Sinterklaas and his fellow Pieten arrived safely this weekend in Meppel! – Huge boat, white horse and all! I will be honest… I was slightly gutted we never made the journey to Meppel to see them arrive, but we did watch it on the TV.

This may be an old Dutch children’s tradition, but hey, I am still a big kid inside and I just love the idea of Sinterklaas… who wouldn’t? Chocolates, toys and fun poems for weeks leading up to Christmas, count me in!!

Sinterklaas is based on good old Saint Nicholas, but instead of living in the North Pole, Sinterklaas was a smart thinking guy and set up shop in sunny Spain! The guy is a genius.

His companions are called Zwarte Pieten (black Petes).  Zwarte Piet is kitted out in some funky colourful 17th century clothing.  The reason for their name is that most have black faces.  Before people get upset, they have black faces because of coal, they climb down the chimneys to give kids presents.

I was given a good tip to start following the Sinterklaas Journaal to help me with learning Dutch, as it is aimed at children. So it is simple, easy Dutch.

http://sinterklaasjournaal.ntr.nl/#/de-krant

So far they have only have one page up, but I could totally follow and understand it – woohoo! And I get to learn more about Sinterklaas.

To get ready for the 5th December lets have a little sing along;

Sinterklaas kapoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn schoentje,
Gooi wat in mijn laarsje,
Dank je Sinterklaasje!

Sinterklaas (untranslatable word)
Throw something in my shoe
Throw something in my boot
Thank you Sinterklaas

Now let’s hope the old guy puts a chocolate letter in my shoe, I have been extra good this year!

More on Sinterklaas after the 5th December…

N x