.
Every year we visit Christmas markets and garden centers to replenish our decorations. There my wife immediately fell in love with a 1 meter tall Chinese-made Santa Claus, who played 'Jingle Bells' supported by a bell. Since then it has had a prominent place in front of our Christmas tree.
Then came the moment when my wife returned to Thailand for good. Santa was carefully wrapped in bubble wrap and a cardboard box, because saying goodbye to Santa was a topic I shouldn't bring up.
Now, here in Thailand, Santa Claus has been taking his prominent place in front of the Christmas tree for years. That is becoming an increasingly difficult task, because we do not have to wait until Sinterklaas leaves for Spain. My wife thinks early November is a suitable date to start Christmas, and at the end of January I really have to push to clean up 'the mess' again.
So far so good, until last Saturday. Mr. Santa suddenly disappeared. Panic! Someone stole Santa Claus. I looked at the surveillance footage and saw that on Saturday morning at 03:16 am the neighbor's dog, Boy, crawled under the fence, grabbed Santa and ran off. Later we found Mr. Santa Claus without a head and badly beaten about 50 meters away. I suspect Boy went crazy with the eternal 'Jingle Bells' while he took a nap right outside the gate and got his revenge.
Speaking of revenge, I don't believe Boy will get a fair trial. I can tell from my wife that she has already made a plan to avenge the loss of her great love.
A very Merry Christmas everyone, and hopefully to Boy too!
Submitted by GeertP
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Intense story, GeertP
Mostly spent those days abroad on holiday where getting through those kinds of days had little to do with faith.
I had also unlearned it somewhat in my youth.
Although we always had a family afternoon with a slightly spiced up meal.
I actually experienced 'flappie' something that made me like my father a little less for a while.
In addition, my mother was not of any religion, and even worse, Black Pete did not enter the building.
We are actually talking about a very long time ago.
My grandmother's father's side had a thing for black stockings, a friendly person, but she had something against nothing and was a religious believer.
Soon we had something of that, but we shouldn't spend too much time on that, many of those kinds of religious holidays, of course the free time was always welcome.
New Year's Eve was always fun staying up late with other family members and eating and drinking all kinds of things with the big party at the end.
Fortunately, my own wife is not at the fair either and yes, New Year's.
A small upgrade during those days and realize that there are many more days to come for those who think differently and have the same message, especially in Thailand.
And yes, I am also sometimes afraid of the resentful thoughts of many actually quite sweet Thai ladies, not because they can suddenly make street dogs 'disappear', which would be appreciated, but because we foreigners and certainly I sometimes have a can be a bit too direct in questions or advice that I have forgotten the next day, but many people here can remember, not one but two or three years, sometimes for the rest of their lives.
If it concerns world peace, okay, but no, often those things that many people talk about during their coffee break, I mean.
Well have a nice day everyone, and be careful when crossing the road and so on.
Grab a few beers and a bowl of 'natural chickens' from the BBQ in the hinterland with friends on Sunday.
My wife is the BOB.
My wife doesn't even know what Christmas means.
The only thing she associates with Santa Claus is that she hopes he will give her a present, because she loves that 😉
What a story and so familiar. Exactly the same here, I can place the tree and the lights. The tree must of course be standing straight. The lights in the Christmas tree also include a music thing that plays those annoying Christmas jingles. (secretly I also hope for a Boy :-)). Then my wife gets to work. And that also takes days. She also can't pass a store without looking at and buying the Christmas items, of course,
Our Thai family comes to us at Christmas and we play a game with parcels. I then have the honor of making the snacks and in the evening the BBQ comes out. Of course we bought way too much, so we will eat it for at least another week and then we will also give some to mothers. At night, everyone goes home refreshed and satisfied, or they have to stay overnight due to excessive alcohol intake.
Merry Christmas everyone!!
Haha, here's the New Year's Eve package thing.
Then everyone buys a package with a value of THB 500 (because they cannot afford anything more expensive). And then they can choose a number and the packages are exchanged.
And whoever receives my package is always super happy. I will of course spend a bit more than 500 Thb and that includes a nicer gift 🙂
This includes a delicious BBQ and luckily we don't drink alcohol (weird). But all in all, always a nice evening to end the year.
HAPPY PARTY EVERYONE!!!