Sinterklaas

Last night I got to celebrate Sinterklaas for the first time in my life. Sinterklaas is how the Dutch people celebrate the arrival of good ole Saint Nick. Dutch children receive their presents every December 5th instead of on the 25th.

However there is such a huge backstory so I will try to capture it properly. Sinterklaas lives in Spain. He comes to Holland every year around November 20th. On a boat. It is a HUGE deal. He comes to a new town each year and crowds line the waterways to greet him on his boat. Not only that but there is a newcast that goes on. The anchor broadcasts the arrival of Sinterklaas and the town goes nuts. They sing songs. The mayor comes out. This year the anchor and the mayor were shocked because Sinterklaas came in a different direction than was expected. And Sinterklaas is a tricky fellow. Sometimes he leaves little gingerbread snap things called peppernoten on the ground to make the crowd THINK that he has been there.

So Sinterklaas comes in on his boat. With his black posse. They are called Black Petes, as in short for Peter. And they are basically Santa's little helpers. Dressed up like minstrels that belong in Henry XVIII court. Supposedly they are black due to going down the chimney.

Anyway Sinterklaas comes in and stays in his palace and his job is basically done. However over the next fifteen days or so, his representatives travel to every town in Holland. In addition, there are segments on the news like "oh no, someone stole Sinterklaas' book (ya know the naughty or nice one)" and then they follow it up on the next day with "found the book, all is well." Or there is some debate that Sinterklaas may get stuck and not get under a bridge. In addition, there are little stories that are told each year about Sinterklaas and his black helpers. On the night of December 5th, generally people are eating dinner and they hear a knock on the window (Black Pete) and they rush in and all the presents are there. They exchange gifts then and read poems to each other.

Another tradition of this holiday is to eat chocolate and candy until you feel nauseous. (No problem with this part.) So after a Dutch meal of kale and potatoes and meatballs, we ate lots of chocolate. Like Sinterklaas and Black Petes made up of chocolate. Giant chocolate letters, like a giant M made out of chocolate, and a box of peppernoten (gingerbread snaps kinda shaped like corn pops) with other fun candy interspersed.

All in all a really interesting holiday. I've included a video of the Black Petes. They are singing in Dutch but if you see a fat woman running, she is one of the naughty people. I'm not sure if the video is available in the United States, but hopefully you can watch it.

Black Petes