American tries to describe Sinterklaas in the Netherlands

[@emma-janeulmer438]

I'm not from the Netherlands, but my Oma was born in the Netherlands before moving to Canada when she was 6, so she brought Sinterklaas with her, so I grew up celebrating Sinterklaas

[@robertklein1497]

So when you are in Spain, remember where all those Dutch people there came from and why...

[@MrBliss77]

You forget to mention the role of television. Sinterklaas' arrival is on national television, the local arrival is usually on a regional tv station. Besides this you have the Sinterklaas journaal and of course Sinterklaas usually makes guest appearances in various talk shows and game shows (and not only on shows aimed at children)

[@jwenting]

yes, my parents were always very careful to not take us into other towns and cities on the days Sinterklaas arrived there, simply because he of course can arrive only once and that's in our town. The national arrival wasn't a thing back then, there was no life television and no television coverage of the arrival at all. Just some photos in the local newspaper of the local arrival.

[@Whistler4u]

For me the main thing about Sinterklaas is a nice night with family/friends. Opening gifts, teasing each other with poems and surprises.

[@francesconoce3056]

You know...i was born in Italy and i came to The Netherlands when i wss six years old and so Sinterklaas was a new experience for me and it rocked my world 😁. Now i'm 50 years old , but i still buy pepernoten , chocolate and a little gift for the children . For me Sinterklaas has been important to me as a kid and now i want our children to have the same memory . Wish you well , i enjoyed the video 👍🇳🇱🙏🇺🇲

[@ThePautjepie]

Santa Claus is actually a “ripp off” from Sinterklaas, with lots of different (european) influences. a poem from 1823 & a coca-cola commercial made him more american...

[@ThePautjepie]

❤️right back, Ava @20.21 uur Ava, are you following this ?

[@pzykotikal]

Pretty sad that most people, incl the Dutch, don't even know that Santa Claus originated from Sinterklaas.

[@ThePautjepie]

@@pzykotikal i guess thats because all the stories & “wonders” of the actual saint have always been told for centuries, but never been proven in writing... but most of the traditions around the Sinterklaas period make sense...

[@Loraine680]

😂😂😂 Je meent het? "A ripp of from Sinterklaas"😉🙉😂? Maar Sinterklaas waar is hij ripp of van?? He?? Dit dus als we nu over ripp-ofs praten. Wake up! Hier een reactie van mij boven ergens, aan de clip zelf geadresseerd: Sinterklaas and Santa Claus are both fictive religios characters, based on the (also fictive) goddes "Nike", which simbolised the Victory of Mitra (God) uppon the sacred bull (ancient and later artefacts with Mitra altars and the bull, are in countless musea allover the world) in december. The catholic Dutch Sinterklaas kept also old medieval made up religios trends, like "de zwarte piet" ("Sea Peoples" member, long story*) who gives preasents to kids in december, remaining made up cow-pay story from the so called "three wise men/kings" (of which one was black, fictive characters) who gave gifts in december to the (fictive as well) "the holy child jesus christ"😉. Do you want to know more about this? Check the quatrilogies of episode 7 and 15, from the "Noi Arianii Daci" serie. Both episodes (more episode 15) documents this. The december feast days existed long before the Vatican hyjacked them and replaced with their christian sect crimes against humanity, under the pretences of "connections to jesus christ"😉🙉😂. The fake thing of "comming from Spain" is again a made up aberration, because in the (a while back) strong catholic land Netherlands, the religios stories were better related to (as strong catholic) Spain (ever heard of the Spain religious inquisition??), the) than with the (bij the church made up) bible origin place of the "Saint Nicholas" and as such mentioned in the bible (as "a Bishop from Anatolia"), which was in Anatolia, now Turkey, an islamic land today, religion which the catholic Netherlands does not want to be associated with, hence "Santa came from Spain, not from Turkey!"😉😀😂. Also the globes we placed in the tree symbolised the GLOBE we see Mitra (in ancient statues) holding in his hand, as symbol of the Earth/Globe and of the Universe, the "star" with rays on top of the tree symbolises the rays around the star/sun head of Solar god Mitra etc etc. All these were stolen by the christian sect, and added to their fictive "jesus christ". * All these are documented by the world famous international history investigator Dinu Costel Linta (Dutch citizen) in his series.

[@pzykotikal]

@@Loraine680 wat lul je? Saint Nicholas was a historical figure from Myra (Greek-Roman Empire, later , which was later part of the Byzantine Empire). After his death he was declared holy. Centuries later, his relics were moved to Bari (Italy). At some point, Bari was under Spanish rule, during a time where he was honored across Europe. The Spanish have ruled over the Netherlands after that and this is likely the time when Sinterklaas was introduced over here. As for the Sinterklaas traditions, they're based on the Saint Nicholas' good deeds, which got him declared holy.

[@lindabroer8995]

Ah the memories of placing my DADs shoe near the chimney. And yes, my DADs shoe. His shoes are bigger so it would fit a bigger gift. What? I can't have been the only kid to come up with that idea :)

[@DutchAmericano]

Haha, that's clever!

[@toaojjc]

I used to try and put out my rainboot... Similar thinking

[@gabbathehut3235]

oh yea, out here all the kids did that, that's just clever economics ^^

[@ZaeranosNL]

No, I didn't come up with that particular idea. I just put all the shoes in the house there. That would mean not just a bigger gift, but more gifts. I know I was greedy back then.

