It's now 5.30 am and I'm awake. It's very quiet in the house. The kids obviously don't suffer from the jetlag. They are still in bed. It must be my age. When I went to bed yesterday I was so tired from all the unpacking and running after the kids, I thought I could easily sleep the entire night.
Yesterday, I visited the new school of the children. We received a warm welcome from the principle and she gave us a tour of the school grounds. The principle has Dutch parents and still speaks some Dutch. A funny coincidence because the principle at the school in Mumbai was also from Dutch origin. Sebastiaan and Julia now think that school principles everywhere in the world speak some Dutch. Two more weeks to go before the school starts. That's the beginning of the new school year which is nice for the children because everyone will be new.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
The Sydney life
This will be my first Sydney post. After a flight of over 24 hours we finally arrived in Sydney on Friday ready for a new adventure.
My recent stay in Holland was great but when I landed at Sydney airport I realized it's time to move on. When we walked out of the customs area the first thing we saw was Marcel. He actually was crying when he saw us!! For me it was a weird feeling that Sydney will be my home for the next few years. We have been here before as tourists but that's different from living here.
Marcel brought us to the car. It's not just a car, it's a very big car. I've given it the nickname 'battlestar Galactica'. It's not really a city car but an outback car made for very rough terrain and to be save for very big kangaroos which may jump in front of the car. That's not something that will happen here. I'm sure it looks cool from a men's point of view. I already put a 'small decent city car' on my wish list. We then headed for our new house which is a 20 minute drive from the airport. When we turned into our driveway I noticed a few boxes in front of the garage. I then suddenly realized that the movers had already come and that we would not have to camp. That was a great surprise!! A lot of the boxes are still unpacked but that does not matter. At least it feels a little bit like a home.
The house is great! Lot's of space, an outdoor deck with a big dining table and room for a barbeque and a garden. We already had our first encounter with Australian wildlife. Our landlord used to feed the kookaburra on the deck and these birds also expect food from us. Bad luck! They seem to be even more aggressive then the crows in Mumbai. When we had dinner outside yesterday one of the birds tried to steal food from Marcel's plate.
This morning Marcel left for work on his scooter. That way it only takes him 15 minutes to get to the office. My program for today: entertain the kids, unpack boxes, and meet with the school principle to get the kids registered.
My recent stay in Holland was great but when I landed at Sydney airport I realized it's time to move on. When we walked out of the customs area the first thing we saw was Marcel. He actually was crying when he saw us!! For me it was a weird feeling that Sydney will be my home for the next few years. We have been here before as tourists but that's different from living here.
Marcel brought us to the car. It's not just a car, it's a very big car. I've given it the nickname 'battlestar Galactica'. It's not really a city car but an outback car made for very rough terrain and to be save for very big kangaroos which may jump in front of the car. That's not something that will happen here. I'm sure it looks cool from a men's point of view. I already put a 'small decent city car' on my wish list. We then headed for our new house which is a 20 minute drive from the airport. When we turned into our driveway I noticed a few boxes in front of the garage. I then suddenly realized that the movers had already come and that we would not have to camp. That was a great surprise!! A lot of the boxes are still unpacked but that does not matter. At least it feels a little bit like a home.
The house is great! Lot's of space, an outdoor deck with a big dining table and room for a barbeque and a garden. We already had our first encounter with Australian wildlife. Our landlord used to feed the kookaburra on the deck and these birds also expect food from us. Bad luck! They seem to be even more aggressive then the crows in Mumbai. When we had dinner outside yesterday one of the birds tried to steal food from Marcel's plate.
This morning Marcel left for work on his scooter. That way it only takes him 15 minutes to get to the office. My program for today: entertain the kids, unpack boxes, and meet with the school principle to get the kids registered.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
A very cold winter in Holland
When we arrived in Holland eight weeks ago I told my two children that they probably would not see any snow. This was disappointing because being an expat in India the children had never experienced a real Dutch winter. Snow in Holland is not very common anymore. On the Internet I even checked out the locations of indoor snow venues.
A friend of mine gave my 6-year-old a sleigh for his birthday in December. I noticed the surprised look on the faces of some of the guests at the birthday party wondering why you would give a boy a sleigh. Snow in Holland is not very common anymore and it was very green outside. The birthday was less then four weeks ago. The sleigh has proven to be the best present ever. We used it a lot, for pleasure but also out of necessity because on some days the sleigh was the most practical means of transportation.
