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. Invader_Stu says:

    Perovskia – Thank you :)

    Likeahike – Maybe he is trying to tell me I can bribe the answers out of him.

  2. VallyP says:

    How are you three, by the way. Haven’t seen any lights on at home of late…

  3. iooryz says:

    Did you get any presents from Sinterklaas this year?

  4. Invader_Stu says:

    VallyP – We’re all doing great. Did you get my email?

    iooryz – I did indeed. Some very nice ones including a puzzle, some iphone friendly gloves and a bunch of other cool stuff.

  5. Phil Murphy says:

    I always remember sending letters to Santa as a kid. Best feeling ever.