Tuesday 6 December 2016

A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 6 Dec 2016 - T for Sinterklaas, German Postcrossers and Chinese food!

Good morning T-Gang!
It's nearly midnight on Monday night as I am writing this, and soon it will be Tuesday... That week flies by! 
Tonight in the Netherlands is St Nicolas eve. (Sinterklaas). That has made me a bit nostalgic.
Every year, on the 5th of December, the Netherlands celebrates the birthday of a very old man. His name is St Nicolas. He has a long white beard and he rides on a white horse over the rooftops. We kids call him also Sinterklaas. He is a nice man because he brings presents to kids who are good. Sounds familiar? Yes, Sinterklaas and Santaclause are related. However Sinterklaas was there first.
Sinterklaas always makes his entrance in the Netherlands by boat in Amsterdam. His arrival is televised nationally. He is supposed to come all the way from Spain (Don’t ask the Spanish about this, you will get some uncomprehending looks).  Sinterklaas is usually assisted by some black assistants. We call them Zwarte Piet (Black Peter). Zwarte Piet is usually an friendly clown who likes to make jokes with kids while Sinterklaas is usually a figure of authority. Sinterklaas has a book with all your good deeds and naughty stuff that you did during year (supplied by the parents of course), and decides whether to give you a present, a beating, or to throw you in the sack and send you to Spain. Aah well, that is to say. Those last punishments we don’t do any more. We are a bit more civilized nowadays.
When I was young we got together as a family (Here is my mum and my Omi in the photo) and waited for the sack (in which my mother had put all the presents), delivered by Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet of course. We sang songs about Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet. (I still know most of the songs) My sister and I were eager to see what Sinterklaas had brought. Silly poems were attached to every present and had to be read first before one could tear the paper open. 

As you become older, you understand of course that Sinterklaas does not exist. That you get rarely anything for free, but you keep those nice memories of the family celebration, the songs, the presents and the silly rhymes Most Dutch people have such memories and we cherish them with a certain fondness.

Enough nostalgia! Here is my postcard:
 The international postcard club Postcrossing sometimes holds regional meetings. During those meetings members write cards to randomly selected addresses. I was the recipient of one such card from a German group meeting. It was signed by all 16 people that were there.
Here is the stamp:
Midnight has struck! It is now officially Tuesday. On Tuesdays I join up with Elizabeth and Bleubeard for T for Tuesday, where people share something with a drink in it. So now for something with a drink...

My hubby and I have recently been to the local Chinese restaurant.

A very uninspiring place if truth be told.
But the food was good. We stuck to things we knew and had spring rolls for starters. I was already tucking into mine when i remembered to take a photo.

And these were our coffees.
Sorry for the stained table cloth. I am a messy pup!

Wishing you all a happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca


20 comments:

  1. What a wonderful post. I really loved learning about Sinterklaas and all those traditions. It's amazing how other countries celebrate the season, so this was really fun seeing what Dec. 5 and Sinterklaas eve meant to you. Holding onto those memories is very important because at some point they fade if we don't revitalize them.

    Your post card is fantastic and the group sending that one to you is so thoughtful.

    I find most Chinese restaurants are either over the top or understated. Yours at least had good food and coffee, so you can give it high marks.

    Thanks for sharing the story of Sinterklaas, your postcard, and your meal with wine and coffee with us for T this Tuesday. Happy St. Nicolas (Sinterklaas) day.

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  2. Oh Lisca, I adore your post this week, full of wonderful memories! I love the story about Sinterklaas and having a poem on each gift that has to read BEFORE tearing it open, and the photo of your Mom and Omi is just heat warming.
    Thanks you for sharing all these great memories and you meal.
    Happy T-day

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  3. Fascinating info about Sinterklaas. I'd never heard this and I love the old photo of the sack for the gifts and how he arrives by boat. The funny poem is a good thing too, and I may put a few on my family's gifts this Christmas. :) Your Chinese food looks good too. I love a good eggroll. Happy T day. Hugs-Erika

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  4. We hang our stockings on St. Nicholas Eve, so I appreciated reading about other celebrations of that day :) I tend to be so pleased with the Chinese food itself that I don't even notice the decor lol. Your food looks good. Happy T Tuesday!

