Sinterklaas Replied To My Letter

Sinterklaas Replied To My Letter

When I opened our letter box and saw the envelope I instantly knew what it was. An official reply to my letter from Sinterklaas himself! An actual letter from the Sint uit Spanje! My eyes went wide, my heart skipped a beat and I made a sound that some might consider a squeal of delight. Fully of excitement I rushed up stairs as fast as I could to share the news. I burst into the living room, waving the envelope in the air like it was a winning lottery ticket.

“I got a reply! I got a reply!”

My wife didn’t even have to ask. I’d been talking about this moment for days. She knew exactly what I was blathering about without a moment’s hesitation and, like me, was instantly excited.

“Open it! Open it!” She urged me.

But I wanted to savour this moment. Forcing myself to be calm I put the envelope down on the table and for a short while we both just looked at it, pondering what might be inside. You don’t just rush opening a letter from Sinterklaas. It is an important moment in any 33 year old man’s life.

Sinterklaas Reply Envelope

I gave myself a moment and then… when I was ready I took a deep breath, slowly picked the envelope up from the table, carefully opened it, took the letter out from inside, cautiously unfolded it and then… handed it to my wife for translation.

Sinterklaas Reply Letter Front

Translation:

Dear Child
When the boat arrives in the harbour and I see all those happy smiling faces and waving little hands, I am always happy to be back in Holland. Some children find it all a little too exciting/scary. That is not necessary. I completely understand that children can’t always be sweet and good but as I always say to my Pieten; The most important thing is that you always try your best.

I hope you’ll enjoy this Sinterklaas time and find it fun. Then we’re all happy.

Lots of greetings
Sinterklaas

Hallo Stuart
A long letter with a lot of questions. We can’t answer them. Sorry. We’re not sure how old you are either but… everything is good, also this letter. Bye for now.

Yours sincerely
The writing Piet

This is amazing! I might not have received an answer to my questions but I am still so happy to get a letter from Sinterklaas himself… and even a personal message from the writing Piet (who might be on to me that I was not completely honest about my age). Sinterklaas must have also realized I enjoy drawing cartoons because he included a colouring activity sheet on the back of the letter.Thank you Sinterklaas.

Sinterklaas Reply Letter Back
Looking for more? Read my ultimate guide on this Dutch tradition: Sinterklaas vs. Santa – Eight Humorous Differences

Stuart

Stuart is an accident prone Englishman who has been living in the Netherlands since 2001. Even his move to the country was an unintentional accident, the result of replying to a cryptic job advertisement he found one day in a local British magazine. Since then he has learned to love the Dutch (so much so that he married one of them) and now calls the country home. He started the blog Invading Holland in 2006 as a place to share his strange stories of language misunderstandings, cultural confusions and his own accident prone nature.

20 Responses

  1. Alison says:

    Love it! Especially the note from Piet subtly implying that you might not technically be a “kind”. :)

  2. iooryz says:

    Next time, try asking questions when you put your shoe next to the fireplace. Piet allways gave me an answer there. But congratulations on your letter!

  3. Saskia says:

    So. Jealous. Right. Now. Have never received a letter from Sinterklaas. So awesome!

  4. Invader Stu says:

    Alison – I’m very happy that he did not ask me my age directly otherwise I might have had to lie and then get myself put on the naughty list.

    Saskia – I can give you his address if you want it :)

    Iooryz – I will do that for sure next year. Maybe this can become a thing that I send him a letter each year :)

  5. Yvette says:

    I’m looking forward to the sequel to this in a few years when you encourage your daughter to write to Sinterklaas to get to the bottom of all this with your questions as cover. That’s the primary reason you had her right?

  6. I really needed a smile this morning. This blog post made my day (and it’s only 11:09 a.m. French time). :)

    (And, wait a minute, I thought that Sinterklaas travelled by boat. What’s with the horse???)

  7. Invader_Stu says:

    Yvette – Of course. I already said she was my undercover sleeper agent who will infiltrate Dutch society for me :p

    Barb – Happy I could help :) And to answer your question; he arrives in Holland from Spain via boat but once he is here he goes everywhere by horse.

  8. VallyP says:

    I hope you’re going to keep the letter to show Sophie when she’s old enough to understand the full import of what you have there :)

  9. AQK1982 says:

    Can’t Piet answer your questions because of the case that is pending before the Spanish Court or is he held by his ZwartenPieten-clause?

    Sinterklaas was more forthcoming with information……

  10. dragon lady says:

    Stuart, your one up on me, I never got a reply from Father Christmas.
    The Dragon Keeper and I had a real laugh over this post, its so you. You always said you never wanted to grow up, this prooves you don’t have to.

  11. Invader Stu says:

    VallyP – I might even get it framed :)

    AQK1982 – I can only assume you are right. I am sure they would have been happy to answer all my questions unless there were legal problems with doing so.

    Dragon Lady – And never will :)

  12. Brandon says:

    Dang, Sint replied? Probably too late in the season for me to send him a letter asking “Where do Pieten come from? Do you assimilate them ala the Borg? Are they the kids you haul off to Spain?” Etc. Maybe next year…

  13. Invader Stu says:

    Brandon – Careful. If you expose his secret you might get assimilated too.

  14. Perovskia says:

    Ha! This also made my day.. and it’s 07:12 EST (Canada). Love. It.

  15. Likeahike says:

    Thank you for making me smile on this dreary day. What a wonderful reply and you didn’t even include a carrot with the letter! I did notice a accountnumber at the bottom of the letter though. Is Sint hinting at something?