Matthijs the intellectual

What a guy! Ok, so maybe Matthijs can't ride a bike yet, but he is a logical thinker. Really, it seems he can't get enough of learning, whether it's English - which he is getting very proficient in, counting or spelling.

This morning while we were still in bed, he proceeded to count to one hundred, a feat that is pretty impressive for a 3-year old. What's more, he's already been adding and subtracting for about a month. We started off pretty easy (well, not necessarily for a 3 year old!) - but he could use all ten of his fingers. He knows a fist-full is five and now gets that anything minus zero is the same number and can now take off his shoes to do the tough 7 + 5 calculations.

He's not averse to asking for help either, and will get me to open my hands, or take off my shoes too so he can get the work done.

Reading is another thing he's excelling at - in English and Dutch. He long mastered the alphabet in English and Dutch, and for the past 5 months or so has been able to pick out all the letters and recognize them - in Dutch and English.

What blew me away though is how quickly he got the "sounds" of the letters. My parents bought him an "Every letter makes a sound" that Lola had on her fridge and after the first month, it started to get stale and sat on the fridge. But lately, he's been pulling the letters off again and sticking them in to hear the sound.

A couple examples to put this in perspective. He's hooked on "Guess Who" the Milton Bradley game where you have to guess who the other person has but asking various "eliminating" questions. He gets all that, and at the end, he asks - BY NAME - if you have Peter, Tom, or Maria... wow.

Another example, he's playing computer games and likes the LEGO site where he can build with virtual blocks and steer trains. At the beginning of the game, he has to put in his name. So he types in "Matthijs"... wow again. Sometimes to be funny though he types in Papa, Opa or Lola - just so he can pretend he's playing as someone else.

What a clown.

Matthijs with Impetigo

Oh, oh oh... what a week! Matthijs picked up something from school, and it started off as a small blister on his lower back. Within 24 hours, we had gone to the doctor, and he had diagnosed it as "Impetigo".

In Dutch, they call is "Kinderzeer" or "Krentenbaard" which translates as "Childsore" or "Current-beard" respectively, and it is not dangerous or life-threatening, and is actually more common in kids aged 2-6.

Well, if Matthijs doesn't keep getting worse and worse! The creams and treatments help, and the places that were infected, are not anymore, but new ones just keep popping up all over his body. It is extremely contagious though - so no daycare for him... they told me I had to come get him, and not to bring him back until he was better.

Now for the worst part, the pictures of him... poor guy... (click here).

A new Perabo on the way!

I am very happy to announce that we will be adding another Perabo to the clan! Granted I had to post-date this entry so not to blab all the news too early, but Marieke is pregnant again.

We're thrilled and we expect the baby in April of 2009. The timing also coincides with Jocelyne who's due in December and Lena who is due in February... good things do indeed come in threes!

It may sound old-fashioned, but in all my travels, Holland is probably still one of the “smokiest” places around. There are still many people who smoke, and unlike Asia, the women smokers here are as many as the men! On top of that, there has been little incentive to quit smoking here. Prices are under €4/pack and you can smoke anywhere… one time a couple years ago, I was in a France (ok, not Holland) airport, and when I asked the guard where I could smoke, he told me to just discretely smoke in the corner over there…

The most popular nightclubs and pubs (where you might go to just have a drink) greet you from the shoulders up with a refreshing cloud of smoke… gross, whether you smoke or not! Restaurants, hotels, lobbies, malls, inside many people’s houses (not ours :)) smoking is the norm.

All that’s gonna change from July 1^st, , 2008. As of that date, there will be no more smoking in bars or restaurants – what the Dutch call HORECA for HOtels, REstaurants and CAfes.

Let me predict what will happen, as I saw it in California first, then Ottawa and then the little home of North Bay where we grew up:

There will be a total ban on smoking that will last 2 days. Bars and restaurants will complain that they are losing clientele who are used to smoking but who don’t come anymore. Some bars and restaurants will still let their patrons smoke, and get hit with huge fines. Some restaurants “a la Phil’s dinner in Guelph” will even sue the government and after spending much money will lose and go out of business.

Shortly thereafter, the government will issue “compromising” laws that saw only “nightclubs” who have people >18 can still smoke, but only in some places. Other pubs and bars will try to cling to this rule too, but will be denied. They will fight and the government will cut a little more slack. Things will start to loosen up again for a couple months and then the government will crack down again. This time, there will be no warnings – fines and no excuses will be the rule.

People will start to see that there is no going back this time and slowly, Holland will be like California, Ottawa and North Bay – smoke-free everywhere. I’m all for the movement, I’m just curious to see how it will play out.

The big question will be… are you still allowed to smoke joints in these places…? J

SkyEurope doesn't suck, but it's not yet perfect

I normally enjoy flying with SkyEurope, but I recently had a terrible experience that I wanted to share with you to comment before I posted on various airline review boards. I look forward to your comments.

I recently travelled from Amsterdam to Bratislava. It used to be a wonderfully convenient flight but this was obviously as this flight was cancelled. Instead, the flight flew to Vienna and a "Shuttle Bus" drove from Vienna to BPM.

I contacted SkyEurope with no response, to find out where "BPM" was - it was not the Bratislava airport - and I needed to rent a car from the airport... with no response, I guessed that I could take a taxi if needed and booked a car with a car agency at the airport.

When I arrived at the Vienna airport, NO ONE could tell me where this Shuttle Bus left from. Some said by Arrivals there were buses, others said I needed to go upstairs to Departures.

It seems there are buses every hour (even more often) yet my SkyEurope connection arrived in Vienna at 10:55 and scheduled my shuttle bus at 15:30 - Four and a half hours later!

The woman behind the SkyEurope counter in Vienna remarked that it was strange that the bus was listed for such a time - her timetable showed no such bus. I waited and waited and finally after every bus that pulled up if they were the SkyEurope bus to Bratislava, it was 15:45 and no bus showed up. When I went back to the counter, the woman contacted SkyEurope and was told that the bus arrived and left... NO WAY!!! I was there and asked every driver, this simply never happened!

She informed me that I could take the next bus which was 1:15 later, which I did. It turned out the Shuttle Bus DID go to the airport in Bratislava - why didn't they just say this??? Or simply put BTS (Bratislava Airport Code) on the ticket???

In any case, the car pick-up was ok, but they confirmed that I would pick it up at the bus station downtown where the SkyEurope bus went (ie. the BPM location on my ticket).

I got lost a thousand times trying to get to the Bus Station downtown, but I can't nlame any of this on SkyEurope. When I got there however - NO ONE knew of the "SkyEurope Shuttle Bus" or the Blagussa Bus (??) that I had noticed on my arrival. Was I even at the right place? I would never know.

To prevent any disasters, I simply bought a ticket from the Eurolines bus lines which I paid extra for.

I would advise that SkyEurope make the journey A LOT more clear to Amsterdam-Bratislava passengers or simply not offer the "flight" at all - just tell passengers there are buses every hour traveling to Bratislava and to get on any number of them when they arrive.