[@penwithoutasword9459]

Ik heb nu al jouw video's gezien en ik heb bewondering hoe jij zo goed je best hebt gedaan om de Nederlandse cultuur en gebruiken te begrijpen en aan te leren. Ik denk dat jij je hier gelukkiger voelt dan in de VS. Dankzij jouw video's heb ik niet alleen veel geleerd over de Amerikaanse cultuur maar ook de Nederlandse cultuur. Bedankt!

[@quintenmoons6911]

On december 6, Sinterklaas brings presents to the childeren in Belgium.

[@mentos93]

Makes sense, it takes alot of hours to go from north to south & visit every town.

[@Vird_]

Officially it's also the 6th in the Netherlands. But over time (starting after WWII) the festivities changed from "Pakjesochtend" on the 6th to a "Pakjesavond" on the 5th.

[@vincenzodigrande2070]

"Belgium second" 😜

[@gerbentvandeveen]

USA first, the Netherlands 2e. Belgium 3e?America First - The Netherlands Second - Donald Trump | ORIGINAL UPLOAD #ZML / vpro zondag met lubach kzbin.info/www/bejne/e32nY3Ste7NshMU

[@legomattie3295]

6 december is actually the correct date: the day St Nicolaas died

[@robmies3257]

Dankjewel voor deze video. Hartverwarmend om een 'buitenstaander' zo positief over onze gebruiken te horen vertellen.

[@iVo42928f]

Some moment in the evening, my dad would go to the toilet and all of a sudden the doorbell rang while he was there. I never noticed that it was him doing it until he told me when the 'Sinterklaas is not real' news was broken to me.

[@DutchAmericano]

Loved hearing this story =D

[@TheEvertw]

With us, it was always the neighbor who knocked on the door ;-) Now, I text my neighbor when it is time to knock

[@GloomTart]

Relatable. My dad would always need to 'check in the garage because there is no more beer in the fridge' or some other weird excuse for him to go outside. And then the knock on the door would happen and when dad came back inside he'd say "Oh no! did I miss the moment again?!"

[@greetjeb7030]

Same at me home😅

[@ramonvanderben8120]

My dad always had to walk the dog at 19.30h on dec. 5th, also known as Pakjesavond (Presents Evening). Sinterklaas always came by our house just after he and the dog left... My reaction was the same every year. 'Dad, you missed him again!' I am a dad myself now, and I have a dog....😉

[@eefaaf]

When my mother was a child, she did her utmost to get in the bag, as she did want to visit Spain. She only started crying when she was taken out off it. She made up for that plenty in later life, visiting Spain dozens of times :)

[@RyuDarkwood]

I was kinda looking forward on your take on a particular hot debate, haha. But it's nice to emphasize what a joyful holiday it is. I can relive so many good memories through the sheer enthousiasm of my small nephew. A few years ago we gave him a video message from the good old Sint and he was roaring with laughter. :)

[@tomvdijk6405]

About the candy treat: What you where showing are kruidnoten. Pepernoten are different and soft, certainly not crunchy. Also missing the suikergoed and marsepein.

[@user-fx9hc9iy8z]

And the taaitaai poppen and the roomboter letters 😁

[@aruvielevenstar3944]

En chocolade letters

[@stonedmountainunicorn9532]

@@aruvielevenstar3944 video wel gekeken vriend?

[@aruvielevenstar3944]

@@stonedmountainunicorn9532 ja, jij ook, vriend ?😅

[@stonedmountainunicorn9532]

@@aruvielevenstar3944 Waarom zeg je dan chocolade letters? of is je concentratie vermogen aangetast? Ze heeft het toch echt over letters gehad.

[@toaojjc]

Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands on the first Saturday after Sint Maarten (11-11). The national intocht is televisied and then all the towns and city's have their own intocht after that.

[@lindabroer8995]

Also you can actually invite Sinterklaas (or a helper-Sinterklaas as he cannot possibly visit every house on his own :)) to your house on the 5th of December. The kids get to sit on his lap and get gifts from him. So many memories...

[@ThW5]

Bad idea, you don't want kids to get used to physical contact with bishops and the like!

[@RobinK]

Honestly celebrating Sinterklaas every year as a kid were some of the best/most exciting times of my life. The idea of Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Pieten coming to our house at night filling our shoes with candy and presents used to scare me a little :)

[@jacobmannessen1191]

Sinterklaas is a saint and is Saint Nicolas. He was the saint for travellers and sailors and that made him important in the Netherlands. He is still important in the orthodox church in East European countries. They als celebrate Saint Nicolas in Belgium, on the coast of Great Brittain, zweden, Denmark and Norway. Even in Stwitserland and Austria they know Saint Nicolas..

[@KajiRider1997]

And He's popular all over Europe because the church needed a replacement for Odin who was the gift-giver for European pagans in almost all of Europe, he shared this role with Ded moroz and father Christmas.

[@Nikodokles]

When my father was a child, he was told that if you got taken to Spain in the bag you would get ground down to pepernoten there.

[@Dutchess0909]

Oh yes, my brother... how frightening that was

[@RobinK]

Hahaha that's brilliant

[@david6054]

