Wintersport in Austria!!

Last week I was in Austria, in Tirol with my parents and brother in a little town named Tösens- very close to the Swiss and Italian border. Like many other Dutch and German people we used the 'carnaval' - break to go skiing! Normally it is a 9 hour drive (passing 4 countries!:)) but it took us 13 hours to get there- so much traffic, really annoying! But we got there and got back home safe- so no complains! Ill try to post the blogs in order- so on this blog several other blogs will be following, to show you more of my pictures:)

I think this is a typical Austrian view- a little village with on the background the huge snowy mountains. A few years ago we were in this area in the summer and we climbed to the top of the mountain you see on the background (the smaller one on the left, and the higher one next to it) That was wonderful- you can see into Germany, Italy and Switserland while being in Austria...:)

View on the church of Tösens- a typical church for here. They all look sort of the same. As you can see it is not very snowy down in the valley! And we were wondering what would become of our skiing plans...

While walking around we suddenly came to a sign to an old Roman Bridge- apparently the Romans took this way to go to Hamburg (Germany) and built bridges and roads which are still in use, sort of. In front/under the bridge you see the water of the river the Inn- that comes from high in the mountains and goes to the city of Innsbruck and finally comes out in the Donau and that comes out in the Black Sea- so the water still has a long way to go!

family pictures

Here some family pictures- without my mom though, she took the pictures:) Here it's me with my dad and "little" brother

Me and my brother- who seems so friendly here, but actually he is about to tickle me....

If you look very carefully you'll see my brother, my dad and me on this old roman bridge

To keep close to my parents we have to do our best- and so we get our necessary exercise. As you see there isnt alot of snow down in the valley- Actually it was really warm, felt like spring! And it is cold to be back in Holland!

The actual wintersport:)

Here's Jan- Willem enjoying the sun and the snow in the same time! The weather was beautiful- very sunny! The snow quality was a bit less- but it was ok, we could still ski/snowboard without any problem. The only problem with snowboarders is that they never can just keep standing and wait, they always have to lay down or sit down- and as you can see my brother uses every opportunity to catch the sun while waiting for the slow ones- the rest of us:)

Jan-Willem again, this time real action- jumping! Pretty scary if you ask me- but he's a good snowboarder and likes to try out things, and most of the time he's lucky and it works out well and sometimes he really cools down with his head in the snow...:)

This is something really cool Jan-Willem and I did. This is not us but some random people, though:) But it is a huge sort of kite, connected to a cable. First they pull you backwards, perhaps 500 meters (1500ft) or a bit more- that actually is the scariest thing! And then you "fly" back- really cool! It really feels like you are flying above the mountains! And me wanna be a bird:)

As you can see we were not the only ones who changed our home for Austria for a little while to go skiing...

Mountain views

On 2500 m (8000ft) there is this cross- put there the first time human beings climbed to the top- long long time ago. When you look around you see crosses on many tops. In a summer a few years ago we climbed to this top ourselves. And you feel very little indeed when you are so high- feel like you are on the top of the world, with just these tops around you and think of how God created all this....

This is the view in direction of Italy- the north side of the mountains, also the snowy side.

And this is the sunny side- the Switserland direction

my mom- on top of the world:)

Snowy family pictures!

This was one of the greatest moments of the week! Being on 2500m ( 8000ft) and sun yourself with view on lots of other mountain tops and valleys.

My parents

Jan- Willem and my dad

My mom and me...

Back home again...

Today I made the trip to Tholen again like did last month about every weekend! This time for a special reason though! Tonight we will leave for Austria! We are going to ski, well my brother will be snowboarding, for a week! We are leaving tomorrow and come back next Saturday. And of course Mariska came along with Martha and Joas to say good bye. Joas is really adventurous and wants to know everything...

Martha is more cuddly- especially with Noah my huge seal. A seal in dutch is a zeehond (seadog) so she calls him 'waterwoof' - really funny:)




Martha likes her picture to be taken- but she wanted with me on a picture and the 'waterwoof', so here the result...

More snow in Leiden pictures...

This is one of the most beautiful streets of Leiden, along my favorite canal- de Herengracht. I always like it alot to walk around this neighbourhood, it is really calm and quiet and lots of things to see. But this time it is was very slippery, but still people on their bikes were passing me..

This is another favorite 'Leiden-spot' of mine. Always when I walk here or ride my bike I wonder what those very old houses would tell me if they could talk- Im sure they would tell interesting stories about people who were living in those houses centuries ago... On the background there is the Hooglandsche Kerk (see blog below)


And here we are in downtown Leiden with view on the 'Korenbeurs brug'. In earlier days this bridge was an important place in the city, farmers were selling their grains (wheat?) here. Sometimes when I walk over this bridge and realize that few hundred years ago famers were doing their business here and now it is just one of the many pitoresque bridges in Leiden, I feel very little, we feel so important but we all are just such a little part of this huge plan God has for this world, and I wonder if we really are so much different nowadays then people were then...

SNOW in Leiden!!

