Goodbye 2010

 

How quickly another year passes.

Prezzies

 

This year, too, Santa has seen fit to give me some presents, even if it meant taking a detour to Germany to deliver them! Of course my nephews and niece received the most presents, as well they should!

Staying online

 

The men of the Bremmer clan have somewhat of an internet addiction, so having wifi at our holiday residence made passing the time a lot more comfortable, especially as the icy cold and heavy snow made going out not that pleasant.

Winter gettogether

 

This year the Bremmer clan is celebrating Christmas in Germany as my parents are living in Cologne for the year. Unfortunately the winter weather is extreme this year, making the trip down a lengthy one. The advantage is that we are treated to a traditional winter scene, one that has been very rare these last years.

Let it be

 

Is it an elaborate CGI trick?? Or did the Norwegians actually get all the stars to sing Let It Be???

Suriname breakfast

 

Despite being a Dutch colony for a couple of hundred years and the many bakeries dotted around Paramaribo, breakfast is not limited to a slice of bread with cheese or peanut butter. The breakfast habits mirror the cultural make-up of Suriname society, so one should not be surprised to have a delicious Javanese bami to break the morning fast as I did this morning. A chilled bottle of Coke completes the meal, of course...

Visiting the Vice-President

In a small country such as Suriname it is easy to meet people in high places such as the recently appointed Vice-President, Robert Ameerali. We had met him a couple of times before when he was head of the Suriname Chamber of Commerce and he was kind enough to spare us some time to discuss the economic policies of the new Suriname government and the sectors it is looking to attract investment into. Although Surinamis can be quite formal in official capacities, our discussion was very informal. The photo is a different story though...

Happy Diwali

 

To the surprise of many the Hindu festival of Diwali, the festival of lights, was declared a national holiday in Suriname last week. With a large Hindu population this should be no surprise, but most Hindustanis did not see it coming. Having the day off did allow many to make the celebration extra special and many homes were lit up by candles and electric lights.

Peperpot Plantation

 

As a Dutch colony Suriname was a plantation economy. Even now you can still find remnants of the colonial grandeur dotted around the country. More often than not the buildings are in an awful state, but in recent years owners have been restoring the historical heritage. This is also the case for Plantation Peperpot, situated across from Paramaribo on the bank of the Suriname river. By coincidence I know the owner, but unfortunately he was not in Suriname to give us a tour. Perhaps next time...

Making a pizza

 

As a special treat, and because he likes pizza so much, Boaz had the chance to make his own fresh pizza with Uncle Ben and a little help from Grand'Italia. 

Boaz' sleepover

 

Uncle Ben had the pleasure of having Boaz over for the night. Mum dropped him off, his overnight bag packed with his toothbrush, clean pair of underpants, his fireman's helmet and slippers. Not one to sit quietly, Uncle Ben had to get the hockey sticks for a quick game of street hockey in the playground around the corner. After an exhausting match, in which Uncle Ben lost of course, Boaz did his best Rocky Balboa impression.

 

After all the excitement, and a quick trip to the supermarket, it was time to relax on the couch with a bowl of popcorn to watch Up. 

Scottish Tardis

 

For the first time I have seen a genuine Tardis, and a Scottish one at that! In fact, Glasgow seems to have quite a few of the traditional police box made popular by the tv show Dr Who. Perhaps not that strange in the city that has the oldest organised police force in the UK. As a fan of the Doctor, Brian (and Leah too) wanted to be immortalised with this sci-fi icon.

Glorious Glasgow

  

After a day in Edinburgh we head off by train to Glasgow, the industrial capital of Scotland that used to be a centre of trade and industry for the British Empire, in particular during the Georgian and Victorian eras. This is still very much visible in the magnificent architecture of those times, unfortunately interspersed with late 20th century concrete monstrosities.   

Bonnie Scotland

 

My friends Thalia and Leah, with whom I studied in Israel, had planned a trip to England and Scotland. As I had not seen them for many a year, it seemed a good excuse for a trip to the land of kilts, whisky and Nessie! 

Arriving at what would seem to be one of the smallest international airports in the world, the rolling hills of Scotland surrounded me. Twenty minutes later I was in the heart of Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. A beautiful city with a proud history, great architecture, friendly people and cozy pubs.

