04/12/2024
๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐๐๐ค, ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ โ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ค๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌโ. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ญ?
On December 5th, in The Netherlands we celebrate a traditional festivity called โSinterklaasโ. Built around the image of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children, Sinterklaas is a legendary figure celebrated and loved in the Netherlands. Similar to Santa Claus in that he is an older man with a full, white beard who wears a red outfit, Sinterklaas is a more serious figure, donning a bishop's headdress and carrying a long, curled shepherd's staff.
The story goes that Saint Nicholas was born in the 3rd century to wealthy parents in Turkey. He spent his life by giving away his wealth to the poor and doing good. He died on December 6th, so Sinterklaas is still celebrated on December 5th and 6th(in Belgium).
The holiday, consisting of Saint Nicholas's Eve and Saint Nicholas's Day, is observed by exchanging gifts and chocolate letters of the recipient's first initial. It is also common to make fun of your loved ones by a humorous poetry and offering the infamous "surprise," which is a homemade gift that hides another present inside.
In Holland, it is more common to give presents on Sinterklaas than at Christmas. Most schools play a version of Secret Santa in which each kid has to bring a surprise gift for a classmate, whose name he or she picked out of a hat.
At Sinterklaas, the Dutch indulge in a variety of sweets including cookies, candies, and bread. Traditional recipes are speculaas (spiced cookies), kruidnoten (mini spiced cookies, also called ginger nuts), pepernoten (small aniseed-flavored honey cookies), taai-taai (aniseed and honey-flavored figurines), banketstaaf (almond-filled pastries), chocolate letters, and duivekater (a festive sweet bread).
Dutch children believe that Sinterklaas writes down whether they have been naughty or nice in his red book. By leaving their shoes near the door or chimney and placing carrots or hay for Sinterklaas's horses inside of them, the kids expect a gift in return if they were good. Some parents leave a bag of gifts on Sinterklaas's behalf by the door and the occasional "surprise" knock signals the kids that the gifts have arrived.
Source:
Sinterklass is a Dutch Christmas figure based on St. Nicholas. Similar to Santa Claus but a more serious figure celebrated on December 5th and 6th.
