When I saw this task on another 101 list I knew it was one for me. Since there aren’t too many Christmas’s available to you in a 1001 day period I wanted to get this one done this Christmas.
The first hurdle I came across was what to gift to get. I didn’t want to just do a card with money but wanted to get an actual gift, wrap it and include a Christmas card. After much debate I settled on a medium sized chocolate figure and a candy cane with Xmas decoration on it. It wasn’t a huge gift but once all wrapped up looked really nice.
The second hurdle was who I was going to give it to. While I was sure there were many homeless people in Rotterdam I had no idea where to find them. I was starting to think I was just going to have to wander the streets of Rotterdam when RC came up with the idea of giving my present to the man who sells the Street Paper nearby.
So today I headed off in the rain with all fingers crossed that he would be there. The first thing I did was purchase the magazine from him and explained in my best Dutch that I didn’t want any change. Then I stuttered out my well rehearsed phrase…
“Dit is een kerst cadeautje voor uw.” (This is a Christmas present for you.)
…while holding over my present and card. I got a very kind thank you and the traditional three kisses and was wished a merry Christmas and New Years. This was definetly one of my favourite 101 tasks to complete.
