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There he is! Sinterklaas is in the house walking silently on his Air Max sneakers. Apparently Sinterklaas' assistant black Peter has a day off so Sinterklaas has to do all the work himself.
Sinterklaas (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French) is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders (Lille) and Artois (Arras). He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including South Africa, Aruba, Suriname, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Indonesia. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America.
He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in Belgium and Northern France. Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas — patron saint of children, sailors, and the city of Amsterdam, among others.
Although he is usually referred to as Sinterklaas he is also known as Goedheiligman or simply Sint.
Source: wikipedia
Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands, he is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) (took photos on the children's day at my work yesterday)
Sinterklaas (or more formally Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas; Saint Nicolas in French; Sankt Nikolaus in German) is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Low Countries, including the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as French Flanders (Lille) and Artois (Arras). He is also well known in territories of the former Dutch Empire, including South Africa, Aruba, Suriname, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Indonesia. He is one of the sources of the holiday figure of Santa Claus in North America.
Although he is usually referred to as Sinterklaas, he is also known as De Goedheiligman (The Good Holy Man), Sint Nicolaas or simply as De Sint.
A Zwarte Piet (Black Pete, plural Zwarte Pieten) is a servant of Sinterklaas, usually an adolescent in blackface with black curly hair, dressed up like a 17-th century page in a colourful dress, often with a lace collar, and donning a feathered cap.
Sinterklaas and his Black Pete usually carry a bag which contains candy for nice children and a roe, a chimney sweep's broom made of willow branches, used to spank naughty children. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and being taken back to Spain. Traditionally, in the weeks between his arrival and 5 December, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the fireplace chimney of the coal-fired stove or fireplace. In modern times, they may put them next to the central heating unit. They leave the shoe with a carrot or some hay in it and a bowl of water nearby "for Sinterklaas' horse", and the children sing a Sinterklaas song. The next day they will find some candy or a small present in their shoes.
Typical Sinterklaas treats traditionally include: hot chocolate, mandarin oranges, pepernoten, letter-shaped pastry filled with almond paste or chocolate letter (the first letter of the child's name made out of chocolate), speculaas (sometimes filled with almond paste), chocolate coins and marzipan figures. Newer treats include kruidnoten (a type of shortcrust biscuit or gingerbread biscuits) and a figurine of Sinterklaas made of chocolate and wrapped in colored aluminum foil.
Poems can still accompany bigger gifts as well. Instead of such gifts being brought by Sinterklaas, family members may draw names for an event comparable to Secret Santa. Gifts are to be creatively disguised (for which the Dutch use the French word "surprise"), and are usually accompanied by a humorous poem which often teases the recipient for well-known bad habits or other character deficiencies
For the Dutch celebration of Sinterklaas our family decided to go with "surprises" (pronounced sur - prease - us), which is a common way of doing the gift-giving when everyone is old enough to know *spoilers* that Sinterklaas is not the one handing them out. ;)
Apparently, it might be a Dutch thing (hoezegjeinhetengels.nl/surprise/). In a way it's similar to Secret Santa, but the participants make fun, beautiful or wacky DIY creations to conceal their gifts. Being very short on time, I did what I do best and built mine out of LEGO. My grandmother really loved it!
Usually, the creatively crafted packgage gets tossed, but glad I got mine back in one piece. The inside of the box still smells of perfume, btw. :)
today, took pictures of the "Sinterklaas" party at my work (took a lot of photos with flash, liked this one best, but noticed that this one was one of the few without flash ;-)
surrounded by kids (Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Netherlands and Belgium)
Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure still celebrated today in the Netherlands. He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in Belgium and Northern France. Traditionally, in the weeks between his arrival and 5 December, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the fireplace chimney of the coal-fired stove or fireplace. In modern times, they may put them next to the central heating unit. They leave the shoe with a carrot or some hay in it and a bowl of water nearby "for Sinterklaas' horse", and the children sing a Sinterklaas song. The next day they will find some candy or a small present in their shoes.
A Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) is a servant of Sinterklaas, usually an adolescent in blackface with black curly hair, dressed up like a 17-th century page in a colourful dress, often with a lace collar, and donning a feathered cap.
Sinterklaas and his Black Pete usually carry a bag which contains candy for nice children and a roe, a chimney sweep's broom made of willow branches, used to spank naughty children. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and being taken back to Spain.
I was lucky enough to see the appearance of Sinterklaas in Bruges. He apeared at the Town Hall and made promises to the good kids, the bad kids just get a twig
Sinterklaas has a long red cape, wears a traditional white bishop's robe and red mitre, and holds a crosier, a long gold-coloured staff with a fancy curled top. He carries a big book that tells whether each individual child has been good or naughty in the past year. He traditionally rides a gray horse.
Video here shot by the local Tv station www.focus-wtv.tv/programma/wtv/sinterklaas-op-de-brugse-r...