We are now nearing the end of our ten-week-plus visit to the Netherlands. I'm sure the kids will especially remember the snow and the sleigh. With our stay in Holland, we wanted to give our children a better sense of what it means to be Dutch. I believe weather wise we have been very successful.
A friend of mine gave my 6-year-old a sleigh for his birthday in December. I noticed the surprised look on the faces of some of the guests at the birthday party wondering why you would give a boy a sleigh. Snow in Holland is not very common anymore and it was very green outside. The birthday was less then four weeks ago. The sleigh has proven to be the best present ever. We used it a lot, for pleasure but also out of necessity because on some days the sleigh was the most practical means of transportation.
We are now nearing the end of our ten-week-plus visit to the Netherlands. I'm sure the kids will especially remember the snow and the sleigh. With our stay in Holland, we wanted to give our children a better sense of what it means to be Dutch. I believe weather wise we have been very successful.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Moving: we have a date!
When we arrive in Australia next week Friday we only have to 'survive' in our house without any stuff for three days. This morning we heard that the movers will come on Monday, 15 January. Time wise that would be perfect because we then have three days to recover from the jet lag after our 1 day and 2 nights around-the-world-trip.
We will leave Holland at 9 pm on Wednesday and will arrive around 9.30 am in Sydney on Friday. With two young kids, I'm sure I will be having a great time! So will my fellow passengers in the seats close to us...
Coping with difficult questions
When kids turn six, they enter a new phase: the question phase. I feel as if I'm constantly interrogated by my son Sebastiaan. Today we drove all the way to Amsterdam to visit Artis, the Amsterdam Zoo. Below I've listed down the questions he managed to come up with during lunch:
- Do animals have nightmares?
- How does black Pete turn black? (black Pete = the helper of Sinterklaas)
- Why does a man from Africa work in this restaurant (the person in question was within hearing distance)
- How do they make potato chips?
- Are your grandma and grandad dead? (question asked by 4-year-old Julia)
- What did the first 'peacock' look like?
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
I really miss my printer and scanner
Since end October all our stuff is packed in a container. Marcel brought two suitcases with him to Australia and I packed everything I need for myself and the kids in five boxes, two bags and two big suitcases. That's all and I'm fine with it.
This makes me realize how little I'm attached to the things we 'own'. There are only a few things we really need. Last week, I thought I would not be too upset if our container would sink to the bottom of the sea. I'm carrying my laptop with all our pictures with me so they won't get lost. Most of our furniture is easily replaceable and we carry around too much stuff anyway.
But today, for the very first time, there was something I actually miss: our scanner and printer. I had a nightmare day trying to make a scan and to print two other documents. At home, in India this would have taken me five minutes max. Today it took me about two hours to get, part of the job, done.
The PC and printer I tried were extremely slow. After trying for an hour, I decided to go to the public library. Gone are the days when you had a computer and next to it an easy to operate printer. This library put a very 'sophisticated' system in place. First you have to log in to the computer with a library card. Then you need to log out form the computer and log in again for the printer.
Sounds easy. Did it work? No. Ten minutes before school pick up time I ended up sending my files to the private email of a library employee who was kind enough to print the documents for me using her private log in. I still need to find a way to make a scan of the other document.
This makes me realize how little I'm attached to the things we 'own'. There are only a few things we really need. Last week, I thought I would not be too upset if our container would sink to the bottom of the sea. I'm carrying my laptop with all our pictures with me so they won't get lost. Most of our furniture is easily replaceable and we carry around too much stuff anyway.
But today, for the very first time, there was something I actually miss: our scanner and printer. I had a nightmare day trying to make a scan and to print two other documents. At home, in India this would have taken me five minutes max. Today it took me about two hours to get, part of the job, done.
The PC and printer I tried were extremely slow. After trying for an hour, I decided to go to the public library. Gone are the days when you had a computer and next to it an easy to operate printer. This library put a very 'sophisticated' system in place. First you have to log in to the computer with a library card. Then you need to log out form the computer and log in again for the printer.
Sounds easy. Did it work? No. Ten minutes before school pick up time I ended up sending my files to the private email of a library employee who was kind enough to print the documents for me using her private log in. I still need to find a way to make a scan of the other document.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
New Years morning on the Larense hei
I'm sure next year in Sydney it will be a lot warmer with New Year's and I will not be able to take pictures then with lot's of snow! This year I spent New Years eve with my parents in Laren. I took this picture around 10 am on New Years morning at the 'hei' ('moors') near Laren. It was still early but a few people already followed the same route by foot and on bicycle as you can see by the tracks in the snow.
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