Well, we had a lovely very relaxing break in England and it was especially nice to spend Christmas this year with my parents and Grandparents. Here is a few photos from Christmas day. But also we saw John and Theresa, my brother and sister-law and their lovely girls Zoe and Eve - that was a few days after Christmas. It was great to see them and especially to spend time with my nieces. So here are few photos of them too.
And now we are back in Holland a few days now and I am back with my course in dutch and Rik just started a new job. Wessel and Lyne returned today from Canada where they were visiting Lyne's family for Christmas so we are back to a full house. We came back on Wednesday here last week and it was bliss to have some time on our own for a bit. Anyway it will hopefully not be too long before we move to a place of our own - hooray!! We found a flat we wanted before we Christmas and applied for it and got it. The only thing we needed was a residence permit for the area the flat is in- in some areas of Rotterdam you need one to prove that you have an income but also not too high an income- this is to try to increase the mixture of people in the area as it is considered a kind of 'deprived' area but not according to English standards - it is quite a lot better compared to where we living before in inner city Nottingham. So we are waiting for that permit from the council which can take about three weeks. We applied for it before Christmas so hopefully we should get it in a couple of weeks! Then we can start doing some decorating of the flat and move in!! So that is really big news as this means we can really start to settle a bit in Holland.
Before Christmas it was really getting very hard for me living here, my mental health was not good and what with the uncertainty of Rik's job we were actually contemplating moving back to England where I had more support around me. However we decided just before Christmas that we well I would give it a try living here for about a year and then we would reassess the situation. Also just before Christmas Rik was also offered another temp job but until the summer this time and alot nearer to where we are going to live so he has taken the job and so we feel things are bit coming together and that moving out of this house is very probable now.
Also just before Christmas I started my dutch course. It is called a civic integration course so it is not just about learning the language but about how to do everyday things such as going to open a bank account, going to register or change things with the council, how to get health insurance. Some things I already know how to do but many things I don't so it is quite useful. In my class there is 3 Indonesian ladies, 2 Turkish and 1 from Aruba - so it is an interesting mix- I have a coffee in the break with one of the Indonesian ladies and the Turkish lady and we have a nice chat- in dutch!
Some other interesting things that people won't be so familiar with in the UK us that in Holland when it is so cold like now the rivers and lakes ice up quite considerably and then people go skating- it is quite a site- on one lake last week we saw so many people of all ages having fun skating and with a stall at the side serving drinks and food- it was quite a party! I then realised how much fun people have in Holland with their leisure activities - being outdoors alot it seems a very healthy and happy lifestyle! Tomorrow Rik and I are going to give the skating a try - quite exciting! Rik can skate well so it is me who will be doing the trying- I hope I don't fall over, but think it will be fun! I have to go and buy some skates though first. I will take some pictures and post them not of me fallen over though!
Anyway this is all for now.
