Sinterklaas on his horse, Americo.
In the Netherlands we celebrate something called Sinterklaas. It is actually a lot like Christmas. Sometime in late November Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands from Spain by boat. He brings a lot of presents with him for all Dutch children. He is assisted by Zwarte Pieten (Black Peters). From the moment Sint arrives, young children can put their shoes at the fireplace or the radiator or another predetermined spot in the house. Children usually do this right before bedtime and often sing a song for Sinterklaas en Zwarte Piet. When the child is asleep, Black Peter will crawl through the chimney (or otherwise) to get into the house, to the shoe and will proceed to put small presents in it. Usually, the present is accompanied by a small rhyme in which a certain event from the life of the child is regaled. This ritual will carry on until the 5th of December when Sinterklaas puts a large bag filled with presents for everyone in the household at every doorstep. Sometimes Sint and Piet feel creative and will hide their presents inside an “art-project” called a suprise (French pronunciation).
The boat filled to the brim with presents and Black Peters.
Today, at work, I celebrated Sinterklaas with my mentor group. They felt too old to buy each other presents, write small rhymes and do games. Instead, they really wanted to play a game of poker and have some sweets, snacks and drinks. So that’s what we did. And we had FUN! One of the girls made a cake together with her dad on which they stuck an edible group picture. It also had the catching words “K2E is the best” written on it. Another one of the girls made some muffins to share.
The older the children get, the less they want to celebrate Sinterklaas and the more they want to celebrate Christmas. However, they all value the Dutch tradition and it feels like a holiday to them anyway.