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Kicking off the week-long event on 31 October was a celebration of the city’s diversity through a display of colorful lamp-post banners around town showcasing smiling Eindhoven-ers of different nationalities and cities of origin. Photographer Saskia Holtjer embarked on this ambitious project earlier in the year to capture the broad ethnic and cultural diversity which makes up Eindhoven and gives the city its known vibrance. This project is initiated by OVAA, an organization which identifies, initiates and advises on the development of diversity and gender in society. A selection of Saskia’s photographs for this project is being displayed in the Van Abbe Museum from 1 to 13 November 2011.

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Once here, the poor old guy travels on his pampered horse through the nights, climbing slippery roofs and pushing sweets and small gifts that include Barbie houses, and Lego castles down the not so clean chimneys (the million houses with kids under the age of eight. Fortunately Sint has his henchmen who help him cover the ground. Tons of sweets are consumed every morning by innocent children in what appears to be an occasion sponsored by dentists!  The horse, if he is lucky, gets a piece of old bread and a carrot in return, which is quickly confiscated by the parent so it can go into the shoe the next night (the grocery branch couldn´t get in on this scheme!). At night, when the shoe is set in front of the fireplace or nowadays the central heating or the front door, the kids sing special songs, the “sinterklaasliedjes” with lyrics like: “throw something in my little boot”; “oh! come have a look what I found in my shoe” or “the sweet ones do get goodies and the bad ones get beaten with the rod”. Of course the opportunity to teach children something is not missed.

In the beginning of December, Sinterklaas also visits schools. The guy really goes through a rough time. One day he looks greyer than the other; his voice becomes increasingly hoarse with each new school. His outfits change by the hour and so does height! Children recite small poems or perform a dance or a play. Sint loves it! He has a big book with a note on every child.

The grand finale takes place on the night of 5^th December or the following morning. It is different in each family. Kids sing away loudly, parents sing even louder and move around strangely, attempting to distract children so they don´t see the neighbour hauling big trash bags of toys around to the front or back door (parents keep the bags because the broken toys can be discarded in them in the weeks that follow). Childless neighbors come in handy at this time. They are instructed to come at such and such time, and to knock on this and this door or window and then to leave fast! Sinterklazeen can also be hired to come round to the house on the night of the fifth.

Children above the age of eight or nine do not believe in the myth of Sinterklaas anymore. It is hard to judge whether they did so before? Did they notice why Sinterklaas looks different in the mall and at school or why Zwarte Piet’s leg was white when his stocking dropped? No point in doubting so long as the presents keep rolling in. When the secret is finally broken the youngsters and adults do a “surprise” (pronounce as in French). They draw lots a few weeks before and buy small presents for the chosen one. They wrap it up in a very funny way and write a wicked poem. This is the time to take anonymous revenge or embarrass your family member! Your dad who always needs to watch football, make him a red card. Your brother who is always behind MSN, write him a poem about autism. Make a HUGE mirror for your sister!

After the sixth all is forgotten. How and where Sint Nicolas leaves nobody knows? Isn´t he staying? Did he get immigration papers? How does he survive? Does he have a job, a work permit? Does he pay taxes? Does he have double nationality? He is older than 67, that is sure!

An old joke goes as follows:
How do you know Sinterklaas is so old?
He has fungus between his legs!

On November 13 at 11.30hrs Sinterklaas will moor in Eindhoven. (Kanaaldijk noord, crossing Jeroen Boschlaan). The mayor will receive him and afterwards he and his Zwarte Pieten go to the centre of Eindhoven. Do go and have a look at this very typical Dutch folklore.

By Irene.

I normally avoid Jodi Picolt like the plague, not because I think she’s a bad author, quite the opposite, but because she tends to strike a chord in that I find myself imagining myself and my children living the lives of her characters. She writes about very controversial topics that are never have happy endings but certainly make you think. “Handle with Care” is the type of book that you won’t be able to put down. Even when you’re not reading it, you will be thinking about it. It’s the story of a couple named Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe who have two daughters. Willow, the youngest, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta. They are devastated, - she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a life time of pain and her medical fees are bankrupting the family. Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a life time of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician, it’s her best friend. This story portrays all views of the characters involved and although Charlotte on the surface is portrayed to be in it for the money and to be a ruthless person part of you relates to the length a mother will go to for her child, regardless of other’s feelings. This story will trigger emotions from anger, frustration and sadness. The ending is a real twist and I would suggest you take the time to really READ this book.

by Hollie Reuver

If you have just arrived in The Netherlands you probably cannot imagine that in such a small country there can be such great differences between north and south. However if you live in the south of the country you can feel that the culture here is different from the culture dominating Holland. When you walk around Amsterdam or Rotterdam or Den Haag the atmosphere is completely different from that of Eindhoven, Den Bosch or Breda. It’s something that you can feel but probably it’s difficult to explain.

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The shop is housed in the basement and ground floor of the building known as the “Bruine Herr” or the Brown Gentlemen, which was originally the headquarter of the local electronics company Philips. A good selection of English fiction, along with some German, French and Spanish literature is available on the first floor. The basement is dedicated to specialist books in a wide variety of subjects with English titles included in each subject section. The basement café called the Coffeelovers provides a hospitable and welcoming space for a leisurely browse over a well- made cup of coffee. Altogether the new Selexyz is a welcome addition to the local shopping circuit.

In homes and on the streets, every Dutch man, woman and child eagerly awaits the arrival of the Great Sinterklaas!

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