4. Sinterklaas
Being a Dutch woman this one is personal. Over in The Netherlands we celebrate Sinterklaas. He arrives in Holland around mid-November on a big steamboat from Spain. According to the history of Saint Nicholas he's actually from Myra in Turkey, a place that was renowned for its generous inhabitants. After he has arrived we spend our time laying out shoes, writing poems and singing songs which all leads up to the evening of December 5th, Pakjes Avond where he will leave us gifts. Hopefully. Appearance wise he doesn't look that different to Father Christmas just a bit slimmer and more official with red robes, a red mitre (headdress worn by bishops) and gold Gandalf like staff. So whats so crazy about this? Well the part that causes quite a bit of controversy is the fact that our Sint doesnt come alone: he has a troupe of Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes) who are his helpers (a bit like Santa's elves). They are dressed in colourful 17th century dress with lace collars, feather caps and their faces are painted black. The Pieten carry a bag around with sweet treats for the good kids. The naughty ones get told they might be put in the sack and taken back to Spain, which to me always seems like a better alternative than our cold and windy winter. The Pieten are a bit like an ensemble of superheroes as they each have their own power The Wegwijspiet is awesome at navigation which helps deliver the steamboat from Spain to the Netherlands. The Acrobat Piet flings himself from one roof to the next and is able to contort his body into the most difficult of chimneys. Theres also the Rommel piet, the messy mischievous one who will sneak into bedrooms and classrooms overnight and cover everything in toilet paper. A lot of people ask why the Zwarte Pieten are black. A white man with a troupe of black helpers, it doesn't bode well. There are several answers to this question. One of the oldest explanations dates back to mythology where two ravens Hugin and Munin were helpers of the god Odin and aided in the defeat of evil. Fast forward a bit and we come to a story of Saint Nicholas liberating an Ethiopian slave called Pieter. The boy was so grateful he decided to stick with him and become his permanent helper. Despite these seemingly innocent origins of Zwarte Piet both Dutch nationals and foreigners looking in from the outside consider the Pieten to be racist and politically incorrect. To avoid the slave scenario many people argue that Piet is black because of all the chimney soot. We've also had the addition of purple, green and blue piets to distract from the race connotations. However the race element is unavoidable: black face, curly black hair, large painted on red lips. Its all a bit uncomfortable. Because of all the Dutch users on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook posting pictures of themselves and their black faces, other parts of the world are a bit outraged. Only time will tell whether this tradition will last in its current form.
