Yes Sinterklaas has rolled around again, once again the Dutch community is held in the thrall of the old white haired guy who steams over from Spain with all his 'black Petes' to check out which children have been naughty and which have been good, distribute huge quantities of sweets and little sweet biscuits known as pepernoten, and finally leave a pile of presents on the doorstep on December 5.
It's three weeks of feverish excitement for kids as the 'black Petes' make appearances at school and there is a tv show (The Sinterklaas Journal) broadcasted daily at school to keep the kids up to date with what the mischievous Petes have been getting up to, and to hear a few words from the wise old man himself.
Each year there is a drama caused by some errant Pete who just can't seem to follow the rules or simple instructions. Last year they lost one of the Petes and all the Dutch kids were sitting on the edges of their seats, waiting for daily news about where he had been spotted; he finally turned up on Sentosa Island, apparently having mistaken it for 'Sint-osa' Island. Very exciting stuff!
This year it's the mystery of the silver pepernoot. This huge and tasty creation was apparently stolen by one of the Petes on the day Sint arrived in his boat at Keppel Marina. Each day clues are revealed at school and the kids are searching Singapore looking for it. They've also been asked to make a 'missing' poster and to stick it up in a prominent place somewhere on the island. Carl got straight to work, and stuck his work of art on the side of his school bus. You can tell by his face that he's very proud of it!
It's three weeks of feverish excitement for kids as the 'black Petes' make appearances at school and there is a tv show (The Sinterklaas Journal) broadcasted daily at school to keep the kids up to date with what the mischievous Petes have been getting up to, and to hear a few words from the wise old man himself.
Each year there is a drama caused by some errant Pete who just can't seem to follow the rules or simple instructions. Last year they lost one of the Petes and all the Dutch kids were sitting on the edges of their seats, waiting for daily news about where he had been spotted; he finally turned up on Sentosa Island, apparently having mistaken it for 'Sint-osa' Island. Very exciting stuff!
This year it's the mystery of the silver pepernoot. This huge and tasty creation was apparently stolen by one of the Petes on the day Sint arrived in his boat at Keppel Marina. Each day clues are revealed at school and the kids are searching Singapore looking for it. They've also been asked to make a 'missing' poster and to stick it up in a prominent place somewhere on the island. Carl got straight to work, and stuck his work of art on the side of his school bus. You can tell by his face that he's very proud of it!
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