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NZ Secret Santa

New Zealand’s nationwide Secret Santa is rather adorable

BY JOHNNY LIEU From Mashable

It seems like if there’s anywhere to be in the world, it’d be in New Zealand.

These holidays, New Zealanders are set to again participate in a nationwide Secret Santa, organised by the country’s postal service, NZ Post.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, Secret Santa, sometimes called Kris Kringle, is an activity where one person gives a (usually small) gift to another person, but the recipient is not told who it came from. It requires a group of people, and names are drawn at random.

New Zealand’s nationwide Secret Santa has been going since 2010, but NZ Post took the reins in 2013. It now has a warehouse to facilitate gift exchanges, and there are more than 3,500 Secret Santa participants this year — you just need a Twitter account to enter, and a Twitter handle is the only clue you’ll receive for your recipient, for gift ideas.

Even the country’s new Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, is getting involved.

Jacinda Ardern
@jacindaardern
So you may have noticed I don’t tweet especially often (I just lurk) but as a ridiculous lover of Christmas, I couldn’t miss the chance to join the @nzsecretsanta movement. Registration ends tomorrow so feel free to join in my over the top Christmas cheer

It’s likely the most difficult person you could end up buying for.

beck eleven
@beckeleven
Gasp. What do you get the PM if you get her for #nzsecretsanta ? https://twitter.com/jacindaardern/status/932815335752790016 …

Part of the fun of Secret Santa is the sleuthing of your giftee, but it can be pretty hard when you’re gifting a complete stranger on the other side of the country.

NZ Post have a little questionnaire on its Twitter page to help.

NZ Secret Santa
@nzsecretsanta
5) You have $1,000 a 24 hours to use it. You must spend it on yourself. How would you spend your day? #nzsecretsanta #2017question5

But of course, there’s always the magic of the internet to find out what your giftee is like.

Damien Spurdle
@DamienSpurdle
So my #nzsecretsanta likes to retweet a lot but not so much tweeting themselves, well this will be fun 😂

Deborah
@zebbiedeb
When the person you’re #nzsecretsanta for has a blank canvas for a Twitter account with absolutely no clues what do you do?

Liana Burn
@LRLBurn
my #nzsecretsanta ‘s last tweet was in march 2016. im ready

J9
@NanaJ9
For the first year EVER I already follow my #nzsecretsanta and they’re bloody cool!! This is gonna be fun fun fun!!!

Happy gifting, Kiwis.

IMAGE:
Shhhh….IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES

For more on this story and video go to: http://mashable.com/2017/11/22/secret-santa-new-zealand/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29#yNKGssLWfkqw

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