It's not just the taking to Spain that can be used to punnish them, he also has a Roe. This is a bundle of twigs to spank them with. That is no longer done ofc but it can still be found in songs and sometimes Pete will cary them with him. One thing you probably did not have the pleasure to see yet is a event that families tend to do every few years when there are a lot of smaller children in the family, is a visit from the Sint(as we like to call him). The family will gather and they hire a someone to come over. The kids will be singing songs when there will be a loud knock, and when they open the door the Sint is there with some of his helpers. These helpers start throwing candy from their bag all over the livingroom and Sint will take his place on a nicely decorated chair while his helpers give hands full of candy to the kids. He has a big book and in it are writen good and bad deeds of the children (that the parrents give him beforehand ofc) one by one the children get to sit on his lap and he will read a bit about if they were naughty or nice. He will then give them their pressents(that the parrents have placed in front of the door right before). If they did anything bad like lying he will be a bit stern with them and make them promise never to do it again. When everyone has their pressents and it is time for him to go to a different house they will wave and sing him off. Now his helpers called Black Pete are a bit controversial when looking at it from another country(and by a very small group of sour B's that want to ruin the party for children). During the Intocht(arrival) you will find these small groups called "Kick Out Zwarte Piet" that will demonstrate and start yelling to scare the kids, calling them racists and saying that Sint is not real. Luckily there are a lot of families there so what you often see is when the Sint is about to pass by them that while the mothers are with the kids watching Sint, the fathers will form a human wall(sometimes even using sheets) to sepperate these pos from the children, completely blocking them out. (You can protest if you want but you do not try to ruin a childrens party) Pete was a child that got taken to Spain and now works for Sint.They are black because they are the ones going trough the chimney and it is the sooth that makes them black. It is not a form of blackface in a R*c*st way! While there was a time that they also wore large earings and paint their lips read, this was a recent change and has already been reverted. The reason it is important to paint their face black is because the people that play Pete (and Sint) are often people from the community. If they did not paint their face they could be recognised and that would destroy the illusion. That small group I talked about wanted them to paint their faces in rainbow colors but that does not have much support. Not only are they not a pride flag, you don't get a green/blue/pink/yellow face from going trough a chimney. Most black people agree with this and think he should stay black. After all, he is a black character that kids do not fear at all (Pete only gives candy and gifts, make jokes and perform tricks while Sint is the one who will be a bit angry if you are naughty). A large part of my family are POC and they all love Pete. He is a good role model.

[@ConsciousAtoms]

Have you had any experience with "surprises" yet? I'm putting it in quotes as it is pronounced in the Dutch way (I think it came here from French), it's a bit unfortunate that it's an existing word in English. It's sort of related to an English surprise, but in a particular fashion. The idea is that with the poem you also craft something that is about the recipient or pokes some more good-natured fun at them. For instance, my uncle once made a little bumper car for a relative who had been involved in a car accident that year. And my younger brother once gave my mom a cute little dwarf made from a box for washing powder, because when he hit puberty, my mom had become the smallest person in our household. I once made a domino track where all the dominoes were little fighters for a fellow member of our gaming group, to be pushed over by the massive sword wielded by a giant. To "commemorate" his heroic loss one night in a game where his 6 fighters got defeated by a single one of mine. Often people will draw lots as to for whom they will be making a surprise. The idea is that crafting one is quite a bit of work, so you should not be obliged to craft something for everyone. Ideally it should be a secret for whom you are building a surprise, as nominally they are all from sinterklaas.

[@picobello99]

It can also be a little dirty or hard to open. I've received and given gifts in blocks of ice, "soup" or hidden in a loaf of bread. A specialty in my family is a gift wrapped in newspapers and tape with some added stroop. Or you receive a note that says your gift is somewhere else with some cryptic hints and then you have to try and find your present that's hidden somewhere in the house.

[@ConsciousAtoms]

@@picobello99 Yes! How could I forget about that! I once gave a bucket of sawdust and wood glue to a friend with the promise that the present was inside.... But it wasn't .

[@mrniceguywinkyface1524]

Also yeah the whole greeting Sinterklaas when he comes to Holland, never thought about how that odesn't happen with Santa, weird, it's probably the biggest highlight of the festivity besides pakjesavond.

[@Taliesin6]

When i was sick at home as a kid on the day Sinterklaas was coming to school he also came to my house personally for a visit, that was so awesome!

[@tonzelle2720]

Every evening at 1800 there is a Sinterklaasjournaal on tv from mid november until 5th of december!

[@Jeroen1983]

I really hope next year your Dutch loved ones will give you the full Sinterklaas experience that kids have when they're little: sing a song, get a treat in your shoe; and the knock on the door on pakjesavond (complete with the bag of presents).

[@janetgerritsen9155]

In our part of the Netherlands West-Friesland it was a costom that when you were no longer a believer you got a bag of grits instead of presents.

[@bartvschuylenburg]

The horse doesn’t fly, it walks over the rooftops and jumps between roofs.

[@twinkharrylwt226]

@Richard Jones it climbs ofcourse 😂

[@pinquinsam]

@Richard Jones the horse jumps high

[@jeroenfigee]

Yep ... and the horsies name is : "damn, that's fast !" No,.... seriously....; "Oh, Zo Snel"

[@twinkharrylwt226]

@@jeroenfigee wait since when? His name is americo as far as I have been taught

[@jeroenfigee]

@@twinkharrylwt226 Yep you are right and for the little kids ........ -> kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXbco6N3ZbekqLc

[@geralddemeulemeester4961]

Sinterklaas has more Christian influence, it is based on a former Christian bischop, so there is a Christian cross on his hat (mitre), he also holds a bishop's staff (crosier) and wears old bishop's clothes (cassock). He is also present in Belgium, in eastern France (Alsace), in Austria and some parts of Germany. Some traditions are different between those countries.

[@marchofstede]

In my village Sinterklaas does not arrive by steam boat but by steam train (we actually still have a historic steam train here).

[@mstreurman]

On the 6th of December Sinterklaas will go to Belgium/Flanders to give presents there... Yes, the Belgian kids get to celebrate Sinterklaas a day later.

[@Paul-iq6pw]

"Fun" fact: we are actually celebrating the day Sint Nikolaas died which is December 6th. Try telling that to your kids. :X In the Netherlands it shifted towards the evening before and eventually the day before because the shoes were filled on the 5th in the evening and families started celebrating that more than the actual day.

