Whatz up with the Winnipeg van Bruggens?!?

I have been informed that it is my time to post, as I have neglected to do so as of late. Its been great having Mom around, she's been spoiling me rotten, making me pot pies, stews and purchasing meat for my clean freezer (thanks to Mom), along with treating me for dinners . . . Eat Bistro is wonderful . . . their soup is to die for (cream of lemon chicken, with chive milk foam, orzo pasta , onions and all other kinds of deliciousness), and helping me purchase a pattern and fabric for a shirt, plus so much more. I'm going to miss having her around . . . though perhaps it will be a good thing as I've been horribly lazy, and eating way to much good food.

We have been keeping busy. When I'm at work (fending off the underwear stealers, and killing my chickens . . . did I tell you that one of them was chirping . . . you could see it was chirping in the egg. . . then I had to kill it . . . ah the things we do for science.) Mom's been visiting family, going to games "night" with the seniors, spending time walking around Superstore at Bison Dr. waiting for her mother to show up, who claims to have also been at the Bison Dr. Superstore waiting patiently for Mom, shopping, reading, preparing for her courses etc etc etc. In the evenings we've gotten our hair cuts, watched movies and plays (we saw the Divine Comedy at Church of the Rock . . . we had seen it before a long time ago, its about the pastor who takes over a crumbling church and is tasked with bring attendance up to 100 people, the leadership of the church is filled with numerous characters including the lady who upon receipt of a Jehovah Witness at her front door wraps herself in tin foil as she happens to have no clothes on, being right from the shower . . . the play was OK a little strange, but Grandma enjoyed it!), and just spending time enjoying each others company etc etc.

All in all, it had been a great two weeks! I'm going to miss her when she leaves!

The great adventure continues

Hi all

I am just writing to let you all know that dad has successfully left Ljubljana.  After some searching on the internet it was decided that the best way for dad to get to Albania was to go to Skopje and then look for a connection there.  We had been told that there are a number of connections from Skopje to Albania however we were not sure of the time, but you know how dad is and I am sure that things will work out great.  Also some good news was that we were able to transfer some euro to dennars before dad left Slovenia for the bus from Skopje so that is one less thing that needs to be worried about.

It is funny I  am entirely use to living on my own but when I left dad at the bus station I had a momentary thought of doubt "how am I going to do this on my own" but then I remembered that I have been managing just fine up until know.  It is funny how the arrival of a parent sometimes makes you second guess your abilities.  I am not sure if this is everyones experience but I find it tends to be mine.  The feeling soon passes and within 5 minutes I was running for a bus with a million different things on my mind.

Well I have to run there is much studying to be done but dad will be missed even his constant asking of geographical questions that I had no idea about or his wanting to keep to a "normal" (as he put it) schedule of meals.  It was a great father son bonding experience and one that I hope will be repeated sooner than later, just not too soon.

Love you all

Wes

May not be Venice but pretty notheless

Greetings from Winterpeg

We woke up to a recent snowfall and the city is covered in a beautiful white blanket of snow. Actually it really isn't cold, in fact very warm from January. Yesterday Rebekah and I headed out for Grammas church after talking with everyone over SKYPE. The bus system, as you know, very slow on a Sunday but we did manage to get to church 30 minutes before it began. We met Mom and Dad coming out of their service and they advised us to attend the service to hear the special speaker which is what we did. This weekend was the conclusion of a marriage seminar and he was the invited speaker. He spoke about marriage and was very good - spoke from Ephesians about living an exemplary life. After church we went to Mom and Dad's for one of Mom's famous full course lunches complete with rhubarb dessert. That afternoon we played rummycub for an hour or so. Mom loves that game. We caught the 7:00 bus back to the condo but the weather has turned and there was a strong north wind blowing - we were shivering in our boots. Sorry no pictures of our little adventure.

On Saturday, we went skating at the Forks. While we were there, a dog sled passed us - a man had driven the dogs down from Churchill. He was just arriving at the Forks and there was a big welcoming committee for him there - politicians and all. Interesting. We wandered around the Forks for awhile before heading over to MTC to watch a musical.

