Now I can write about the holy man and his history, but all has been said on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas so I might as well let you read that.

When I was small, the Black Pete (Zwarte Piet) was a real bully that would take the naughty children in a big bag and take them back to Spain with him. These days the rod has gone. We don’t want to scare our children anymore. Pitty though. We were angels that time of year.

I remember one year the sea had been very rough in a storm and the ship with the Sinterklaas must have been swaying about a lot, as when he arrived in port, with all of us children waiting on the quay of course, he looked very miserable and so did his black servants. They were seasick.

He got on his horse, that didn’t like him that day and went on two legs, two in the air.
And Sinterklaas usually got a bit tipsy after his stop in the local hotel for a drink. I remember it well. I pinced a Black Pete in his buttocks once. He was angry.
When I was almost 2 years old, Sinterklaas visited our house! I can still remember that I sat on his lap, being very impressed. I later found out it was my own father, dressed up for a visit in the poor house, that we still had then, used for the elderly. He just got home from being away for one and a half year at sea, so no wonder I didn’t really knew him!
He got pneumonia from his performance as Sinterklaas. Oh well .

A lot has changed, but the old people still like Sinterklaas to visit. And I will check my shoe just in case there is something in it!

Just as a contrast to all the happy children in December, I would like to show you this:
Beauty Pageants! I came across this doing research for my latest novel:
Pageants!   I think that is serious child abuse?