Secret Santa, Kris Kringle and Bad Santa Of The World

Secret Santa is a part of American Christmas traditions in which members of a group, usually office or family, are randomly assigned a person to whom they will have to give a Christmas gift. Usually, the gift giver’s identity is a secret not to be revealed until after the gift is opened.

Secret Santa Around The Globe

There are many versions of Secret Santa around the world. I once participated in the Singapore office. The rule was to treat the person you are randomly assigned to extra nice from day one until the Christmas party. You reveal yourself as their Santa on that day and give them the final Christmas gift.

During my first year in Australia, I remember sending a skype message to my colleague asking her what’s a “chriscringle”. Kris Kringle, she corrected and explained, is the Australian version of Secret Santa. Known initially as Kristkindl, Kris Kringle is the Santa Claus character for the Pennsylvania Dutch. It would be interesting to learn about his adaptation to Australian Christmas traditions.

It’s also in Australia; I first learned and participated in another version called Bad Santa. Bad Santa, in which each participant buys a gift for a no particular person during the gift exchange time. Anyone can choose a new gift from the pile or a gift that has been opened by someone else. It sounds complicated, but it’s much more exciting and a little dirty compared to the goody-two-shoes Santa.

Meanwhile, one of the most heartwarming Christmas stories I have read so far was when New Zealand did a nationwide Secret Santa, and it inspired me to participate in the giant Secret Santa in the world. So maybe I will do it next year.

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