The snow is falling and every year around this time (it seems it is starting sooner and sooner) people begin to see pictures of a fat man with a white beard in a red suit. The Netherlands too have such a man but he is slightly different than the one we are thinking of. Sinterklaas is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands . He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas' eve (5 December). Originally, the feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas , patron saint of Amsterdam , children and sailors. Today, since celebrating saints' feast days is an uncommon phenomenon in the traditionally Protestant Netherlands, the Dutch celebrate at the 5th of December, his reputed birthday. He is the basis of the mythical holiday figure of Santa Claus in the United States. Sinterklaas is his usual name. The more formal name is Sint Nicolaas or Sint Nikolaas. He is also known as Goedheiligman or simply Sint. The Dutch write Sinterklaas. (looks alot like Santa Claus doesn