Santa Claus in your country....

ashleynicoles · November 2011

Hey ladies, I was just wondering if Santa Claus is celebrated as a tradition in your country or not.

Here in NL we have Sinterklaas and he comes from Spain in a boat on the 5th of December and has a bunch of black helpers called "Black Pete's," literally translated. This is something I found to be incredibly racist when I first moved here. Seeing grown white men painted black and helping Sinterklaas fill shoes with presents.

Anyway, I just wondered how it differs from where you grew up. Smile Also, are the gift-giving traditions the same or do they differ as well?

oneslybookworm · November 2011

Don't even get me started on the Zwarte Pete's...good lord.

littlemusings · November 2011

One of my DH's colleagues (who is Dutch but lived in the U.S) emailed us this David Sedaris skit on Sinterklaas...it's hilarious! Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbJpRLhaSqs&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL03EF23A6461514A8

I must say, I do love all the pig marzipans being sold all over the place...it's a full blown addiction for me:)

LadyMadrid08 · November 2011

Here they have Papa Noel, but it's the Reyes Magos (Three Kings) who bring the most gifts on January 6th.

welshgirl · November 2011

Well, we're getting very Americanised here, but the main difference (to my knowledge) is that Father Christmas lives in Lapland (vs the North Pole).

Otherwise, things are very similar to the general US idea - though obviously there are so many US cultural traditoins it varies a lot. (Like my mother grew up, and so, so did we, opening a gift on Christmas Eve.) Among my friends at least new PJs seem a thing for Christmas Eve.

Oh and rather than leaving cookies and milk for Santa, it's mince pies and sherry (or a beer).

mrshooi · November 2011

Being in a Muslim country means that Christmas isn't the most celebrated religious holiday here, but because large areas are Christian and Hindu all holidays are celebrated and given time off (we get a HUGE amount of public holidays). I think it is mostly Americanised though and a bit of a cash cow for them in the lead up to it. There were Halloween and now thanksgiving items everywhere, not to mention a ton of shops are vomiting tinsel and fake snow in 35 degree humidity.

I am looking forward to seeing what happens closer to Christmas.

HawkGirl81 · November 2011

We are still in the States, but have heard much about this "Sinterklaas". Next year, which will be our first xmas in NL, our daughter will be 4 and our son almost 3. I am excited for them to share in the customs from another culture! We LOVE the Elf on the Shelf and will absolutely be bringing that tradition with us

NLfoodie · November 2011

The whole Zwarte Piet is racist stuff is getting waaaayyy too much attention and makes sure that people forget the true story of why he's black. He climbs through chimneys. Sinterklaas is old, so he can't climb through a chimney, but the Zwarte Pieten can. Chimneys are filled with soot (heck, there's a story of me calling our chimney sweep Zwarte Piet somewhere in October, being all happy he came so early!)

Sinterklaas really is a very old tradition in NL, from back in the day that everyone had chimneys and wood burning stoves and such. They had to be sweeped and people who did that came out of work pitch black - and they didn't even have to climb through them. Kids in those days would never have believed it it Sinterklaas' helper who came through a chimney would not have been black.

Just throwing that in here, not trying to hijack your post, but the whole racism bit pi$$es me off as that means the original story and tradition gets lost and I'm a sucker for that sorta thing.

Avion22 · November 2011

welshgirl:

Well, we're getting very Americanised here, but the main difference (to my knowledge) is that Father Christmas lives in Lapland (vs the North Pole).

Otherwise, things are very similar to the general US idea - though obviously there are so many US cultural traditoins it varies a lot. (Like my mother grew up, and so, so did we, opening a gift on Christmas Eve.) Among my friends at least new PJs seem a thing for Christmas Eve.

Oh and rather than leaving cookies and milk for Santa, it's mince pies and sherry (or a beer).

