sinterklaas

we arrived! and are now getting settled in the new time zone, finding out where to shop, meeting the neighbors, etc. one neighbor in particular is very nice and has come around for coffee twice now, has offered to bring me shopping with her car on tuesday mornings.. and generally is very fun to chat with, and she has three teenage boys. she was explaining "sinterklaas" (dec. 5th) to us and how to celebrate it. her youngest son (at 11 years old, and in the oldest grade in primary school) got to dress up as a "zwarte piet" and give "kruidnoten" (totally delicious, tiny crispy gingerbread cookies)to the smaller kids in school.

so today at 3pm our doorbell rang, and we got a special visit from "zwarte piet" himself! the kids loved it, and now we have a small bowlful of kriednoten for the afternoon snack!

we are already feeling so welcome, and having fun... even though our old friends are still very present in our memories. we're off to a great start!