<div style="text-align: left;"><br><br><p
class="MsoNormal">04.11.28 Sinterklaas<br>
<br>
Sinterklaas was to arrive in <st1:City
w:st="on">Yokohama</st1:City>
yesterday, and we went with our new Dutch friends from <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Tokyo</st1:place></st1:City> by train. We were
going to meet
at 10am, so that we would make it there for the 11am arrival of the
good
man.<span style=""> </span>I had to pick up Saskia from a
sleep-over, which was quite a ways out (this friend travels almost 2
hours by
train to school and back).<span style=""> </span>I was a
little late coming back to Shibuya station, but our friends were even
later, so
we did not make the exact arrival of the holy man, but we were darn
close, as
we arrived when he was still walking on the
dock.</p><br><br>
<p class="MsoNormal">After some songs on the waterfront
accompanied by a
accordeon, the parents certainly carrying most of the songs—a woman who
had
studied hard to refresh her repertoir was leading the group by singing
through
her megaphone, but knowing the words is not the same as knowing how to
sing,
and I was quite relieved when we sang our last dag sinterklaasje to the
old man
while he was being driven away in a BMW convertible (commonly, he
depicted as
travelling on a white horse, but these are modern
times).</p><br><br>
<p class="MsoNormal">He left for the <st1:City
w:st="on">Yokohama</st1:City>
country and athlethic club, which is where the ex-pats of <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Yokohama</st1:place></st1:City> hang
out.<span style=""> </span>Apparently there are quite a few
of
them.<span style=""> </span>The club is lovely, with a
rugby-field and tennis courts and a beautifully groomed lawn that you
are not
allowed to walk on.<span style="">
</span></p><br><br>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside
and had a good
time talking to some of these Dutch people.<span style="">
</span>The Sinterklaas himself was a bit disappointing; which is
really harsh
judgement as I have some experience playing Sinterklaas and I am
dreadful at it
and he was much better than I.<span style="">
</span>However,
for the whole event to be enjoyable for the parents, in my view, the
Sinterklaas has to be funny.<span style=""> </span>He was
not.<span style=""> </span>But no matter, I watched some
rugby
and enjoyed the club as a non-member.</p>
<div style="text-align: left;"><img
src="http://www.vinkhuyzen.com/images/2004/11/28/Sinterklaas-3.jpg"
alt="A picture named Sinterklaas-3.jpg" align="left" border="1"
height="300" hspace="15" vspace="5" width="225"></div>
</div>
10:48:07 PM 
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