Sinterklaas versus Santa Clause

Well, it's the time of the year and last weekend I've put our living and dining room in a festive mood and decorated the Christmas Tree. Normally we wait untill after the 6th of December when "Sinterklaas" arrives but my husband insisted (he's on holiday this week and wanted to have all the small lights and decorations :-)

So what's the difference between Sinterklaas and Santa Clause?

	Santa Claus	Sinterklaas
Transportation:	Reindeer-drawn sleigh that can fly	Steamer called Pakjesboot 12 and a Gray horse called Amerigo that can walk over rooftops and make great leaps through the air
Helpers:	Elves	Zwarte Pieten
Gifts:	Made in Santa's toy factory with the help of elves	Bought in stores, wrapped by Zwarte Pieten, the helpers
Personality:	Punctual	Almost senile
Punishment:	Lenient; leaves only coal to children who have been naughty	Strict; Sinterklaas sogs suggest that children who have been naughty are beaten with small branches or taken to Spain to be Zwarte Pieten
Family:	Mrs. Claus	No family

Wanna read more about it? Here's the link.

Frankly I like them both! But buying gifts two times in one month would be a little bit expensive so ... hence the choice for Sinterklaas in our regions :-)

A nice online shop and another one that offer felt Sinterklaas decorations. And on googling some more I've found an even bigger store. Oh soooo many lovely things to discover ... !!! Guess what I'll be doing next year? ;-)

Have a nice "Sinterklaas" or - for the ones that want to wait a little bit longer - "Santa Clause" :-)!!!