Back!

We are back in Holland! We arrived last week, and it was an emotional reunion, of course. It was great to see family and friends again. Especially seeing my mum felt really good, I loved watching the children hug her. It made me feel that we've made the right decision by coming back. Although I have to say, Eindhoven isn't quite Sydney. My biggest first impression was that everything seems so small. The roads, the houses, the apartment blocks, the cars... everything except for the Dutch people, who seem tall, skinny and in your face.
From day one, we've been really busy trying to organise everything for our house.
Our new house looks wonderful, that is, if you ignore the seventies interior. We will renovate the house first before we move in, but it looks promising. Merlin and Keri played on the village square adjacent to our new house. There were plenty of other children there, playing soccer, riding their bikes or just hanging out. It looks like a place where our children can make friends easily. They do miss their Australian friends, talk about them everyday.
For pictures of our reunion, again., look at mu dutch blog: wkke.web-log.nl .

Back again

After spending a couple of days on a deserted island (really!), I am back online, for now. Things are going quite well here. I haven't cooked, cleaned, made sandwiches or taken kids to school for over three weeks now, and I am liking it. Don't get me wrong, travelling with three children is hard work, but it is a fun job. What is it we do all day? We swim, we snorkel, we try an occasional walk (but Keri really dislikes walking in the heat - can't blame her), we visit museums, mosques and temples. Jara is still extremely populair with the locals, she is acting more and more like she is the rightful centre of the universe, but it is fun watching her make friends so easily. Keri turned seven a couple of days ago, the poor thing was sick on her birthday and vomitted al over the cake shop. She did miss her friends on her birthday, and Merlin is sad from time to time because he misses his friends from Sydney, too.
Right now, we are on a beautiful island called Pulau Perhentian, and it's just like a postcard with a palm fringed, white sanded beach with crystal clear water. This is also the first destination in Malaysia with mainly other Europeans, so far, in all the other places, we've been the only Europeans, which was a guarantee for some interesting conversations with curious local people.
I will put a couple of pictures on if I can, and you can also look (again) at my Dutch blog for pictures: wikke.web-log.nl.
Back soon!

Update

Here I am again with a quick update. It's kind of hard to find internet access, especially since we have been in pretty rural areas for the last couple of days. Malaysia is still fantastic, just as it was 5 years ago when we were here last.
I am quite enjoying living the transit life and taking it day by day. I feel like I am in between lives, which is a weird but also interesting position to be in. I dream a lot about Australia, though. It's all starting to sink in, I guess, although I still can't really comprehend that we won't return to Sydney after this holiday.
For photo's, p[lease check my Dutch blog: wikke.web-log.nl .

Malaysian news

Back again! From Malaysia this time. All went well, except we were extremely exhausted. Me and Hugo were both tired from the emotional goodbyes and all the hours of packing and cleaning. And an 8 hour flight with three kids on top of that is not exactly my idea of relaxing. When we got to KL at 11 pm, we had to find a taxi that could fit everyone of us AND our luggage, we had to find storage for our excess luggage, and then, finally, at 1 am, we had to start pumping the airbeds that we very cleverly brought to save money on hotelrooms (pay for double rooms and have the kids sleep on airbeds). Of course, it is kind of hard to find a pump in the middle of the night, in a massive overstuffed suitcase, surrounded by whinig kids. I was glad there was absolutely nothing on the agenda the next day. No cleaning, no packing, no emotional goodbyes. Just eating as much breakfast as we could and some poolside lounging. That was yesterday. Today, we retrieved our tourist mojo, and we ' climbed' the Petronas Towers and had dinner at a lovely Indian restaurant with lots of smiling waiters and very taste naan bread. I might gain a lot of weight in five weeks in Malaysia. That would be such a waste of all my hard work in the good tradition of the healthy Australian lifetstyle.
Yara is quite the little princess here. She charms everyone and she gets lots of sweets and candy, much to the annoyance of both Merlin and Keri, although if Keri really tries hard, she can get away with something. Yara's diva behaviour is openly encouraged, so far we are tolerating it because it's a holiday, but I fear we have to step in sooner or later. And now some pictures (hm, that doesn't work well, I haven't figured out yet how I can make them the right size).

