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Christmas in Holland
For most children in Holland, the most important day during the Christmas Celebrations is 6th December, St. Nicholas' day. St. Nicholas, called 'Sinter Klaas' in Holland, is where Santa Claus comes from. On the morning of St. Nicholas' Day, Sinter Klaas travels to Amsterdam in a boat, wearing his red bishop's robes. He travels with his servant called Black Peter. When Sinter Klaas and Black Peter come ashore from the boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinter Klaas then leads a procession through Amsterdam, riding a white horse, to meet the Queen of Amsterdam in the Palace.
On St. Nicholas Eve, (5th December) children leave clogs or shoes out to be filled with presents. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinter Klaas's horse, they will be left some sweets. Children are told that Black Peter keeps a record of all the things they have done in the past year in a book and that good children will get presents from Sinter Klaas, but bad children will get chased by Black Peter with a stick!! Dutch tradition says that he lives in Madrid, Spain and every year he chooses a different harbour to arrive in Holland, so as many children as possible get a chance to see him. Every town in Holland has a few Sinter Klaas helpers, dressed the same as Sinter Klaas who help give the presents out.
Sinter Klaas parties are often held on St. Nicholas Eve, where treasure hunt games are played with poems and riddles giving the clues. Children follow the clues to find little presents left by Sinter Klaas. Special biscuits and sweets are also eaten at the party. One type of biscuit is called 'letter blanket' or letter cake, which is made from marzipan or pastry. The biscuits are made in the shapes of the first letter of the peoples names who are at the party. Another sweet biscuit that is eaten at the parties (and the favourite of a Dutch friend of mine!) are 'pepernoot' which are made with cinnamon and spices in the pastry biscuit mix.
Surprise presents are also given on St. Nicholas Day. This is a custom at the Sinter Klaas parties and often within classes at schools. The custom is that everyone's name in put into a hat and everyone picks another person's name - then they have to make a surprise present for that person. The presents are often things that the person would find useful with their favourite hobby. My Dutch friend had a recorder bag made for her at school. The presents come with a poem inside that gives a clue to who might have sent the present, but it is all meant to be a mystery! This is a similar custom to a present sending one in Germany.
Christmas Day itself is a much quieter day in Holland, with a Church Service and family meal. Sometimes there is a special Christmas Day 'Sunday School' in the afternoon at the church, where the Christmas Story and other traditional stories are told. My friend was given a book, an orange and biscuits. These are often the only presents children will get on Christmas Day because they have already received most of their presents on St. Nicholas Day.
On Christmas Eve night, Dutch Children believe that Santa Claus, (who is also call 'Christmas man' to avoid confusion with Sinter Klass!) comes from Lapland in Finland to deliver more presents!
In Dutch Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Prettige Kerstfeest'. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.