"Living Abroad" Forum

How Did You Celebrate Sinterklaas?

How Did You Celebrate Sinterklaas?

autor Marieke OLS Community Manager -
Počet odpovědí: 2

Dear community,

Last week was Sinterklaas week in Belgium and the Netherlands. I would love to hear your experience with this holiday! If you celebrated it this year, how you celebrated this holiday? And was it your first time?

This year I myself haven’t really celebrated it, however, I did have the pleasure of being asked to ‘play Piet’ for their children by knocking on my upstairs neighbours’ door and placing the bag of gifts in front of the door. Which was incredibly fun to do and to make those kids’ evening magical.

If you want to learn more about this Dutch and Belgian holiday, you can check out the two blogs below:

Wishing you a good week ahead!

Greetings form a drizzly Amsterdam,

Marieke, OLS Community Manager - Dutch

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Source: pexels.com


V odpovědi na Marieke OLS Community Manager

Re: How Did You Celebrate Sinterklaas?

autor MR. Roland Landry -

Hi Marieke and everyone,

Sinterklaas is such a fascinating tradition! I really enjoy seeing how different cultures celebrate their holidays, and the joy it brings to children is always heartwarming. It’s great to hear about your experience playing Piet—it must have been a magical moment for the kids!

Although I didn’t personally celebrate Sinterklaas this year, I find the tradition of exchanging gifts, the poems, and the lighthearted surprises to be a wonderful way to bring people together. It’s also interesting how it differs from Christmas while still carrying that festive spirit.

I’ll definitely check out the blogs you shared to learn more! Thanks for bringing this discussion to the community.


Štítky:
V odpovědi na MR. Roland Landry

Re: How Did You Celebrate Sinterklaas?

autor Lemba OLS community Manager -
Hi Roland,
Thank you for your comment. My name is Lemba and I have been the Dutch Community Manager since December.

Up until about 40 years ago, celebrating Christmas with gifts wasn't as prevalent in the Netherlands as it is now. Especially, then there was a great focus on Sinterklaas as a celebration with gifts. Many older Dutch people look back on Sinterklaas celebrations when they were young with much nostalgia.

As times have changed and Christmas is much more widely celebrated with gifts now, the way Dutch people celebrate Sinterklaas has also changed. However, it remains a strong tradition that is celebrated by people of all ages.

Have you been celebrating Sinterklaas? And how did you celebrate it?