DUTCH SANTA VISITS OHIO UNIVERSITY

By Christopher Keesey

If you can’t be in your own country for one of its most popular holidays, you bring the holiday to wherever you are.  This was the spirit of 28 trainees from Sogeti Netherland, a Dutch consulting company, spending a three weeks in Athens for executive training with Ohio University Without Boundaries(OUWB).  The trainees or Young Professionals as they are called in the program, set up two long tables, complete with seasonal refreshments in the OUWB training center on the ground floor of Bromley Hall.  The celebration took place on the afternoon of December 5th, the traditional date of the Dutch celebration of Saint Nicholas’ Eve called SinterKlaas.

Ask any child in the Netherlands about his favorite holiday and they are likely to tell you SinterKlaas.  SinterKlaas, as opposed Christmas, is the great gift giving occasion in the Netherlands.  SinterKlaas is inspired by Saint Nicholas of Myra who lived in the 4th  Century Byzantine Lycia or modern day Turkey.  Saint Nicholas had a reputation in the 4th century for secret gift giving. 

Today in the Netherlands, SinterKlaas comes every December 5th, bringing presents to every child that has been good the past year.  SinterKlaas rides the roofs of Dutch houses on a white horse, wearing his long white beard, holding a long gold colored staff and carrying a big book with all the children’s names contained within.

On the afternoon of December 5th, the Dutch Young Professional concluded their normal mid-afternoon break-out training session to gather around two large tables complete with holiday fare to celebrate their holiday 4000 miles from their home. The celebration included a $2.00 gift exchange, holiday songs and the reciting of gedichten or poems.  After the gift giving, a SinterKlaas “bloopers” video was played to subsequent gales of laughter.  Several faculty and staff from Ohio University Without Boundaries were also in attendance.

“I loved the way they sung together without reservation…they all knew every word to the songs” said Janice Tinkham, Records Management Associate for Ohio University Without Boundaries, about the holiday revelers. 

Sabastiaan Bonardt, one of the Dutch Young Professional was pleased with the celebration stating, “it was very nice that they planned something(for SinterKlaas)…It was fun and that is what the holiday is all about, having fun with your family.” 

The Dutch Young Professional will be in Athens until December 17th when they will return to the Netherlands at the conclusion of their training.