Bye Bye Sint

This post will at first glance makes no sense to non Dutch people because it deals with Sinterklaas. I have once described Sinterklaas as Santa Claus but with more dignity and a bit racist.
For months children are bombarded with the coming arrival of Sinterklaas, and when after a few weeks when he leaves on the fifth of December, thats it.

Now a group of parents of children with autism has begun an action to get Dutch media to not only report the arrival but also the departure of Sinterklaas. Some autistic kids are just confused about where he has gone while other are stil afraid of him and Zwarte Piet (Sinterklaas doesn't just reward good behavior but also puninesses bad kids).

While I think it a nice idea I'm not convinced it's only autist kids that have this problem. Personally I was never afraid of Sint and Piet but I knew a lot of kids that where confused and scared by this whole thing.

Some random Sint Trivia

• One of the most populair Sint songs is “Sinterklaas Kapoentje”, a kapoen is a castrated rooster, some people say this is a reference to Sinterklaas being circumcised which in itself could be a reference to Sint being a foreigner.
• Although modern mythology makes Sinterklaas come from Spain (he lives there most of the year) he officially comes from Turkey.
• Nowadays he is a very nice and gentle man, the historical figure was a bit of a hard ass (apparently he beat up some other priest).