Netherlands

I am off to Rotterdam today then Germany for the Super Return Conference. Most of us ex-pats, even after ten years, don't know where Holland is or the difference between Holland and The Netherlands. So here it is:

Holland occupies an area of 41,160 square kilometres and is home to 16 million people. Partly reclaimed from the waters of the North Sea, it is Europe’s most densely populated country. The Netherlands enjoyed a golden age from around 1580 to 1740 when the Dutch East India Company sent ships to the Far East in search of spices and other exotic goods, while colonising the Cape of Good Hope, Indonesia, Surinam, the Antilles, and New Amsterdam (now New York). Today, only the Antilles remain a Dutch colony and are really self ruling. Disaster hit the country in 1953 when a high spring tide accompanied by a severe storm broke the dykes in Zeeland. 1,835 people drowned. To make sure such a tragedy would never occur again, the Delta Project blocked the southwest river deltas using a network of dams, dykes and 3.2km storm surge barrier.

Eitan and Madeleine watch the movie Babe about a pig on a farm. Madeleine asks: "where do sausages come from, mum?" and the film takes on new meaning.

Madeleine excitedly asks: "Eitan after you have had a bath and changed your clothes do you want to play tea parties with me?"

I look under Eitan's bed to find British and American money (coins and bills); a "stash" of Halloween candy and various treasures including music CDs, polished rocks, toys and toy bits, a shield, a compass and some marbles.