MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's already Christmas!

And I have thought of preparing something special for you. So here it is. (I hope it works :)

Christmas2009 Pilar

And now... something special I have found for all the Friends Forever:

Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année
Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar
Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Froehliche Weihnachten und ein gluckliches Neues Jahr
God Jul og Godt Nyttar
Gledileg Jol og Farsaelt Komandi ar
Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Mo'adim Lesimkha. Shana Tova
Shinnen Omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto

With much love

Japan revisited

As you know, I've come back to Japan!

Last August Fernando and I went to Japan for 2 weeks and it was really impressive. Since I came back from our tour to Japan in 2003 I had always thought of going back together with Fernando. I wanted him to see what I had seen and I also wanted to be there again. Well... we could do so last summer. We could visit places like Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima and of course Tokyo, but also other places like Kanazawa, Shirakawago, Takayama, Nikko, Koyasan where we stayed in a Buddhist monastery, Hakone where we could see, or I'd better say "imagine", Mount Fuji and enjoy and natural "onsen", spring, which was really a delight, ending with the traditional... karaoke, of course! Everything was absolutely fantastic.

In Tokyo we stayed in a hotel next to "Tokyo Prince Hotel", in fact it was from the same company and its name is Tokyo Prince Park. We had splendid views and from there we could even see our former hotel, the Shinto shrine which was next to it and... yes!... Tokyo Tower!!! So many memories!

We were very lucky to even meet Akiko-san! She took us to a very trendy restaurant in Tokyo, Gonpachi, where Quentin Tarantino got his inspiration for one of the scenes in "Kill Bill". That was fun! Then she took us to Shibuya Crossing, which appears in the film "Lost In Translation" and where thousands of people cross every day and as she is the best guide in Japan she knew were exactly to go to observe this "phenomenon" perfectly. In Shibuya we could also see the statue of Hachiko, the famous dog whose story has just been taken into a film by Richard Gere. So you can see that it was a complete tour! Thanks dear Akiko-san for a wonderful evening!

Everything was really special and be sure that I thought of all of you. In fact I must say that somehow you were also there.

I will upload some pictures somewhere in the web where you can easily take a look if you don't have anything else more interesting to do but meanwhile I am showing you some here.

Friends Forever Reunion 2009

I know... I know... I promised to write something about the FF Reunion 2009 and so far I haven't. But here it is a picture and I will write something... sometime...

Hello Everyone!

Greetings! It is wonderful to be here with Glenn and Peggy. What wonderful hosts! We have just finished a delicious supper of lobster, spreading juice everywhere!

So sorry Jim and I won't be with you in Spain. Of course, you will have a wonderful time reconnecting and rekindling friendships. It's amazing that it has been 5 years since we all met in Japan. One of these summers I hope that Jim and I will be able to join you at a reunion.

Sending you many hugs and smiles,

Heather

The Ketchup Story by Glenn

Earlier in the tour season I was asked by a neighbour to escort two ladies around Halifax and give them a tour of the city. This I gladly did. To thank me for my kindness the two ladies offered to take me out for lunch. We agreed on an upscale seafood restaurant right on the waterfront. I like to think of myself as a relatively experienced diner however I can honestly say on that particular day I had never seen a ketchup dispenser like the one I was given. It was in essence an upside down ketchup container. As I sat quietly across from my hostesses attempting to squeeze ketchup onto my plate, nothing happened. I squeeze harder and still no results. Now I must insert into this story that my hosts were two very well dressed very well off tourists who were used to fine dining in fine restaurants. Not wanting to give them the wrong impression I continued to talk casually while I squeezed even harder. I needed ketchup for my fish and chips and by golly I was going to get some. Eventually I squeezed the ketchup container so hard that the bottom which I had facing upwards exploded and took off towards the ceiling of the restaurant like a Saturn 5 rocket launching the space into the orbit. With it went a huge dollop of ketchup. As the three of us stared in amazement the top disappeared but the dollop of ketchup measuring approximately four inched by four inches by two inches hovered above our head and then fell back to the earth after a trip of approximately eight feet straight up in the air. The ketchup landed on the table with a resounding splash and of course splattered in all directions. If the ladies had been impressed with my tour they were certainly impressed with my skill at putting ketchup on my fish and chips… and all over them.

Glenn

Santa Glenn is coming to town!

