Sinter Klaas in Naarden

A Zwarte Piet band in the parade.


Another Zwarte Piet band. Disturbing, isn't it?



The kids on this float think it's OK.

Here's the big deal - Sinter Klaas himself riding a white horse.

Wow, I can’t believe another week has already flow by! I meant to write a blog entry on Sunday, but it didn’t happen. Let’s catch up!

Saturday was the Sinter Klaas festival for Naarden. Naarden is a really cool city just a bit north of Bussum. The city is surrounded by canals making it like a small island, about five blocks long and three blocks wide. When they have a party, it’s like a huge street party. It’s much cooler than Bussum. Saturday night, Dennis and I bundled up against the cold and walked about 30 minutes to get to the center of Naarden. The streets were closed to car traffic and all lit up with Christmas lights. Kids were playing in the streets and parents were drinking mulled wine. We wandered around until we heard the parade starting up. Finding a nice spot on the sidewalk, we stood by to watch.

The parade was short like in most small towns. There were a couple of bands, a fire truck, about 5 floats with tons of kids on them, a group of Zwarte Piets throwing candy, and finally Sinter Klaas on his white horse.

Here’s another confusing Sinter Klaas fact: Sinter Klaas and Santa Klaus are two different people. Sinter Klass is a saint who was a real person. Santa Klaus is a fictitious character who represents the commercial side of Christmas. It seems that the Dutch and German immigrants to the US brought their Sinter Klaas traditions with them. Over the years, the traditions changed to become what we know today as American Christmas. More recently, the shops in the Netherlands have tried to get people to buy more stuff at Christmas and started using Santa Klaus in their advertising. So, Santa Klaus represents the commercial, American style Christmas. The whole thing is a bit like a dog chasing its tail!

Dennis and I spent much of this week in our Dutch language class. It was a three day immersion course for people with some knowledge of Dutch. There were four students total, so we got a lot of individualized attention, especially when the other guys were late! The class held in the teacher’s house in Bussum, so we were able to walk over. We sat at the kitchen table for the lessons and she even made lunch for us! We had to speak Dutch the whole time, which was very hard for me. The other two guys seemed to be able to say exactly what they wanted while I struggled for every word. Whenever we did exercises on paper, I seemed to do OK. From the Teach Yourself Dutch book, I had learned a lot of the grammar and spelling rules. And, since I took a lot of Spanish classes in high school, I have a basic understanding of how foreign languages work. One guy in the class was shocked to find out that you can’t just take an English sentence and translate every word. You actually have to start thinking in Dutch to get the right word order and idioms.

I got a lot of practice on speaking and the teacher gave us lots of things to do at home to keep learning. But the best part of the class was the teacher’s pets (as in cats and dog, not “teacher’s pets”). While we worked the little black cat, named Minnie, would sit on my lap and purr. The dog, a big black Labrador, would stick his graying nose in between me and Dennis to try to get some attention. I have been missing Lady recently, so it was nice to have a dog around. On the last day, the teacher took us out for a walk in the woods to get some fresh air while we working on verb conjugations. The dog was so excited to go along that he barked in the car the whole way to the woods.

Now that the Dutch classes are over, I need to start speaking Dutch at work. It’s been kind of nice to have a few days away from the office, but everyone knows I was at a Dutch class. I hope they don’t expect too much!

With the Thanksgiving holiday this week, it was a nice quiet week to be out of the office. We didn’t do anything special for Thanksgiving day, but I will cook some turkey drumsticks this weekend. I found out that I can order a whole turkey at the grocery store, but they normally don’t carry them until Christmas. It’s hard to get in the Thanksgiving mood when nobody else celebrates it. Even though the British people speak English, they don’t have Thanksgiving.

PS - I'm writing my blog while the repairman fixes the water heater. He was surprised that it held out for us and didn't quit working. But right now the heat is off and he's been going in and out so it's getting really COLD in here! I'm going to shut this off and put on my coat!

Odds and Ends

I'm taking a vacation day today to take care of some odds and ends. One of them is to answer some of the questions that have popped up on the blog's comments.

