A Dutch Christmas

Today is the beginning of Christmas for us here in the Netherlands. Today about half of the country will celebrate the birth of Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas is named after Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children and sailors. Sinterklaas traditionally arrives each year in mid-November (usually on a Saturday) by steamboat from Spain. On December 4, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the fireplace chimney of the coal fired stove or fireplace, or, in modern times, next to the central heating. The shoe is to have a carrot or some hay in it and a bowl of water "for Sinterklaas' horse," and the children sing a Sinterklaas song; the next day (today, December 5th) they will find some candy or a small present in their shoes. When a house has no chimney, Sinterklaas or Black Pete is said to enter using his special key that fits on every door in the Netherlands.
There are multiple stories involving why the helpers are “black”. The most common told story is because they are dirty from going down the chimney. Everywhere we go, we have seen pictures of the black helpers. They dress in outfits like the one pictured, but each helper's outfit is usually a different color.

Last Saturday our landlord's daughter and her friend stopped by our house. They were dressed like Sinterklaas's black helpers. They had come from a celebration for small children. It was really cool to see. They were carrying bags similar to old potato sacks. They gave us a handful of treats from their bag. They were a mixture of candy and Kruidnotens, small, round ginger bread like cookies. Doug and I have purchased these treats from the store also. Doug especially likes them. We bought some today that were covered in a variety of white, milk, and dark chocolate.



When Doug and I have been to the centre city in Arnhem, we have noticed chocolate candies made into the shape of all different letters of the alphabet. We have not been able to figure out what they are for. Doug even received one from work. (The letter N for Nefit and a small Bosch logo near the bottom). After doing some research we found that these chocolate letters are a typical Sinterklaas candy.



This evening, even though we didn't leave our shoes out, there was a knock on our door and Sinterklaas left us each a present. (We believe is was our landlord's wife and daughter). Doug received a black helper and I received Sinterklass. Each of the figures were made from a collection of towels.



I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about the holiday. We enjoyed being a part of it. However we will celebrate Christmas on December 25th with the other half of the country. Doug even gets two weeks off from work!!!!