I’ve done a lot of crazy things in my life; however this year has to take the cake. Why I agreed to do what I did, I don’t know. I can honestly report that I was headhunted for my new position. It’s a relatively short one in that it began on November 15th and ends Christmas Eve. To give you a clue let me tell you that you are currently reading a Christmas letter from the big man himself. That’s right-Mr S. Claus! In early November I accepted an offer to play Santa Claus at the local mall! MicMac Mall is the largest shopping centre east of Montreal and they needed a Santa. What was I to say? For four hours a day, six days a week I now sit on a large throne with elves at my back and call and meet children and adults to talk with them about Christmas. I have had kids run at me and literally jump into my arms almost driving the two of us and Santa’s throne out through the back of the set. I’ve had kids so scared at the prospect of sitting on my lap they scream in terror and fight to get away. I’ve had high school students visit me and the girls from the office out for a night of shopping. I’ve been asked to bring every toy imaginable. One little girl wanted an elephant for Christmas. When I told her that would take most of the space in my sleigh, she agreed to ask for just a baby elephant. Even young children know how to compromise. It’s too bad most adults have lost the skill. I’ve had adults arrive on the set and ask me to sit on their laps! On one Sunday afternoon at the end of the day I was locked out of the changing room. It took 2 security guards, a manager and myself 45 minutes to break into the room and I mean break in. Picture the spectacle of Santa Claus complete with beard and white gloves trying to kick in a steel door to the changing room. Finally one of the security guards and myself, complete in costume, took a wooden pallet and knocked in the door. Thank goodness no children witnessed Santa bashing in a door instead of the time honoured tradition of entering buildings through chimneys!

Glenn.

The Sound of Music

I am sure that all of you remember the song... Now enjoy it!!!





What a fantastic start of a day!!!

Don't you think so?

And... something else.... something very important.... on behalf of all FFs...

... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEAR HANS!!!!!!

Pilar

Holland in shock after attack on Royal family

April 30: ever since decades The National Party in Holland: Queen’s Day. 90% of the people over here do love our Queen and her family, even the non-western immigrants. On Queen’s Day everybody goes out for parties, fairs, markets, concerts. Usually fancy dressed. And so did I. My wife Maya and daughter Maaike had decided to go to Amsterdam. Grandpa Hans and his granddaughter Souhaila had different plans. First a visit to the children’s flee market in Boskoop where we bought a dozen of toys, mostly dogs and horses, for less than 6 euros. Afterwards we loaded the bike trailer with grapes, strawberries, boiled eggs and sandwiches in order to organize a picnic in the park nearby. The weather was lovely, and a nice gentleman took that picture of us after we had finished. After that I put Souhaila inside the trailer and cycled some 10 kilometres to the fair in Alphen aan den Rijn, still accompanied by Mr Blue Sky. There we heard that awful news about the attack of a lunatic, killing 7 people and injuring many others. I was (am) really, really shocked….. My five years old granddaughter is too young to understand what happened, so I tried to have fun with her at the fair. But I realised, that Queen’s Day will never be as it used to be……..

Love and greetings from The Netherlands,

Hans FF

Bad and good news from Mexico

Perhaps you have heard some terrible news about Mexico and the new flew virus. We don't know yet exactly what kind of influenza is the one that have arrived to our country, but everybody is cooperating with the government measures to keep us save and healthy.
My family and I are very well and healthy as well, so are my beautiful dogs. To show you that we are having fun I attach some pictures about last Sunday sharing some good time with other friends.

Much love to all!

Mago FF

Glenn's story about the empty beer bottles

Here again I go trying to blog. As tramatic as learning to blog is, the experience is not as earth shattering as the one I had two weeks ago. I volunteer once a week at the local 'Mission to Seafarers'. One of my responsibilities is to return old beer bottles to the bottle exchange. We have a small bar in our mission and seafarers but only seafarers are allowed to purchase beer there if they want. Once a month or so I take the empty bottles to the recycling depot. So... two weeks ago at the beginning of my shift I placed eight dozen empty beer bottles in my car. At the end of my shift at approximately 10:30 PM I drove home.The aroma of old beer bottles in my car was incredible. I rolled down my window and headed home. Two minutes down the road, late at night, I drove into a police roadblock. When the officer approached my car he took a breath of air in order to talk to me. As he did he smelled the beer fumes coming from my open window. After " Good evening sir", his next words were " Have you been drinking tonight?" I replied "No" but realized from his expression and from what I could smell that he smelled beer and a lot of it. I had to explain why I said no so I added " I have just come from the mission ( church) and I have all their beer bottles." This of course didn't make any sense to the officer. He ordered me to pull my car over to the curb.That's when he and another officer checked my car from front to back, top to bottom, asked for all my papers such as insurance, license etc. After a very thorough fifteen minute interogation I was allowed to leave. The moral of the story is 'if you're going to drink in church don't even think of recycling!'The list of those planning to attend the reunion is growing . This is good news. I encourage those who have not yet signed up to make every effort to do so. It's going to be a grand time.On a completely different point if any of you have not seen the 'YouTube ' clip of the Scotish singer Susan Boyle I urge you to watch it. Although it initially showed the negative side to human nature, by the end of the clip ones belief that there is good in all of us was most evident. Then there is the good that has shown itself among the friends forever. One just never knows where or when one will find it. Did any of us ever think that such a positive bond would develop among those who participated in that trip to Japan? I doubt it but it's clearly evident to all of us now. Peg and I are looking forward to our trip to Spain. I intend to learn a few Spanish words before we leave Canada. First though, I must learn to blog.Keep smilingGlenn