There are a few things I really miss about Winnipeg - the smell of woodsmoke, pine trees and crisp clean snow and live theater. This week Church of the Rock is having a drama that we are going to go see, I'm looking forward to that. Just after I leave there is a production at the Warehouse that looks really good - I would have loved to see it. Oh well, I guess they will just have to stay in my memory.

On Tuesday, the plan is to drive out to Kathy and Tim's for a part of the day and then on Wednesday, Mom's choir is having a games event in the afternoon and Mom invited me. I will be playing rummycub with 20 or so seniors. Should be fun!!!!

Well, it's not Venice but I still think its beautiful. Have a great week everyone.

Love MOM

Venice

Hi all

Dad and I are back from Venice and I must say that Venice is everything that they say it is. I must be honest Venice was a place that I had wanted to visit but I was not really looking forward to but this trip has changed my view. The trip started off with some difficulties for both dad and myself however more so for dad. I had to drop off some documents in Trieste for my visa so my trip to Venice was not a direct one. While getting to Trieste was no problem when I got to the consulate to drop off the documents I found that I needed to have the letter of support translated to Slovenian and I was informed that I would not be able to drop off the letter until translated. Well here I was in Trieste on my way to Venice and I had to figure out how to this letter translated. I was informed that I would be able to go to a little border town in Slovenia and go to the courts to get this document translated however no one in the court spoke English so the next option was going to a private translator but that would have taken at least a day to get translated. After pleading my case it was agreed that they would translate the document at the consulate for 27 euros making me very happy. I was then off to Venice, I was able to quickly buy my ticket for a cheap price and got the train no problem however what I didn't know was that I had to validate my ticket before getting on the train. I was discovered about 3/4 of the way to Venice and had to pay a 50 euro fine on the spot. Needless to say that put a damper on my mood but that quickly lifted when I got to Mestre (where dad and I were staying) and easily met dad as I was leaving the train station. After a quick stop at the customer service department to try to get back my money and complain we were off to the hostel. The hostel was really nice it was for sure more like a hotel then a hostel. That night we took it easy as both dad and I were tired (dad was more tired then I and was asleep by 5:30) and then next day we were off to Venice.

Venice at night, I think this was just outside the train station.

Pic of me trying to look Venician

One of the many pictures of gondolas that dad made me take while in Venice

Dad and I got off the beaten path for most of our first day and this was one of the delightful squares.

One of our first picture of Venice with dad looking like the locals

Our first day we wandered Venice around off the beaten path looking to see how the Italians lived and generally trying to avoid all the tourists (there were not a ton of tourists however they were on the main routes). We headed to St. Marcs square where we had gelato and and watched the tourists then wandered around at the top of the island. Slowly we headed back where we went for 3 course dinner (it was wonderful and filling) at this little kosher restaurant that we found in the Jewish quarter and headed back to the hotel. The next day dad and I wanted to see some of the islands (there are lots of little islands in the bay by Venice) and we bought a water taxi pass and went to Murano (they make glass on the island and it is famous in Italy) and to Borano (this is a little fishing village with lots of brightly colored house). Mom you would love Borano it is beautiful and both dad and I agreed that if we were going to live in the area that it would be Borano that we would live (I tried to talk dad into getting a place on the island). That night we made our way back to the main island and had some Italian pizza and we were pretty cold and made our way back to the hostel. Saturday (our last day) we packed up at the hostel and stored all the luggage at the hostel and headed back into Venice to see everything that we missed and then about 2 we caught a train back to Mestre and grabbed a bite to eat and caught a bus back to Ljubljana.

homes in Borano (not all the bright colors)
Italian sunset

Borano (note this little cannel)
Mom's future house (dad and I were thinking B & B)

Random shot of Venice

Some more homes in Borano

One of many shots of gondolas that dad made me take (you can't see the accordion player who was playing and singing in the boat because he had just sat down when I was taking the picture)
This was the most authentic gondola that we say (if I were going to take a gondola I would be looking for gondoliers that look like this)

All in all it was a great trip and I would have no problem going back.

Exploding Eggs

This week was full of big and small surprises.

First, an interesting opportunity surfaced to realize a project that Dad and I have wanted to put in place for quite some time. We mentioned to one of Dad's students that we would like to create an online community for our students for some of our classes. This student took this idea and presented us with a surprise. He knew someone who could put this together in exchange for some help with preparation for a job interview. So between Dad and I, we have been working with this young man helping him to prepare for his interview and in exchange he has setup Moodle for us to use with our classes. Dad and I are co-teaching an Advanced Communications class. We won't have a text book, just provide readings and online text. We want to use Moodle for manageing the course work and the readings.

