The saint, who travels from Spain by steamboat, is accompanied by his white horse and his knight, Black Peter (Zwarte Piet), as well as several "help" Peters.

Legend goes that Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet travel over the roofs of the Dutch houses at night.  The Dutch children put their shoes (used to be wooden shoes) in front of the fire place.  They sing songs and provide a carrot or hay for the horse. At night Zwarte Piet puts gifts and candy in the shoes.

On the evening of December 5th, Dutch families celebrate Sinterklaas' birthday (the name day of St. Nicolas is December 6th).  For the smallest children, who still believe, a loud knock on the door signifies the arrival of Sinterklaas.  Simultaneously, candy is thrown from upstairs by Zwarte Piet.   When the door is opened, a large bag full of gifts waits on the front step.   Oh, the excitement!  I remember it well!

For the older kids and adults, the feast takes on a different turn.   Each gift is concealed in a "surprise" (pronounced the French way).  A surprise is a gag.  For example, when my American husband celebrated Sinterklaas with my relatives in the Netherlands, my cousin had him dig through cow droppings to get to his gift.  The surprise does not have to be gross, it can just touch on a weakness or vice of the receiver.  The surprise is accompanied by a teasing poem.  Around Sinterklaas, even the most stoic Dutch become accomplished poets!

Here in Washington D.C.  Sinterklaas comes to the Dutch embassy, where he takes all kids from 3 to 9 years of age on stage with him and "knows" lots about what happened to them in the past year.  At the end of the afternoon, filled with fun and candies and funny Piets, there is a gift for each child.