Sinterklaas is here!

Well this post comes a little late but I have just not been into blogging recently, so there you have it. Well anyway almost two weeks ago Sinterklaas came to Holland on a boat from Spain to spread joy and happiness to the children of Holland. (of course it was an actor who boarded a boat somewhere in the city and rode it to the harbor where the kids were waiting.) So Sinterklaas arrived with his helpers known as Zwarte Piet who's faces have turned black from going down the chimneys for Sinterklaas. They throw out small cookies called kruidnoten into the crowd while singing and dancing. It was a fun event to go to and neat to see how children in another part of the world celebrate holidays. The children also put their shoes in front of the fire place a few times per week till Dec. 5th (Sinterklaas birthday) and sing a song to Sinterklaas. If they sing Sinterklaas will leave something in their shoe over night. So as you can see Sinterklaas is a very busy man. Then on Dec. 5th it is Sinterklaas' birthday and everybody writes a poem to somebody about that person and people give each other funny presents that have to do with that person. (Ineke please help me out if I am getting all of this straight)

So Sinterklaas is not associated with Christmas here and he is a totally different figure than America's Santa Claus. I am still trying to figure it all out but that is what I understand anyway. So look at the pics and leave a comment if you have more info. on Sinterklaas.