Holidays

Today is the arrival of Sinterklaas in Gouda, on national TV. The story began Tuesday with a nightly 10 minute news segment (Sinterklaasjournaal – Dutch link). The story this year was the following: the Pieten wanted to hang up a painting of the announcer, Dieuwertje Blok, in the steam boat that was bringing everyone to Gouda. They hung it up using nails and then water started to appear in the boat. In an effort to get to Gouda in time, all of the Pieten except for one left the boat, leaving Sinterklaas and the one Piet to do all of the preparations. (In the end it turns out the water was not from the nails but from an open faucet in the bathroom.)

Because all of the Pieten went missing, they asked the help of Opa Piet (Grandpa Piet – an older actor, Peter Faber, who apparently was a Piet some years ago) to train some new Pieten in time for the arrival today. This segment points to the rather heated discussions about racism since Pieten are usually called Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) and use blackface, red lips, and golden earrings. Some of the newer Pieten that were trained were simply white or had soot on their face, since the modern story of how Pieten turned black was that they went down the chimneys.

Opa Piet in the middle (2014 Sinterklaasjournaal)

But anyway – the new Pieten were done with their training and Opa Piet was ready to go back to Spain to enjoy his retirement. Unfortunately he accidentally locked the Pieten in the factory and then forgot his suitcase when boarding the bus. Turns out he really didn’t want to go back to Spain and enjoy his retirement… But today, the mayor of Gouda was able to track down Opa Piet (who came back for his suitcase) to get the key for the factory to free the new Pieten. At the same time, there was a bit of issue with the steam boat – there was only one Piet left on the boat and he did not know the way to Gouda. Of course Sinterklaas was asleep. Today we found out that it was all planned, and Sinterklaas had put the boat on the right trajectory before going to bed. So Sinterklaas and the one Piet arrive (finally – there is a storyline delay every year) and meet up with the newly trained Pieten.

In the middle of the program, the older Pieten arrive with a row boat, including Paniek!!! Piet (emphasis mine – i.e. Panic Piet). Whenever he panics he shouts Paniek! Paniek! and spins around two or three times in distress. Opa Piet is also in Gouda, having successfully delayed his retirement to pass out Pepernoten to the kids. While parading through the city with the new Pieten, Sinterklaas meets the old Pieten who have returned and welcomes them back, but seems to think Opa Piet should retire and head back to Spain (he doesn’t know Opa Piet is still hanging around).

Paniek Piet

The national show ends with Opa Piet hiding somewhere and the old Pieten leaving again with the steam boat (and more importantly to the kids, all of the gifts), because there was not enough room in the Piet house for the old and new Pieten. You’ll have to tune in tonight for more!

Sinterklaas will be arriving in the Netherlands on Saturday, November 15. This is the 67th year that he has first arrived in Scheveningen before making his way inland (2014 event). That link states that spectators along the parade route will be treated to over 8,500 kilograms of kruidnoten and assorted candy, among other edibles. Yeesh! Sinterklaas is similar to Santa Claus, although he travels by horse — apparently the name of the horse is Americano.

Sinterklaas also visits the other cities; for instance, he will be arriving in Maastricht on Saturday the 15th, while he arrives the following day in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Den Bosch. The Sinterklaas holiday extends through December 5th, when Sinterklaas brings candy and small gifts (usually placed in shoes) to the children.

One fun part of the holiday is the use of Sinterklaasjournaal, which translates to “Sinterklaas News”. This is a short news program aimed at kids which follows the journey of Sinterklaas on his way to the Netherlands and in the country. It airs every day at 6pm, starting this Tuesday the 11th. They will also be covering the national arrival of Sinterklaas (this year held in Gouda – a different city gets the honor every year) on the 15th.

still from the 2011 Sinterklaasjournaal (announcer with Zwarte Piet)

It can be an interesting thing to follow if you are an expat – sometimes they do have cute stories that can be amusing for adults as well. Last year they had a story that the staff of Sinterklaas was missing and one of the Zwarte Pieten (the helpers) had to find a replacement staff. You can read a review of those developments here.

Edited Monday morning to add: I was on the tram this morning and I heard a recorded announcement: Dames, heren en kinderen – Sinterklaas komt weer naar Den Haag! HTM maakt graag plaats voor de intocht! “Ladies and gentleman and children – Sinterklaas again comes to The Hague! HTM makes way for the arrival!” followed by service information. But the fun thing was that the announcement was also aimed at children – the lady’s voice was full of hope and wonderment, as if talking directly to the kids.