A Year of New Experiences

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2005

• A Year of New Experiences Adventures!

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Christmas in Nova Scotia
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Leon, Cate and baby Rosa take a walk on a pretty
winters day
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What a cutie!
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Leons brother Yvo came over from Holland to join
in our Canadian Christmas celebrations
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He was excited to help shovel when we got our
first big snow
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Dad guides Yvo and Leon as they carve bowls out
of maple on the lathe
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Fun in the snow!!
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and on the ice!
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All enjoy a special Lobster Dinner and bid
farewell to Leon Yvo
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See you in 5 months
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Its a blizzardly start to 2005 in Nova Scotia
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And even Holland gets a little dusting
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Cates last term is a busy one, and filled with
good times with friends
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Over in Holland, Leon and Yvo begin their own
graphic design company. This is a scene they
created.
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Cates walk across the stage on her big day
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She is lucky to be supported by such wonderful
family and friends
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Grad day also brings another momentous event
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BEFORE
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DURING
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AFTER!
Tony
Joe
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The short-haired pair is reunited in Holland in
June
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? While one of Leons friends (Lianne) is in the
USA, her cute little apartment in Utrecht becomes
our first home in Holland.
Lianne and Leon ?
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Cate wasted no time in acquiring a bike- the
national form of transportation in the
Netherlands. This is a folding bike, that can be
folded quite small, and therefore can be taken on
the train for free!
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In July we moved to Leons Uncle Hans house for
2.5 weeks. While they were on vacation, his
family asked us to take care of their home and
their pets Tjecka (the huge, but loveable
Bernese Mtn. dog), Spikey (the independent, yet
sooky cat, who also liked to join in on dog
walks), 5 fish and 2 rats.
Spikey pretending to not be joining in on the
walk
Big, slobbery dog kiss
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Leon joined friends on a trip to Germany to see
Mother Meera- a woman who is worshipped as an
incarnation of the Divine Mother around the world
and who gives blessings to those who come to her.
Friend Michael
Cousin David
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The doors were always open for us at Roland
Holstlaan 772.
Weve spent quite a bit of time here over the
past 6 months- sometimes with Donate and/or Paul,
and sometimes with the place to ourselves.
The balcony ?
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In July, Yvo moved into his own place in
Hilversum (1.5 hrs NE of Delft)
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Typical houses in Delft
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During our summer in Delft, we did quite a bit of
shopkeeping in Pauls shop Lan Ting. Here we
are at an antique market in Delft with some of
his items.
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Meanwhile, a monumental move was happening back
in Kingsburg. Cant wait to see it!
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VACATION TIME!!
In mid-Aug. we took a 9 day trip with our bikes
and backpacks.
Beers Eco Camping
The Hobistee
Alkmaar
Enkhuisen
Heres a map with some of our key stops in green
Hilversum
Train ---- Ferry ---- Bus ---- Bike ----
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Did we ever look funny with our tiny bikes and
huge backpacks !!
Sleeping pads
Tent
Makeshift cooler
Leons cousin Davids son Divine
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Leons cousin David and his son Divine
zzzzzz
Those are some pretty big shoes to fill!
Cycling in Alkmaar
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Learning to make bami goreng with Leons uncle
Bobbie (the most famous bami chef in the family)
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Here we are in Enkhuisen, about to have some fish
for lunch. This quaint town reminded me a lot of
Lunenburg
Sailing on Hollands network of lakes and canals
is a popular Dutch activity
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The large, open air Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuisen
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A cold and blustery ferry trip across the
Ijsselmeer. We were the only ones brave (or
crazy) enough to stay on deck for the entire 2
hour crossing!
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Our first camping stop was at an agro-eco
camping in Beers. It was a sleepy little organic
milk farm.
We had a nice place to pitch our tent in an old
orchard.
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The owner, this very friendly older man, was very
kind to offer us a ride across the canal in his
boat to reduce our biking distance.
We had to smile when we saw the Camping sign
with the missing (but later added) P.
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Absolutely exhausted, we take a break on the
roadside. Minutes later we were saved by a bus
which took us to the ferry at Lawersoog. We would
never have made that ferry (the last of the day),
if it werent for that bus!
Flat horizon smooth trails into the wind no
matter which direction we travelled
Spectacular, big skies
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The island of Schiermonnikoog (National Park)
White sand beach
Vegetated dunes
Pine forest
Seedune Campground
Mudflats
Town
Farmland
Seedune Campground
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A WWII bunker offers a nice view of the island
We ate well throughout our journey- here were
having fajitas
A nasty cold hit Cate on Day 2
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Lifeguard house cafe
The beach was the largest either of us had ever
been to (and we think thats saying a lot!). It
was 300-400m wide in many places!
