Sinterklaas is the Dutch equivalent of Christmas held on 5 December annually. Our Dutch friends, Minke and Jaap (“Eastern Stream“) and John and Ada (“Rhapsody“) hosted a traditional Dutch Sinterklaas celebration for us while we were in Whangarei. This is special in so many ways, but primarily because it is a Dutch tradition that we did not get to celebrate (as Dutch-Indos kids). However, several elements were intertwined with our holiday celebrations.
Sinterklaas is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. The feast of Sinterklaas is celebrated with the giving of gifts and playing of games.
Festivities begin around mid-November when Sinterklaas arrives from Spain by steamboat. Then he travels the country on a trusted white/grey horse. Many towns host extravagant parades to welcome Sinterklaas and his trusted assistant Zwarte Piet. Why Spain? The rumor is because in 1087, half of Saint Nicolas’s relics were transported to the Italian city of Bari, which later became part of the Spanish Kingdom of Naples.
Zwarte Piete
Trusted helper to Sinterklaas dressed in Moorish attire and in blackface. Dating back to the 16th century, he was been known to dress in noble attire while carrying the burlap bag for Sinterklaas. His black face has divided a nation. Some say that he was originally a black slave while others say that his face is black from the chimney soot. To this day half the country prefers him black face and others opt to select different colors from the rainbow for Piete.
Sinterklaas and Piet
Naughty Children
My dad and my Dutch friends remember growing up with the threat of horrible consequences if they had been naughty. In the early days, Piet would carry a birch rod, a chimney sweep’s broom, and would spank children who had been naughty. And really naughty children were put into Piet’s bag and were taken back to Spain for an entire year. Of course, in modern ages, they no longer tell children of the spankings or trips to Spain – they merely get small bags of salt instead of gifts. An equally disastrous outcome if you ask me.
Traditions
Leading up to 5 December, children leave a single shoe next to the fireplace before going to bed. Inside the shoe would be a carroty or some hay and a bowl of water for Sinterklaas’s horse. The next day, the children would find a small treat or candy inside their shoe.
Sweet Treats
Inside the shoe children would find tasty chocolate letters of their first name and Kruidnoten (small, round, gingerbread-like cookies).
Minke and Ada spent three days preparing this special Sinterklaas celebration for us. They made chocolate letters for everyone and they made a huge batch of Kruidnoten, Gevulde Speculaas, and chocolate nutty surprises.
Giving of Gifts
Parents surprise the children by telling them Sinterklaas left a burlap sack of gifts for them at the door. Typically, one adult would leave the bag on the front step, ring the bell, and run around to the back door to be present for the opening of the front door.
A humorous poem that pokes fun of the recipient is given with each gift.. Sinterklaas and Peit have a great sense of humor.
Adult Game
The adults play a Sinterklaas dice game (similar to “White Elephant). There are two rounds and each person gets a turn at the dice for a set amount of time. Once round 1 is over, you start round 2. It is truly hilarious and fun to play. I highly recommend it over White Elephant!
Minke and Ada had us each bring (1) wrapped present you like and (1) funny, wrapped present worth $10 each, and a shoe. We left the shoes by the BBQ grill as that was the closest thing to a chimney.
The dice tell you what to do from opening a present, to swapping and stealing presents, changing seats, and skipping turns. It was super fun.
After both rounds, we grilled up some tasty grub and realized to our surprise that our shoes each had a beautiful present inside them. Sinterklaas hand made beautiful ornaments for everyone!
We each received this beautiful invitation for our very first Sinterklaas.
The events from this blog occurred in early December. Our blog posts run 6-8 weeks behind actual events. What did we do in Whangarei for 6 weeks, check out the blog.