THE COUNTDOWN to Halloween has begun. 22 more days. Yeah sure, who really cares about Halloween outside of North America … North Americans take Halloween seriously and put a lot of planning into it. When I lived in England I experienced Guy Fawkes Day – the day most Brits revere on a similar par to Halloween in North America – but very loosely. Most people who’ve never experienced Halloween in Canada or the USA have no clue how big of a deal it is. In fact, I wonder how much the Halloween retail market is worth – what with candy, costumes, decorations and advertising… But regardless, since I left Canada in 2000 and the US in 2004, the only “celebration” I truly miss is a “real” North American Halloween.

That said, St Martin’s Day [In Dutch: Sint Martijn's Day], a holiday similar to Halloween exists in the Netherlands and Germany. The Dutch celebrate it on November 11 instead of October 31. Apparently, the kids go door to door just like in North America, except, instead of wearing complete (and elaborate) costumes, they only wear masks. And instead of saying trick or treat, they sing songs to neighbours for candy or fruit. Fruit? That’s amazing, but I just don’t think anyone could do it in North America without getting investigated by the cops. I remember when I was eight years old some kids parents found a needle in Tootsie Roll — and as far as I can recall it was that day on that every kids parents started inspected and filtering the treasures accumulated on Halloween. Every warm-blooded North American kid has a good Halloween candy horror story.

Anyway — I “Googled” St Martin’s Day, trying to unravel the origins of the day, and a lot of stuff came up:

“It was a dark and stormy night. Martin was quite alone on that dark stormy night. He only had a cloak and a singular piece of bread. He was returning home when suddenly a poor and homeless man appeared in the darkness. Martin felt pity for the man and gave him half his piece of bread, and half his cloak and offered him hospitality in his home. Now he is called St Martin and is known for his kindness to the stranger. That is why we celebrate Saint Martin’s Day.”

OR

“Like so many other Christian celebrations, St Martin’s Day coincides with pagan rituals from the pre-Christian era. This falls at the same time as the early winter festivities of light and fertility celebrated by the pagans. The Christian Church, very early in its history, saw that there was a problem with holidays. Many people, even though they had become Christian and given up their pagan ways, didn’t want to give up their holidays. The Church, being smart, put Christian Holidays around the same time. The people kept their holiday, they just celebrated something different.

So who scores more candy – Dutch kids or North American kids?