Since it is almost time to go home I thought a lot about our past 12
months of travels, about Argentina, Singapore, Australia, China, Russia, Ukraine,
Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, England, Greece, Italy, Monaco, Spain and
home... South Africa
We all agreed it was a sensational journey!
Papa, Mama and Steven each wrote a few sentences how they thought
the 365 days have been!
Loes : 365 days gone away from home, leaving my best friends, home,
school and instead travelling to 15
countries with my brother, mum, dad with different types of transport, train,
airplane, car, boat, bus, underground, by foot, bicycle, rickshaw, cable car, has left many many impressions.
Last year when we planned to go I was not so excited to leave and actually I was confused. I was scared to leave my environment. Perhaps it would
not be the same when I come back. What about my friends and I was so curious to start my highschool. I really, really can’t describe how excited
and happy I am now that we have done this trip and have seen, learned new
things. The home schooling was a lot of fun with mum teaching me the school’s
curriculum and seeing everything 3D afterwards. In Greece seeing the Acropolis, the 3
different types of columns I will never forget. (Ionic, Doric, Corinthic) . I
saw the place where Democracy was invented. In Italy I could imagine how
important the Roman Empire had been, in Russia I understood what the Cold War was
all about and in Poland I could imagine how terrible the 2nd WWII had
been after visiting Auschwitz. Seeing so many places and museums I would not
have been able to learn all that out of a book.
The most difficult thing this year
was sticking together with the four of us for 24 hours. Sharing a bedroom with
Steven seeing each other every minute of the day and not having my own private time
and space. At home it is so much different having our own plans only seeing each other for meals
and on Sundays when we relax! Not every second of the day!!!!!!!!
My favorite countries out of all
the countries we have visited this year was certainly China. When I talk about China I mean Beijing and Shanghai. It does have bad, disgusting things like the smog, people spitting everywhere, people eating fury, slimy cooked scorpions, worms and spiders, but my favorite experience was the language “nihou”, xie xie”, “ nihou ma” etc. ( when I am older I want/will learn Chinese and I know it is very difficult, but I at least would like to be able to make a conversation in Chinese). I also “love” the food-culture in China, the different kinds of noodles and different kinds of food. No Mac Donalds food or KFC but “hot pot” and sitting in the food-court with different kinds of people trying to make a conversation. I also love China, because I feel free there to do whatever I want. If I feel like singing or randomly dance they will like it and will not say “what the hell is she doing”. Everybody in China is in fashion – at least in Beijing. So I went along and followed everyone wearing high skirts and pony tails that also looked nice as a bracelet, spectacles without glasses in them etc. The people are also very, very friendly and they will help you in any way. Most of the Chinese like to communicate with you even to try their new English words they learned randomly saying “good morning” and then running away laughing. Ooh and the first week when we were in Beijng, there were 3 students who tapped our shoulder and quickly said “ hello” and ran away quickly!! There is a lot of history in Beijing too, with the temple of Heaven, Great Wall of China, Summer Palace, Llama temple etc. China was also cheap, but not cheap enough. I thought it would have been cheaper with more little shops everywhere as you sometimes see in a China Town, but it wasn't like that at all. Most of the people in Beijing want to shop for ‘European Style’ goods. There is lots more to say about China; weather, city, traffic etc. but I have to stop now otherwise mom, Steven and dad won’t have a turn............. Any way I love China, because it is so different than anywhere else !
Mum:
O dear...we had so many extra ordinary experiences....what was
the best one ???? Difficult to
choose!!!!!
I enjoyed being teacher, I learned so many
things myself again
I
loved telling people how special South Africa isI
cherish the many personal chats and adventures we had with the four of us
But when I think back of the past 12 months I mainly remember the
many people we met.
Most of them showed surprise and admiration towards our adventure
followed by the remark that unfortunately they themselves would never be able to do something similar.
So Loes, what I above all like to share with your many blog readers
is our experience of how relatively easy it was to turn our dream into
reality!