[@dutchgamer842]

When I was a kid till I was 6 or so we lived in an apartment, the balcony door always needed to be locked at night, but around Sinterklaas, my parents said we leave it open for Sinterklaas. Of course they only opened it put me to bed, and closed it. Me assuming in bed, the door was still open so he could put presents in

[@betty6676]

Dec 5 at 7 pm. Sinterklaas evening, my father suddenly got a headache and on the advice of my mother he went for a walk. In the meantime, we children sat on the sofa singing Sinterklaas songs. There was a loud knock on the door, we sang extra loud. The door opened slightly and we saw a hand with a purple glove sprinkling pepernoten in the livingroom. In the hallway there was a large jute sack full of gifts. Then my father came in, his headache was gone and he had missed Sinterklaas' Eve again. AGAIN. :) Kids don't go to Spain anymore, they have changed it ,as with the roe aswell. Sinterklaas poems is mainly used by adults, such as a group of students to tease someone, often a lottery ticket is drawn and you buy something for a small amount that is on the list of the person you have drawn. Gifts are also packaged in something called 'Suprise'. Something is made from cardboard that often tells something about the person. Just as Ava likes perpernoten, it could be that your 'suprise' is a big peppernoot made of cardboard with your gift. Suprises are also made to tease someone Sinterklaas does'nt go down the chimney, he is too old. Pieten goes down the chimney. Sinterklaas sit on his horse that's a special horse that can walk on the roofs of oure houses. Ava of course that is possible. !! If you look through children's eyes, it is also special that you press a button and the elevator comes down, therefore it is normal that reindeer can fly and Sinterklaas can walk on the roof with his horse.

[@NiinaW]

Another important thing of sinterklaas besides the poems we also craft something in which you hide the present.. it's called a "suprise" and sometimes they can be grose sometimes it's funny about an event that happend in the past year

[@Linda-hs1lk]

When I was a child my parents would leave a window open so 'Piet' could throw candy and pepernoten through it and bang on the windows and doors and of course there always was a bag full of presents and we of course 'saw' Piet run away (well, that's what we thought, lol). We were always SO nervous because you'd never know what time it would be (in the evening though). My dad was great playing along and made it a huge party and was the one giving the presents to everybody but he made a whole show of it. When he died it was never the same again and I never celebrated Sinterklaas the way we used to. The memories are great though.

[@dutchyjhome]

Update on Saint Nicholas: It turns out that Saint Nicholas and Krampus also go to Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, just as they vistit Germany and Austria. In fact Saint Nicholas visits most countries with Krampus see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus The position of Zwarte Piet is up for discussion and Saint Nicholas already has a good relationship with Krampus in most countries around us, so: Zwarte Piet out! and Krampus in!

[@missyc13]

I remember leaving water out for Sinterklaas his horse, my mom always put on red lipstick, drank from it and said that zwarte piet must have thought it was for him. I remember my sister writing a letter saying the water was for the horse but he still drank from it!

[@lightspeedtractor]

that's adorable 😊

[@bUtLUtu]

I would say the poems are part of the adult version of sinterklaas: surprises

[@lilmax86]

Just can't stop smiling during this video.

[@a.leguijt7925]

Sinterklaas actually apologized for the past practice of taking children in a bag to Spain, during an interview on the Sinterklaasjournaal ;)

[@stefangrobbink7760]

What's also nice about Sinterklaas is that it gets the gifts giving out of the way and leaves christmas for eating with family and friends. This is also where gourmetten comes in. So yeah, November and December are full of festivities here. January and February on the other hand...

[@stefangrobbink7760]

@Ikreisrond fair enough. Now it's just looking at the rain outside while wishing it'd be spring already. Sometimes that wish comes true and spring starts early, and otherwise you're just eating snert while going out less than during March quarantaine.

[@myrrhsense]

Also at some times you'll see sinterklaas and the petes stroll through the city centers on market days or visit malls and even clubs (like sports clubs, scouting clubs, etc.) and schools on random days before the 5th of december and hand kids (and adults haha) handfulls of pepernoten and candy. At schools they used to "strooien" (throw) the pepernoten into the classrooms, but I believe due to injuries this isn't done so much anymore in that fashion.

[@fullmoonmwithagen8841]

We did complete little theater performances and decor in a certain extra theme.... it was really a happening!

[@vwisse]

Sinterklaas is one of the things I miss living in Asia. The whole spectacle of it. Arriving, decorations in the shops, Sinterklaas journaal, gathering with the whole family at grandma's house. I do celebrate it, my children love the tradition but it is on a very small scale.

[@mrniceguywinkyface1524]

Don't worry it won't be here for much longer.

[@vwisse]

@@mrniceguywinkyface1524 Zwarte Piet needs to change. Sinterklaas is in no danger of going away.

[@mrniceguywinkyface1524]

@@vwisse Really? I'm pretty sure if we define black pete as a slave then Sinterklaas is a slave-owner, right? Colonists can't even have a statue anymore but you think the left will accept us celebrating a slaveowner?

[@vwisse]

@@mrniceguywinkyface1524 In all the discussions around black pete in recent years has anyone argued for completely abandoning Sinterklaas? I'll answer for you, no. People don't want Pete to be black, rightfully so. No one is saying no Sint, no one is even saying no Pete, just no longer black petes.

[@mrniceguywinkyface1524]

@@vwisse Yes and before 10 years ago I never heard anyone complain about the facepaint either. All it takes is one SJW to point out how we're celebrating a slaveowner and he can be the first one to score virtue signalling points and bam, already all the BLM-types will agree and soon after all the lefty people who want to be woke and inclusive will as well. Mark my words.