Friends Forever Reunion 2009 - Participants

Hans and Maya 04/08 - 12/08 (House "El Majo")
Glenn and Peggy 05/08 - 11/08 (House "El Majo")
Rosalie 05/08 - 11/08 (House "El Majo")
John and Margaret - 05/08 - 11/08 (House "El Majo")
Paul and Rosemary + 2 daughters 06/08 - 11/08 (House "Picu Fariu")
Nicole and Philippe 05/08 - 11/08 (Hotel Loriga)
Nino + Luka 05/08 - 11/08 (House "El Majo")
Lucienne and Francis

"Fuente La Lloba" (Japanese Restaurant)

Last evening, Fernando and I went to a Japanese restaurant called “Fuente La Lloba”. No doubt it’s one of our favourite places. It’s got a perfect situation, with splendid views on the mountains (Sueve and Picos de Europa), it’s a quiet place, with a relaxed atmosphere, completely surrounded by only nature and peace, the food is simply perfect and the people who own it and run it, Kei and Eduardo, bringing Japan and Spain together, ever so friendly and nice. Summarizing... ABSOLUTELY GREAT! Believe me, you only have to see it!

We went there for the first time guided by our FF Belén. Thanks Belén for taking us there and showing us such beautiful treasure!

Being such a special place, we like taking our dear friends there, that’s why we took Hans and Maya and Nicole and Philippe when they came over to visit us. Sorry we couldn’t take Michele, Gardar, Inge or Anders when they were also here as we didn’t know it by then.

Suddenly, yesterday, while we were there, I had an idea... What about having a special dinner there with the FF Reunion 2009 group??? That would be simply great and no doubt very very special! Kei and Eduardo agreed, they only asked to let them know as soon as possible in order to book the whole place for us! So I will work on the programme in the next few days and I assure you I will do my best so you will have a reunion as special as you all are!

Barefoot on basalt: outdoor lessons are ’cool’!

During a combined outdoor lesson of geography and P.E. (sport) my bilingual students of T2A , age approx. 13, discovered basalt on the beach. A long time ago boiling hot, molten volcanic rocks, today the cover of ice cold piers, protecting our vulnerable sandy coast against strong, eroding sea currents. The subject of the ‘indoor lessons’ was volcanism and as these erupting mountains in The Netherlands don’t exist, their teacher of geography walked with them half an hour from school to the shore in order to experience the basalt boulders. The lovely sunny weather contributed to make, apart from the more formal assignment, also a photo documentary for their bilingual email- and Blogger friends in Cudillero (Asturias, Spain). The idea is to supply them with impressions of the surrounding of Hofstad Lyceum. And then in particular the dunes, the beach and the North Sea. They know that their friends in Asturias from IES Selgas will make a similar photo session. Both documentaries are going to be presented during a video-conference, that will be organized within short. As this outdoor lesson was realized together with Inge Stet, the T2A-tutor and teacher of P.E., all kinds of sport were integrated in the mini- excursion. Like, apart from the long walk, a cross-country race in the dunes, playing football and frisbee on the beach. With these last activities the pupils continued enthusiastically, even long after the official school day (Friday!!) had finished. A real proof, that those lessons outside the school are considered to be very ‘cool’.

I remember the time very well, that leaving classroom, other than for a visit to a museum, was strictly prohibited. A visit to Gunn’s lovely kingdom that I organized for four Hofstad College school managers in 2005 opened their eyes! In Norway it is called: uteskule (out of school). The philosophy is to teach the students as frequently as possible in nature. The Solund secondary school owned a big tipi (Indian tent) with a log fire in the middle to do so even in wintertime!

If you have any experience with outdoor activities for your students (or cross-curricular activities, international exchanges, bilingual teaching , video conferencing, etc), please add your contribution to this blog! Sharing experiences is one of the best ways to improve education!

The Hague, Holland, April 2009, Hans Smit

Love Actually

You may wonder why I have used this text to start this blog. Well, I love this "quote". It's the way one of my favourite films, "Love Actually", starts. It's nice to think of the arrivals gate of an airport, any airport. When you are wating for your love ones and finally meet them. That is a fantastic feeling. And I think it's nice to have that thought any time, not only when feeling "gloomy" or sad because the state of te world or anything else.

I really agree that if we look around, despite of wars and global crisis, we will find out that LOVE ACTUALLY IS ALL AROUND.

Please, take a few minutes to watch this (just click here): Love Actually

I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Everything started in Japan...

Yes, everything started in Japan almost six years ago. And I'm sure we all remember this...

We give a loud ovation
to the Japan Foundation
who put together
so many different nations

Forever Friends
we'll never end
brothers and sisters
in Japan