The morning of goodbye

The morning of goodbye. The house is eerily empty and clean. In an hour, the real estate agent will come and check if we did a good cleaning job and didn't trash the house. Fiona will take us to the airport, and she will also take our last stuff to take it to St. Vinnies. Our Sydney life has been reduced to a box full of crappy plates, cups and other kitchen things.
Yesterday, at my farewell lunch in Thelma and Louise, I truly felt what I will leave behind. And take with me at the same time. The friendship of thirteen fabulous, caring and genuine women. And what a special feeling that is.
See you in Malaysia!

Goodbye Neutral Bay Public School

Goodbye Huntsman

I guess I had it coming. When I chucked the Mortein yesterday, a little voice said 'are you sure? you might need it in the next three days', but I chose to ignore this clever little person inside my head.
Just now, when I looked up in our splendidly clean bedroom, I saw a Huntsman spider crawling on the ceiling.
I know Huntsmen don't bother you Australians. I know they're basically harmless. But they freak me out. They're just too big and they've just too many legs. (I'm much better with snakes, it's really the legs that don't do it for me.) I try to tolerate them when they're not inside the house, but once in, they need to go. So me and the children had to keep guard while Hugo went to Woolworths to get a new can of Mortein. Seven dollars no less. An expensive way to get rid of that very last farewell spider.

Bookclub

Another 'last' yesterday. The monthly Bookclub. I remember how the first couple of times I came home afterwards, completely exhausted. Being exposed to twelve strongly opiniated and eloquent Australian women involved in an, at times, fierce discussion, rattled my brain and all I could do was sit, watch, listen and learn. It took me a couple of months to feel confident enough to speak out, partly because I am not as comfortable debating in English as I am in Dutch.
I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of Bookclub. As I tried to express rather clumsily last night, I have enjoyed getting a very interesting insight in Australian culture, and a basic understanding of who's who in Australian literature. Most of all, I have enjoyed getting to know all these women, who, in all their eclectic diversity, make a beautiful, warm and welcoming group. Thank you.

Sick

I think I literally have too much on my plate. I am sick. Throwing up, diarrhoe and extremely tired. Couldn't get out of bed yesterday. I guess I was 'lucky' that it was my day off, with Merlin and Keri at school and Yara at preschool. I hate being sick. I get incredibly impatient and annoyed. These are the moments I wish I was a child again. Having your mum walk in every hour to say how terrible it must be for you, to empty your bucket (being a mum myself now, I know that is quite a silent sacrifice), and to put cold cloths on your forehead...
Today everything has to be back to normal. Tomorrow we have three farewell parties and I have to do all the shopping. So I'll take my wobbly self to Woolworths to buy cake and candy. And then I'll drag my poor exhausted body to Blockbuster to rent a stack of DVD's for all Merlins friends who are coming for a farewell sleepover...Are you feeling sorry for me yet?

Things

Our house is becoming very empty. It's almost like camping in our own house. The kids sleep on air matresses, the chairs are taken from under us, tomorrow the sofa goes and the dinner table will soon follow. We sell everything through Ebay. But even though I love the idea of recycling (and almost everything was secondhand to begin with anyway), I still find it a bit weird and sad that pieces of our life here disappear bit by bit and will never exist again in the same combination. Pieces of us, spreading throughout Sydney, ready for a new life on their own. A bit like donating organs, really. (But not quite that dramatic.) When I shared these thoughts with Hugo, his not so sentimental answer was: 'They're just things. I never really think about things.'

First last

I've just experienced my first last. Soon there will be a string of ' last times' , and I will probably get used to it, but this first one hit me a bit. It was my last yoga class. I have been with this yoga class since the very beginning, since I came out here two and a half years ago, feeling insecure, nervous and akward because of not knowing anyone.
In those years I've come to know my yoga teacher as a lovely, kind and genuine person. We had quiet little chats in her car, because she picked me up every Monday night to drive me to the class. It seems weird and quite incomprehensible that tonight was the last time I sat with her in her car.
Oh no. I am not sure I feel up against all the last times still to come.

Five things I will NOT miss

OK, after my post about the five (six) things I will definitely miss about Sydney, it is now time to mention five things I will NOT miss. Remember this is just my opinion, I do not mean to offend anyone.