[@19wladimir56]

There is a difference between pepernoten and kruidnoten, perpernoten are big chunks and kruidnoten are the little round things and when sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands you can set your shoe and receive some candy until the 5th of December

[@robinwillemsen2003]

You forget the Sinterklaasjournaal

[@DutchAmericano]

I indeed have! Still learning a lot. Maybe there will be a part two of this video next year, haha.

[@robinwillemsen2003]

@@DutchAmericano that sounds fun!

[@michaelimmers8876]

Hi Eva, you are soo funny. I am dutch, and you make me smile so much by making me see how weird some of my own rituals are 🤣

[@jimjungle1397]

In the Netherlands I think it is celebrated the evening of December 5th, while in Belgium it is the morning of December 6th.

[@Wuppie62]

About the historical figure, a saint, from which the tradition and celebration of Sint Nicolaas/Sinterklaas originated: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas About the tradition of Sint Nicolaas/Sinterklaas/SantaClaus: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

[@tomdehaan9640]

So the Pilgrims fathers that went to America lived in Leiden (The Netherlands) for a couple of years. In that time Sinterklaas was already a festivity in The Netherlands. They also married Dutch woman and man, and so Sinterklaas also went to America. So my thought would be that Sinterklaas was then also introduced there, but like everything Sinterklaas was Americanised, and became Santa Claus. But this is just my thoughts about it.

[@chrislaarman7532]

(Trying to collect everything here, sorry for doubling down on others' comments) So, on the 5th of December we celebrate the birthday of a bishop from Spain, while in fact Saint Nicolas was a bishop of Myra (Turkey) who is said to have left money at the home of (apparently not too) young girls to pave the way for their weddings. He died on the 6th of December, and his bones were illegally taken away to Bari (Italy). (Saints would lend their names to the days of their death, as these would be known. Their days of birth might be unknown even to themselves.) Originally, the (Dutch) kids would awake on December 6 to filled shoes, so the adults would create the surprizes on the evening of December 5 and have some fun doing so. "Spain" seems to mean "far away", even with a sense of danger. After all, the Northern Netherlands had had this 80-year war of independence with the Habsburg dynasty, while the Southern Netherlands (roughly: Belgium) failed to gain independence. The other way round, "flamenco" is Spanish for "Flemish", as that part of culture arrived from "far away" (with the "gypsies" who originate in India rather than Egypt). I have a historic video somewhere that shows Sunderklaos (spelling?) from the island of Texel. This person is some spook of darkness that needs to be done with. The Dutch Sinterklaas tradition is relatively new: related to the re-institution of the Roman-Catholic church province of the Netherlands in 1852(?) after centuries of Protestant dominance (definitely without saints...). Hence the steamboat. Many of the songs were written by doctor (GP) Jan Pieter Heije, buried outside the small church of Abbenes (south-west of Schiphol Airport). In November 2019, I participated in the local welcome in Amsterdam. I was on the steam ship, getting blasted by both halves of the brass band. I was struck by the behavior of the many black-faced children on board. Apparently, this blackfacing served as an opportunity to go insane without being recognized (from a distance). Something probably resembling part of the Dutch variety of carnival. Definitely no racial offence intended. According to probably the only real Black person on board, all the kids (of color) in the Dutch Caribbean scramble to participate in the Sinterklaas events. By the way, it strikes me that in the Netherlands Black Pete delevering presents through the chimney is being replaced by Black Friday presents delivered at the front door.

[@reuireuiop0]

Make sense you get an A, as I'm not hearing Eve as in evening, but as in Ava, as in Frank Sinatra's biggest love light. Even better, an A also gets you more chocolate (but not really ;) Love the pleasure you radiate in this one vid here. You got some skill in presentation there, lady !

[@royklein9206]

The commercial image of santa actually derives from sinterklaas! And is jute really an english word?? I always thought it was burlap.. And last but not least the tip of the week: its fun, easy and delicious to make pepernoten yourself (and can be done whole year around :))!!

[@DutchAmericano]

That makes sense!

[@DenUitvreter]

The Americans couldn't stand the idea of a black character sneaking around their houses at night and a bishop crossed the limits of religious tolerance.

[@dutchyjhome]

Hey Ava, just a heads up here: St. Nicolas takes place in many other countries, then just The Netherlands: Belgium, Germany Swiss and Austria are just a few countries of which I know that they'll have St Nicolas . Here is an example of the Austrian St Nicolas with his demons. We've got Black Pete (zwarte Piet) and in Austria they've got Krampus: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJPHeaVugMmimcU kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZoTUdnWwn7ajbNE . Obviously St Nicolaus also comes dressed in purple and blue in other countries... Until my grand parents generation everybody grew up without Santa Claus (The Christmas Man (Kerstman) we call him), because Santa Claus basically was invented in the 1930's if I am correct by The Coca Cola company; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus He became the steady face in their commercials and so the popularity of Santa Claus began. Basically hardly anyone had ever heard of the Christmas Man called Santa Claus before the 1930's Sinterklaas however dates back to the year of 270-343, and that's quit a while ago.... So Sinterklaas has been around for 1678 years and Santa Claus for 91 years....

[@richardaling5278]

Best way to learn about Sinterklaas is the Dutch film "Sint"....

[@anatolemerrifield4888]

sinterklaas bestaat niet, rip

[@gerarduspoppel2831]

Wel grappig dat is Huub stapel. En de echte Sinterklaas is Cees van de serie Flodder.