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  5. Your meal at the Chinese restaurant made me feel hungry again! We have a new one near here, I hope I can go there some time. St Nicholas visits in Germany, too, and brings 'Knecht Ruprecht' with him for the punishments. The kids get their boots filled with little sweets and presents. I was in Holland one year on the 6th December and enjoyed everything. Have a great T Day, hugs, Valerie

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  6. Ah I love the memories of your childhood how very different from ours in the UK! Have a great tuesday!

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  7. the customs in the netherlands seem to be quite similar to our german ones. we call the saint nikolaus and he visits the children on dec 6th. (or they put shoes outside on the eve) we also have a punishing companion of him - knecht ruprecht - but as educational methods have changed, he doesn´t Play a big role nowadays.
    happy t-day, lisca!

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  8. Very interesting post and the Chinese food sounds terrific

    Have a happy T day

    Love Chrissie xx

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  9. Great to learn always so much visiting you!
    This Chinese food looks delicious!!!
    Happy Tuesday dear Lisca!

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  10. A lovely post, it was good to read about your family traditions, memories are good especially at this time of the year.
    The Chinese meal looks good. I think they are good hosts to have white cloths on the tables, its only the 'posh' restaurants here that have a cloth on the table.
    Yvonne xx

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  11. What a great post. I'd just seen a FB photo of my friend's St Nicholas presents being opened, so I really appreciated coming along to your blog & getting more information about it all!

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  12. Loved hearing about your SantaClaus memories! We spent three years in Germany and hold those memories dear ... Love seeing the picture of your mum and omi such a treasure... Happy happy T day! Hugs! deb

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  13. You received a very special postcard I think. How big is your collection? I enjoyed reading about your St. Nicholas memories. My grandchildren put their shoes out the night of Dec. 5th and they are filled with a few little goodies. We open presents Christmas Eve (a little unusual here). Our holiday celebrations are a blend of traditions just as our family is a blend of nationalities.

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  14. I love reading the story of your Holiday Traditions . I have a collection of International Santas that has a short story of each one that comes with it. It's so much nicer when you hear the story from someone who comes from the region. Glad your meal was good... now I'm hungry for a good Chinese meal.

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  15. Thanks for sharing your story of SinterKlaus...so interesting how each country has a slightly different backstory for Santa Claus. :)

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  16. Happy St. Nicolas Eve! You've made me nostalgic too. I was raised in a heavily German area of Wisconsin. We celebrated St. Nicolas day on the 6th.

    Instead of putting our shoes out to receive the gifts (as is the German tradition), our stockings hung on the mantle were used. So we received small gifts and sweets. Sort of a preview of the big present day of Christmas.

    Your Chinese restaurant looks a lot fancier than mine ;-) One thing you can pretty much count on in a Chinese restaurant - no matter where you live - is good food and plenty of it.

    Happy T Day, Lisca!

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  17. I had so much fun reading about Sinterklaas, I love the idea of reading a poem before you open your present! It's so wonderful to remember such fond memories and I can see why you cherish them so dearly :-). I'm always eager to see your beautiful postcards and stamps - they are such a festive scenes and wow, 16 signatures is a lot :-). Your Chinese food looks yummy and it sounds like you had a lovely time! Happy T Day dear Lisca! J :-)

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  18. love your sinterklass celebrations and all the photos

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  19. Hi Lisca, such wonderful traditions and memories. I wish it was more like that here, not so commercial. Sorry for not replying the last few times, thought I better pop over this time and I'm glad I did.
    Hugs,
    Carol

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    1. Thanks Cazzy. Pop on over any time you like. I blog on Tuesdays and Fridays at the moment. Hope to see you soon,
      Big hug back,
      Lisca

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