Übereil - Germans celebrate Halloween now - but I want to tell you about another really German custom, celebrated in November: St. Martin's Day.
Legend says, this Holy Man once met a shivering beggar in winter and shared with him 50% of his cloak. Message => share. Similar to Halloween, hm?
We celebrate it like this: Kids run from house to house, carry a lantern and sing one of the St. Martin songs, then get a treat (sweets, money, etc.) - If an adult did not give anything, the kids chanted a song about misers.
perversion now:
Kids run from house to house, know no Martin song by heart (if you're lucky, they know the 1st sentence), some even don't carry a lantern - look at you and want a treat.
It was a Christian custom - now it's commerce. Young kids (kindergarten) still know this tradition, it's the older (greedy) kids and commerce who perverted this quaint custom.
Kids swarm out and visit shops in hoards => same effect.
The message of St. Martin (share) is lost, the message now => gather and be greedy. Some even demand (!) money instead of treats.
Americanization? Nope. Was a German tradition.
I think, you have something similar in Sweden, right? St. Lucia? Something about a Lady with lights on her head.
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@Kyra => if I would consider Americans to be "bad" just because of their heritage, I could only spank myself for my narrow-mindedness. As Barta already explained => the vast majority here sees the individual and not the country. I got to know people here who became my close friends, not just internet buddies - and the amount of Americans is pretty high <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> in my top fav list. Because they're Americans? Nope. In spite of them being Americans? Nope. Because I like them <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />
Kiya
