Clearly because you were spying on a lady while she bathed! 😱

I'm so sorry it made you feel that way! I probably would have too if it happened to me. But my Dutch husband says not to worry about it (not that that helps much!) because it's honestly not a holiday that gets very much coverage they may have been trying to introduce you to a new thing to do

Dankjewel! They always appreciate it, luckily!

To me it's just another way to interact with neighbors how is that a bad thing? I say we need MORE holidays like Sint-Maarten and Halloween. What other cultures can we pull from?

Haha that kids adorable. I don't understand why people get so bent about it. No one is FORCING them to celebrate one thing instead of another. Put up the lantern because why not? You do live here now. But also celebrate Halloween.

Sint-Maarten is a lovely tradition and I don't know why it doesn't happen more often but it certainly don't think it can be blamed on expats or Halloween

With that being said, we live in the heart of Gelderland and in our lovely town surrounded by farmland and very few expats, I have NEVER seen children participating in Sint-Maarten. I think Dutch culture is doing exactly what every culture does... Growing and changing with the times.

I don't think it was passive aggressive, but was an attempt to encourage more Dutch culture. But I also don't understand why people can't celebrate both.