Second, I took on the task of co-ordinating the writing of a Handbook. It started out as a realatively small project - just write 2 chapters for "the book". However this week it quickly blossomed into a major project that required bringing extra forces ie. your father. Originally "the book" was supposed to be 150 pages but this week, we were given the directive to increase to 200 pages. After writing my sections I needed to format and compile everyones chapters, making it look like a book. Dad has been involved in editing and expanding on my sections increasing the number of pages. It's been intense.

Third, in reference to the title of this blog, yes, eggs do explode if left on the stove too long. Early Friday morning, I offered to make breakfast because Dad was wading through "the book". I thought that hard boiled eggs and toast would be a nice lite breakfast since the night before we had been to Daegu and enjoyed a large but very nice Birthday meal. I set the eggs in a pot of water on the stove and decided that while that was cooking I would get some more work done on "the book". Well, it drew me in and I completely forgot about the eggs until we heard this loud pop from the kitchen. As soon as I opened the door to the livingroom/kitchen, we were met with this wall of smoke and acrid smell. The eggs had boiled dry and eventually exploded - pushing the top off the pot and projecting pieces of egg around the kitchen. It was quite impressive but the smell was awful. Needless to say, even after opening all the doors and windows the smell still permeated the house later that night when we came home from working at the office. Yuk!!!

Your father is looking forward to his vacation - no editing books, no exploding eggs, no interview questions with students - just sighseeing, cafes, hugs, and relaxation. Me, I'm still tying to find all the pieces to the eggs, ways to defumigate the house and the e-mail address of everyone who needs to see "the book" before it goes to printing.

Signing off on a week full of surprises and little egg bits.

Birthdays

It's January so you know what that means - BIRTHDAYS. I have never been a big fan of the month of January. Gramma's birthday was on the 6th. Did you all remember to wish her a Happy Birthday? This week it's your poppa's birthday, so don't forget to send him your wishes. Also if your thinking of your extended family, it's also your uncle Ron's birthday on the 14th too. Then, last but not least, your little sister has a birthday too. We'll have to load up her e-mail with lots of crazy junk mail and add in some nasty viruses.

So there you have it - January - yuk. February can't come soon enough.

Albania

our bathroom
My bedroom!
Other part of the kitchen!
Our kitchen: gas stove!
Another part of our living room!
Our new carpet! Isn't it nice! And our living room: notice the gas heater!
My wood stove!!!!! Soooo warm!!!!
This is my family that I spent New Years with!
Stuffing like corn bread stuff
turkey and cockets (sp??): these are the innards of a sheep: triffle, organs, fried to perfection with a crispy outside!
All the dishes on New Years at 11pm!
This is the shopping centre
Shopping centre
Look Albanian body shop!
Penguin helper
this is our skating rink, check out the penguins!!!!
Check out this one!!!!! Thats right AFC!!

Interesting

Check this out

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=Van+Bruggen

Avitar

Hi all

So I am pretty sure that I am the first one to see Avitar seeing as mom and dad were unable to see it, Lynnette is in Albania (enough said) and Rebekah is well Rebekah.

As far as this movie goes I have to say that the special effects are awesome and you really should see it in 3-D because it really adds something to the file.  However as far as the story goes I would have to say ti was pretty standard, in fact after all the hype I was even a little disappointed I guess I just expect a little more out of a movie.   That being said I would for sure recommend seeing this movie if for nothing else just for the special effects which makes it worth while to see once.  I am not sure if there is a Oscar for special effects but I guarantee if there is this movie will win it.

Ciao

Budapest

Hi All

I just got my hands on a few more pics of Budapest form a friends camera so I thought that I would post some photos which I didn't get.

The intrepid travelers with the exception of one (someone had to take the picture)

Another view of the Parliament building

In front of a massive church in Budapest (no I don't remember which church it was)

Just a random pic on the street

Wes vs The Iron Curtain (Iron Curtain 1 - Wes 0)

That is all for now but I am expecting to get some more pics from one other in the group so I may have a few more pictures to post.

