Some Observations

1. All the cars here look brand new. No one drives with a dirty car - no one drives with newspapers and crap in the backseat either.

2. There is tons of farmland - but every tree you see appears to have been purposely planted - as you drive you can see that they are in neat rows to cut down on the wind. I have seen very few "woods".

3. I suspect this is a country of conformity. The interiors of houses look mostly the same. Most people have something in their windows - usually in pairs - 2 vases, 2 candles, 2 lamps, 2 statues. Everything is very neat. Along the highway there was an area where they trim the grass on the shoulder for the first two feet and leave the rest until the birds have all hatched. Once hatched and safely able to fly they come back and trim the entire shoulder. This is land that is not really used by people - just strips along the highway next to farms. I don't really understand it but there is a need for everything to be taken care of.

4. Gas is expensive - 1.44 euros (1.5 canadian to a euro) for a litre.

5. The accents really vary based on the area. I have not heard very many people with the strong accents that I hear at the church. I wonder if the European accent as soften with time.

6. I am still getting used to the bicycles. You have to be careful crossing the bike lanes as well as the road. No one wears a helmet - I haven't seen one likely because with dedicated lanes you are not as likely to be hit by a car!

7. Candy, candy, candy. There are lots of different sweets here and every shop has a big section of candy.

8. The houses I have been in have killer staircases. The one here is about at a 20 degree angle curving to the second floor. It is very narrow for your footing. It was explained to me that this is because space is at a premium yet the principle rooms are fairly large.

9. People are pretty open - curtains are not closed during the day. I can see right into the houses through to the other side. Even on busy streets, families sit in their living rooms with only the glass separating them from the busy pedestrians on the street. One house had a baby sleeping in a crib by the fron window bordered by a busy sidewalk. It seemed strange to see this baby by himself "on display". It's like going to a pet store. I realise that Canadians are very private in comparison!

10. It would take me a long time to drive here. They use round abouts instead of four way stops and the room for error is pretty small. It works well but would take me time to get the rhthym of it! Parking is tight and if you can't parallel park you may as well give up!

Busy Day in Holland

I wish I had a way of uploading a picture from today - I was eating herring the traditional Dutch way - not something I planned to do - eating raw herring hadn't made it onto my list of things I needed to do before I die.

Today we visited a working windmill, a cheese shop where we got cheese at such a cheap price I couldn't believe it, a huge dam system where they regulate the water coming out of Europe into the sea, a fish shop where we had herring and finally Chinese buffet for dinner. I'm exhausted.

Tomorrow church - unfortunately I will be lost as it is Roman Catholic in Dutch. Cliff will have to poke me when to stand and sit!

First Days in Holland

I typed it up and it disappeared:

Here are some teasers

winding staircases, huge snake skin, interior design,

I am staying in Best near Eindhoven if you want to get an idea where we are!

Requests from Holland

If you want something from Holland leave your requests under "comments".

The Accident

May 2 I said it was the "Summer of Vicki"
(from Seinfeld where George plans the Summer of George). The next day I travelled on the 427, the Gardiner, the DVP, the 401 in heavy traffic and lighter traffic. But I got nailed at Don Mills and Sheppard. That's life isn't it!

Our family car is a write off and we are very sad to lose it - I don't know what we will be offered for it but I know that we won't get what it is worth because it was in great condition. I put the pictures up for the friend we bought the car from - he babied it for years so even after our high mileage for the past two years it only had 89,000 on it.

I was coming through a green westbound on Sheppard and was behind two people turning right. As the second car turned, I proceeded to go through the intersection - as I enter it I see a car turning left suddenly accelerate to make his turn. I veered as far to the right as I could and for a split second I thought he was going to miss me - I think I assumed he was going to stop a lot faster than he did. Anyhow, the hit was hard but luckily the first hit was absorbed mostly by the tire and the body ahead of the passenger side. I have no idea how people do such smart things in split seconds. All I had time for was "Oh shit!" and a quick jerk to the right. I got out pretty angry because I assumed that this was an idiot who thought he could beat me - but the other driver was very shocked and stunned so I felt bad. He's turning 20, driving his dad's car and was very nervous because he didn't know what to do. I was upset and really shaken because it was a hard hit and I knew the car was probably not going to be fixed when I saw the damage to the wheel and body. But I helped him through it and was as kind as I could be. At least he didn't try to snow the police at the reporting center and took responsibility. Before we exchanged informaton he said "I'm still trying to figure out what happened". I'm pretty sure he assumed I was turning right and just didn't expect me to be going straight through. I feel badly for him because his insurance is going to really take a hit.

Of course it is very good that no one was injured and other than a few sore muscles for the next few days I really am lucky. The other driver noted that it was good we were going slow - it didn't feel slow too me - I was thrown towards the passenger seat and whipped back so it was scary for a brief moment.

I was pretty upset Thursday night ( at one point in the reporting center I thought I would cry but I refuse to cry over stupid things like this - especially in front of a bunch of cops) and Friday I was still pretty shook up even as a passenger (well with Cliff maybe that is fair!). But I nervously got back into the other car to drive on Saturday.

I am back to normal now and am thinking about all the good things that will come out of not having a car!

The funny part of the story - Cliff's sister was crossing the crosswalk just before the second car turned. She told Cliff's mom that she was pretty sure that she saw me get in an accident - but no, she didn't call to see if I was okay.

The Summer of Vicki will require some walking and TTC tickets. We will have to hope the Warthog hangs in a bit longer. We have the summer to think about our next steps.

Ten Reasons I Don't Need a Car

1. A subway, a bus, a subway and a bus is available to get to work. The last bus I could skip and walk. Probably take me over an hour but then that is time to read.

2. I have been living in multiple bubbles - my car, my church, my school and my home. Taking the TTC is going to allow me to get back in touch with the real world.

3. The environment. I'm adding it because it is politically correct - I love driving and would be lying if I suggested I would give my car up willingly because its the right thing!

4. Cliff is on shift work - I can either drive him in or pick him up and use the car when I really need it.

5. Exercise! I'll be getting tons more without the car. Also no ability to go to a drive through!

6. Some savings. I'm still not convinced of this - yes cars are expensive but I think I need to be without one to see the difference. When I quit smoking I can't say I suddenly saw more money - of course I saved money but it wasn't really noticeable.

I can only come up with 6!

Grad May 5th

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Grad was totally awesome. I think you can tell from the smile on my face that I'm pretty happy. Cliff was very excited too and I had three friends and my brother there so I had got to share it with people who have stuck by me over the years.

I wasn't very excited about the ceremony until the rehearsal on Thursday. It was long, at time monotonous but still thrilling!

Its funny, they don't really tell you much. I was waiting in the gym and glanced through the program and found out that I had won an award of some kind. Cliff tracked down my prof to find out what it was all about. It was for academics in ministry and I get a little bit of money which is nice. Marks don't really mean much to me anymore because I realise that there were things I could have done better and there were things that I should have settled for less on. Academics just isn't as important as character and the stuff you learn on which you are not graded.