 |
| We Didn't Buy the Figurine |
Theo and I did our Discipleship Training School DTS together (as some of you may know) and we were on the same outreach team (to Brazil), and a little over two years ago, he married Judith. Every once in a while, I'll come over to Rotterdam, where they live, to spend a few days together with them. A few weeks ago, we made plans that I'd come down and spend a few days in Rotterdam with them between Christmas and New Year's Eve. One of the things I love about staying with Theo and Judith is the huge amount of fun we have together. I don't know what happens but we always end up lauging and having blast together. We play loads of board games (Settlers of Katan is a favourite), and we usually going somewhere together, like spending a few hours at a theme park and swimming pool, indoor ski-ing or something along those lines. Yesterday, we went to get some discounted Christmas Balls (for the tree) as is tradition with Judith's family. We all chose different Christmas balls that we liked and the put them into the basket Theo was carrying before they were put up to be voted on (to remain in the basket or be left in the shop). We got some nice Christmas balls. From there we went ice skating. I've only done it twice before and was rather nervous, especially as we were on a ice track that went in a circle. I enjoyed it for the most part, despite feeling rather hassled by the much faster skaters on both sides of me, the children who weren't looking where they were going and people skating the wrong direction (we were supposed to skate counter-clockwise, but people were skating into the flow as well).
Earlier today, we went shopping together in Rotterdam... which was a lot of fun. I've only been to Rotterdam a couple of times since I'm moved to the Netherlands a year and a half ago (almost) as I've not really had the need to come through, unless I'm visiting Theo and Judith or when I'm with my dad (as he lived here when he was younger). For those of you who didn't know, Rotterdam is one of Europe's largest ports... and some parts of the city are really old whilst the centre of the city has been totally rebuilt in the last seventy years or so. The reason for this is that the beginning of the Second World War, Hitler's Nazi government wanted the port of Rotterdam, as Germany was heavily dependant on the imports through Rotterdam's port. The Nazis didn't respect the Dutch government's choice of neutrality in the war and invaded on 10 May 1940. It took only a matter of days after the start of the invasion (along with the bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May) for the Dutch to surrender.
Earlier today, we went shopping together in Rotterdam... which was a lot of fun. I've only been to Rotterdam a couple of times since I'm moved to the Netherlands a year and a half ago (almost) as I've not really had the need to come through, unless I'm visiting Theo and Judith or when I'm with my dad (as he lived here when he was younger). For those of you who didn't know, Rotterdam is one of Europe's largest ports... and some parts of the city are really old whilst the centre of the city has been totally rebuilt in the last seventy years or so. The reason for this is that the beginning of the Second World War, Hitler's Nazi government wanted the port of Rotterdam, as Germany was heavily dependant on the imports through Rotterdam's port. The Nazis didn't respect the Dutch government's choice of neutrality in the war and invaded on 10 May 1940. It took only a matter of days after the start of the invasion (along with the bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May) for the Dutch to surrender.