Celebration

Those clever people online know I am here and know I speak English.

The kids wrote their letters, which are mailed or delivered directly before, during, and after the parade the night before.  I did not hear squeals of excitement from other apartments this morning, but I did see at least one kid with a new bicycle!

Photo from this video.

Some people use their own stationery, but plenty of places provide blank forms.

This is from the local magazine.

This is from Tiger.

These letters opened my eyes! All those years of singing, "We Three Kings of Orient Are, Bearing Gifts..." never once made me think about the words.  These letters are mailed to the Orient!!  It is not a word used so often anymore, but when the song was written in 1857 it was appropriate for the kings, who are Arabian, Persian, and Indian.

There have been ads for cake.

And we see them in the bakery windows.

Or in the grocery store.

They are filled with cream or marzipan or something else that can hide a little token (sometimes a baby).  Whoever gets the token in their piece gets to wear the crown.

Good thing we ordered ours ahead of time!

Look who gets to wear the crown!

So cute!

I now know that there used to be a fava bean instead of a token, but I had
no idea there would be both.  Good thing no teeth were broken!

Edited to add that A. learned from a friend that whoever finds the bean has to pay for the cake!