Last Thursday something special happen- we got snow here in the Netherlands!! Really exciting! Last time it snowed as much- or probably more than it did now, was in december 2005. I am living in a weird country thoug- now I am really convinced!:) One day you can go outside without a jacket and the other day there is a national weather alarm because of the expected snow! So the whole country was waiting and fearing for the worst. But it wasnt so bad at all. We didnt get as much as there was expected. So after the snow already melted the same day, alot of critics on the weather alarm came! Because schools had let the children go earlier, there were less trains then usual, people stayed home from work! So alot of money for the economy as some people said... But I didnt have to do with all that- so I just enjoyed:)

This is the view on the Hooglandsche Kerk from my roof-terrace. This is a huge church in downtown Leiden, and it is really old! The oldest parts date from 1280 and the latest part are built in the late 19th century. An impressive building, as well the outside as the inside!

And this is me- enjoying being in the snow! Im dressed really warm as you can see. Finally it was necessary to wear my Mexican scarf to stay warm, instead of just nice, but warm decoration:) If that Tarahuamara lady only knew that her scarf is used to stay warm in snowy Leiden- she would probably be surprised. And also a nice chance to wear one of my many hats. I love hats! But it's never really cold enough to wear them...

A weekend at home!

Last weekend I was at my parents. It had been quite awhile so it was really nice to be back home. And of course Mariska, my cousin, came with her two babies Martha and Joas. And we all love them! They live almost next door, so they come very often, and know us very well. And even Jan-Willem, my brother, is always begging: 'leave them here with us for awhile- then you can do something without them, dont you like that?' And Martha loves the attention of those big guys! And especially if they let her play with a cellphone...

This is Jan-Willem with Joas. Joas is 15 months old, but quite big and very heavy!! And Martha who is a year older, but much smaller than he is talks about her 'little brother' really funny! Joas loves to play 'airplane' what sounds easier than it is with such a heavy boy! But he is really sweet. Saturday his favorite activity suddenly was to cuddle with me- what is very unusual. But I didnt complain:)

Here is Martha with her big eyes- very happy because she got the cellphone of Jan-Willem, and if it plays a melody she starts dancing, and you should have seen our living room, it isnt that small. But when there are two big guys and a little girl dancing around on the music that comes out of a cellphone, and a baby boy, who is making lots of noice because he wants to be part of the party as well- it suddenly looks alot smaller:)

Surprise party!

Last friday we had organized a surprise party for Emma. Emma is replacing Beth in the International Church of Leiden, so a new friend of mine:) She is from California and Saturday was her birthday, far away from home! So there was surprise party on Friday. And she was really surprised- had no idea that this was going to happen. She was supposed to have dinner with two of her friends, and there about 30 people waiting for her! So that was alot of fun!

Other than that there hasnt been alot of excitement in my life since I got back from Florida. Im finsishing my thesis- this time it's really almost done! Ill finsish it this week, and hand it in next week, after looking everything over for the details:) And I applied for two totally different jobs. One is as a lobbyist for a Christian (actually even reformed) relief agency, but I dont think I'll get the job because they preferred an experienced person, who had done political studies... But I gave it a try. And the other job I applied for is a social science teacher on a christian highschool. It seems like it is gonna be hard to get a job in the field I studied for, so Im thinking more and more about becoming a teacher for now- would mean I have to go back to school (parttime) for one more year. But there is a huge shortage of highschool teachers right now, especially on christian schools. So actually literally everything is open for me on this point. Pretty exciting!!

 

Back in Leiden- home!

After a long and exhausting trip- back where I started, in Leiden. It really was like I'd never been 3,5 weeks in Florida- really weird feeling! But I have been there!! It was hard to say goodbye to Kevin and also to his parents. Hopefully I'll see Kevin again at the end of April or early May, and perhaps his friend TJ will come along to finally see what Holland is like!

Two days after I got back, and still was suffering from Jetlag, Joanne (my best friend) was leaving for South Africa. She is going to study at the Universisty of Pretoria for 6 months- a really long time! So here we are at the airport to say goodbye. Joanne is in the middle:)

It is really strange that she is gone. Alot changed in my life after I got back from Mexico. Friends had moved away, got married, Kevin left, Joanne is gone now and soon Susanne will go away as well, so all my roommates will be gone and I'll probably get new ones- exciting!

 

Horseriding!

The last week I was with Kevin he had a surprise for me- we would go horseriding! I was really amazed because I could not imagine Kevin on a horse, and I think he himself had some trouble imagining that as well:) We got two horses with us, without any problem and it was so much fun!


This is me on my horse 'Dusty'- it wasnt really dusty though- luckily. They really picked the wrong names for these horses! Kevin's horse was named Flyer but it was really calm and quiet and just following my horse- what was probably a good thing:)

It really felt so good to be on a horse again!! have to find a place back home where I can go horseriding again! Where we went horseriding was on a huge farm with all interesting animals. They had lots of horses, but also pigs- and one of them was recently shot with an arrow so couldnt walk... (dont ask me details!) and they had Ostriches, goats, donkeys and chickens