It's been too long! We are soildly into 2015 and in the thick of winter. Well, today it felt like winter - England's first snowfall of the season! I hear the East Coast of Canada shares in the winter wonderland. The Fraser Valley... has it's seasons confused.
I know Happy New Years is but a fond memory for most of you by now... I hope those New Years resolutions are faring better. However, I resolved not to make any resoultions this year. I'm reading this amazing book called "what's best next" by Matt Pearman and he advocates for a mission statement instead. Ever heard of Jonathon Edwards? He has 70. Worth a look!
It's been a whirlwind of ups and downs this month. The ultimate high was ringing in the New Year with a dear friend from Canada - Jo! A first for us was shooting our own fireworks --completely legal in the Netherlands, well, the little fizzlers we shot were, not like the sonic boom type from Germany that our neighbour out shone us with..
After an amazing stay, reconnecting with the family in the Netherlands, where I drove a car - first time in months - oh the freedom - the panic- What?! The speed limit is 130?! I then returned "home" to our little terrace house in England. It was surreal taking two trains, the bus, the metro and a cab to end up at the front door of my temporary abode. Right, I had to remind myself, I live here. England. Accents. Tea. Trousers, not pants. Check.
Back to the books! This is supposed to be the most intense semester of the degree, but regardless, we decided to take off to Finland for a week starting Saturday. It's educational, I assure you. Can't wait to layer up and embrace the cold. England will feel positively balmy afterwards!
JO!! I was so happy to reconnect with a good friend from Canada. Jo and I used to hike together once a week and chat about where the future would lead us. Turns out a few months later She would be on her way to Uganda, I would live in England and we would end up in Holland at the same time in between. We didn't see that one coming!
New Years Eve in the Netherlands is a very big deal. The whole day leads up to the count down at midnight. First stop - Visser's Oliebollen in Hattem. Simply the best.
My Uncle Alex had helped out here for 30 years. Encouraging the mass production of a dutch favorite.
The folk who made the dough knew my dad, so we got a special back stage pass into the "kitchen." We were a bit distracting however, as this batch got an extra amount of raisins by mistake!
Jo sent me this photo on New Years Eve, "Got the fireworks ready!" People literally lit thousands of euros on fire that night. Watching a panoramic explosion of light for an hour? Priceless. The most impressive fireworks display I have ever seen.
These have a special dutch name that escapes me. But they are New Years specific. Loaded with whip cream -the dutch sure eat well!
Geocaching is universal! I introduced my cousin Evite to it when I visited her in Groningen.
Parking here is tough. How do people ever remember which bike is theirs?
All things can be done on bike. Including taking out your garbage.
Back to reality! Occasionally we study. I thought I better capture the evidence.
Tiff and I babysit for a friend at church on occasion. We love the snuggle time. Thomas the Tank engine never gets old. Their mom is also Canadian, that helps with the language barrier :) What it doesn't help with is when I say the completely wrong word. I.e. to the 8 year old "Does your school have uniform pants as well?" Pants means underwear, and she just stared at me.. Her mom quickly explained..
Snow! England's first of 2015. It was so distracting for us in lectures. Literally the world stops when it snows here. The primary schools called the parents to pick up their children early after the first few flakes fell. We have a girl from Barbados in our class and this was her first snowfall ever! We constantly are correcting people when they say, "oh you are from Canada, you must be used to this!" We try to tell them Vancouver is very mild, and that we don't even own snow boots...
The next adventure is Finland! Stay tuned! I'm sure there will be lots to report after that.
Stay healthy and warm and remember to stand firm.
1 Corinthians 15:58.
Love
No comments:
Post a Comment