Eastern Adventures

Although I was and am disappointed about not being at home for the Holidays, sticking around this part of the world has its advantages as well. We don't have to deal with airports, lots of jet lag in a short amount of time, and expensive plane tickets. Instead, we have traveled Eastward to visit Naomi's mom (Alies) and a couple of our German friends in Essen. Tomorrow we will head back to Rotterdam to finish a few projects, start a few new ones, and get some much needed relaxation before the teaching begins again.

Our journey started out nicely. We stopped in Utrecht for a Christmas service at the church were Naomi used to go. The building is about 800 years old and has a lot of character. The people seem quite nice and down to earth. The minister was even wearing a piece of history - a robe from the Middle Ages. In the end, the shocking price of 15 Euros to keep our things in a locker at the train station, was worth it.

Christmas service at the Geertekerk in Utrecht.

We arrived in Almelo and Alies took us to a Christmas concert in the town's big church. The choir was travelling all around the country. After driving circles around the center of town, we eventually found a place to park and made it just before the show started. After this we spent a few relaxing days in Goor. We really enjoyed breathing in the clean, fresh air during our many walks that exists outside the smoggy region where we live. It was also fun to give Alies a massaging chair. Hopefully it helps with some of her back pain.

Christmas service at the Grote Kerk in Almelo.

Trying out the new massage chair.

Preparing for Christmas Dinner.

The train connections to Essen were a bit rough. The trip would take an hour and a half by car, but it took 4.5 hours by train. We had to take six different trains! The long trip, along with the fact that we were having such a nice time with our friends, persuaded us to stay for an extra day. It was well worth it, because we were able to see Cologne...and Essen doesn't have too much to offer.

Cologne is a little more than an hour away by train. The ride consisted mostly of industrial buildings, but as soon as we crossed the Rhine we found ourselves in the city center. Upon walking out of the station, our beings were dominated by a massive Gothic Cathedral. It was started in 1248 but wasn't finished until 1880. The spire stretches for nearly 160 meters (515 feet) above the ground. It is Germany's most popular landmark and attracts on average 20,000 visitors per day. We wanted to climb it but ended up arriving just as they were locking the doors for the day. Bummer. We also saw an old Roman city gateway next to the Cathedral along with a replica of one of the spire-tops whose size was quite hard to believe.

Cologne Cathedral.

This monument is a replica of the top of the spires - the size is hard to imagine - find the real thing on the previous picture.

Roman archway from the ancient city wall.

Inside was no less impressive - the windows were beautiful, but after 70 bombs hit the Cathedral during WWII, not all were original. Amazing that the structure withstood such a beating.

After spending some time inside this impressive structure, we found a nice little German restaurant that offered some great food. Oven dishes were their specialty for good reason. I also tried to local beer which gets made fun of for its bland flavor and effeminate glasses. After teaching our German friends the German game of Euchre, we did a small bit of shopping and went down to inspect the Rhine. It was quite a few meters above normal. We had previously seen plenty flooding from the train.

The local brew.

The sight was impressive. If the river rose one extra meter, they were going to shut down the old city along the banks. Some flood walls were already in place. Tour boats were stuck in place because they could not get under the bridges. It will be interesting to see if it gets much worse in the coming days...but the persistant clouds and rain don't seem to be diminishing any time soon.

Steps down to the original waterfront.

Only one meter to go...

Trapped by the bridges.

After another nice dinner and a movie, we got some rest and spent our last morning with our German friends. Then, after nearly 5 hours of travelling, we arrived back in Goor. After a quick snack we hopped in the car to go buy the video recorder that Alies needed our help setting up. We had done all the research already, but were quite disappointed to find out that the store was out of stock. Strange, as this was the only such machine they sold, and as such, it didn't seem to be very popular.

The next morning (this morning) we took Alies to a nearby Church. She has been having a rough time with her health lately and we figured a Church community could do a lot of good. She enjoyed it at we hope she will continue to go. The rest of the day was relaxing, albiet quite stormy, and tomorrow we are really looking forward to coming home.

Cologne's waterfront at night.

One last look on the way back to the train.

Happy End of the World

I am guessing culture is a bit similar in the States, but here there are Axe commercials on TV about building another Noah's ark and their 2012 body spray, jokes about weather forecasts, and lots of talk about whether or not the World will End. Yesterday has come and gone; we are still here. Not sure what the future holds as this does seem to be the end of the age: exponential population growth, climate change, information explosion, technological growth, a declining West, democracy changing from a political vote to a dollar vote, struggling educational systems, the list goes on. There have been plenty of interesting conversations floating around about these topics lately.

The last one we had last night at our staff end of the year party. We went to SnowWorld - an indoor ski hill. Strange. I guess this is what you do when you live in a country without hills or more than a dusting of snow - full of people who like to ski and snowboard. Trips to France and Austria are long and expensive.