[@renefrijhoff2484]

@@gerarduspoppel2831 Inmiddels wel, maar zijn voorganger is Bram van der Vlugt.

[@gerarduspoppel2831]

@@renefrijhoff2484 Bram was ook degene die hem als opvolger wilde.

[@renefrijhoff2484]

@@gerarduspoppel2831 Klopt. Ik hebt het bericht/interview gelezen.

[@luk5464]

We were always taken on a walk through the neighbourhood to "see if we could find Sinterklaas" or to dress up as zwarte piet and surprise our grandparents and throw kruidnoten throughout their entire living room. When we came back home we of course had *just* missed Sinterklaas, but he left us a basket full of presents.

[@penningsjacko]

Een hele fijne Sinterklaasavond, Ava! :)

[@jobkramer1359]

thank you for this video, Really enjoyed it.

[@Johnny-Thunder]

There are several theories why Sinterklaas comes from Spain; this is my favourite: the actual Saint Nicholas was buried in modern day Turkey, but some Italians stole his bones and reburied them in Bari in southern Italy. Southern Italy was part of the Spanish Empire at the time, hence Sinterklaas comes from Spain. There is another fascinating theory that states that Sinterklaas is a continuation of the Germanic god Wodan or Odin. They both got beards, ride a horse and have a spear or staff. Odin sacrificed himself to gain the secret of written language, which he then gave to the humans. This may be the origin of Sinterklaas giving chocolate letters to the children.

[@yvonnekremers4354]

Possibly both are true. There are many pagan holidays that were "Christianised" back in the day.

[@truusjenskens8485]

Eva did you try our december cookies and breads? Have a look in the bakeries...And can you also sing sinterklaas songs like de zak van sinterklaas en o kom er eens kijken? Would be fun to hear you sing that in dutch.

[@sanderdeboer6034]

FYI, we also have a counterpart to Halloween named Sint Maarten. Perhaps an idea for another video.

[@ticktacktick]

where i live (romania), we celebrate saint nicholas on december 6th and children also receive small gifts in their shoes. and this ‘sinterklaas’ sounds an awful lot like ‘saint nicholas’, phonetically speaking. i was also able to use my debit card in a supermarket in amsterdam (re: your other video) love your videos, i admit i only watched them cause i plan to move to utrecht at some point next year

[@vogel2280]

Black Pete is not only a helper but he is actually a valet. Not the kind that parks your car, but the kind as in Swiss Guard (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard ) that also protect the Vatican and the Pope. (Swiss Guard actually hide an Uzi somewhere in their uniform) High ranking people travelled with a valet that had the tasks of bodyguard, money-man, personal assistent and that also "parked" the horse at night. (That 's where it went wrong in the USA)

[@giselavaleazar8768]

Somehow Piet always seems to be able to open some window on the top floor of the house to leave behind the bag with presents. If he only would close the window afterwards instead of leaving it wide open. It gets so cold inside!

[@victordesmet789]

You also have help saints. They are "appointed" by saint Nicolas. Becous there is only one "sint" aka the actor that plays the sint when he arrives in the Netherlands/Belgium Its to make kids understands why not every sint looks like each other. Or he can be at 2 places at once.

[@Bandit-Darville]

You should watch the movie Sint, if you haven't already. It's cheesy but charming at the same time. It's part of my Sinterklaasavond ever since my son moved out :)

[@RichardJanssen1000]

Hey Ava, did you know that Santa Clause comes from Sinterklaas, the dutch immigrants that settled in America brought it to America and that's why Sinterklaas and Santa Clause are so similar.

[@gerarduspoppel2831]

Hi Ava. Actually, naughty children used to be hit with the roe.

[@bla9ckcob5ra]

Zuerte Piet is what attracted me to the Sinterklaas Holiday tradition. How Zuerte Piet was describe could take the average person through a whole rabbit in itself "He's a Moor from Spain" was what happened his description read. He's not called a black man, a negro, a slave, an African, none of that. I don't remember ever being taught in school what a Moor was, their history and connection with Spain or even Spain's history even though I did have mandatory Spanish classes...

[@aruvielevenstar3944]

T is actually zwarte Piet 😛

[@peterluttik]

‘The island at the center of the world’ talks about early Dutch history in nieuw amsterdam. Sinterklaas, koekjes, kool sla en jankees are Some of the linguistic things we kept from those days. The constitutional freedoms linked to the Dutch tolerance of religions and nationalities are another remnant of the early influence. But until the early 1800 the Dutch families (van der Bilt, Rozenveld, van Buren) spoke Dutch at home went to the reformed church and celebrated Sinterklaas.

[@ZaeranosNL]

It is interesting to see and hear foreign adults about there experience with Sinterklaas. And I cannot help but trying to point out that a few centuries back Santa Claus used to be the proper english translation for Sinterklaas. And that the current revision of Sinterklaas to Santa Claus is from the 1940's. Thus the entire world actually has some experience with Sinterklaas in some sense. There is a huge common history of Santa Claus / Sinterklaas that is very interesting to look up. I hope having experienced it for the second year, some things do not come as a surprise.

[@vhartevharte]

This must bevyour best vlog. By the way there is a difference between pepernoten and kruidnoten. I think what subscribed are kruidnoten.

[@christelvanesterik]

Cool video (again!) if you’re really into it, there are some other European Sinterklaases as well. First Ameland has “Sunneklaas”, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland you can find Nikolo/Nikolaus and there’s a Czech, French and Bulgarian version as well I thought...

[@martianpudding9522]

I'm pretty sure I saw a news headline a couple days ago about 'Sinterklaas' apologizing for taking kids to Spain in the past and that he wouldn't do it anymore.

