Down Under with Jan Mikaela Nora and Ella

“Jan and Mikaela on the move” is the title of this blog, and on the move we’ve been this year. From Holland to Sweden, on to Thailand and Australia. And although it has not always been an easy ride, it has turned out very well for us so far. In a way we still feel that we are on the move. Because arriving in Australia is one thing, but actually finding your way in life here is something different. That just takes time. When you think of it, there is so much to get used to. It’s a great adventure, and we’re still in the middle of it. So do we never look back? Of course we do. Especially now during Christmas we often catch ourselves talking about ‘home’. Holland is ice skating on the lakes right now, while Sweden is getting ready for the traditional “Jul” celebrations. These are the moments that we really miss being with you guys. It’s the downside of being Down Under. There’s just no cure against it. And there shouldn’t be. We just miss you, as simple as that. But before you start feeli...

Don’t think that people give up their traditions, just because they migrated. Last week we had a BBQ of the Dutch community in Hahndorf, a small town in the Adelaide hills. The Dutch keep contact through an internet forum , and about thirty people showed up. Although it sometimes felt like speaking a foreign language(it was July since we last heard Dutch around us) , it was great to meet so many people who went through the same thing as we did. Some of them were here for orientation, like we did a year ago. Others have been here for years, and see their kids grow up as half Aussies. But nevertheless, they were planning a Sinterklaas event for the kids! Today it was the Swedish community who rang their bells. They gathered together at the IKEA (where else?) for the traditional Lucia celebration. Most Aussies didn’t have a clue what was going on, watching this procession of white dressed kids with candles going past the Billies towards the meatballs. But those who could sing along the ly...

It was worth a try. But pretty much like the Australian prime minister, who tried to extent his term in today’s elections, we failed. But it was fun anyway! The opening event of the Adelaide International guitar festival was an attempt to get into the Guinness book of records. Plan was to form the biggest guitar band in the world. Everyone who can play guitar was invited to join in playing Deep Purple’s classic “Smoke on the water”, outdoor in the festival park. So cool, people of all ages and backgrounds gathered together to play the famous riff. No question of course that Jan had to be there as well. Too bad it was not enough. According to the official count we were with 1300 guitarists, while 1800 were required to break the record. But no worries mates, next year there will be a new attempt. Maybe then they should take the same approach as with the elections: make it mandatory to show up ;-)

There we go: the summer is on. The whole week it has been sunny with temperatures over 30˚C, and next week we're closing in on the 40's. Since it is dry heat, it’s really not that bad. Quite pleasant actually, if you ask Mikaela. She feels fantastic in this climate, and might even consider to stop using her electrical blanket ;-) So far Jan is coping with it pretty good, although the worst is yet to come. Thank god for the airco at work and in our bedroom. The lifestyle that goes with this climate is easy to get used to. At daytime you mostly stay inside, where it’s relatively cool. At night life is happening outdoor, on the street in the café’s and restaurants. And in the weekend: off to the beach !!! With 60 KM of white sandy beach in the metropolitan coast, there is plenty of nearby locations to choose from. So far we’ve been to Somerton beach and Henley beach. Funny coincidence: the first time we were beaching Mikaela’s father called up….. from Iceland! It was -5˚C there....

It’s summer time now, here in South Australia. While you guys in Europe switched the clocks back, we switched it forward one hour. So now the gap is even bigger, up to 9.5 hours. How much more distant can we be? One of the up sides is that the sun rises an hour later, so we wake up by ourselves again, instead of by all kinds of animal noises. For weeks we woke up by the sound of hyper active monkeys from the nearby Adelaide zoo, doing their morning ritual. Weirdest noise ever! Wonder what will happen when the Panda bears will arrive next year …. Talking about rituals; life is slowly getting back to normal, now that we’re settled in. We get our little routines, like the drive to work, the weekly shopping, yoga for Mikaela, and the hunt for all kinds creatures that crawl around our house (true, you all warned us for it, but we didn't listen, and now we even deal with a possum in our garden tree sometimes). This week we have been adding a new routine: going for a bike ride after wo...

Yes, the circle is complete: our container has arrived at last. And guess what? Everything was intact. Almost too good to be true. Even the electrical fly swats made it through customs ! You can’t believe the joy of sleeping in your own bed, having access to your own clothes, and playing your own music again. And the piano sounds just as good as before. We sold and dumped most of our stuff in Holland (we only shipped 11m3), but still when we were unpacking quite some stuff seemed pretty useless. The boxes with ‘warm clothes’ for instance went straight to the attic. It makes you realize how little you actually need, and how much junk collect over the years. Having said that however, we did go and buy ourselves two bikes and some garden furniture this weekend, since it was going to be 30-35˚C. So dear friends: we are up & running, and ready for the summer !!!

I thought I'd take the opportunity to write a little bit about my birthday, which was a really good one. First I would like to say thanks for all the sms’s, cards, emails, presents, greetings on our weblog and flowers that I have received. It made a girl very happy to get all that attention! Felt really great! Thanks to all of you! We celebrated my birthday on the Saturday already with our friends Jessica and David. Had a very nice dinner and then ending up in a bar to take a few drinks. We have figured out that you really need to know where the places are here in Adelaide, to get some action. In a small street there can be loads of bars but you can’t see them by just driving by. We are happy that they show us around, to get to know the city a little bit more. The whole night was really great! On my actual birthday, we bought tickets to a concert with Linkin Park. It is a small stadium here so you felt really close and it's not far from where we live so everything went smooth. ...