1. Cars
Sydney seems to be a city designed for cars. Pedestrians are at the bottom of the foodchain. When on foot, you are lucky if the traffic light turns green in under ten minutes (and then you have to run to make it across). When crossing a road, you have to have eyes in your back, because there's usually a fastdriving maniac approaching who has no clue about pedestrians. And when they almost knock you off your feet, they'll hoot at you because hey, who are you to think that you have right of way, being a pedestrian? When you are a cyclist, as I am, you are basically an outlaw. I ride my bike on the footpath, as riding on the road is simply too dangerous, especially because I usually take Yara along.
I can't wait to see how this will all change in the future. Sydney's plans for redesigning look promising for pedestrians and cyclists.

2. Taboo topics
I struggle with the fact that some topics seem to be taboo. Like politics. I enjoy a good debate on politics, but more then once I encountered uncomfortable silence or the accusation of being 'aggressive'. Maybe it's just me, or my 'Dutch-ness'. I feel quite rude sometimes, when that is not at all my intention.

3. Men
As divine as I think Sydney women are, I haven't met many very inspiring men (some exceptions). My impression is that Sydney men generally don't really enjoy talking to women, unless they think you are a potential girlfriend or wife. Once they're married, talking to other women seems to be considered boring, tedious, plain akward or maybe even inappropiate. At parties, the men usually hang out with the men and the women with the women.

4. Prices of fruit and vegetables
It just doesn't make sense to me. I am sure there is a perfectly logical explanation, but I don't get why in a country that homegrows all its fruit and veggies, those items have to be so expensive.

5. Unrealistic optimism
OK, it is a disarming quality of the Australians, to be generally optimistic about things and not worry too much. But sometimes it drives me crazy, especially when it's about things I need to get done. Things are NEVER finished or ready in the agreed time, even though beforehand they will always tell you that it isn't going to be a problem.

I have to admit, I needed to stretch it a little bit to make it to five. Of course there are many differences between Holland and Australia, but they are just that: differences, and not one better then the other. I might start a new list soon, about things that I look forward to in Holland and things that I don't look forward to.

5 Things I will miss about Sydney

Apart from the obvious - people I've come to know and love - here are five things I will definitely miss when we get back to Holland.

1. The weather
Even though we had our fair share of rain for the past months, it still beats the everlasting grey skies and drizzles of Holland. I love being able to wear thongs for at least eight months a year (instead of two months, and even that is lucky).

2. Polite people
Sydneysiders are probably the least polite people in Australia, but still, I think they are friendly and kind and never snobby, cranky or arrogant. When I block the footpath with my 3 kids and huge pram, the person behind me will never sigh or make a comment but just wait patiently and give me a friendly smile. And I love being called darling and doll all the time. I know you do it to everybody, but it makes me feel special.

3. The seemingly effortless multi-culturalism
My children have Japanese, Chinese, European, Latin-American and Australian friends. Need I say more?

4. No crowds
Yes, I know Sydney is a big city and most Sydneysiders think it's crowded, but it is still a long shot from the overcrowded beaches of Europe. Even in Sydney itself, on the busiest day of the year, it is still possible to find a beach where your towel is not bordering your neighbours towel and your feet are not in the face of the person behind you.

5. Nature
You don't know how lucky you are! All you have to do is drive for 30 minutes and you are in a gorgeous National Park. Now I think of it, I don't even have to drive, stepping out my front door almost immediately takes me to beautiful and bushy Cremorne Point.

6. Food
It is a miracle that I didn't gain any weight after living in Sydney. I loooove all the muffins, focacia's, falafel, slices and cakes. When you go to a cafe in Holland, you'll be lucky to get a stale, barely defrosted, cardboardlike piece of cliche apple pie. Here, the choice is overwhelming and they all taste good!





O wait, I said five, and I am up to six now. I could probably go on a little longer... My next blog will be about things I will NOT miss about Sydney...

Australian humor

First

This is it. My first post on my English blog. I've been posting on my Dutch blog for the past two years, and I have to say, I dread having to step out of my comfort zone and start writing in English. Even though English is my second language - far better then my French, German or Japanese - it is still very different from expressing yourself in your native tongue. That is something I am confronted with every day in Australia, and it can be so frustrating. Things don't always come out the way I want them to, or it takes me too long to think of how to phrase it and then the discussion has moved on. I miss being able to bring in some nuance, to be creative with language and not to worry about mistakes. Writing English still beats having to talk English over the phone, though. It's the most nervewrecking and hardest thing, to have a phone conversation in a different language. Because you can't see or 'read' the other person, because you don't want to say 'sorry' all the time, because people tend to talk faster and more direct over the phone.
Anyway, I am going to give it a go. But please be patient with my mistakes!