"My Sinterklass is the true Sinterklass and will destroy your false Santa Claus with fire..."
... best comment on comparative religions I've seen on this board... it was by Dan I think but I'm not sure.
Sinterklaas is only part of the fun.
In Holland, PC is what you call a computer. In any other country, large groups of people blacking their faces and painting their lips red, and then capering around playfully, sometimes playing instruments, would be seen as having racist overtones.
Hell, in England we used to have a light musical variety program called 'The Black and White Minstrel Show' where people blacked-up and danced and sang. That was caned as it was rather offensive to anyone born after 1950... we had sit-coms in the seventies that are not put on TV any longer in the UK as they have such awful jokes based on race in them; sit coms they still show on Dutch and Belgian TV!
I'm serious; there were probably thirty of them in the shopping mall near where I live on Saturday.
And here... nobody minds. There's a large immigrant population, Turks, Morrocians, Somalians, other Africans... nobody gives a " " about it., Although undoubtedly "black peter" was as PC as manacles when the story originated, now Dutch people will tell you quite seriously he's not black, like a black person is black, he's just... black.
Holland does have problems with race issues, but on some levels is wonderfully colourblind.
The food, crafts and music are outstanding. I hated to come home.