a few weeks ago one of the children's grandmother visited our school with 9 puppies! They were so cute! The children loved it of course and they had a lot of fun cuddling those sweet little doggies! The teachers were busy wiping the floor now and then...the puppies hadn't learned yet to pee outside!
Take a look at our pictures and fall in love with them!
As you all could read in our previous post, we celebrated the fest of SINTERKLAAS in Belgium! Benji was very excited to meet Sinterklaas en zwarte piet for the first time! He liked Sinterklaas a lot! Have a look at our lovely pictures of Benji, the children and Sinterklaas!!
at school we celebrated Christmas. We performed the christmas story with the children, decorated christmastrees and had a christmasparty in our classes! We enjoyed it a lot! Enjoy our pictures!
In Belgium we celebrated
St. Nicholas! Here you can read what this means exactly! Who is he? Why do we
celebrate him?
Who is St. Nicholas?
Nicholas was born as Nicholas in the year 270 in Pataras (a region
in southern Turkey). Turkey was called Asia Minor. Nicholas was the only child
of wealthy parents, who died very young. The young Nicholas inherited
everything. The money he did not for himself, but he gave it to them to poor
people. When he was older, Nicholas was bishop of the city of Myra. Because of
his many good deeds was Nicholas on 6 December 342 canonized. From then on he
was called St. Nicholas. Over the centuries it has become Santa Claus.
Why
does Santa Claus look like a bishop? Saint
Nicholas was a bishop of the Greek Catholic Church in the place Myra in Asia
Minor (now Turkey). A bishop is the head of the Catholic Church in a particular
area.
Does Saint Nicholas come from Spain? How is
it that everyone thinks that Saint Nicholas comes from Spain? He's in his
lifetime probably never been there, but it could have something to do with
history. From 1568 to 1648 there was a war between Spain and the Netherlands. Yet
there was much trade between the two countries. The Dutch traded gold and
silver for spices and oranges . Spain at that time was a rich country where
many luxury items and goodies came from. So people thought that St. Nicholas
himself came there. Moreover, St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, who
then of course with their boats the merchandise from Spain shrugged and thus
were protected by him.
Why
does Santa Claus ride on a fungus? The
Germanic god Wodan rode a big white horse. Therefore, In the old days,
important people also rode a big white horse. As St. Nicholas also was an
aristocratic person he also had a fungus
Why
do St. Nicholas and zwarte (black) Piet walk on the rooftops during the night? St.
Nicholas didn't want everybody to see that he brought gifts and goodies to the
children. So that is why he brought everything during the night. Zwarte Piet
climbs down the chimney into the living room. Also the god Wodan rode high in
the sky and at the end of the year he paid everybody a visit o reward or punish
them for their behavior. Perhaps there lies the origin of this use.
Where
do "zwarte piet" 's clothes come from? Zwarte
Piet wears the clothing of a 16th-century page. Pages were the personal
servants of important men like dukes and princes. So what zwarte piet is wearing
is actually a "pagepak" or a pages costume.
Why
does Piet always carrie a bag and a wand with him? Piet
often climbs down the chimney to bring the presents to the children. With his
wand he wipes the chimney so that the presents won't get dirty. The bag is very
practical to carry the presents and sweets.
Why
do children put a shoe with a sugar or carrot beside the chimney? For
centuries a shoe was used to be a shoe to receive special items. Because each
child has his or her own shoe, Piet can never go wrong with handing out the
gifts.
How
old is St. Nicholas anyway? St.
Nicholas was born in the year 270. So now, in 2012, he is 1744 years old!!
Why does St. Nicholas get help of a Zwarte (black) Piet in stead
of a white or yellow Piet? Because of all the years that zwarte Piet has been
climbing down chimneys he became black. So noone knows exactly what colour
zwarte piet originally had. But actually that doesn't matter anyway!! The
colour of your skin is not important!
Money raising for the UK charity at Bowburn Infants en Nursery school
The children at Bowburn Infants & Nursery School have raised money for the UK charity, Children in Need, by giving a donation for taking part in a non uniform day. Rudis enjoyed the special assembly and taking part in the afternoon activities!
