Saint Nicholas (
Greek:
Άγιος Νικόλαος ,
Agios ["saint"]
Nikolaos ["victory of the people"]) (270 - 6 December 346) is the common name for
Nicholas of Myra, a
saint and
Bishop of
Myra (Demre, in
Lycia, part of modern-day
Turkey). Because of the many
miracles attributed to his
intercession, he is also known as
Nicholas the Wonderworker. He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for
Santa Claus, whose English name comes from the
Dutch Sinterklaas. His reputation evolved among the faithful, as is common for early Christian saints.
[2] In 1087, his
relics were furtively
translated to
Bari, in southern Italy; for this reason, he is also known as
Nicholas of Bari.
"A Thoroughly Dutch Family Holiday" Sinterklaas is celebrated in the Netherlands on December 5. It is a thoroughly Dutch family holiday where children are treated to gifts and adults spring surprises and compose humorous poems about each other. At its core is a bishop from 3rd-century Turkey who is buried in Italy, but children believe he lives is Spain.
Walk through the streets of a Dutch town in early December and you are very likely to run across a dignified old fellow with a long white beard, wearing a mitre on his head and a red cape, accompanied by exotically dressed jet-black assistants. You will probably even encounter this unusual group several times and you may even see several such brightly colored groups at a time.
Is it carnival time? No, but it's definitely a holiday. Sint-Nicolaas (Saint Nicholas), popularly known as Sinterklaas, is the protagonist of the most popular and most Dutch of Dutch holidays. His holiday is celebrated on the eve of the 5th of December, the evening before the holy man's death. Sinterklaas is the ultimate family holiday and it is all about the presents distributed on the saint's behalf.
The presents make it even more of a holiday for shopkeepers. Every year, Dutch households spend an average of 130 euro on Sinterklaas gifts, and this combined with Christmas (in Holland, December 25 and 26) and New Year's Eve makes December the highlight of the year for merchants.
Young children are firmly convinced that Sinterklaas really does exist. Fearful and trembling, they await what will happen on the holiday evening, because the most imposing holy man is good to good children but strict to naughty ones. 'Those who are good get sweets, those who are naughty get the rod' (Wie zoet is krijgt lekkers, wie stout is de roe), says one of the countless Sinterklaas songs heard continually in homes and schools during this time. According to folklore, the naughtiest are taken away in the burlap sack in which Sinterklaas brings presents. The fact that this never happens is a secret kept with remarkable discipline by adults and older children.
The sinterklaas mood is in full effect in the weeks before December 5. Festive lighting hangs in the streets and shop windows are full of traditional treats: gingerbread nuts (pepernoten), chocolate initials (chocolade letters), Speculaas (spiced biscuits), chewy gingerbread and marzipan.
Sinterklaas has had tougher competition from Father Christmas. About ten years ago, more and more Dutch people turned to the jovial benefactor from the North Pole who is modelled on Sinterklaas. For a while, it was feared that one of the Netherlands' most beautiful traditions had had it's day, but it was not so: in time, most recognised Father Christmas as a third-rate imitator.
For children, the time before Sinterklaas is a feast in itself. They place their show by the chimney, leaving a carrot or some hay in it for the saint's hore, and with a little luck they may do this several times. According to the tradition, the holy man rides over the rooftops on a grey horse, dropping gifts through the chimney into the shoes. The fact that many modern homes do not have chimneys and shoes are placed near a radiator has not yet fazed a single child.
But there's something in it for adults too, and how! By means of surprises - unusual gifts wrapped in imaginitive ways - and the humurous poems included with the presents, they freely make gentle fun of each other. Not all the Dutch are talented poets, of course, but made-to-order rhymes can be ordered on the internet, honouring and chastising family members, loved ones and even bosses and other superiors for their good and bad sides in a way that is unthinkable in everyday life. The Dutch get things off their chest in the name of Sinterklaas, making a thourougly Dutch tradition out of the feast of a holy man.
(from "The Dutch, I presume", by Martijn de Rooi)
So, my family in Holland just celebrated Sinterklaas this past weekend. They did it a little early, because it's hard to get everybody together since the family is pretty big. And this way they can all have Sinterklaas eve with their own "little" families. Plus it was my mom's birthday, so they celebrated that too.
In our family we always draw names. And we make a "surprise" and a poem for the person you have. It's always a lot of fun and a BIG MESS afterwards. If you don't know yet, I come from a pretty rowdy family. They usualy come up with the funniest surprises and poems. My mom emailed me some of the poems, and they were hilarious.
One year, I got a candy-tree, because I like candy so much. My sister got a huge sugar scoop, made out of metal one year, because she used to like sugar a lot! My mom's present, one year, was inside a box with a mouse in it, she is scared of mice! I used to work at a fish restaurant, so one year my presents was in between a bunch of fish... it stank bad!
My nieces and nephews get so excited for Sinterklaas' arrival every year. My old home in Holland is by a canal. Sinterklaas arrives on a boat in this canal every year. So all the kids and grandkids usually gather at my mom and dad's house and wait there for Sinterklaas. It's usually really cold! The kids like to dress up as "zwarte piet" (=Black Pete, I'll explain later). And they make drawings for Sinterklaas. In return the Pieten will give them lots of candy and pepernoten. (You'll hear lots of kids yell; PIET, PIET!!!!)
Me and my siblings used to put our shoes by the fireplace every Saturday night in November. The next morning we got up super early to see if Sinterklaas had come and brought a gift! And, of course, there was always something! But if we had been naughty we would get a little bag with salt, don't ask me why, that's just what Sinterklaas did. (maybe my mom and dad couldn't afford to get us a present...?) Sometimes, on Sunday morning, the whole living room was a mess! Everything was out of place. So we thought that the Zwarte Pieten had done that of course!
I have lots of fun memories from Sinterklaas. I think it's really nice that we celebrated Sinterklaas, and that we got presents early in December. That way Christmas was always focused on Jesus' birth. We never got presents for Christmas.
Tys and Nieko will get their Sinterklaas presents on Saturday!
I think it's a really fun tradition.
One of my family members got this pinada as a surprise. See the mess?
my younger sister Elbrich, got a First-aid kit.... If you want to know why, you can ask me in an email or in person.
My sister Janneke and her husband Jan Bert just bought a house, that's why she got this house as a surprise!
Look at all the presents!
Teake dressed up as zwarte piet
So, the reason why Sinterklaas' assistants are black is because they go through the chimney to deliver the kids' gifts!
These Pieten get dressed up like this every saturday in november and on the 5th of December of course. Think of all the black make-up they have to put on, and, worse, take off again!
Sinterklaas transfers from the boat to his horse, named Amerigo
His arrival on the boat, right by my old home..
Niek dressed up as zwarte piet
Sinterklaas
