Happy Xmas

It's a great Dutch tradition that, come Christmas, all those people who served you in some way throughout the year get some kind of reward. Most of all, for instance, those who deliver your papers. Here it's cheaper to get them delivered than to buy them in the shop. In other countries, like England, it is the other way round.

It means that around Christmas time, all kinds of people turn up on the doorstep claiming to have delivered the paper all year. We haven't actually had a single local rag the last year (the free local newspapers in which the local council informs the population about building permits etc.), but we still get a visit from some kid claiming to deliver them. You have to be very cool to ring a doorbell claiming to deliver something that hasn't been seen in years.