The slopes themselves were, of course, small and crowded. Strange snowboarding indoors. I thought our one-hour time limit would be far too short, but then it turned out to be quite enough. I am used to spending a whole day exploring the different runs a real ski hill has to offer. There isn't much exploring to be done at this place, but it was quite enjoyable to ride for awhile. Afterwards we had drinks and Fondue. It was a bad impersonation of the Swiss tradition - everyone smelled like oil afterward.

Earlier this week I made my first trip to a Dutch dentist. I guess we are spoiled in Escanaba. Here they were quite quick and rough. They scraped away the plaque and then spent about 30 seconds polishing most of my teeth, and instead of the standard mouth rinse, I had a cup with a tiny bit of water inside it that I used, to my shock, for spitting out all the bloody chunks left in my mouth. I guess that showed why it hurt so much. At least I didn't have any cavities.

My conversation with the school director also took place this week. We talked (mostly I listened) for about and hour and a half. The outcome was positive: I do need to change a few things about my teaching, but they are not trying to get rid of me. If there is a job available at a different school in the school group, they would support my transfer. Nice to have potential options.

Amazing to finally be on Christmas vacation! We will head to Naomi's mom's house for about a week, and also spend a couple days with friends in Essen, Germany. Maybe after this, if we have energy, we will spend a few days in Paris. The break is much needed - for just about everyone at school.

Moving On?

I had an unsettling conversation with my team leader this week. I expected the meeting to be about some low grades in a few of the classes I am teaching, which it was, but she went on further to say that it looks like I am struggling too much and should start looking for a new job. This I found very strange. I am struggling with 3 out of 10 of my classes - the same three that many other colleagues struggle with. Everything else seems to go pretty well, and this is quite impressive given that this is my second year of teaching at the most difficult level in the Dutch education system, in English, with very little support. In my mind, I am doing pretty well - hopefully I can convince the school director of this in the next few days, as I would like to leave on my terms without winding up jobless.

On the upside, we had a sports day on Friday for the first year students (the six classes I do well with - the second years are the problem) and they played basketball for the whole day. I was impressed. I shot around a bit and apparently I am a super-star. They were cheering for me and rather blown away by my skills. This was fun to experience. Some day I might like to coach a basketball team...

On Friday night we had our monthly movie night. Arjen and I got soaked on the ride home from school. He didn't bring any rain gear so he punched a couple holes in plastic bags. This helped a little, but mostly was just funny to watch. A couple other colleagues joined us and we watched Intouchables, a very good French movie that came out recently. Yesterday was a recovery day, and today we are getting a bit of relaxation in before the final push - one week to go!

Depressing Days

It is almost 11 in the morning, all the curtains are open, and we need to turn on the lamps. Low, dark clouds race by obscuring a lighter grey sky. The cheery dusting of snow was washed away by last night's rain. The wind pushes the plastic that covers our windows in and out as if they are giant, breathing soap bubbles. A pent up melange of energy and exhaustion will soon find a release as we push ourselves to the gym. After warming our muscles with some exercise the sun lamps should return a small bit of healthy glow to our complexions. Today is just the day to plan a Mediterranean Holiday.

Last weekend we had quite a nice time in Delft. The war museum there is closing, so they were offering free entry. They had quite the collection of ancient instruments of Death. Everything from ornately carved cannons to quad-barreled pistols to gas masks. Interesting to see European history from this perspective. We could have spent quite some more time there, but we had a dinner engagement at a Tapas restaurant. Very tasty.

Naomi didn't work too much this week as the Mono has been keeping her down. I will get my blood test results on Monday. Two weeks left and it will be Christmas Break! We are planning a few local trips - to the East Side of the NL and to Essen, Germany. Maybe even to Paris. We shall see how much energy is left...

The central square...finally with sunshine!

Typical street in the old city.

Dusk...around 5.

A smallish cannon.

The gun room.

Tapas.

Finally Home

It really feels like we are finally settling in. Naomi cleaned out the guest room and that was pretty much the last room that really needed some work. We set up the tanning light in there in hopes that it might combat some seasonal mood swings. We are finally able to start some projects that are more for fun, like putting together pictures in frames, Naomi with her sewing, and a secret project we just started. The house just feels bigger now. Next weekend we will get some cleaning done and things will really be in shape.

The freezer is full again! Last night we put together a whole pile of Enchiladas, and wow, are they tasty! It was a bit of a project, but the result was well worth the effort. Now we have about 7 tasty meals just waiting to be heated up. Someday we will need a bigger freezer...

School continues to be quite rough. They say November is the most difficult month of the year, and I sure hope that is true. Most teachers are running on survival mode, and Naomi is down for the count. She has Mono and is not continuing with her full schedule. She should resume after the Christmas holiday, but we are not sure what changes she will make until then. I have many of the symptoms, so I should probably get tested too.

On Friday the students put together a nice market at school to raise money to fight AIDS. They did a good job with it and it is fun to see them shine in a different atmosphere. After that we went out to dinner with a total of 8 colleagues. It was a Turkish place downtown and we had a really enjoyable time. Didn't get home until after midnight though - and this made Saturday quite difficult for Naomi in particular. Today we will meet a couple colleagues in Delft for a day at the museum. Hopefully things will stabilize further this coming week...