Merry Christmas Everyone

[M H]

Internet makes Christmas Shopping very easy, bollocks to the last minute panic and crowds

[Randall]

Internet makes Christmas Shopping very easy, bollocks to the last minute panic and crowds

People trying the door at 5.29 xmas eve.
Just fuck off

[Wolflanternbumbag]

Proper crimbo

[Mabbsy]

Build up in full swing now, it won't be long

[vizIIsto]

I don't know how many Americans or anybody outside of the Netherlands know of this, but Santa Claus is based on the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas.
Sinterklaas is based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas who lived in modern-day Turkey who donated gifts to the people. One famous story is that he threw a bag of gold through a window at night for three women who wanted to get married but couldn't find any men to marry with since they were, well, poor as fk.
In the current form, Sinterklaas arrives on a boat called the Pakjesboot (boat of packages), and he has several black helpers called Zwarte Pieten, or Black Petes. Every day that Sinterklaas is visiting the Netherlands, people leave one of their shoes near the fireplace or the heater when going to bed, and the next morning there's a carrot with a note in it. At 5th December, the Black Petes throw their presents through the chimneys and the children get to find out if they got the presents they asked for on their wishlist. A very pleasantful tradition, you'd say.
Today, the tradition of Sinterklaas is suffering from a lot of protests. It's a shame because it's supposed to be a children's celebration. Black Pete is often found racist, to the point that we now have Roetveegpieten, which are white but with dusts of soot since they travel through chimneys. This year, Sinterklaas also arrived with a steam train, not a steam boat. All strange and all.

But yeah, Santa Claus is based off of this figure. I think more people should know.

[Tommo]

O.K. Thanks.

[tungsten tossers]

I don't know how many Americans or anybody outside of the Netherlands know of this, but Santa Claus is based on the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas.
Sinterklaas is based on the historical figure Saint Nicholas who lived in modern-day Turkey who donated gifts to the people. One famous story is that he threw a bag of gold through a window at night for three women who wanted to get married but couldn't find any men to marry with since they were, well, poor as fk.
In the current form, Sinterklaas arrives on a boat called the Pakjesboot (boat of packages), and he has several black helpers called Zwarte Pieten, or Black Petes. Every day that Sinterklaas is visiting the Netherlands, people leave one of their shoes near the fireplace or the heater when going to bed, and the next morning there's a carrot with a note in it. At 5th December, the Black Petes throw their presents through the chimneys and the children get to find out if they got the presents they asked for on their wishlist. A very pleasantful tradition, you'd say.
Today, the tradition of Sinterklaas is suffering from a lot of protests. It's a shame because it's supposed to be a children's celebration. Black Pete is often found racist, to the point that we now have Roetveegpieten, which are white but with dusts of soot since they travel through chimneys. This year, Sinterklaas also arrived with a steam train, not a steam boat. All strange and all.

But yeah, Santa Claus is based off of this figure. I think more people should know.

These days we don't get the Pakjesboot or boat of packages but tend to get boat loads of something that sounds quite similar to Pakjes