[@---op6yf]

Its also on tv when sinterklaas arrives

[@peterkramer886]

My neighbors once left the bag at the front door and knocked. When the kids opened the door there was nothing there. Someone stole the bag.

[@WhoStoleMyAlias]

Hi Ava, If you like reading, you should read `A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty` by Diedrich Knickerbocker (a pseudonym of Washington Irving who you might know as the author of Rip van Winkle and the Headless Horseman). In this 1809 story lies the origin of how Sinterklaas became Santa Claus. Pretty funny that you mentioned the holiday in Spain as that is actually something we used to say when I was a kid. The story of the sack is somewhat darker though and there are in fact various fairly recent films (`Rare Exports`, `Krampus`, `Sint`) that correctly hint that `Spain` is in reality the underworld.

[@arishabakx2489]

Hi I love your video but you forgot the great tradition of surprise. We don't only make a poem but also a surprise just for the person and in there but the presents :) in every school from the 5th grade.

[@boretti1307]

One of the first shocking moments of coming of age is when someone tells you, or when you discover that Sinterklaas does not exist. For me that is 50 years ago, but I still rembember the moment that my classmate asked me in a surprised and humilated way: Do you stille believe in Sinterklaas?? I realised that she was right and also that i had to keep the secret to the younger kids (I was 7 years old). Thus I became part of the crime.

[@maaiker2977]

Sinterklaas story: my uncle had a little "Window" in the living room to pass food through. So during the evening my uncle "went to the toilet" and all of a sudden Piets hand came out of the little window throwing peppernoten. Things didn't go as planned cause my other uncle sat underneath that window and basically got hit in the face with a hand full of peppernoten at close range. Followed by my crying niece scared to death.... apparently she was convinced she was getting kidnapped cause she had been really bad that year. 😂🤣 So we had to coach my niece out from underneath the table and tend to my uncle before we could search the house for the gifts bag. Definately an evening to remember.

[@Universeofka]

Pepernoten are actually not the ones you showed in the picture! Those are Kruidnoten 🤗 pepernoten are more like small taai taai chunks.

[@Thijs_NL]

Eating those right now! nom nom.. much better then Kruidnoten! \m/

[@TRW98]

There is also another thing that naughty children get the ''roe''. A roe is a bundle of twigs that you can use to hit children. Of course children will not be really hit with twigs. But in some songs, it's still named. And it's from the past when parents wanted to scare a child a little so that they would behave.

[@jay0kew]

When I was a kid, my father told me not only to put a carrot in my shoe for Sinterklaas's horse, but also put a bottle of beer for Sinterklaas himself. And every year the carrot was gone and the bottle was empty. For me, the empty beer bottle the next day, confused me. How did he open it? Did he had a bottle opener? He has no pockets in his "dress"... And were did he get that glass from where he drank from? I had not put a glass... only a bottle !! Was he sneaking around in our cupboards ?

[@maartenc6099]

The biggest difference between Santa Claus and Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas is a holy man and his clothes are those that belong to a bishop. Sinterklaas is a bishop. The horse of sinterklaas does not fly. It walks on the roof and I do not know how it get there. But his horse does not fly. And his horse is what we call a schimmel and shoud be a white horse. I do not know the English word for schimmel (it is not fungus but it is a brand of horse). His helper is originally a black moor. He is even dressed like one. Later the story is changed and it is said that he became black by going through the chimney. It is mostly white people dressing up as what we call zwarte piet and it is at this moment been politically under pressure. And I am afraid the festivity that I know as a small boy might be fading away if we can not resolve these issues. Pepernoten and the sweets that zwarte piet is throwing around made it for me a special event. Even the presents that sinterklaas and zwarte piet brougth for you. I loved this as a small child and hate it seeing fade away. Some issues should be resolved somehow.

[@yvonnekremers4354]

And Piet is a Moor because the holy man Saint Nicholas bought child slaves to free them.

[@jeroenfigee]

Je video's zijn zo leuk :-) Ik voel me door jouw vid-talks helemaal thuis in mijn eigen land ... ken je nagaan :-) . 2:22 > if you are puzzled by the whole Sinterklaas - Spain thing ??? Check this out : ... Ons NEDERLANDS volkslied : "../den Koning van Hispanje [Spain] heb ik altijd geëerd." Even we Dutchies don't have a clue why that phrase is in there :-) . Thanx for making these. Thumbs Up + subscribed.

[@leonflyingdutchman1952]

Ik heb mijn wortel al in de schoen gedaan, vandaag, en vanavond leg ik er zelf een cadeautje in, ha, ha, ha en dan sta ik morgenvroeg op en ga ik heel blij liggen doen :)

[@rebelsbeautycorner]

they told us if you were taken to spain you had to spend a year making presents for other kids, till the next december.

[@Forkliftdude2]

His full name is Saint Nicolas, Sint Nicolaas. When pronounced quick you get Sint(er)Klaas. He has accually 1 horse, "Amerigo". I think 2020 he has a new one called, "Ozosnel". But you're doing great Ava. Love your vids.👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@robertomorsink2014]

Sinterklaas was burried In Bari (italy) They stole his body from Myra (Turkey) The south of Italy belonged in those days to the spanish empire. For the the Dutch Spain or somewhere in the south of Italy was the same.

[@erikmulder2574]

Hi Ava, lovely to hear your stories of living in the Netherlands as an American. What might be interesting is to hear from your Dutch girlfriend how it is to live as a Dutchy with an American partner. Would she be up for it?

