Eerste Sneeuw

Since I have never lived in an area that gets snow, whenever it snows a bit I automatically assume it means it will "really" snow, and stick on the ground. Usually everyone just laughs this off because they come from places like Canada, and they know that a little snow does not necessarily mean anything. The snow began falling this morning and by midmorning had turned into what the dutch call natte sneeuw (wet snow). I thought that was it for the day, but by midday it became real snow again, had begun to fall hard, and continued throughout the afternoon. Mike had to WALK his bike back from picking up the turkeys. We are hoping this won't ruin our Thanksgiving plans for tomorrow. James was not able to enjoy it-- he has a little stuffy nose and we thought it was best that he stay warm. We snuck out during his nap to get a few photos. Every few minutes throughout the evening we have heard a big KER-PLUNK as a big hunk of snow has slid off the roof. Just a little while ago the tree out front dropped two large branches due to the weight... but for now the snow has actually stopped falling.

De kerstboom

Our friend Anne sent the coolest T-shirt for the little man; we know he liked it- he was immediately drooling all over it. I can't believe she found a blue shirt with his name on it...We also set up our christmas tree this past weekend, a little early but since we are leaving for the States in 2 weeks we wanted to enjoy a little of the spirit at our own home. The Dutch do it a little different; I just wrote a story for the student newspaper about Sinterklaas' origins- I'll add it to the Sint post from last week. The last foto is our neighbor Maaike holding James and helping advise the placing of lights and ornaments- as much a tradition from my childhood as actually decorating the tree...

Bijna klaar (almost finished)

We've made some progress in the perpetual struggle to remodel the house. After a long week (I've never spent so much time remodeling such a small room and we are not finished yet) we finally have the new kitchen mostly put together. Note the tiny European fridge mounted at Maier level. Almost everything in this part of the house needs to be replaced; if we were planning on staying here long term I'd be tempted to just knock the back of the house completely out (the last photo is the back of the bathroom where I was chasing rot and ended up punching a hole through most of the wall...). My neighbor Ronald helped me install 4 new electric groups (breakers) as the entire house was previously riding on two with the doorbell having a group to itself. Now we can run several appliances at once (even a circular saw while while drying diapers!). Here you see the dramatic before and after; there are still quite a few details in the new kitchen: drawer pulls, toekick, insulation, tile on the backsplash, lighting and sheetrock on the ceiling, and installing the exhaust fan over the cooktop. We are having 30 people for Thanksgiving so that is the real deadline in 2 weeks. After all that we are ordering out tonight- we are way too tired to cook and clean up.

De Sint

One of the most interesting things about living in another culture is comparing holidays. In the Netherlands, Christmas day (25 December) is a time to spend with your family. Though I think some families exchange gifts on this day, traditionally this was not the case. Sinterklaas (December 5th) is the BIG day here for kids-- that is when children get gifts, not from Santa Claus, but from Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas lives in Spain-- anyone with any sense would know that the North Pole (though idyllic), is no Spain. Sinterklaas can live anywhere, so of course he chooses to live in sunny Spain. Sinterklaas brings his assistants (the very un-PC zwarte Piets) with him from Spain to dole out the consequences of every child's year of behavior. If you have been good you get some treat-- if you have been bad you, naturally, are kidnapped and taken to Spain and then sold into slavery.
My friend Katherina is visiting this weekend from Germany (she is American). We spent Saturday at the market (enjoying oliebollen, fried fish, and the selection of socks available for purchase). We had NO idea that yesterday was the day the Sint arrived from Spain. Fortunately we were able to see him, show him to James and take a photo or two. James was interested but not really aware of what was going on. There was a kind of Parade with the Sint and the zwarte Piets, and then a disco-dance party in the center in front of the church.

The following is a recently published UTnieuws article by cub reporter M. Maier:

Sinterklaas is the red-clad, white horse riding, mitre wearing, crozier-carrying bishop who comes from Spain at the beginning of winter with gifts for children. The tradition is he arrives on a steamboat with his many assistants, the zwarte pieten , usually on the Saturday three weeks before December 5^th; each year he and his entourage land in a different town. On this day (in some circles all the days till the fifth), children place their shoes out in the hopes that their good behaviour will earn presents and treats. Typical treats are chocolate coins and letters, special cookies and candies and small toys.

