CULTURE: Hungarian for an afternoon

Because we were rowing through "Hanna's Cold Winter," I went searching for a taste of Hungarian culture in the Twin Cities, and discovered that there's not only a Minnesota Hungarian group but that they have a holiday festival. And so we signed up and went!

December 6th is a special day in Hungary. Mikulas (St. Nicholas) is coming to town on this day.
On the evening of the 5th of December children polish their boots and put them in the window. During the night, Mikulás (St. Nicholas) will come and fill their boots with candy, fruit, chocolate Mikulas figures and small gifts. That is, if they have been good! Naughty children receive a bundle of twigs, usually with a krampusz-figure attached (Krampusz: is Mikulas' helper, a mean goblin who punishes bad children). Since no child is all good or all bad, most get the bundle of twiggs and the presents.

The event started off with presentations from students in their Hungarian language program, and concluded with a visit from Mikulas, who passed out treat bags and posed for photos. Then there was a potluck, and we got to taste Hungarian food. It was great to be surrounded as much as we could with Hungarian music, language, food, and people. What a fun thing to stumble upon!