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beelikejSunday we finally celebrated Sinterklaas. For those of you who missed the squee during the preparations; to accompany presents it's a Dutch tradition to write poems and tease the receiver about events from the previous year or things to come. In my family we also make surprise-gifts to hide the real presents.
Since pictures tell the story so much better than I ever could in words, I'll link you to my pictureblog, so you can enjoy the extravaganza in silence;) Gimme, gimme, gimme!.
This year we had guests who don't speak Dutch, so we included some poems in English. Behind the cut I'm sharing some. Beware of weird rhyming, that's part of it, I swear;)
Dear Beverly,
This gift is a classic,
please handle it with care.
There are gloves included,
so you don’t have to touch it bare.
Sorry.
Surprise Pete
Dear Janelle,
We are going to play a little game
it will be lots of fun and totally not lame.
There are hardly any rules, so it won’t be very hard
If you do it right, there will be a reward.
In this package you will find your first clue:
that will easily lead you to hint number two
From there you will be taken to tip number three
and when you follow that, you will be ready to par-ty!
Good luck!
Dear Arthur,
I am pleased to welcome you to my birthday celebration
I hope you enjoy this overwhelmingly weird Dutch occasion.
As a reminder of your visit to the Netherlands, I made something for you:
a thick knitted grey sock and a traditional wooden shoe.
I hope you take this back home to remember
all the crazy fun you had over here on the 7th of December
To accompany a big box of chocolate euros:
Dear Janelle,
In Europe you only need one thing
to enjoy an massive amount of traveling.
But if this present turns out to not be sufficient enough
you might want to look at mom or dad to get more of this stuff.
Generous Pete
This was about a special edition of Lush showergel that smells like gingercookies:
Dear Janelle,
I certainly hope you enjoy this Dutch treat
(I mean this in the literal sense, not ironically)
Pete.
(What? It totally rhymes)
and finally, three bilingual poems;)
She asked for The Vampire Chronicles, but I had alread bought her Call Me By Your Name from Andre Aciman:
Lieve Gayleen,
Niet de bloeddorstige mannen die ik -te laat- zag tussen je wensen;
dit zijn -helaas?- geen bloedzuigers, maar twee vrij normale mensen
(These men are not really into biting, I hope you don’t mind;
they are more into necking of a very different kind;)
Ehm. Het was dit jaar de favoriet van Piet,
die hoopt dat jij er net zoveel van geniet...
Beste Jaap,
Ik zag nogal veel engelstalige wensen op je lijstje staan, vent
dus word je vandaag met een speciaal Down Under pakket verwend.
And if all these Australian presents are a little bit too much,
you can start looking for a treasure that is comfortingly Dutch.
Lieve Gayleen,
Iedere keer wanneer jij bezoek ontvangt, weet jij je gasten te veroveren
door vanuit het niets een bijzondere maaltijd te tevoorschijn te toveren.
Om je tot nog spectaculairder koken te inspireren, krijg je deze pan.
Waarmee je niet alleen in de keuken, maar ook op tafel verrassen kan.
Every time you have guests,
you manage to dazzle them with an awesome meal.
Here is a special frying pan to give your kitchen
AND dinnertable an even more exotic feel.
(The pictures will help explain what surprise gifts the poems are about;)
Since pictures tell the story so much better than I ever could in words, I'll link you to my pictureblog, so you can enjoy the extravaganza in silence;) Gimme, gimme, gimme!.
This year we had guests who don't speak Dutch, so we included some poems in English. Behind the cut I'm sharing some. Beware of weird rhyming, that's part of it, I swear;)
Dear Beverly,
This gift is a classic,
please handle it with care.
There are gloves included,
so you don’t have to touch it bare.
Sorry.
Surprise Pete
Dear Janelle,
We are going to play a little game
it will be lots of fun and totally not lame.
There are hardly any rules, so it won’t be very hard
If you do it right, there will be a reward.
In this package you will find your first clue:
that will easily lead you to hint number two
From there you will be taken to tip number three
and when you follow that, you will be ready to par-ty!
Good luck!
Dear Arthur,
I am pleased to welcome you to my birthday celebration
I hope you enjoy this overwhelmingly weird Dutch occasion.
As a reminder of your visit to the Netherlands, I made something for you:
a thick knitted grey sock and a traditional wooden shoe.
I hope you take this back home to remember
all the crazy fun you had over here on the 7th of December
To accompany a big box of chocolate euros:
Dear Janelle,
In Europe you only need one thing
to enjoy an massive amount of traveling.
But if this present turns out to not be sufficient enough
you might want to look at mom or dad to get more of this stuff.
Generous Pete
This was about a special edition of Lush showergel that smells like gingercookies:
Dear Janelle,
I certainly hope you enjoy this Dutch treat
(I mean this in the literal sense, not ironically)
Pete.
(What? It totally rhymes)
and finally, three bilingual poems;)
She asked for The Vampire Chronicles, but I had alread bought her Call Me By Your Name from Andre Aciman:
Lieve Gayleen,
Niet de bloeddorstige mannen die ik -te laat- zag tussen je wensen;
dit zijn -helaas?- geen bloedzuigers, maar twee vrij normale mensen
(These men are not really into biting, I hope you don’t mind;
they are more into necking of a very different kind;)
Ehm. Het was dit jaar de favoriet van Piet,
die hoopt dat jij er net zoveel van geniet...
Beste Jaap,
Ik zag nogal veel engelstalige wensen op je lijstje staan, vent
dus word je vandaag met een speciaal Down Under pakket verwend.
And if all these Australian presents are a little bit too much,
you can start looking for a treasure that is comfortingly Dutch.
Lieve Gayleen,
Iedere keer wanneer jij bezoek ontvangt, weet jij je gasten te veroveren
door vanuit het niets een bijzondere maaltijd te tevoorschijn te toveren.
Om je tot nog spectaculairder koken te inspireren, krijg je deze pan.
Waarmee je niet alleen in de keuken, maar ook op tafel verrassen kan.
Every time you have guests,
you manage to dazzle them with an awesome meal.
Here is a special frying pan to give your kitchen
AND dinnertable an even more exotic feel.
(The pictures will help explain what surprise gifts the poems are about;)
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-08 10:03 pm (UTC)The gifts look so creative, I could never come up with stuff like that - I'm impressed!
no subject
Date: 2008-12-08 10:24 pm (UTC)It's funny how my mom and I always worry about possibly making the same gifts, but it has not happened yet:)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-09 03:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-09 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-09 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-09 07:14 pm (UTC)Oooh, I received your card today! Pretty pretty :-)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-10 05:58 pm (UTC)