Babysitting

This week I had the pleasure of babysitting my youngest nephew Matthies for a couple of days. He was a bit under the weather and thus was unable to go to daycare. Luckily Uncle Ben could step in to entertain this bundle of fun as well as his older brother Luca. While both kids are fairly easy to handle and a lot of fun to play with, Uncle Ben went home every day a worn out man...old age comes with faults, as the Dutch saying goes...

New Aruban Prime Minister

The governments of the constitutional parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands have agreed to dismantle the Netherlands Antilles and create two new countries in the kingdom: Curacao and St Maarten. With all government leaders in The Hague it was a good opportunity to meet the new Aruban Prime Minister Mike Eman.

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Mobile blogging

I have tended to blog from my laptop, but now that I have found a good Blogger app for my phone I think I might start blogging on the go!

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Family footballer

Boaz contracted Orange fever during the World Cup this summer. Besides collecting World Cup paraphernalia, he also loves to kick the ball. Today he was in luck as both his grandfather and Uncle Ben were there to take on the budding football star.

Dragon boats in Amsterdam

Apparently the traditional Chinese dragon boat has quite some fans in Europe and in Holland. This was evident by the European Dragon Boat championships that are being held here this weekend. Teams from 14 countries came to the Bosbaan to race against each other, while I enjoyed a seminar about doing business in China, delicious dim sums and plenty glasses of wine. 

Kwakoe

What started out as a football tournament of mainly Suriname teams more than 30 years ago has now become one of Amsterdam's largest  events: the Kwakoe Festival. Originally a purely Suriname party, in recent years the influence of the Dutch Antilles and Africa have been increasing as the population of Amsterdam South East, the immigrant rich area of the city, has been diversifying.

Football matches are still held during the six weekends that the festival is held, but the main attraction is food: barbecued ribs, Suriname hindustani roti duck and javanese saoto soup, African baked fish and Parbo Beer are staple foods. A delicious taste of the Dutch Caribbean and Africa!

BBQ!!

Holland has been experiencing somewhat of a heatwave (five days of temperatures above 25 degrees makes it officially so). As our resident BBQ master Cristian has returned from Chile, the time was right for a family barbecue. Slabs of meat, spicy sausages, token vegetables and a few bottles of wine made for very pleasant afternoon!

The morning after the match

The Dutch football team has made it to the finals of the World Cup. For the first time in over 30 years Holland has a chance of winning the trophy. As a result Orange Fever has reached dizzying heights in Amsterdam and the rest of the country. 

Crown Prince

Indians love having important people at their events such as ministers or other government leaders. If you can get royalty to add a little extra cachet, it's even better. Having Crown Prince Felipe give a speech about the opportunities for business between Spain and India, as well as a private session for some select Indian businessmen, is therefore fantastic. For me it's my second crown prince in a year, after seeing the Belgian one in Brussels (at another India related event). 

Global India Business Meeting 2010

This year saw the second annual Global India Business Meeting being held in Madrid. The first event in Munich last year was a great success and it was interesting to see if that could be topped. The programme was similar to last year: various meetings in which different subjects are discussed and lots of networking.

Split loyalties

 

Now that the World Cup is upon us, which team should I support?? Should it be the Orange Lion or the Legion of St George??

Family

 

My sister Rebekka has returned from a month in Chile so the family had a little get-together. Luca was happy to see his cousin Boaz, Matthies enjoyed some quality time with his grandfather and Uncle Ben was roped in for some additional babysitting. 

Dirty strike

The last few weeks the garbage collectors in Amsterdam have been on strike. As a result the streets are no longer cleaned and are full of ever increasing piles of garbage. Across from me there is a garbage collection point with underground storage that was filled up quickly. 

Late night Genius

Instead of watching another downloaded episode of one the American series I follow, I ended up enjoying iTunes and the magic that is the Genius Mix. Culled from my eclectic music library Steve Jobs and his minions at Apple presented me with songs from Kylie, Toni Braxton, Matt Munro, the Dreamsgirls soundtrack, All Saints, Take That, George Michael, Boyz II Men and others. The 90s hits made me think of all those times as students my friends and I would spend our evening playing songs from each others cd collection. Nothing beats musical nostalgia... 