Ha! My sister and I, at approximately the ages of 9 and 12, convinced our parents that we should take part in this tradition. It took about two years, but finally our parents caved and started letting us open one gift on Christmas Eve. We had to choose from gifts that were already there (from relatives, that had been sent earlier). The goal was to try to find the box that contained new PJs (my grandmother usually sent them, so it wasn't that hard).

littlemusings · November 2011

NLfoodie:

The whole Zwarte Piet is racist stuff is getting waaaayyy too much attention and makes sure that people forget the true story of why he's black. He climbs through chimneys. Sinterklaas is old, so he can't climb through a chimney, but the Zwarte Pieten can. Chimneys are filled with soot (heck, there's a story of me calling our chimney sweep Zwarte Piet somewhere in October, being all happy he came so early!)

Sinterklaas really is a very old tradition in NL, from back in the day that everyone had chimneys and wood burning stoves and such. They had to be sweeped and people who did that came out of work pitch black - and they didn't even have to climb through them. Kids in those days would never have believed it it Sinterklaas' helper who came through a chimney would not have been black.

Just throwing that in here, not trying to hijack your post, but the whole racism bit pi$$es me off as that means the original story and tradition gets lost and I'm a sucker for that sorta thing.

It's a cultural misunderstanding...especially from a US pespective which is unfortunate. Your explanation on Zwarte Piet says it all. Thank you! P.S. Did he already get off his ship or is it later this month???

NLfoodie · November 2011

I think he arrived last Saturday (I'm in CO currently though, so haven't seen all the news about it.)

Johlise · November 2011

NLfoodie:
The whole Zwarte Piet is racist stuff is getting waaaayyy too much attention and makes sure that people forget the true story of why he's black. He climbs through chimneys. Sinterklaas is old, so he can't climb through a chimney, but the Zwarte Pieten can. Chimneys are filled with soot (heck, there's a story of me calling our chimney sweep Zwarte Piet somewhere in October, being all happy he came so early!)
Sinterklaas really is a very old tradition in NL, from back in the day that everyone had chimneys and wood burning stoves and such. They had to be sweeped and people who did that came out of work pitch black - and they didn't even have to climb through them. Kids in those days would never have believed it it Sinterklaas' helper who came through a chimney would not have been black.
Just throwing that in here, not trying to hijack your post, but the whole racism bit pi$$es me off as that means the original story and tradition gets lost and I'm a sucker for that sorta thing.

This!

MouseInLux · November 2011

welshgirl:
Well, we're getting very Americanised here, but the main difference (to my knowledge) is that Father Christmas lives in Lapland (vs the North Pole).

Thats strange, when I was a kid in the UK he lived in the North Pole, guess he moved:)

elenetxu · November 2011

Dude, Sinterklaas is from Spain? That must be why he's not here at Christmas time! Here, we have to wait for the Three Kings (or the Reyes) mentioned previously.

In honor of DH's family, the Basques have Olentzero - an old drunk coal seller. Here's some fun traditional stories about Mr. Olentzero:

Other variations of the legend, customs and the character include:

in Areso children would be told to come home early. An adult would then dress up as Olentzero and scare the children still out on the streets with a sickle.
in Uharte-Arakil he was traditionally suspended from a rope from a window, dressed in a straw mantle, in Lekunberri the effigy was attached to the chimney.
in Berastegi if the children did not want to go to bed, a sickle would be thrown down the chimney and the children told that Olentzero would come to cut their throats if they didn't go to bed.
in Dima a straw puppet dressed as Olentzero with a sickle would be hung from the church tower after the midnight mass on Christmas Eve and if children had been behaving badly, people would say Onontzaro begi-gorri txaminira da etorri, austen baldin badegu barua, orrek lepoa kendu guri "Olentzero with the red eyes has come to the chimney, if we break the fast, he will cut our throats" - referring to the traditional fast in the week before Christmas.
in Larraun he was called Ononzaro and said to have three eyes and usually depicted as a drunkard dressed like a scarecrow. People would ask Ononzaro begi-gorri, non arrapatu duk arrai ori? (Olentzero of the red eyes, where did you catch that fish (i.e. inebriation)?) and the answer would be Bart arratseko amaiketan Zurriolako arroketan (last night at eleven in the rocks of Zurriola).

To heck with giving the kids coal, ain't nothin' like throwing a sickle down the chimney to see if that'll scare 'em straight! Truth be told, the stories I know of Olentzero now are that he's a nice old guy.

Santa Claus in your country....

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