Running with compression socks - I'm running up to a mile at a time now. My legs are feeling OK, but not great. I don't know if I'm feeling better because of the compression socks or because I took a year off from running. I haven't tried running without the socks, so I can't tell. But, I'm happy to be able to get out for a quick run in the evening when it's too dark and cold to go biking. I'm trying to run every other day and I'm building my distance one block at a time. So far so good!

Driver's Licences - You are only allowed to drive on a foreign driver's licence for 6 months after moving to the Netherlands. To get the Dutch licence, I had to turn in the Illinois licence. Apparently, the Dutch government sends the licences back to the US, where I'm sure someone simply throws them away. I did send an email to the Illinois Secretary of State to ask about getting a duplicate licence in my situation. I haven't heard back yet. The same person probably throws away all email inquiries as well! Anyway, I can rent a car in the US using my Dutch licence. And I'll just have to use my passport to get on airplanes in the US. If I can't get my Illinois licence back, I'll just end up having to take the driver's test again when we move back. Thats still a whole lot easier than taking the driver's test here!

Weather - It snowed today here! Yes, I saw real snow flakes falling from the sky for about 2 minutes. It started as sleet, but it switched over. We've been having an icky, blustery day today. It's changed from rain, to sun, to sleet, and to snow at least twice today. The wind is pretty nasty too. I think the last of the leaves have been ripped from the trees along with most of the twigs. But even with that, it's still above freezing. The days are really short now. I am using my bike lights going to and from work. The sun comes up at about 8:00 and it's dark by 5:30.

Language update - Dennis and I are going to a three-day Dutch immersion course next week. We've been studying almost every night and our vocabulary is finally getting big enough that we should be able to express ourselves. But knowing the words and being able to speak are two very different things. I'm hoping that the class will build our confidence with speaking and give us some good practice. Some of our Dutch studying is funny. We have a children's book called "Dikkie Dik" with cartoons about a cat. Dik translates to thick, which the adjective they use to describe fat people, or cats in this case. Dikkie Dik is naughty, like our cat, so we have fun with it. We also got a CD with a children's movie called "Het Paard van Sinter Klaas." Paard means horse and it's good word to know so you can avoid buying horsemeat at the grocery store! The movie is about a little girl who moves here from China. Her dad runs chinese restaurant and she has to learn Dutch just by going to school. She falls in love with a pony that lives in pasture near her house. When the pony dies from old age, she decides to ask Sinter Klaas for a horse. And when Sinter Klaas comes to visit her school riding a white horse, she thinks that he's bringing the horse for her. While Santa is with the other kids, she highjacks the horse and takes him home. It's really a cute movie. It's all in Dutch so we really have to pay attention. We've already watched it twice. Now I know why kids want to watch the same movie or have the same book read to them over and over and over again. They are learning the language.

Water heater - I stayed home today mostly so I could have the water heater repair guy come over to look at our leaking water heater. I figured it's better to schedule the guy while it's only a small leak and I can plan a day off rather than having an emergency repair when it's really not convenient. And since the water heater is in the attic, there is a good potential for significant damage if the leak becomes major. Like the US, they give you a 4 hour time window when the guy might show up. I was lucky today that he was early! But, of course, he has to order a new part so I get to take another day off to deal with this problem. But I'm really glad I called. He said the water heater will shut off completely if the water level drops too low. And he told me this heater runs the hot water for showers and for the radiators. So if it goes out, the house will have no heat. Now, I just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best until the part comes in!

Cleaning lady - Now that Dennis is working, I found a lady to clean our house. I got her name from a co-worker who got her name from a friend. When I called and told her where I live she laughed and said she lives on the next street over! She cleaned for the first time on Wednesday and I think I have a new best friend. She did a really nice job and we're going to have her clean once a week. The house here is smaller than in the US, so the dirt is more concentrated. Now that I don't have to clean on the weekends, Dennis and I can plan to spend more time traveling around.

There's another Sinter Klaas festival on Saturday night in Naarden (the town just north of us). It's supposed to be a really nice party, and we're planning to go. I think the weather is going to be very bad, though so I don't know how long we'll stay. I'll try to take some better pictures!