Queen's Day

The Dutch national day is Queen's Day, the celebration of the birthday of our monarch. Unlike other countries, it is not a openly nationalistic happening. No military parades, no prime-minister with boring speeches or the excessive waving of flags. As a historian recently said on tv, it is a celebration of togetherness and not nationalism. In fact, it is even more a celebration of free trade as the so called 'free market', where everybody is allowed to sell stuff in the street without a permit, is hugely popular.

The togetherness was quite obvious whilst walking to the centre of town. Burqa and headscarf wearing ladies with orange accessories, Somalis with blow-up orange crowns, girls with tiaras being Queen for a day and gays extravagantly dressed in orange being the queens they always are. 

Busting a move

 

Boaz looks to become quite a dancer....

Staying at Uncle Ben

 

Boaz was an excited boy this weekend as he was staying at his Uncle Ben's place for the first time. Dropped off by mum, he enjoyed an evening watching some Postman Pat after some famous Uncle Ben pasta and an ice cream for dessert. After that, off to bed.

Happy Birthday Luca!

My nephew Luca has his third birthday today, but the family celebrated it in style yesterday with birthday cake, delicious food and, of course, many exciting presents. The best present was the one from his dad: a big red tractor!!

Proud dad

Martijn the proud father and his adorable sons, my nephews Luca and Matthies, in Bristol during our Easter holiday.

Visiting Nana

My grandmother did not know I was coming to Bristol with the rest of the family, so she was quite surprised to see me. Luca being there was an even more pleasant surprise as she had not seem him for an even longer time. Luca was a bit standoffish at first, but soon warmed to his great-nana!

Lehitraot

My visit to Tel Aviv was short and sweet. Too short, really! It was great to just walk around and go to places I used to hang out at when I studied in the city as well as see new places, meet friends and enjoy the beach. I'll definitely go back soon!

As usual the security at the airport did not quite know what to make of me. "What did you do during your stay? Do you have any family here? Where did you learn Hebrew and did anyone in your family also learn Hebrew?". At least no questions about why I was traveling to Amsterdam on a British passport! Bags checked twice and both times swiped for, I assume, explosives residue. All in all not a bad airport experience.

Dizengoff

 

My last moments in Tel Aviv are spent on Dizengoff Street with Daisy at one of the many cafes along this shopping street. The weather is perfect, the Indian chai delicious and both Daisy and I wouldn't mind staying on instead of returning to Amsterdam.

 

Wedding party

 

A wedding needs a party and this one was no exception. Even in parties there are rituals and in this case the bride and groom being danced around on chairs held up by friends and family.

 

Besides the inevitable DJ an interesting band stepped on stage later in the evening. A DJ, drummer, guitarist and didgeridoo-player mixed Aborigine sounds with Western beats and got the crowd breaking into a sweat!

 Until late in the night the, mainly youngish, crowd kept dancing and drinking.

Mazal Tov!!

The reason for coming to Israel was to be present at the wedding of our friends Boaz and Eva. Dressed up after our afternoon at the hotel drinking bubbly, Daisy and I headed to Arca, the venue at the Tel Aviv port where the festivities were to be held. 

When all the guests had arrived and enjoyed some drinks and snacks the ceremony commenced. In Israel there are no civil weddings, so every marriage is per definition a religious one, but in this case not an orthodox one. A young, quite trendy looking rabbi performed the ceremony with the parents of bride and groom joining the happy couple under the chupa that was up by friends and family of the couple.

The ceremony itself is not that long and consists of prayers and words of wisdom of the rabbi. Unfortunately I could not understand what was said, but the outcome was a pair of very happy newlyweds,  two delighted families and many joyous friends! 

Kosher Dutch courage

Daisy and have come to the Sheraton Tel Aviv to keep Boaz company in his last hours of bachelorhood as he is banished from the hotel room as his wife to be Eva gets ready for the big event. The prospect of matrimony is of course a daunting one that needs some liquid encouragement in the form of kosher cava. 

Shoarma ba Pita

Behold the Middle Eastern Dish of Dishes: shoarma in a pita. Who invented the shoarma is not known, but for many Dutch it is a singular Israeli delicacy as Israelis introduced it in Holland (hence the phenomenon that many shoarma places in Holland have names such as 'Exodus' and 'Jerusalem' even if they are not run by Israelis). The Dutch shoarma does not come close to it's older Israeli brother though......There's nothing like an Israeli one with fresh pita bread stuffed with succulent shoarma, cold chips, a generous helping of humus and some spicy onions.