Sinterklaas

I'd like to descibe how our sinterklaas party went here at home. For you guys in the US, Sinterklaas is the party of Saint Nickolas, celebrated on the 5th of December. It's like Christmas, but you have no tree, set your shoe, the guy is not fat and jolly but wise and dignified and he has Black Petes who give children traditional Sinterklaas candy, but also throw it around ('strooien') and you try to catch it or just eat it from the ground. It's odd, but that's the way it goes!

The tradition is that a lot of the presents given (or all of them) have a poem attached to them about why the person is getting this present. Added to that, is the tradition of 'surprises', which are mock presents or crafts, containing the real present. The mock present can highlight a personality trait, something that has happened in the past year, or just something funny. Everybody writes their name on a piece of paper, folds it, and puts it in a bowl. Then everyone picks one out, so everyone has a piece of paper with someone else's name on it. You're not allowed to tell anyone whose name you have, and you're not allowed to have your own! For that person, you secretly make a surprise, using cardboard, wood, cloth, paper, glue, anything! But no-one's allowed to know who's making whose. You have to pretend they're all from Sinterklaas until the very end.

This year, I made the following for my Dad:

It was a fake album, edited from Michael Jackson's Album 'Off the wall', with Pieter's picture in it, in front of our house. It had the songs on it he would sing if he was a pop singer. Inside it was a liquorice 'record', the present. It was a play on the fact Pieter sings in a chorus. The poem was about Pieter singing in the chorus, but that there were too many singers, so no-one could hear him very well, so he secretly wants a solo carieer as a pop singer, just like Michael Jackson.

Toby's surprise was a roller coaster made by Sander, because Toby has been playing the computer game 'Rollercoaster Tycoon' a lot this year. He made it out of wood and wire.

Katja got this paper Black Pete made by my girlfriend Chiara, with a rose between his teeth and boggly heart-shaped eyes.
It was a jack-in the box, so when Katja opened the box (not in the picture) he sprang out, holding the present in his hands.
The poem told that this was a black pete who was in love with Katja, and jealous of her boyfriend Bastiaan.

I got this 'Customizer Super Plus' machine-costume, that I could wear and would automatically 'coolify' everything you inserted in the left and gave it to you through the right (two boxes on the sides).
Katja made it, about how I like to change and personalize things I have to make them unique.

For Sander, there was this cave: It was a quest just like in the computer game Runescape that sander likes to play.
He had to push the sword through the front of the cave, and then follow the instructions to his present. Toby made it.

Katja's boyfriend Bastiaan got a pair of binoculars made by Pieter, about how he and Katja are going to see wonderful things in South America, my girlfriend Chiara got a pair of giant earrings made of Italian pasta because that's her favorite meal (Jenny made them). Jenny got a cd-shelf made by Bastiaan, which contained a real cd-shelf and cd as a present itself.

At the end of Sinterklaas evening, we get to guess who made whose surprises, because it's been a secret all the time, the poems are even signed by Sinterklaas!
I hope this has given more insight, especially for Grammy Jane, about how the Sinterklaas celebration goes at our house.

- Benno