Remembering Sinterklaas

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, December 7th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Christmas traditions far from home.

In the Netherlands, children get their presents a little earlier than here in the U-S…on December 5th. Dutch children set out a shoe the night before, and in the morning they find a present left by Sinterklaas.

REICHARD: He isn’t the “Dutch version of Santa” either. Sinterklass is a big part of Dutch cultural identity. So much so that each year a group of Dutch expats in Washington, D.C. throws a big Sinterklaas party. It’s their way to keep up the traditions of their homeland, even when they live abroad.

BROWN: WORLD senior writer Emma Freire traveled to the Dutch embassy for the event and brings us this report.

EMMA FREIRE, REPORTER: It’s an unseasonably warm December morning in Washington, DC. The reception hall at the official Embassy of the Netherlands is filled with sunlight and buzzing with the happy chatter of parents and children. They are Dutch, Dutch-American, or just fans of Dutch culture. The new Dutch ambassador to the United States is here. But she’s not the one everybody wants to meet.

AUDIO: [Cheering for arrival]

The big moment is finally here. Sinterklaas appears at the top of the stairs, wearing a red cape, a traditional pointy Bishop’s hat, and carrying a golden shepherd’s staff. As he descends, he waves to the parents and children. That means it’s time for a traditional welcoming song.

AUDIO: [Singing welcome song]

Unlike the American Santa Claus, Sinterklaas doesn’t live at the North Pole. He lives in Spain, and each year he sails to the Netherlands on a boat loaded with presents. He rides on a white horse that can jump on rooftops.

Unfortunately, for his visit to Washington, Sinterklaas had to leave his boat and horse behind.

All the families line up to meet Sinterklaas and get a photo. He is very busy but he graciously takes a moment to give me an interview. I ask him if he’s happy to be in America.

SINTERKLAAS: Wherever there are sweet children, I'm happy. I’m really happy to see all the sweet children here in America.

He can only stay in America briefly because most of his work takes place in the Netherlands.

SINTERKLAAS: I'm going back very, very soon. Yes, because all the Dutch children are waiting for me to deliver the presents.

The children get to play games that are loosely inspired by Sinterklaas traditions.

AUDIO: [Sound of bean bag game]

One of them involves tossing bean bags into giant shoes, in honor of the shoes they put out at night to get their presents.

AUDIO: [Sound of sjoelbak]

There’s also a child-friendly version of sjoelbak, a traditional Dutch game that involves sliding a wooden disk down a board with the goal of sending it into a slot.

Every child gets a passport at the door and they collect a stamp for each game they complete.

HELPER: Would you like a stamp?

The children also can try on miniature Sinterklaas costumes.

CHILD: Now I look just like Sinterklaas.

And, of course, everyone enjoys the traditional Dutch treats, including stroopwafels, a round waffle cookie with caramel in the center.

AUDIO: Wil je een stroopwafel? Yes! Lekker! Lekker!

Putting together an event of this size takes a lot of work. This year 230 people bought tickets and around 30 volunteers are on site helping out.

LAURA VAN DER WERF: It’s one of our most fun activities to organize.

That’s Laura van der Werf. She’s the president of DC Dutch, the expat society that organizes the event.

VAN DER WERF: For me it’s really fun. I grew up with celebrating Sinterklaas in the Netherlands. And so coming here and seeing all of these people understanding what I went through as a kid or what I would experience as a kid, it's so much fun to see Sinterklaas arrive here and see to the kids all either get a little scared or nervous to If meet Sinterklaas, or just very excited that he's here. It's awesome to see.

If you’ve heard of Dutch Sinterklaas in the news in recent years, it probably wasn’t for the best of reasons. The tradition has been mired in controversy.

Historically, Sinterklaas has a helper named Black Pete, who wears black face. This practice goes back around 200 years. People in the Netherlands have been protesting the tradition. In Washington, there’s no Black Pete. It’s just Pete.

VAN DER WERF: So what I grew up with was the stereotypical Sinterklaas and Black Pete. In recent years that has changed. It actually was changing as I was moving here. Here we just have our Piets, we don't do any of the soot. We don't do any of the color on the face. We just have regular piets and, you know, we have a grand old time. It's exactly the same and you know, traditions change. So I think we need to adapt to the culture that we're in, the world that’s changing, and I think it's important to just make sure everyone feels at home.

When the children have collected all the stamps in their passport, they get a certificate and bag of treats.

AUDIO: One for you. Thank you!

And then it’s time for Sinterklaas to leave. He waves goodbye and everyone sings the traditional farewell song as he packs up until next year.

MUSIC: [Singing farewell song]

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Emma Freire in Washington, DC.

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