Sinterklaas

Last Saturday we trooped downtown to watch Sinterklass arrive on a boat from “Spain.” Before we went down to the river we were invited to a colleague of Gearoid’s house for tea/coffee, traditional Sinterklaas treats and an explanation about this foreign Santa figure. To be honest, several people have told me several versions in both Dutch and English. This is my understanding of it- Sinterklaas spends the off season in Spain and then comes a few weeks before his special day (Dec. 5^th) to bring gifts to the nice children. Children put their shoes out with a letter for Sinterklaas and a carrot for his schimmel (a white horse. On a side note my language buddy told me schimmel means white horse and then asked me what white horse in English was- um, white horse? On another side note- schimmel also means fungus and the joke by naughty people is Sinterklaas has a fungus between his legs.) The next morning, the nice children will have treats and/or gifts in their shoes. Such treats include a piece of chocolate in the shape of the letter of your first name, kruidennoten (delicious graham cracker type cookies), speculaas (extra delicious ginger type cookies/cake), and toys. Naughty children are threatened to be spanked by some type of special stick or placed in Sinterklaas’ helper Zwarte Piet’s sack and brought back to Spain.

Traditional Sinterklaas treats

Gearoid enjoying a chocolate while waiting for Sinterklaas

We ate our delicious treats, talked about the legend of Sinterklaas, all while watching the “real” Sinterklaas arrive from “Spain” in Dordrecht on TV. We then headed down to the river to watch the Nijmegen version. The streets were packed with families, decorations, and people trying to do their regular Saturday market shopping.  We were amazed- not so much about the crowds but more so about their enthusiasm and the black face. Yes, I said black face. Sinterklaas’ helpers are mostly white people painted black with big red lips, a jester’s costumes, gold hoop earrings, afro wigs, with big bags of cookies. Despite this costume, Zwarte Piets are only controversial figures to the few minority Dutch people and all forms of tourists. The Dutch people seem oblivious to the negative and insulting connotations black face has- especially to Americans. I’m not racist, don’t condone racism, and know that in the US the use of black face is/was/will always be an extremely insulting action. However, there’s a different attitude about it here. There are those people who are offended by the Zwarte Piets but most of the people we questioned about the use of black face saw nothing wrong with it and seemed surprised by our shock. I’m not necessarily in favor of its use here but I not exactly outraged. It’s a cultural difference. I’m here for the experience and that unfortunately means dealing with experiences I’m not necessarily supportive of. This brings me to Sinterklaas’ helper(s)-Zwarte Piets. I know two versions of their story. The first is Sinterklaas rescued an African slave and the slave was so grateful he became his helpful servant. The more PC version is that Zwarte Piet is black because of the soot from all of the chimneys he has to go down to deliver Sinterklaas’ gifts in all of the children’s shoes. That’s my condensed American understanding of Sinterklaas but for more info check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas.

A Zwarte Piet handing out cookies

Zwarte Piets arriving in Nijmegen on the Pancake Boat

Zwarte Piet decorations

A racist- I mean- Zwarte Piet doll

Racist- I mean- delicious Zwarte Piet speculaas

I'm not really one for taking pictures of children I don't know and posting them on the web but if you look closely you can see some black faced children.

So we walked down to the river amid blonde blue eyed children with their versions of black face. Unfortunately for us, families with children seemed to get priority for the good views and we (i.e. Gearoid) balanced on bike racks and low walls to try to get good pictures of Sinterklaas and his helpers. After we had our cultural fill of Sinterklaas and his helpers, we decided to partake in another cultural tradition- a drink at a café. 

Sinterklaas- a cross between Santa and the Pope

Gearoid's balancing act. It was more hilarious in real life.

The best hot chocolate ever

It's not an angel. Just Gearoid.

* Dutch children believe Sinterklaas is real but Santa Claus in the States is fake.

* Christmas on the 25^th is still celebrated here but the gifts are mostly handed out from Sinterklaas’ arrival until the night of Dec. 5^th. On the 25^th, families get together to enjoy a nice meal together.  Because Sinterklaas comes a few weeks before his actual celebrated day and gift in shoes for 3 weeks can get expensive, one mother I know here encourages children on specific nights to put their shoes out for Sinterklaas.