Last year, I joined Reddit’s global Secret Santa event. I’ve always loved Secret Santa—Book SeSas are my absolute favorites, but I’ve also got a soft spot for Trash SeSa, where you pass along a terrible gift you’ve received for someone else to “enjoy.”

Reddit’s Secret Santa is a pretty typical setup, except that the whole (English-speaking) world takes part—even Bill Gates gets involved. I signed up to send one gift and also volunteered as a backup gift-giver for anyone left out (Re-match Santa). Everyone writes a little bit about themselves to help their mysterious match pick out a gift. Some profiles are short and sweet, while others are more elaborate.

The first round wasn’t particularly exciting. I sent a nice gift to someone (no word back) and received a generic gardening book from someone else. Then I got the notification to send a gift to someone who hadn’t received theirs yet. His profile was fantastic—fun to read and full of personality—and it got me right into gift-giving (and creating) mode, even though it was already January.

He was a newcomer to my home country, having moved for work, and was curious about all sorts of topics. Finding the perfect gifts for him was easy. I ordered some guidebooks for new residents, added two of my favorite novels, a set of beautiful mandala coloring books to spark his love for creativity and meditation, and even created a few custom dog illustrations for him since he was missing his dog back home.

The cherry on top was the heartfelt thank-you note he sent—it absolutely made my day. It was a fun couple of weeks, and I’m really glad I did it. That said, I think it was a one-and-done experience for me.