Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

[email protected]
22/11/2013
Tomato
Talk
Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet
By: Teddy Hriskova
Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas is a celebration specifically
for children and in the Netherlands it takes place on the
December has many holidays. First we celebrate the
5th of December. Sinterklaas is celebrated by the whole
feast of St Nicholas, known as Sinterklaasfeest in the
family. From the day Sinterklaas arrives in our country
Netherlands, which is followed by Christmas Day on the
until the 5th of December, children are allowed to place
25th and Boxing Day on the 26th of December. Both
their shoe near the chimney or the radiator.
together are known as the “Christmas Days” in Holland.
Traditionally, the shoe should go near the fireplace
After this, the year ends with ‘Oud en Nieuw” or New
because Zwarte Piet, Sinterklaas’ black assistant, comes
Year’s Eve plus New Year’s Day . Many of our colleagues
down from the roof, through the chimney. In homes
are originally from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and
without a chimney, the shoe is usually put near the
Hungary and naturally, these people do not know how
radiator or at the front or back door. The next morning,
Sinterklaasfeest is celebrated. So I’ll try and explain this
children find some sweets in their shoe. The most
for you.
delicious and typical Sinterklaas candy includes things
like speculaas (tastes a bit like gingerbread), kruidnoten
(ginger biscuits), pepernoten (spiced biscuits), chocolate
Dutch erwtensoep or pea soup. We were surprised that
letters and marzipan. It is much appreciated if the
we were allowed to ladle the soup from a large pot on
children do something in return, like make a special
the table ourselves. It was also the first time we drank
drawing they put near their shoe or leave a carrot or a
Glühwein! All in all, we had a very pleasant evening. We
suger lump for Sinterklaas’ horse.
were presented with many small gifts and learned a few
new Dutch words. No, I’ll certainly never forget my first
My first introduction to the Sinterklaasfeest was in
Sinterklaas!
December 2001. At the time, I was doing a work
placement at a tree nursery in Boskoop. Together with
This year, Sint (short for Sinterklaas) on his white horse
two of my girlfriends, I was invited by a Dutch family and
will visit our company with his assistant Zwarte Piet
we were aware of the fact that it was a Dutch tradition to
on the 30th of November. The employees’children will
exchange gifts. We had made up our faces with special
definitely have a lovely afternoon with many surprises,
black cream and we had brought a bag full of presents.
gifts and sweets.
In other words, we had dressed up as Zwarte Pieten or
“Black Petes”. We were having fun and looking forward
Have a great time!
to the evening. On that occasion, we also ate typically
I wish you all happy holidays in December!
Honingtomaten® has a ‘little’ brother!
After a long search for a bigger tomato that is all you have ever dreamt of, we came across a new variety. We have
given this variety the name Droomtomaten® (Dream Tomatoes). We will shortly introduce these Droomtomaten®.
In order to give people some idea of the arrival of our new tomato, we have sent birth announcement cards.
Let us introduce… Donna Turk
For the last few weeks, Donna Turk of Ernst & Young has
village near Alphen a/d
been working at Looije in Maasdijk on a temporary basis.
Rijn. Earlier this year I
Donna will continue to work with us for another couple
finished my studies at
of weeks. She is happy to introduce herself through this
The Hague University
interview.
of Applied sciences
and I recently started
Welcome to our company, what will you be doing
working for EY.
exactly?
After work I enjoy
I am employed by accountancy company EY. This
going to the gym,
company has become Looije’s accountant as per this
spending evenings
year. Our audit requires that we find out more about
out with my
Looije’s current administrative organisation and internal
girlfriends, dining out, going to the cinema and doing lots
management. Because there is no clear description of this
of other fun things! I also enjoy travel and I have a long
as yet, I am in the process of mapping things and making
list of countries and cities in the world that I still want to
the necessary recommendations for improvements. At this
visit.
moment, I work at Looije in Maasdijk for purpose of my
research.
What is your favourite dish?
I am very much into healthy eating. At the weekends I
What are your first impressions of Looije?
enjoy cooking and trying out new recipes! I don’t really
I like the atmosphere; I have worked here for a few weeks
have one single favourite dish but for sushi you can wake
now and I really feel at home. Looije as a company gives
me up anytime of the day or night!
its employees a lot of freedom and also involves everybody
to a high extent in its management and developments as a
When did you last really laugh out loud?
whole. The staff is very helpful and has already assisted me
I have a good laugh at least once every day and I am
in my investigations a great deal.
known to laugh at my own jokes (of course that’s very
bad). The most recent person who made me laugh
Tell us a bit about yourself, who is Donna?
uncontrollably was Russell Brand. I went to one of his
I am 23 years old and originally from Ter Aar, a small
shows last week and that man is really, very funny!
Update new premises
By: Michiel Hoogenboom
As you all know, people are working extremely hard to
finish the new packaging hall. Starting from week 2, the first
machines will be moved from Maasdijk to the new hall in
Naaldwijk. We expect the actual move to take place by the
end of week 4, so before this can happen, a lot still needs to
be done! To give you an idea of how things are looking on the
inside, we have taken a few pictures. Have fun dreaming of
your new workplace.
/looijetomaten
Cheerful canteen
We have received many drawings for Sinterklaas; the
canteen now looks wonderfully decorated!! Sint will be
ever so pleased!! On Saturday the 30th of November
Sinterklaas will visit us in Maasdijk from 14.00-16.00
hrs.
BIRTHDAYS
Katarzyna Cichowska
22-11
Jolanta Polak
28-11
Jaroslaw Lindenberg
27-11
Lars van Haasteren
1-12
Szymon Szymkowski
27-11
What keeps you busy...
Leszek Porwit
My name is Leszek Porwit. I am 42 years old and originally
... in the world?
from Bytom, a town in the Śląskie province in Poland. I
I am mainly interested in current affairs in Poland and in
currently live in Rotterdam. I have been working at the
the rest of the world.
Looije company since August last year.
... in your personal life?
I work in the Netherlands together with my wife and I
have got to know many interesting people over here. I am
interested in MMA fighting and love playing computer
games. In my leisure time I enjoy watching a good film.
... in your work?
I work in the Burgerveen greenhouse where my current
task consists of lowering the vines; previously I took
care of leaf removal.