It’s that time of year again, when the Dutch enjoy their unique and rather peculiar brand of Christmas celebration . Sinterklaas. You’ve probably seen Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) and his black-skinned helper, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), around Delft.
So what’s this all about? Well, Sinterklaas (Sint) is a saint and lives in Spain. Every year in late November, Sint boards his steamboat with his white horse, Schimmel (Mold) and his helper, Zwarte Piet, and sails for Holland. When he arrives, Dutch kids put their shoes in front of the fireplace (or radiator). Sint then rides his horse up on the roof and sends Zwarte Piet down the chimney to put candy in each kid’s shoe. Zwarte Piet also carries a sack, in which he takes ‘bad’ Dutch kids back to Spain! On December 5th, the Dutch exchange surprises, handmade presents with real presents inside. Each surprise comes with a rhyming poem, written by the giver, which humorously recounts things that have happened in the surprise receiver’s life during the past year. Speculaas, marzipan and pepernoten are the Sinterklaas sweet treats the Dutch like to eat.
(Photo/Caption: Pavel Prokopchik, BSc, Russia)
It’s that time of year again, when the Dutch enjoy their unique and rather peculiar brand of Christmas celebration . Sinterklaas. You’ve probably seen Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) and his black-skinned helper, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), around Delft. So what’s this all about? Well, Sinterklaas (Sint) is a saint and lives in Spain. Every year in late November, Sint boards his steamboat with his white horse, Schimmel (Mold) and his helper, Zwarte Piet, and sails for Holland. When he arrives, Dutch kids put their shoes in front of the fireplace (or radiator). Sint then rides his horse up on the roof and sends Zwarte Piet down the chimney to put candy in each kid’s shoe. Zwarte Piet also carries a sack, in which he takes ‘bad’ Dutch kids back to Spain! On December 5th, the Dutch exchange surprises, handmade presents with real presents inside. Each surprise comes with a rhyming poem, written by the giver, which humorously recounts things that have happened in the surprise receiver’s life during the past year. Speculaas, marzipan and pepernoten are the Sinterklaas sweet treats the Dutch like to eat.
(Photo/Caption: Pavel Prokopchik, BSc, Russia)
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