Sinterklaas has Arrived

Every country has their own ways of celebrating long standing traditions. In the US to celebrate Christmas we look to our old friend St. Nicholas. Here in Holland, they're version of Santa Clause is a little different; allow me to introduce you all to Sinterklaas. Now in a lot of ways Sinterklaas is the same as our Santa Clause, except mainly that Sinterklaas lives in Spain, not the the frigid North Pole Surrounded by elves. Elves are not a part of the tale either. Here Sinterklaas is helped by Zwarte Piets or helping hand black Pete.

The legend goes that, three small Moorish boys were sentenced to death for a crime they did not commit. The bishop intervened and they were saved. To show their gratitude, the boys stayed with Sinterklaas to help him, tumbling and jumping on rooftops on Sinterklaas night to deliver presents. Their black skin may refer either to their Moorish background, or to the job of chimney sweep, an option is corroborated by their clothes, reminiscent of an Italian chimney sweep's costume and Pete's rooftop occupation. Another background story for Pete is that he is the devil who was enslaved by Sinterklaas. Nowadays, children in the Netherlands are told that the Pieten work for Sinterklaas voluntarily and that there is a special school in Spain where they learn their trade. Sinterklaas originally had only one Zwarte Piet. The concept of multiple Pieten was introduced by the Canadians when they helped organising the first post-WWII Sinterklaas celebration. Most traditional Sinterklaas songs still mention only one Zwarte Piet. Sinterklaas and his Black Petes usually carry a bag, which contains candy for nice children and a "roe," a bunch of willow branches used to spank naughty children; in actuality a chimneysweep's broom. Some of the older Sinterklaas songs make mention of naughty children being put in the bag and being taken back to Spain. The Zwarte Pieten toss candy around, a tradition supposedly originating in Sint Nicolaas' story of saving three young girls from prostitution by tossing golden coins through their window at night to pay their father's debts. Below David Sedaris' Sinterklaas experience...hillarious.

Yesterday marked the official arrival of Sinterklaas to the Netherlands he was welcomed with open arms and a parade throughout town. He arrived by tugboat from Spain and will stay here until the evening of December 5th when he can be seen jumping form rooftop to rooftop, Zwarte Piets following behind, delivering presents to all the little Dutch boys and Girls. I'm sticking with my man Santa Clause for Christmas but, it is interesting to see how these tales have evolved from country to country and generation to generation.