Tuesday 13 December 2011
Sinterklaas!
Dear readers,
As promised an entire blogpost on Sinterklaas! I apologize that it took me so long to put this up... I actually wrote it last Thursday at work, but forgot to send it to myself... yeah very smart XD. I will
first start with an explanation for my non-Dutch readers, after which I will
cut to the more important stuff… PRESSENTS! :P
Sinterklaas is a Dutch holiday especially for
children. It has an origin which is closely connected to that of Santa Clause
(hence the similarity I names). Sinterklaas, or Sint Nicolaas (direct
translation would become Saint Nicolas) was the Turkish bishop of Myra. He died
on the 6th of December about 340 C.E. He is said to have performed many good deeds,
such as giving money and goods to the poor. Amongst other things, he is said to
have freed Moorish slaves who decided to thank him by serving him for the rest
of their lives. These Moors are referred to as Zwarte Piet (Translation would
be Black Peter). In our tradition these Zwarte Pieten are still helping
Sinterklaas to bring around presents and to throw candy (usually a type of
candy called pepernoten, candy made of gingerbread) to the children (which is a
reference to the scattering of money amongst the poor). There is a different
version to the story of Zwarte Piet, namely that h was first a while person,
but became black because he had to go through the chimney so often.
Usually in the weekend of the second week of November
Sinterklaas together with his Pieten arrives on his steamer filled with
presents. What is a little confusing is that our Sinterklaas is said to come
from Spain. Apparently somewhere along the line the legend of Saint Nicolas got
missed up with a Spanish saint. But oh well, he brings presents along so who
cares where he is from? Hahha
From the day of his arrival onwards children are
allowed to put their shoes in front of the fireplace (much like you do with a
Christmas stocking) and then have to sing a song. During the night Sinterklaas
and his Zwarte Pieten make their way across the rooftops to fill the shoes with
presents and candy. What is important to note here that Sinterklaas travels on
horseback, he is an old man after all haha. He is the proud owner of a white horse
called Americo.
On the 5th of December we celebrate
something called pakjesavond (boxing evening). This is the final night before
Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Pieten will return to Spain and they go away with a
bang ;). They visit every house in the evening hours leaving a bunch of
presents . The watchful children might just be able to catch a glimpse of
Zwarte Piet his black glove as he throws some candy into their living room.
Well then, now we come to the interesting part…. What
did Sinterklaas bring me on pakjesavond? I sure got spoiled. I received a dvd
called ‘The Borrowers’, which is the newest Studio Ghibli movie that came out
on dvd in the Netherlands not too long ago. I also received a Winnie the Pooh
version of a game called Frustration or in Dutch Mens-erger-je-niet. I also
received two typical Sinterklaas presents, namely a chocolate letter and a
gingerbread man (though the Dutch ones are quite different from the American or
English ones. Please see the picture below).
Well I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogpost on
Sinterklaas. Better late than never they always say!
Love,
Blacky
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2 comments:
Leuk logje! En leuke cadeaus :).
Thanks meis! :D
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