Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Johnsons Visit the Netherlands

Two weeks ago our friends, Bob & Paula Johnson came to visit us. They flew in from Salt Lake City to learn about the Dutch people. We did our best to mix in some sight seeing with missionary work. Here is a list of some of the things that we did: 1. Season opening social for the Young Adults (Jovo's), and Institute class, 2. Visit to Delft and stepping into the big wooden shoes, 3. Correy Ten Boom house visit in Haarlem (a family who hid Jewish people in WWII), 4. FloraHolland flower auction (80% of the world's flowers pass thru the flower auctions of Holland), 5. Zaanse Schans windmills, 6. Liberty Park WWII museum, 7. Castle De Haar. The pictures below represent items 2,4,5,6,7. We had a great time with them and gave them a little taste of the culture here as well as missionary life. They even participated in a missionary District Meeting.

The Johnson's Nederland Visit





Saturday, September 26, 2009

Elfstadentocht (Eleven Cities Tour)

Every winter the Dutch attempt to hold an eleven cities ice skating race of 200 kilometers along the canals. It is called the "Elfstadentocht" (Eleven Cities Tour). The only problem is that with the warmer weather the past 12 years, they have not had enough consecutive days of very cold weather to make the ice stable. But wait, why are you talking about this in the fall, you say? Well, since the last race was in 1997 and since the Dutch are very inventive, they have come up with a warm weather alternative. It is a race along the canals, but with the participants standing up in a canoe/surfboard and using a long paddle to propel themselves. We could not believe it when we saw it. Here is evidence of the race earlier this month. You will note in the pictures the bridge with tile images that represents the past participants of the ice skating race. The far view shows skaters in motion. The closer view shows the individual tiles on the bridge with pictures of the skaters. Then you see some of the participants as they head into the last 5 km of the 5 day race (which is done in stages each day). It was truly amazing to watch them race. Many were probably the same ones that do the race on skates in the winter. Any way, the Dutch do love to have a good time.

Eleven Cities Canoe Tour




Thursday, September 17, 2009

Giethoorn Canals



Senior Couples in Giethoorn

Last month the senior couples on the Dutch side of our mission had a little outing to a unique village here called Giethoorn (goat horn). It is considered the Venice of the Netherlands. It has tree lined canals in place of roads that traverse the city. We took a tour in a little boat that was a lot of fun. We also visited two museums. It was interesting to learn about this unique village. It was great staying in the hotel one night and eating the buffet dinner. It was a great opportunity to spend time with the other couples and President and sister Brubaker. We were able to see part of the country that we had never been to.