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That same lifeguard house cafe
The clouds came and went, but for most of our
vacation they hung around (we had rain everyday,
and it was unseasonably cold). That didnt stop
us from enjoying this beautiful place!!
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Salt water is the cure for everything sweat,
tears the sea
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Refreshing, but not daggerish
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Whisps of sand tingle the feet
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Endless trails to explore along the beach, over
the dunes and through the woods
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The little town of Schiermonnikoog
Its a car-free islands, so bicycles rule! This
is the local grocery store
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Note the bike only path in red
Bicycles parked double decker at the train
station in Groningen
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The HOBITSTEE
This little ecovillage hosted us for 2 nights.
Community hall
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Heres where we camped a soft grassy spot under
a cozy tree canopy
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Some community members make and sell candles.
They are really beautiful!
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Beautiful blooms in the garden
A small meditation hut
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Our last stop was a pizza dinner with Yvo in
Hilversum
Yee hoo! The whole car to ourselves!
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A little re-cap of our route
Beers Eco Camping
The Hobistee
Alkmaar
Enkhuisen
Hilversum
Train ---- Ferry ---- Bus ---- Bike ----
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Candies and licorice of endless varieties
Its the height of market season in Delft!
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CHEESE!
bell
2 child carriers (front back)
At least 2 types of locking mechanisms
Lights that run off pedal-power
Kick stand
Double saddle-bags
Note the typically well-equiped Dutch bicycle
(these people really know what cycling is all
about!)
FLOWERS!
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Central Delft outdoor cafes and bicycles
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On Aug. 25 we went to see the Lion King musical-
spectacular!
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Scheveningen Beach
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Yvo cooks pizza (his speciality) for us
September turns out to be a great beachin month
too
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The super-fast ICE train takes us to Cologne,
Germany
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The Dobeks have invited us for a scouting
visit to see if we are a good match for each
other. They want to do some environmental
renovations and projects, and they want us to
help them research and plan.
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Our scouting visit just happened to coincide with
World Youth Day and the Popes visit to Cologne.
The city was full of young people!
The Dom in Cologne
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Not long after our scouting trip, we returned to
the Dobeks for a longer (3 week) stint to do our
work.
Their massive house looks rather inconspicuous
from the outside
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? Back of the house
Sloping garden (their plan is to terrace this) ?
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? Kitchen
Living/dining room ?
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? Our bedroom
The indoor swimming pool!! ?
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These are the beautiful woods and walking trails
just behind their property in Bergisch Gladbach
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Our research included everything from doing
percolation tests on the lawn to taking water
tests of the roof water and soil water.
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Heres Leon on the roof checking out the
condition of the gutters (for the purposes of a
rain harvesting system). Looks like he found
something
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Charlotte (8)
When we werent working, we had fun with the
Dobeks three girls
Bernadette (4)
Frederique (3)
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We enjoyed walks into more rural and agricultural
areas
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Bikes of all shapes and sizes
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Leon the Speed Demon
This bicycle is 90 years old!
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XIII century church
castle
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Decadent ice cream! Mmmm!
Look like pasta?? Look again See the melting
noodles?
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Small, efficient cars, like these Smart Cars, are
everywhere. These ones are part of a promotion
for The Smallest Church in the World.
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Fun with caramel apples!
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A typical German meat kind of like a huge
sausage served with mustard
We could hardly believe our good fortune of being
served Haagen Dazs ice cream at least every other
night!! Pure ecstacy!
We enjoyed cooking for them from time to time.
Here Leon has created a huge batch of Indonesian
nasi goreng (fried rice)
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Fun with the Dobeks!
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One weekend we went into Cologne for the day.
This is the Rhine River.
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Colognes Dom 157m spires, built in 1248, its
24 ton bell is the largest working bell in the
world.
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Cheesy breads and sweet treats are in
abundance!
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These popular fruit-filled doughnuts are called
Berliners
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Small, neighbourhood bakeries are the places to
stock up on baked goodies and hearty breads
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Chocolate-covered EVERYTHING!
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Can you believe that we found TWO of these giant
gorillas during our walk around Cologne??!!
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!
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We couldnt be in Germany without visiting a
brauhaus (brew house).
Traditional bratwurst sausage sauerkraut
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As soon as Klaus found out that I knew how to
prepare and eat lobster, he was set on having a
lobster dinner with us.
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The girls were a little unsure at first, but it
didnt take long for them to get right into it
Klaus bought a big new pot just for this occassion
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If its not up to your elbows than youre doing
something wrong!
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The meal was a huge success and a unique
experience!
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Saying goodbye to the Dobeks after a wonderful
and productive stay
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Tasty meals back in Delft!