Sinter Klaas Comes to Bussum

People posing for pictures with 2 Zwarte Piets.


Zwarte Piet giving candy to a kid.

A store-front display featuring Zwarte Piet.

Sinter Klaas day is December 6, but Sinter Klaas comes to town on November 15th so he has lots of time to whip the kids into frenzy. Sinter Klaas lives in Spain. I don’t know why Spain, but it makes as much sense as the North Pole, I suppose. He arrives by boat, and once he’s in the Netherlands, he travels by train or by horse depending on where you live. Instead of elves he has a helper named Zwarte Piet.

Zwarte Piet has lately become a controversial character in the Sinter Klaas tradition. In the past, Zwarte Piet was Sinter Klaas’ Moroccan slave. Zwarte Piet was in charge of the Naughty Book and would kidnap bad children and take them back to Spain. You can see that with 21st century sensibilities, this wouldn’t go over big. He has now morphed into a Santa’s helper, like the elves, and he helps deliver the candy and gifts for Sinter Klaas.

But, you’ve probably already realized that zwarte means black. And being Moroccan, Zwarte Piet is black. Since they don’t have many black people here in the Netherlands, the pale-skinned Dutch people wear black make-up to play the part of Zwarte Piet. This is where the real controversy comes in. People from America with their ideas about political correctness really don’t like white people putting shoe polish on their faces to portray Santa’s slave. The Dutch people are downplaying the slave part, but see no problem with the black make-up. It’s their tradition and it’s not meant to offend. In all reality, Santa’s elves are probably degrading to all the midgets in the US.

Controversy aside, Dennis and I went into town on Saturday evening to see the festival for the arrival of Sinter Klaas. All day on Saturday, you could feel the excitement in the air. The kids were pretty wound up! They had some special booths set up down town selling oliebollen (literally oil-balls, but really just donuts), and poffertjes which are mini pancakes served with powdered sugar and butter. They also had a blow-up jumping thing (does anyone know the proper name for these things?) and a carousel swing. Near the town hall, they were setting up the main stage where they would perform all the Sinter Klaas songs.

At 5:00, everyone gathered around the stage. The children had hats that they made in school. Some had tall red Sinter Klaas hats (like the red hats that cardinals wear), and other kids had beret style Zwarte Piet hats. Some of the kids even had on the black face make-up to look like Zwarte Piet. There was a fleet of Zwarte Piets distributing bags of candy to the kids. The kids would yell to get Piet’s attention. So, you can imagine a group of kids all hopped up on candy yelling, “Piet, Piet, Piet!” All the while, the children’s choir on stage blasted what we can only assume are Christmas tunes. It was complete bedlam!

I tried to get a few pictures (without being creepy), but it was dark and starting to rain. Hopefully I can get some better pictures over the next few weeks. Since it was raining, Dennis and left before Sinter Klaas actually showed up. So, I don't have any pictures of Sinter Klaas, either. He is normally dressed in a red robe and tall hat like a Catholic cardinal. If we wanted to, we could visit the place where Sinter Klaas lives while he's in the Netherlands. He stays at the museum in Naarden vesting so it's really close! But I'm not sure I want to pay 4 euros to see his bed.

From the people at work, I learned a little more about Sinter Klaas and how things work. A lot of the tradition depends on your family, a lot like Christmas traditions in the US. The basic deal is that kids can put out their shoes near the chimney on December 6th and Sinter Klaas delivers a gift. Many kids will put a carrot in their shoe for Sinter Klaas’ horse. So, why does Sinter Klaas come to town several weeks before Sinter Klaas day? As the holiday has become more commercialized, it gives the kids more opportunities to get gifts. Some lucky, spoiled kids leave their shoes out EVERY night from Nov. 15th until Dec. 6th! Other kids are only allowed to put their shoes out on SATURDAY nights until Sinter Klaas day. The kids also get loads of gifts from grandparents and other family members. Some families also give gifts again on Christmas. So, like the US families can get really carried away, or they can keep it a bit more low-key. But it sounds like the gift-giving is generally more low-key than what we’re used to seeing in the US.

