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!