[@Maussiegamer]

7:55 those are kruidnoten, but dont worry everyone uses it wrong pepernoten are far less popular

[@mikepictor]

Santa Claus came directly from Sinterklaas from when New York was known as New Amsterdam. The Dutch literally introduced the character to North America, though his identity change a lot (largely thanks to Coca-Cola)

[@nienke7713]

Both Sinterklaas and Santa Claus have (part of) their origin in Saint Nicholas (Dutch: Sint Nik(o)laas, which is also the official name of Sinterklaas; several European cultures have some festivity surrounding Saint Nicholas seperate from Christmas), and the Dutch SInterklaas has actually served as part of the inspiration for Santa Claus. Santa Claus, however, has other influences as well, an important one being the British Father Christmas For the Spain thing, I don't know the exact details, but I figure it has to do with either the fact that the Catholic Spaniards had ruled over the Netherlands for quite some time in our history, or that Spain was at one point partially occupied by Moors who at the time also occupied Turkey (which is where Saint Nicholas comes from, from Myra in Turkey), and it could possibly also explain a part of the origin of Piet, as moors had very colourful clothing very similar to that of Piet, may at times have worn black cloths around their faces to protect from sand storms as well as sometimes having dark skin themselves, and may have even been known for abducting children from Europe to serve as slaves. This relation between dark skin, moors, and Saint Nicholas is also found in the song "Moriaantje zo zwart als roet" which is based on the German story "Geschichte von den schwarzen Buben" (Iin Dutch: De Zwarte Jongens) in the picture book "Struwwelpeter" (in Dutch: "Piet de Smeerpoets"). In the story, 3 boys make fun of a Moorish boy for his skin colour, and they get punished for it by Nicholas by being dunked in a giant ink pot so they're even darker coloured than the Moorish boy. Now one thing to note is that along with these origins, there's also strong evidence that blackface has been very influential in shaping the way he looks (and there's also historical evidence that blackface was popular in the Netherlands back then), not just having a dark face, but also big red lips, black afro hairdo, and large earrings, and the story of the chimneysweep is just a later apologetics story conjured up to try to explain it away, although it has become relatively canonical to the character. There's also people who insist Piet was supposedly a black slave, but there's not really much evidence to support it and even evidence against it, so it seems unlikely. Either way, it's clear that the black Piet is hurting black people in the Netherlands, and at the very least has likely been influenced by Black Face, so it seems like a good solution to me to have them without the afro hair, big red lips, and big earrings, and shown with only some sooth smears (which fits the chimney sweep story much better anyway whilst taking away the racial influences), like in the picture you've shown. Pepernoten and kruidnoten are often confused, even by Dutch people, and you've fallen for the confusion as well. Pepernoten are lumps of chewy anaseed flavoured baked sweets, whilst what you're referring to, the semi-spehrical spiced biscuits/cookies, are called kruidnoten. Bad children get hit with the 'roe' (pronounced roo, a bundle of branches bound together, used to punish people by hitting them with it), or taken in the jute bag to spain; at least, those are the more traditional ones; generally the hitting has been mostly taken out of the stories (although some songs still have it: "wie zoet is krijgt lekkers wie stout is de roe"), and even the bag thing is becoming less of a thing, and seems to be shifting more to just "you won't get any presents if you're naughty". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas#Veneration_and_celebrations en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas#Sinterklaas_as_a_source_for_Santa_Claus en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus#Predecessor_figures en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas_Day nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moriaantje_zo_zwart_als_roet en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter

[@sumhurabi]

Leuk om alle eigenwijze commentaren te lezen van Nederlanders die het altijd beter weten

[@spraakkanon]

tuurlijk weten ze het beter, jij kent jezelf toch ook het best?

[@sumhurabi]

@@spraakkanon haha ja natuurlijk, ik vind de video's van Ava iig altijd erg leuk om te zien als Nederlander en het viel me op dat er -net als ik- vooral Nederlanders commenten en kijken naar haar video's

[@Jurjen_Warrel_Ottenhoff]

Not to long ago Zwarte Piet had an another item to carry with them. De roe. Short for tuchtroede, also called gard or gart. In later years it was used to scare kids with the idea of corporal punishment. But originally in the Sinterklaas story it was given as a sort of comming of age thing. You are old enough and the last present you get from Sinterklaas is this. In the 1800's it became the implement of punishment. Which it had been for ages outside the Sinterklaas story. Untill it moved to the background in the second half of the 20th century.

[@leowargers3371]

Hope together you have a nice Sinterklaas this year

[@Antoon55]

You didn't show pepernoten but kruidnoten the new product. Pepernoten are old school. I guess you chose not to mention the elephant in the room regarding Piet :)

[@knarf_inc4790]

7:55 pssst, that picture shows kruidnoten....

[@stefangrobbink7760]

Shhh..., Let's not spark that debate here...

[@DutchAmericano]

I really need to figure out the difference between the two! I've heard that they're different.

[@Lilrom2003]

@@DutchAmericano they are sold at bakery and very different, cardamom gingerbread like. Kruidnoten are sold in mini form as sprinkles for bread under name “ schuddebuikjes “ near Hagelslag

[@raticide4you]

I didn't read all the comments, perhaps I will double some, but Sinterklaas arrives by steamboat, because Saint Nicolas is the protector of seafarers as well as the protector of children. And secondly. What is now called "pepernoot" used to be called "kruidnoot" a while ago. The real oldfashioned pepernoten are not very common anymore and the name pepernoot was adopted by the kruidnoten (harder and tastier than the original pepernoten which were softer and tended to stick to your teeth. They also were somewhat bigger and weren't half-round, but more like an irregular dice)

[@jpdj2715]

St. Nic arrived in the NL on November 14th, you know that do you.