1st and without doubt, the most challenging part is The Decision itself.
Automatically we are all looking for security and comfort zones, so
the step to leave your work, school, house and friends behind to spend a whole
year into the unknown is quite big?
However, after we had discussed the pros and cons the ‘idea’ became
‘manageable’ and we agreed with the family that we would Go Ahead.
After that the easy part starts....................... realizing the
dream.
2nd in importance is the Preparation time.
We took a whole year to make sure that we became replaceable at
work, to work out schooling for the kids and organize house and budget.
Challenges are always hard to deal with and become even more
difficult to solve when you are away, so preparing to leave needs time.
3rd advice is do NOT prepare your trip in detail.
We read this tip ourselves in an article of another family who traveled with their kids and their tip turned out to be a golden one.
We knew the destinations – Loes, Steven, Jaap and I all had 1
theme/country – but other than the flight to our first destination we did not
arrange anything in advance. We organised the arrangements for the next
destination only a few weeks before.
This way you remain flexible and do not get stressed (not this year
at least).
So, ones you are ‘on-the-move’ the 4th tip is to structure
your daily activities.
Definitely important with children is to organize the day with
regular timetables for homeschooling, going out to see and or do things and to
include private time. It gives them something to look forward to and enlarges
the enjoyment.
So Yes, many more do-s and don’t-s can be shared, but the ones
above are the most valuable. Overall it is not a matter of work, schooling or
budget. Everyone can do it as long as you really want it.
Wishing that many more families will be encouraged to add such a
wonderful experience to their lives and that of their children (already we
heard of 1 family who will DO IT in 2014), I will mention just a few
‘souvenirs’ of what you will bring home after your trip;
Strong family bonding, unlimited memories, lots of new energy, new
‘tools’, different ideas, more understanding, appreciation, respect and many
more values in live that one tends to take for granted.
...and personally for us....we realize ones again that we come back
to the best place on earth!
Steven: Playing soccer
in different countries.
Argentina
When I was looking for a soccer club
in San Telmo we found one under a high way.
How they played!!
We learned that as soon as you get the ball you just had to
control it and then pass. Sometimes you can keep the ball maybe a few seconds longer, but then pass.
I did have lots of fun there. Met lots of friends. I also met a boy the same
age as me and he spoke English. We still have lots of communication through Facebook.
China
When we came in China I could not
find any soccer club, because they are all out of the city and we did not have a
car. So I practiced in the compound where we lived. There I met a friend to play with and his father spoke
excellent English and the boy spoke a few words. So we became very good friends
and played together at the same club.
How they played!!
They played very selfish and kept
the ball to themselves. I think they are not used to share and play together, because
in China the rule is to have one child per family only. So no one has brothers or sisters. They grow up being the only child with their mothers and fathers.
Spain.
In Barcelona I went with my Dad to a
FC Barcelona match were I saw Messi 10 meters away from me taking a corner.
Their way of soccer is very typical Argentinean and half Spanish.
We found my soccer club on the
first day we arrived in Antequera. When I asked if it was possible to join the soccerclub, he said you may begin now if you want!!
How they play!!
They have lots of skills and the practice is very technical and professional. It is hard to play here because nobody speaks
English (only a few swear words from television). But this feeling of playing soccer I will never get in South
Africa, because here in Antequera I go alone to soccer training by foot. Nobody is in the
street, because I start during Siesta-time and when I come back from soccer I see those
Christmas lights everywhere and the whole street is full of life. Everyone is happy and when I
pass the old age home all the grandmas sitting around and are telling stories together.
So, everywhere there is something special and every country has its specific ways of doing things..... that’s what I think about when I think back of this past year.
Home schooling.
Actually I expected to be on holiday the whole year, but now I look back it was quite busy every day. No time to sit on the couch and do nothing. In every place we lived we had to first unpack and organize my room with my sister. Then we needed to explore the city, find supermarkets and banks and look for transport and sim cards. Then we would start school in the mornings and in the afternoons we would see the things we learned in 3D going to Museums, attractions and other things.
