Today is Sinterklaas day in the Lowlands, a special day to look forward to when I was a kid since it is tradition in the Lowlands that all children will get presents today. Mind you, children that have been good all year, the bad ones will be taken back to Spain in a sack. But I guess I’ve always been a good girl because I can’t remember a Sinterklaas evening without getting any presents. I’ve always wondered though how the holy man could stash so many bad children in a jute sack and why he was wearing white trainers along with a red bishop’s dress and red mitre since he was an old and holy man, and old and holy men simply don’t wear white trainers, do they?

Anyway… to my surprise Sinterklaas didn’t forget about me this year, even after having moved to London he still knows how to find me somehow. And although I didn’t put a carrot in my shoe nor did I sing for him, Zwarte Piet managed to squeeze his way thru a hundred years old Victorian chimney without making any noise, to leave me some of the Dutch traditional seasonal goodies. Boy… am I spoiled or what? A one-kilo bag of kruidnoten [which have slightly the same ingredients as speculaas] covered in chocolate… Along with a sweet postcard and a new 2008 yearly contents for my Dutch ‘Mini Succes Agenda’ [which is my organiser]… I must have been a really good girl this year…

Dank U Sinterklaasje!

A kilo bag of ‘Kruidnootjes’

My leather organiser [Size: Mini 67x104mm]

Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas: the patron saint of all children.

In the days leading up to December 5 (starting when Saint Nicholas has arrived in The Netherlands by steamboat), young children put their shoes in front of the chimneys and sing special ‘Sinterklaas-songs’. Often the shoe is filled with a carrot or some hay for the horse of St. Nicholas (called Amerigo). On the next morning they will find a small present in their shoe, ranging from a bag of chocolate coins to a bag of marbles or some other small toy. On the evening of December 5th, Sinterklaas brings presents to every child that has been good in the past year (in practice to all children).

This is often done by placing a sack with presents outside the house or living room, after which a neighbour or parent bangs the door or window, pretending to be Sinterklaas’ assistant. Another option is to hire or ask someone to dress up as Sinterklaas and deliver the presents personally. Sinterklaas wears a red bishop’s dress including a red mitre, rides a white horse over the rooftops and is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colourful Moorish dresses, dating back two centuries. These helpers are called ‘Zwarte Pieten’ (black Petes).