Sinterklaas
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While other countries celebrate Saint Nicholas during Christmas, in the Netherlands (and Belgium) it's celebrated apart.
Sinterklaas
In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' (Sinterklaas) eve is the occasion for gift-giving, when his alleged birthday is celebrated. In this case, roles are reversed, though, in that Sinterklaas is the one who gives the presents.
In recent years, Christmas (along with Santa Claus) has been pushed by shopkeepers as another gift-giving festival, with some success, although, especially for young children, Saint Nicholas' eve is still much more important than Christmas.
On the evening of December 5, Sinterklaas brings presents to every child that has been good in the past year (in practice to all children). Sinterklaas wears a red bishop's dress including a red mitre, rides a white horse (called Amerigo) over the rooftops and is assisted by many mischievous helpers with black faces and colourful Moorish dresses, dating back two centuries. These helpers are called 'Zwarte Pieten' (black Petes). During the Middle-ages Zwarte Piet was a name for the devil. Having triumphed over evil, it was said that on Saint Nicholas eve the devil was shackled and made his slave. Although the character of Black Peter later came to acquire racial connotations, his origins were in the devil figure. This racialization is reflected in the reworking of the characters' mythos. Their blackness was racial, with Pete being an imported African servant of Saint Nicholas since 1850 (though some people say Pete was a slave who, when Sinterklaas bought him his freedom, was so grateful that he stayed to assist him). Today however, the more politically correct explanation that Pete's face is "black from soot" (as Pete has to climb through chimneys to deliver his gifts) is used. Traditionally Saint Nicholas only had one helper, whose name varied wildly. "Piet(er)" the name in use now can be traced back to a book from 1891. The frame shift to multiple Petes was more or less a direct result of the assistance provided by the Canadian army to the reception of the saint in 1945 Amsterdam.
Sinterklaas has a long white beard, holds a long gold coloured staff with a fancy curled top in his hand (a crozier) and carries a big book with all the children's names in it, and whether they have been good or bad.
Each year in November Sinterklaas arrives by steamer 'from Spain', and is then paraded through the streets of the town he arrives in (actually in every town of the Netherlands), welcomed by cheering and singing children. His Zwarte Pieten throw candy and small, round gingerbread-like cookies (often wrongly called Pepernoten instead of their real name, kruidnoten) into the crowd. The children welcome him by singing traditional Sinterklaas songs. Sinterklaas also visits schools, hospitals and shopping malls. His official arrival in a different town each year is televised on public television. Over the years media attention has grown, while Sinterklaas is in the country the 'Sinterklaasjournaal' is aired every day, discussing his activities and any major 'problems' (which occur every year). Also, on the main day of celebration (traditionally December 5th) the Dutch version of Sesame Street the inhabitants of Sesame Street are visited by Sinterklaas as well. All Dutch national television companies have agreed to use the same actor to portray Sinterklaas; currently, the role is played by Bram van der Vlugt.
Traditionally, in the weeks between his arrival and the 5th of December, before going to bed, children put their shoes next to the chimney of the coal fired stove or fireplace, with a carrot or some hay in it "for Sinterklaas's horse", sing a Sinterklaas song, and will find some candy in the form of a chocolate, marzipan frog in their shoes the next day, supposedly thrown down the chimney by a Zwarte Piet or Sinterklaas himself. However, with the advent of central heating children put their shoes near the boiler or even just next to the front door.
Children are told that Black Peter enters the house through the chimney, which also explained his black face and hands, and would leave a bundle of sticks or a small bag with salt in the shoe instead of candy when the child had been bad. In recent years some people have engaged in a recurring debate about racial aspects of the black Peter character: the Peter character may have been inspired by black slaves. The usual reply is that his face is black with soot. Some have actually gone so far as to replace black Peter by "green Peter" (a man in a Moorish dress with a green face). Given that the fictitious Sinterklaas comes from Spain, the Moorish dress of his helpers is noteworthy since Moors ruled over most of Spain for centuries.
