Week 36 A Longer Bed

Week 36

We started this week off with a "Duo" video chat with Ben. It was so clear, even using our less than optimal wifi -  "out the back".

It's something new from Google..... says the Google Fanboy.

Walking

Managing to get above 10000 steps on most days. Zoey takes me for a walk every day at 0700hrs. Hope she can keep it up, as she is actually older than me!

The Heath, 0700

A Longer Bed

Ben is tall enough that he falls in to the category (at the University) of being eligible to request a longer bed - or at least a bed extension, whatever that is. They must have had tall Dutchies before....

An Invitation to a Reception

At the residence of the Consul General of The Netherlands on 28th September (in Hong Kong). Ben had a personal letter, but I guess it is for all the Dutch students- not a bad idea for them just to know that it is there if there should ever be any need.

Redheads Day in Breda

I didn't know there was such a thing but they have just had their 11th annual gathering - with over 6000 redheads and 40,000 visitors from more than 80 countries!

Information (in English)

http://www.redheaddays.nl/en/about/

Hottest September 7th in more than 100 years

Much too late for my pumpkins!

September 8 wasn't too bad, either! In fact the whole week has been unexpectedly warm and it looks like continuing in to the coming week. Alas, no time for the boat except to begin preparations for the "winterizing".

New Residents Apartment 3

Thursday

A Syrian family been here for a year (if I understood correctly). We're doing it with English, Dutch, hands and feet - and a smile, of course.

Ali, Mum. Achmed and Rama. Mum is still a bit shy, so I haven't grasped her name yet. (turned out to be Farah - which means "happy", they said). Rama is a 20 year old girl. She was very nervous in the beginning but has warmed up during the day. Achmed is 17 and bearing most of the responsibility for getting things organised. Ali, the Dad, seems very laid back and happy for things to be happening around him. They are all very likeable and I suspect that the responsibility will do Achmed no harm at all for his future in the Netherlands. Haven't yet discovered what the kids are doing at school or what Dad's profession (if any) was.
(edit: seems he had a stall at a Bazaar in Damascus - selling fruit and veg in the winter and flowers in the summer).

A volunteer helped them for the whole day. They came from an Azielzoekers Centrum (AZC) in Hengelo, which is a fair old trip. I had just assumed that they would come from Drachten, but they must have been "next on a list", somewhere.

They came with a trailer FULL of suitcases courtesy of another immigrant, who has been here long enough to have his own car and trailer! The volunteer then took them to Drachten to do some shopping - for just about everything - bedding, pillows, cleaning materials, food and a TV. This with money supplied by our Local Govt. There was not enough left over to buy a couple of 2nd hand bikes, but we'll work on that next week.

 I helped Achmed set the TV up with our decoder, but I must admit I was stymied when he put in the language as Farsi. It looks very nice but I had to get it back to English so that I could finish the setup. They only have Dutch TV and I warned him about not rotating the satellite dish so they could get something in Arabic.
(edit: Ha!, within 5 minutes they had Arabic streaming to the TV via an iPad and YouTube) 

They still have next to nothing and are relying heavily on the system. And yet, just like our previous experience, they invited us to share their first meal here!  We'll probably do that later but for now Janny and I both have a good feeling about them and also about our part in the process.

Sunflower Action

Every year we get a couple of bunches of flowers from an organisation called De Zonne Bloem (The Sunflower). A volunteer organisation, relying on donations, to provide care and assistance in our sector of the community. It always takes me by surprise, but it is a nice gesture of recognition - of nothing more than the fact that we do our work.....

This year, the card says "So Much More".....

Ben In Hong Kong

We had promised Ben a camera for his last birthday but we weren't sure what sort. He came up with the idea of a GoPro which he was able to get in Hong Kong. It has wifi and/or bluetooth which connects to an app on his phone. He seems very happy with it and so it was well worth the wait.

His first day out with it included a hike to a 34 metres tall Buddha....

They also had some rain. It is still warm though, and I was reminded of the fact that he has to pay $HK100 per month just for the air-conditioning in his room!