Saint Martin's Day

November 11 is Saint Martin's day in the Netherlands. In the US, Nov. 11 is Veteran's day and in England it's Armistice Day, both really celebrating the end of World War I. But, in the Netherlands, they celebrate Saint Martin, the patron saint of children. I'm still not clear on why a country that has such a strong Protestant history celebrates a Catholic saint's day, but we'll let that pass.

Saint Martin's day is the equivalent of Halloween with the kids going door to door collecting candy. Instead of saying, "Trick or treat," they have to sing a song. After the song, they are given candy. They don't wear costumes, but they carry paper lanterns lit with tiny light bulbs.

In the days leading up to Nov. 11, there were advertisements on TV showing kids singing at a man's house and he tries to give them pickles because he forgot to buy candy. I didn't want to be like that guy, so I bought several bags of candy last Saturday. I was a little worried when the people at work said that not all the neighborhoods really do St. Martin's day. But I know that my neighborhood has tons of kids, and I figured they would not pass up the opportunity for candy!

On Tuesday afternoon, I actually left work on time and I gave Dennis directions to get home at a reasonable time to see the kids. At about 6:30, just as our dinner was coming out of the microwave, the first kids came by. The kids came by in rather large groups, probably because it's easier to sing in a group. It was cool to see the kids walking around with their colorful lanterns. By about 7:30, all the kids headed home, unlike in the US where the kids keep bugging you until 10:00.

The next big holiday is SinterKlaas Day. SinterKlaas is coming to town this weekend, so hopefully I'll have more fun information to share then.

Visit to Muiderslot Castle

Last Sunday, Dennis and I rode our town-bikes over to Muiderslot Castle. It's about a 20 minute ride, so it's pretty close. The castle is located in the town of Muiden, where the rver Vecht meets the big lake. You may remember from earlier blogs that the big lake used to be the Zuiderzee, in other words, part of the ocean. The Dutch were going crazy fighting the high tides, so they built a huge dam across the opening of the Zuiderzee. The sea became a lake and over time the water even became fresh. So, back when this castle was built, it was in a pretty strategic location to keep invaders from entering the country by going down the river. After the dam was built, the castle was no longer needed. But it's still pretty cool to see the old castle and the scenic river Vecht.

We took the guided tour of the castle even though we were told the tour would be in Dutch. The advantage of the tour is that you get to see some of the rooms that are otherwise off-limits. Fortunatley for us, the tour guide had English translation cards for us. So we could read along as he talked in Dutch. We are working really hard to learn Dutch, but we are far from being fluent! One of the highlights of the tour for us was an old painting featuring the local celebrities. One of them was Roemer Visscher. So, now we know who our street was named after.

Other than the trip to the castle, we've just been doing the normal workaday thing. I had to travel last week to Switzerland for a couple days and it always seems to take a while to catch up from that sort of thing. Between packing, unpacking, doing laundry, and going grocery shopping, you can really get lost in the day to day activities. We did manage to get out for a nice bike ride yesterday when the sun was shining. It was about 50 degrees and sunny which was good enough for a 20 mile ride. I really love riding along the farms and seeing the cows, sheep, goats, and horses.

The final bit of big news is that I got my Dutch driver's licence this week. It's been in the works for several weeks now and I'm glad it's done. It's always strange to learn the rules of a different country. To get the Dutch licence, I had to fill out a medical questionaire. To get the questionaire, you have to go to the town hall and pay 20 euros for it. Then, you mail it to the bureau and wait for them to send you a letter saying you are medically fit to drive. Once I got the letter back, I took it along with several other documents back to the town hall. Again, I had to pay some money. At this point, they took my US licence from me. The town hall guy was very helpful and gave me copies of all the application forms in case I got stopped by the police while I was waiting for my official licence to arrive. It took about 2 weeks to get a letter stating that my licence was ready to be picked up at the town hall. Since the town hall is only open from 8:30 until noon, it took me another week to schedule a time to go get it. So, all in all, it took three trips to the town hall during working hours and about 6 weeks to get my licence. Phew! Now, I just need to figure out how to get my US licence back!

Now that I have my official licence, I am hoping to do more road trips. The car is getting lonely in the driveway because the weather has been pretty nice lately!