Our normal schedule for
a day is planned like this: Breakfast together then we have school from 09.00 to 13.30 and then my dad
comes back from a local internet-café. Then we have lunch and after that we all go together to see a
museum/market or so.
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| Our world map |
Jaap: Here are some of my experiences of the trip. So
there I am as a young father thinking what to write.....
Coming from the Sexy Sixties - after the hippie
period- we had the Music Top 40.
I just
discovered the Top 40 December 2012 on the internet and, so I will come with my
Kreeft- on- the-move Family Top 40 (as
far I am allowed to go by the publisher)
Let’s start with the
first 10 of the TOP 40 from 1972 (40
years ago when I was same age as the kids)
1. The Rolling Stones
– Angie 6. John Lennon , Yoko Ono & Harlem
Community Choir (Happy Xmas (Was is over)
2.Gibert O’Sillivan –
Alone Again 7. Golden Earing – Radar Love
3 David Cassidy –Rock Me baby 8. Sammy Davis Jr – The Cany Man can
4. Mouth &
Macneal - How Do you Do 9.
The Moody Blues – Nights in
White Satin
5. Vickey Leandros –
Apres Toi 10. Johhny Nash – I can see clearly Now
MY OWN THE KREEFT OF THE MOVE TOP 40 (upto 15 due to space on blog) :
What
were the un expected high lights :
1)
With 4 of us 6 - 10hours
together
2)
With kids walking / by bus in
the different cities to their sports and the morning Run with Loes
3)
Unexpected friends from
Deventer (Oost NL), Tourism Study NWIT, and SA in Tinogasta, Melbourne, Singapore,
Beijing
4)
For us unknown cities : Chile
Cito, Tinogasta, Kharkiv, Osea Island Patras, Chiavari & Antequera
5)
China & Ukraine
What
was different than expected (disappointed)
6) Buenos Aires , golden Memories changed in City without hope run by many Grasping government officials
(Bit similar in Athens)
7) FEDEX & RipCurl (bunch of losers after a lot of pressure did
their job)
8) Customs in Australia (worse of all)
9)
We saw 500.000 chopped
trees per day moving from Siberia towards China
10)
Empathic behaviour in South
of Spain, complaining while so many possibilities around
What did I learn (or have been
reminded of again):
11)
Kids are flexible and
overall they were great together
12)
Germaine is a Super Woman
13)
No office desk needed, can
work on nice terraces and cafe’s
14)
World changes much faster
than I thought (despite travelling and reading a lot , big surprise)
15)
That I like my job
This is a summary of the countries
we have been to and what we thought was nice for each:
| Type | country of mom | country of Loes | country of Steven | country of Jaap |
| best ice- cream | Italy/Rome | Argentina/ Buenos Aires | Argentina/Buenos Aires | Argentina/Buenos Aires |
| cleanest place | Anteqeura | Singapore | Singapore | Monaco |
| dirtiest place | China/ Beijing | China/Beijing | China/Beijing | Argentina/Buenos Aires |
| favorite country | Spain | South Africa | England/London | China |
| favorite apartment | China / Beijing | Argentina (Recolleta) | Argentina (Recolleta) | China/ Beijing |
| favorite food | Pasta/Italy | pizza/ Italy | Pollo Snitzel/Argentina | Noodles/China |
| the most friendly country | Spain | China | China | China |
| the most unfriendly country | Russia | Russia | Russia | Russia |
| where we wanted to go back | Ukraine | China | England/London | China |
| where we don't want to go back | Russia | Russia | Russia | Argentina/Buenos Aires |
| value for money | Spain | South Africa | China | China |
| cheapest country | Spain | Spain | Ukraine | Ukraine |
| country of history | Italy | Poland | Greece | China |
Next week : Sevilla
Mucho Gracias
Louisa, Esteban, Gaap, Carmen