Soy sauce
Lemon juice
broth
Traditionally Dutch Boerenkool chopped kale
mashed potatoes
Crispy onion
potato
chicken
egg
Fresh cilantro
Bean sprouts
Rice noodles
Indonesian Soto Ayam chicken soup that you
make yourself at the table
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Leon and I decided to undertake the renovation of
Yvos old bedroom. First we had to remove the
old wallpaper
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Then we crack-filled and sanded. Yvo came to help
us out one weekend.
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After sanding, you could barely the other side of
the room!
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Then it was time to paint!
Donate chose the cozy warm salmon orange colour
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In late October we spent a week in England. For
most of it we stayed with Trueman family friends,
Vikki and Steve Hurst, and their boys, Billy and
Floyd.
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Floyd
Billy
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While staying with the Hursts in Wimborne
(Dorset), we visited a very well-kept manor house
called Kingston Lacey

It is known for having the best private
collection of art of any small manor house in
England.
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The grounds of Kingston Lacey had some
magnificent trees
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We visited the southern coast of England (near
Bournemouth)
See the chalk?
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They also took us to see Corfe Castle
Its fairly run-down now, but its interesting to
think about what it must have been like once upon
a time.
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We had a meal in celebration of Vikkis mums
birthday at this pub in the New Forest. We headed
back to Vikki and Steves afterwards for cake and
gifts.
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Vikkis dad
Vikkis brother-in-law
Steves mum
Vikkis mum
Vikkis nephew and sister
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We headed into the Big Smoke for a couple of
nights. We joined up with my friend Mary there (I
know her from Acadia, and she is studying this
year at Plymouth, England)
Our hotel
We got a great deal at this simple, but
sufficient, hotel which was in walking distance
of downtown
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Our first day in London was rainy, but that did
stop us from walking and enjoying the sights!
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Covent Gardens Market
Chinatown
Picadilly Circus
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We had supper at a classic English pub
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Just as we were ordering our meal at this pub, we
saw a commotion outside.
It turned out to be actress/singer Hilary Duff
(who is apparently quite famous)
Hilary
Later we saw that she was being filmed live for
MTV.
It was funny to be a part of the crowd
(especially because we didnt even know who she
was!)
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That night we treated ourselves to a London
theatre performance. We saw the classic musical
Les Miserables and it was a wonderful show!
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The next day was sunny and perfect for exploring
London on foot
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A WWII monument that depicted incredible detail
and emotion.
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This was our 2nd encounter with fame- we walked
by a Bollywood movie being filmed!
A surely famous Indian actor
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We couldnt believe our good fortune as we came
upon Big Ben just as it struck noon!
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Moments later, we came upon some traffic police
and barricades. When I asked what was going on, I
was told that the procession for the King of
Norway was just coming up the street! Another
moment of good fortune!
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What a show of royalty- and right in front of our
noses! It didnt matter to us that the King
himself hadnt yet joined the procession.
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Lots of people-watching going on, but no King
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Hungry bellies led us to leave before catching
sight of the King. As we left we saw Buckingham
palace at the end of a street lined with British
and Norwegian flags.
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After a bite to eat we visited Buckingham Palace.
It didnt seem overly special though, after all
of our famous moments so far. We were so lucky
to be seeing all of these sights in such
beautiful weather!
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Just next to the palace is the Canada Gate
The Nova Scotia crest
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Without a second of planning, we just happened
upon the changing of the guard!! We also got to
see them rake the gravel at the same time!
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The London Eye ferris wheel
Houses of Parliament
More walking and more sights
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For our second night we were hosted by de Vreede
family friends, Liam Anne Quinn, at their home
in Putney Heath.
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The next day we prepared for our interview (for
teaching jobs in Japan) and got all dressed up!
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We arrived early, so spent a little time chilling
out in Kensington Gardens. Our interview was to
be in the hotel in the back of the picture.
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Our interview was very relaxed, informative, and
a huge success!
We celebrated at a fun and tasty Asian noodle
restaurant called Wagamama
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Our last moments in London were on a
double-decker bus
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Back at Vikki Steves, everyone was getting
ready for Halloween.
We had a nice welcome back meal with Steves
mum, Val.
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I was happy to help the boys carve a pumpkin.
They were a big help too!
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On our last day in England, we visited Vals new
thatched cottage. It is absolutely gorgeous!
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Lunch in the beautiful sun-room.
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Val cooked us traditional British Bubble
Squeak (a potato dish), served with chicken. It
was delicious!
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The day after returning from England, I was off
on another adventure sailing! I participated in
a sailing weekend organized by a Dutch youth
environmental group. The next few slides are of
the first mornings sunrise beautiful!