Children are also told that in the worst case they would be put in the gunny sack that black Peter carries the presents in, and be taken back to Madrid in Spain, where Sinterklaas spends the rest of the year. This practice however has been condemned by Sinterklaas, in his more recent television appearances, as something of the past.
Traditionally Saint Nicholas brings his gifts in the night and Belgian children still find their presents on the morning of December 6th. Later in The Netherlands adults started to give each other presents on the evening of the 5th; then older children were included and today in that country even the youngest take part in 'Sinterklaasavond' or 'Pakjesavond': children at home sing Sinterklaas songs and suddenly somebody will knock on the door very loudly, and when they go to the door a gunny sack full of presents is found on the doorstep. Alternatively - some improvisation is often called for - the parents 'hear a sound coming from the attic' and then the bag with presents is 'found' there. Some parents manage to 'convince' Sinterklaas to come to their home personally.
Typical presents include the first letter of the child's name made out of chocolate, a figurine of Sinterklaas made out of chocolate and wrapped in painted aluminium foil, coloured marzipan shaped into fruit, an animal or some other object. These presents are often accompanied by a simple poem, saying something about the child or with a hint to the nature of the present. Also popular are coins and cigarettes made out of chocolate. However, the European Parliament has issued a recommendation to ban chocolate cigarettes since they might promote future real smoking.
But the presents may be too big or too many, so they have to be sneaked into the house while the kids are distracted.
Believing
The children, up to an age of usually seven or eight years, almost religiously believe in Sinterklaas. They think that he actually lives forever and that he comes from Spain, that he knows everything about the children and that his Zwarte Pieten do come down through chimneys. The period between his arrival and December 5 is therefore very exciting.
When children ask their parents how it is possible that Sinterklaas is at so many places, they tell them that those are assistant Sinterklazen. At family gatherings where a stand-in Sinterklaas in a rented suit appears, parents have reported in advance to this Sinterklaas what the children have done good and bad and make it look like he knows everything about the children when the 'Goedheiligman' ('Good Holy Man') looks in his big book.
Most children do suspect that Sinterklaas may not truly exist. The atmosphere during celebrations can be very enchanting though, and many children really want to believe. Also, most children can't think of a reason why their parents would lie to them.
For some children, gradually losing their magic view of the world as they grow older and getting more and more suspicious about what their parents are telling them, it still may be their first big traumatic experience in life when their parents admit that Sinterklaas does not really exist.
Therefore some parents tell their children from the start that all this Sinterklaas is just a fantasy, a game that people play, as they consider it an inappropriately bad example about telling the truth. Others, looking back on their own experience with Sinterklaas as a child, consider that the enjoyment the children get is greater than a 'small' discomfort. Some Christians fear that if their children discover them lying about the existence of Sinterklaas, the children may believe that they are lying about the existence of God himself.
Dutch and Flemish media, especially television stations, abide by a kind of informal rule never to deny Sinterklaas's existence, or at least not in programs broadcast before children's bedtime.
Adults
After kids stop believing, families often continue to celebrate the holiday. Also secondary school classes and colleagues at work sometimes celebrate it together.
The poem and the wrapping, called surprise, usually become more important than the gift itself. There may be instructions about where the gift is hidden, the parcel may act strangely when handled, there may be several layers of wrapping, with syrup smeared in between and ultimately there may be no gift in the parcel at all. The possibilities are endless and preparations may start weeks (or months) in advance. But not to worry, there are always real gifts, the biggest of which are sometimes a remnant of the original tradition, reserved for the next morning, spread out on a big table and buried under walnuts and mandarins ('from Spain'). The poems may also be more like small pieces of art, often ridiculing things the receiver did in the past year. Since the poem is signed by Sinterklaas, the poems can be pleasantly sharp and things can be said which one would not usually say directly, even though it is usually clear who wrote the poem. The quality of such poetry varies strongly, from crooked rhymes to reasonably well written poems of several pages.