When set out, often the shoes contain a carrot or some hay for St. Nicholas’ horse. On the evening of the 5^th, Sinterklaas rides over the rooftops on his white horse and children open the door to find a sack full of presents for the family. If you misbehave, you risk an empty shoe or worse, being spirited away to Spain in a sack. Gift giving on December 5th is not only for children; adults traditionally exchange gifts and write a poem (sinterklaasgedicht) that pokes fun at the recipient. Today there are even websites that will generate poems for you. The village of Grou in Friesland is the only place in Holland that celebrates the feast at a different time, on February 21^st.

Sinterklaas is an amalgam of several legends, mainly the Christian bishop St. Nicholas with elements of Germanic gods (Wodan/Odin) in the mix. The historical St. Nicholas was a bishop from the ancient Lycian city of Myra in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Born in 280 A.D., persecution by the emperor Diocletian led the future saint to exile and imprisonment. He eventually attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 before he died on the 6^th of December in 343 A.D. This day became a Christian feast day; some 200 years after his death legends became popular about his character and good deeds, especially helping needy children. Through history St. Nicholas has been revered in many cultures; very popular in the Middle Ages, he became the patron saint of children, mariners, orphans, labourers, travellers, merchants, judges, paupers, and marriageable maidens.

Legends tell of Nicholas’ anonymous generosity in helping the poor and women whose families could not afford a respectable dowry; from these origins we see in the Dutch tradition chocolate coins, sugar hearts, and speculaas cookies shaped like lovers typical at this time of year; the word speculaas also relates to bishop.

The figure of ‘Black Peter’ (Zwarte Piet) has origins more difficult to trace. One story says he was an Ethiopian orphan slave who after gaining his freedom remained to serve the generous St. Nicholas. In the 17^th and 18^th century it was fashionable for European elite to have Moorish pages in their service; today you will see this reflected in the costumes on the pieten. Also mentioned is a connection to chimneysweeps; one explanation is that after all these years bringing gifts down chimneys Piet is covered in soot and no one knows what colour his skin really is.

How does this 4^th century bishop from Turkey come from Spain? One account is that in May of 1087 Italian admirers of the saint moved his bones from Myra to Bari in Italy to save Christian artefacts from the conquering Muslims, and that someone eventually confused one warm Mediterranean place for another. Why travel by steamboat? Many legends of the saint refer to his saving sailors at sea; as the patron saint of mariners many port cities have a church dedicated to Nicholas (in Holland: Amsterdam, Kampen, Harderwijk, Edam). Today, Sinterklaas and his pieten take advantage of the Netherland’s extensive canal system.

From Dutch immigrants, the American tradition of Santa Claus evolved from Sinterklaas and the legends of St. Nicholas. In a Knickerbocker's History of New York, Washington Irving included many references to a Sinterklaas based jolly Dutch burgher who gave gifts anonymously and came down chimneys.

Bigger and Better

We visit the consultatie bureau tomorrow for James' three month checkup. As you can see, he has definitely grown. We took this photo with the hope that it would show how long he is now. We will have the stats tomorrow. We are not nearly as worried about this visit as we were the last one. Some Dutch friends tipped us off that they call it the 'consternatie bureau' (as in consternation) and that our experience with them was not unique. The bureau definitely has a negative view of things, so we will not let them get us down! Their negative energy only makes us stronger!!!

I started work this week, which means Mike and James are hanging out together in the mornings. It has worked out really well so far-- no breakdowns from any of us. Mike has been able to do editing and remodel the kitchen during Daddy Daycare Time. They have almost completed the kitchen. No photos yet, we want to show the dramatic before and after... which should happen some time in the next week.

Finally, here is a photo of Ghost enjoying the fall leaves. It has been really beautiful lately and we have been trying to take advantage of every clear day with lots of walks outside.

Rainbows and Cowboys

There was a beautiful rainbow at the end of our street yesterday, but we did not find a pot of gold ANYWHERE near the end of it.
Here is a photo of James in his cowboy suit-- sent by Melissa from Montana-- this is sure to be a grandma pleaser!