This was the boat where we slept and ate
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As you could see from the sunrise photos, our
first day was pretty calm. It was perfect for me
to learn some of the basics though. All of the
young people spoke English, but I had to learn
the sailing terms in Dutch. Next to me is the
skipper, Elisabeth.
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Ring
Sun spot
We saw an amazing site in the sky sun spots, and
a ring around the sun! (Apparently these are
caused by specific atmospheric conditions.)
Rainbow
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The boats we sailed in were called Falcons
By the end of the day the wind had calmed right
down, so the boat had to be pulled
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The evening brought lots of fun, games and music
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At sunrise of the second day we could already
tell that the wind would be good
Breakfast on the boat
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We were blessed with a nearly perfect sailing day
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It was a thrill to feel the boat tip in the
strong wind
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It was even more of a thrill to be in control of
the boat in these winds. I had very helpful
shipmates though, who coached me along the way.
We spent most of the day on Sneekermeer, one of
the prime sailing lakes in Holland.
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By the end of the 2nd day, I even got to try
maneuvering the boat up the narrow canals (lots
of zig-zaging).
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We ended the weekend with some hot soup. I had a
really great time with these people, and it was
fun to spend some quality time with other Dutch
youth. I hope I can do some sailing in other
places in the world too.
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In early November, we were excited to host a good
friend of ours from Acadia, Jeremy Ewing. We
first met him for a day in Amsterdam.
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The 3-level BICYCLE parking garage at the
Amsterdam train station
pedistrians
bicycles
vehicles
buses
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We saw this fantastic street performer that
evening. He had a really original act. In this
trick, he is passing his body through an ordinary
wooden tennis racket, while balancing a glass
ball on his head!
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And here he is rolling a ball of fire all over
his bare upper body!
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Dutch
Canadian-American
Canadian
French
Canadian-American
Swedish
Portuguese
French-Canadian
Irish
Swedish
That night we had Indonesian food with Jeremys
friends and relatives
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When Jeremy came to Delft, we showed him the
market square and church, a windmill that is
right in town, and one of many tunnels of
artistic graffiti (the city doesnt discourage
it, so there are some very artistic pieces)
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Shopping for cheese
Taking the tram
Eating Dutch-style pancakes at a pancake house in
a park
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Scheveningen Beach on a balmy November day
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We nearly had the beach to ourselves
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We took Jeremy on a big bike trip around Delft.
Here we are at one of the natural areas just
outside the city.
As you can see, even here the paths here are a
bikers dream
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A typical Dutch greenhouse
Flowers (Mums, I think)
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On his last day, we decided to climb the tower of
the Nieuwe Kerk.
2nd balcony
After 380 steps, we reached the highest point
(about 90m above the ground).
The stairway was very narrow!
1st balcony
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This was the view from the 1st balcony
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And this the view from the 2nd balcony!!
The market was going on below us
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We had a beautiful view of the city
And we could even see Lan Ting!
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This is about all you get for leaf colour in
Holland (taken Oct. 28)
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Pauls Birthday, Nov. 14
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In November, Leon did some temp work in a few
places. We visited him one day when he was
working in the kitchen at IKEA.
One of the customers thought he was so friendly
that she wanted me to take a photo of her with
him!
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Bikes at the Delft train station
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A common sight
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This TRUEMANS label caught my eye in the
grocery store one day. Strange to see it spelled
with an e (also strange that hot dogs are
sold this way!)
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Another strange thing Delft has wild parrots! We
often can see and hear them from the apartment.
Were not sure how they came to be here, but they
do seem to live here all year round. Just the
other day I counted a flock of 18!
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We recently attended a Recycling Party, which
was organized by a sustainability group that we
have become a part of.
Everyone brought clothes and other unwanted
items, and then you could dig through the pile
and take home whatever treasures you found! It
was great fun, and I picked up some much needed
sweaters
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Sinterklaas Day (Dec. 6) is a big deal in Holland
(just as big, if not bigger than Christmas).
Instead of Santa and elves, its Sinterklaas and
Black Peter who deliver gifts to good children.
We were part of the excitement at the parade.
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Black Peter hands out kruidnoten (little cookies)
to the children
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Everyone wanted a peek at Sinterklaas who was
giving a greeting with the mayor at the City Hall
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Our next adventures will have us living and
volunteering at this place called Sunseed. We
plan to be here for Dec. Jan.
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Sunseed is located near the town of Sorbas in the
Sierra Nevada mountains (50km from the coast).
The nearest big city is Almeria. We will be
taking the train through Belgium, France and
Spain to get there (29 hours!).
Title photo from their newsletter (available
from http//www.sunseed.org.uk/downloads.asp?sid
Newsletter)
The Main House
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Merry Christmas Everyone!
Love, Cate
Christmas 2005