In case all your Christmas wishes don’t come true, don’t worry — there’s 节礼日!

在美国, the biggest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving, a day that’s become known as “黑色星期五.” 在加拿大, the major shopping extravaganza is the day after Christmas — 节礼日.

十二月 26, 节礼日, is a public holiday in Canada. 如果你在零售工作, 虽然, it’s unlikely that you’ll get the day off, because stores across the country use this holiday to draw in shoppers and move all the merchandise that didn’t sell before Christmas.

Many stores hold big sales that begin on Boxing Day and continue at least through New Year’s Eve. Before you head for the mall, you can check out various sale flyers online at RedFlagDeals.com 或 SmartCanucks.ca. Just note that many sales are region-specific, so don’t be fooled by Ontario prices if you live in B.C.

If you’re wondering 其中 “节礼日” name come from, here’s the scoop according to the Canadian Heritage department:

The day after Christmas, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is better known as Boxing Day. The term may come from the opening of church poor boxes that day; maybe from the earthenware boxes with which boy apprentices collected money at the doors of their masters’ clients.

So what does that have to do with shopping? 大概不亚于中美. Thanksgiving does…

Happy holidays from 留学加拿大生活!