{"id":7538,"date":"2021-11-29T13:00:41","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=7538"},"modified":"2021-11-27T17:40:25","modified_gmt":"2021-11-27T17:40:25","slug":"how-do-you-make-a-dutch-surprise-for-sinterklaas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/how-do-you-make-a-dutch-surprise-for-sinterklaas\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do You Make A Dutch Surprise for Sinterklaas? – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sinterklaas is back in the country<\/a>. Get your schaar\u00a0<\/em>(scissors),\u00a0papier\u00a0<\/em>(paper) and\u00a0lijm\u00a0<\/em>(glue), because it’s time to make\u00a0surprises.<\/em> Together with a great little gedicht <\/em>(poem), you’re – I mean, Sinterklaas is – sure to make the most impressive gift! How does this process work? And how to create the ultimate surprise\u00a0<\/em>for\u00a0pakjesavond <\/em>(“gift evening”) on December 5?<\/a> This is part 1 of 2, as there’s quite a lot to say! Tomorrow you can find part 2 here on the blog. Let’s dive in!<\/p>\n

Each year again, Sinterklaas comes from Spain to make the Dutch, young and old, happy with\u00a0snoepgoed\u00a0<\/em>(sweets) and\u00a0cadeautjes\u00a0<\/em>(gifts). Even with some controversy around the event,<\/a> it is a favorite holiday for many inhabitants of the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

One special thing about Sinterklaas is that he does two things other gift givers don’t normally do:<\/p>\n

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  1. He makes a personal gift wrapper;<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. He writes a personal\u00a0gedicht<\/em> for you.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So how does he do it, and how can you help Sinterklaas with this monumental task?<\/p>\n

    Lootjes trekken<\/strong><\/em><\/h1>\n
    \"Surprise<\/a>

    Image by Marjon Besteman<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

    The first thing to do is limit the amount of gifts, with a classic game of lootjes trekken <\/em>(“draw lots”, Secret Santa<\/strong>). The Dutch may be stereotypically stingy, but limiting the gifts you have to think about to a single person means you can focus more on quality of the gift rather than quantity<\/strong>. Besides, this way everybody gets one gift, so nobody needs to feel left out either. And to ensure that people know what’s expected and things don’t get too crazy, a spending limit<\/strong> is often also set (sometimes to just 20 euros or so).<\/p>\n

    Lootjes trekken <\/em>often happens within the close family<\/strong>. But many other communities do it, too. We did it at school<\/strong> when I was a kid, so the whole class had a gift the last school day before pakjesavond<\/em>.\u00a0Sportclubs\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(sports clubs), work colleagues<\/strong> or friend groups<\/strong> do it among themselves, too. So around this time, a single Dutch person may be working on several gifts at once.<\/p>\n

    Like with Secret Santa, nobody knows who has a gift for whom, which ultimately creates the mystique around Sinterklaas – who knows, maybe he actually really did bring the gifts!<\/p>\n

    Anyway, let’s get to the surprise<\/em>!<\/p>\n

    Creating the\u00a0surprise<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n
    \"Surprise<\/a>

    Perhaps your surprise<\/em> look like this! Or even more elaborate than just gluing a picture to a box\u00a0(Image by author, reproduced with permission of Sten Ritterfeld, combining Photo by Timothy Tan<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> and Photo by Christopher Bill<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>).<\/p><\/div>\n

    Surprise\u00a0<\/em>is a word that entered the Dutch language from France. In French,\u00a0surprise\u00a0<\/em>means, like in English, surprise. That’s\u00a0verrassen<\/em>, or de verrassing <\/em>in Dutch. Van Dale defines\u00a0surprise\u00a0<\/em>as follows:<\/p>\n

    “op een verrassende manier verpakt <\/span>geschenk”<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    (A gift wrapped in a surprising manner)<\/p>\n

    What’s meant by this is that the wrapping is really part of the surprise of a gift. So they can get quite elaborate!<\/p>\n

    Most people think of Sinterklaas when you say\u00a0surprise<\/em>, but in line with this definition, it can also be used beyond that. And when you say\u00a0surprise<\/em>, it’s refers more to the gift wrapping, rather than the gift itself. So when you make a surprise<\/em>, you already have the gift. De surprise maken <\/em>simply means creating the wrapper.<\/p>\n

    Like the English, the Dutch pronounce\u00a0surprise\u00a0<\/em>like it’s a Dutch word, they don’t use the French pronunciation. So it sounds like this:<\/p>\n

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    <\/div>\n\t\t
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