St. Nicholas . . . returns to Spain??

Every year in November cities and villages around the Netherlands welcome St. Nicholas back with parades and other festivities. Sinterklaas, as he is known locally, comes here on a boat from his home in Spain. 

He rides around from house to house on a white horse. Children set their shoes at night, often with a carrot in them for this horse. His assistant Zwarte Piet helps the elderly bishop Nicholas by actually going down the chimney to take the carrot and leave some sweets and/or a small gift. 

After the feast day of St. Nicholas, December 6, Sinterklaas goes back to Spain for the rest of the year. The night before, December 5, families gather to open packages from St. Nicholas, read the silly poems that go with the disguised packages, and generally have a good time. 

Most elementary school children will have drawn names at school and brought a sometimes elaborately disguised package for their classmates. For instance, our daughters have gotten their gifts hidden in papier-mâché donuts (because donuts are American), large cardboard books (because they liked to read), and have hidden gifts in papier-mâché cows set on green cardboard meadows and large cardboard computers (because the other child liked playing computer games).  On the day that the children are going to open theses packages, Sinterklaas with one or more Piets will make a personal visit to the school. 

We like Sinterklaas. It's good fun (especially when Pete is black with soot and nothing else). It gets the packages out of the way before Christmas. And now we can focus on celebrating Jesus's first arrival here among us. He does not come and go on a steamship. Immanuel, God is still with us!