Love Ya

Budapest

Hi All

I am back safe and sound from Budapest and I must say it was an excellent time.  The weather left a little to be desired, it was warm but foggy which really made wandering around and taking photos a challenge but the company was great and over all it was a fantastic time.  Budapest is for sure going on my list of places that I want to see again.

First a little back ground on Budapest, the city is unique as it is split into two parts there is Buda and there is Pest.  The river which flows though the city splits the city into its two sections, Buda is the older section of the city where you find most of the castles, churches and things to see where Pest is the newer section of the city where you find all the stores to go shopping at as well as lots of restaurants, pubs and clubs.  We spent one day exploring Buda and one day exploring Pest but to be honest to be able to really see the city you would probably need about a week.  We were able to see all the big things however there was a lot of things that we were not able to see.  Also it would be good to do during the summer, or not over a holiday as more things would be open.

Anyways in order to get to Budapest we took the train which turned out to be a 9 hour train ride.  Normally I am not a huge fan of the getting there part of a trip however in this case it was really nice, for the 7 of us which went we had three cabins and each cabin was designed to hold 6 people so we all had lots of room.  Also you can recline the chairs in each cabin and make a giant bed, each cabin also had curtains which you can pull shut and lights that you can dim.  Traveling by train in Europe is really a nice way to go, plus you go though lots of beautiful country side.

When we got to Budapest we all got settled in our respective places, and met up for dinner.  In Budapest they use the HUF not the Euro and the exchange between the Euro and HUF is 1 : 280 so when we would go out things would be in the 100s but it didn't take long to do the conversions.  I found the prices in Budapest slightly cheaper then Slovenia so that was nice, also the hostel that we were staying had a kitchen which allowed us to make some food again reducing the cost of the trip.  In Hungary they have a number of special items one of them is Goulosh and another is Langous (which is basically deep fried dough covered with some kind of topping, we had the garlic and cheese version and it was delicious)

The first night we were there we went out for dinner and then went out to find a pub for a beer.  We went to two really cool pubs they were both make up of random rooms off one central area.  It was kind of like the forks but much less organized, we are talking about 30 little rooms off one giant central area.  I guess originally these rooms were apartments for Jewish familys and when they fled Hungary in the second world war they had been left abandoned and then someone combined them all into a pub, they called the pub the ruin because it looked like a ruin.  I tried to take some pictures but they do not not this pub justice at all.

Another interesting fact Budapest is that they have fast food restaurants everywhere.  A running joke was that we would get directions based on the number of fast-food restaurants that we had to pass in order to get to where we were going "Go past three Burger Kings and Turn right at the KFC if you hit the Pizza hut you have gone too far"

The second day we spent in Buda.  It was warm but foggy which made it difficult to take any real picures.  We first went to their statue of Liberty, that is right they have a statue of liberty as well and then we made our way to a castle and some more churches.  Along the way we noticed this delicious smell coming from a church and found a resturant where we had a traditional Hungarian meal for super cheap and the food was delicious.  We were going to go out to some jazz bars that night but unfortunatally one of our group was not feeling well and the others were tired from walking all day so we ended up staying in.

Thats right you are seeing a picture of authentic whips, I am not sure if whips were invented in Hungary but they were being sold in the market for a fairly cheap price.  I was very tempted to buy one and pretend to be Indiana Jones but I could see problems and possible some whip related injuries.

The third day we checked out Pest and the shopping which was going on there.  Since it was the 31 lots of the museums were not open so we just wandered around amusing ourselves.  We did see this cool castle and the Square of heros.  Also spas are very popular in Budapest because there are a number of mineral springs we were planning on going to one on New Years day but they were kind of expensive and we were told that they are usually very busy so we ended up canceling those plans.

That night for New Years eve we went to a club (It was called the Play Club) where we enjoyed Champagne and danced away the night we got back to our hostel around 6 in the morning and grabbed a few hours of sleep because we had to be our of the hostel before 11.  Needless to say the train ride back was pretty quite as eveyone spent most of the trip sleeping.

All in all it was a great time and I would love to go back to check out the things that I missed the first time round.  I have a lot more pictures but I can only post a few online if you want to see more check out my facebook profile.

Love

Wes