Out of storage

Today, the very last part of our move back to Holland happened. Vereijken Movers emptied out two crates, with a total volume of 16 cubic meters, in our garage. Plus a vintage Honda CB750 motorcycle. All this had been in storage for seven and a half years. Over the past weeks, we had tried very hard to remember what was in storage. Some items, like my ice cream maker, my sewing machine, an antique chair, an antique dining room set and camping equipment, came back to us. Other things, like my black and white dark room equipment, three (!) tv sets (the big, bulky ones of course), three boxes with pots and pans, several boxes with glass and chinaware, were a total surprise. Why did we keep this stuff? Why did we pay storage fee for these forgotten things for over seven years? Here's some hindsight advice: when you move (to another country), throw everything away that has been in your attic for over 2 years. Unless you have a strong emotional attachment to it, like I have to my grandfather's old radio, or unless there's a practical reasons why it's been up there, like that you haven't gone skying for three years.
Hello boxes; long time no see ...

It is fun though, to open all the boxes and find hidden treasures (crystal wine glasses) and surprises (photographs of old boyfriends). Even if half of it will end up in the second hand shop. Maybe someone will appreciate that we kept it for all these years.

Charity event for Nepal

Last night, Emma and Janne's school organized a charity event to raise money for a village in Nepal. The children in the village don't have time to go to school, because they have to spend hours every day to fetch water. The 'theme' was introduced weeks ago and several fund raising activities, like collecting empty PET bottles, were organized. The older children (grade 5 and 6) came to the lower grades to tell about Nepal and to explain the reason for the fund raising.
Janne throwing with all her might, cheered on by Miss Jany, one of her teachers

During the fund raiser last night, each group organized its own 'event', which they prepared earlier this week. In Emma's class, most kids made some food at home, some were selling toys. The popcorn sold very well, but Emma was very disappointed that only a few people wanted to buy her home-made-and-decorated cookies. Good thing is that we get to eat them :-) In Janne's group, the children had to bring some toy/gift to school, which they wrapped and put in a 'grabbelton' (lucky-dip?). It was a big hit and all the gifts were gone in less than two hours. Also the 'ballen gooien' (throwing balls at cans?) was very popular.
Cookie saleswoman on her popcorn break; Janne wants to buy some cookies

Being new to the whole school thing, I thought that the International School in Hsinchu asked quite a lot from parents. It seemed like there was an event almost every week, which required either help, donations or some kind of other involvement from parents. After five months of experience with the school system in Holland, I'm beginning to realize it's the same as in Hsinchu. So, it's probably the modern way of organizing education, with LOTS of parent involvement. As long as I don't have a job, helping out in Emma and Janne's class is an excellent opportunity for me to get to know more people in Veldhoven and to get to know Emma and Janne's classmates and friends.

My bike is back!

Today, my brother-in-law brought my bike back to me. Actually, it's at the motorshop, where they will (try to) get it back up and running. I am SO EXCITED to have my Tranalp back (even though it is not exactly nice touring weather at the moment). I didn't really miss the riding in Taiwan, but ever since we're back, it's been itching pretty seriously. So, hopefully they will be able to fix the bike and hopefully we'll have at least a few nice days in fall for me to go riding.

The bike looks surprisingly good, pretty much the same as I left it seven years ago, and even the tires seem to be still ok. Next week, the guys at the shop will start working on it. As I forgot to take a picture this morning, here's one from 1996. It's taken during a motorcycle trip to Switzerland.
Me and my bike! Also note the long hair I had back then :--)

Happy Birthday Pieter!

Happy birthday from Emma and Janne

Yesterday was Pieter's birthday and also the day he finished the garden cabin. Two reasons for a party, so he got breakfast in bed, gifts from all of us and lots of best wishes from the birthday guests.
The roof under construction

Finished!

Found you!

For all those who were concerned about our lost photo albums and who kept their fingers crossed; thanks, it worked! Even though I said we unpacked all boxes weeks ago, that was not true literally. There were one or two boxes of which I scanned the contents, but which I didn't unpack. One of them was a box with ASML stuff (or so I thought). I briefly looked through the box and concluded it was filled with work related ASML binders. Today, I needed some ASML information and therefore took all the binders out of the box. And happy, happy me, when I discovered that the bottom five binders were actually Taiwan photo albums number 4 - 8, representing October '02 - April '06!!! I guess it would be wise to re-check a few boxes to find the last missing album, of my six months in Colorado, USA, back in 1992. So, thanks again for the crossed fingers; you can un-cross them now :-)

Another month went by ...

Well, almost another month; time flies when you're having fun. Time also flies when you're busy :-) Even without a job, I don't have much 'spare' time. I spend a lot of time putting things in the proper places, moving them from one room to the next to yet another place. I have to admit that I also spend about half an hour every day exercising, mostly roller blading these days, sometimes bicycling. Wardrobes in the guest room are in place (and full already) and I've started moving boxes to the attic. Fortunately, I finally had some inspiration as to how to decorate some of the rooms, so we can start painting and buying curtains etc. The living room is still a question mark with regard to decorating, but I cannot really make any decisions about that until the dining room furniture has arrived and the kitchen is finished! Indeed, the kitchen is STILL NOT FINISHED! That's all I'm going to say about that topic here, otherwise my blog may be shut down due to improper language ....
The raw materials

Under construction

Pieter, has been busy as well; he is putting a shed/garage/cabin in our backyard, all by himself. Even though it's kind of a LEGO construction package cabin, it's still a lot of hard work, mainly because many of the planks are bent or rotated. I'm very proud of my hubbie! I'm also very happy, because one of the main reasons for building the cabin, is for my motorcycle! After seven years, my Honda XLV600 Transalp is finally coming home! In what condition, I don't know, because it's been 'in storage' for the whole period. Next week, my brother-in-law is bringing the bike to Veldhoven, where a local dealer will get it up and running. If all goes well, I should be able to ride it again in two weeks time.

Still under construction

Emma and Janne have resumed their swimming class. They're both making nice progress and even got their first dolphin part two weeks ago. Each dolphin part represents a certain skill, e.g. swimming with their head under/in the water or swimming without arm floats. When they earned all the dolphin parts, they will start practicing for their first certificate. It's really a nice way to keep the kids motivated and Emma and Janne try very hard to earn their second dolphin part. I hope they will have their A certificate by summer next year.
Dolphin part 1: the eye

Trampoline!

Yesterday, I bought a trampoline on Marktplaats.nl (Dutch version of eBay) and today we put it in the back yard. As you can imagine, Emma and Janne love their 'move gift'.
Jumping for joy!