Welcome to the year 2K! I am Jim Noble and this the first post in my 21 st century Diary. I had the pleasure of seeing in the new year in Henrik Ido Ambacht, just south of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It is my first New Years in Holland and without doubt unlike any I have ever seen. I have been in some big places with lots of people, been to some wild parties, been in some great pubs, been spectacularly drunk and have seen spectacular fireworks over Sydney Harbour bridge a few times but Never anything like this. The Dutch have always amused me with their curious mix of civilised and loony. I suppose we spent most of the evening sat in a couple of different living rooms eating and drinking and having a chat and so it was by no means wild, but at midnight, all hell broke loose. As those of you that have experienced it will know, midnight (and in fact before hand and for a couple of hours aftwerwards its a firework free for all. Everyone is in the street letting off their own fireworks from wine bottles. Its like a war zone (I am grateful to not really be able to say that I suppose) Lights flashing and banging everywhere. At one point one shot along the ground, obviously from a fallen wine bottle. I must confess to being a little scared. Anyone in my immediate family will know I have a history of being scared by firework displays, mistaking them for midnight invasions. We spent the evening with our good friends Wendy and Ercan, Wendy and my wife, Lianne, go way back and I have always been welcomed by her family of friends. After a toast or two, we braved the battlefields to walk to Wendy's mums place where we sat down again in a civilised circle round another table full of food and drink. The bitte balle are my favoutrite, dipped in mustard! I suppose in years to come it might seem quite rock'n'roll that I started the new millenium with my head down the toilet and I suppose it is an equally auspicious beginning to this diary! I guess it was a bad cocktail for bitte ballen, wine, beer and champagne. At 27 years old I have done a fair bit of drinking, but reckon my binging days are over!
This year I am getting married! 2 weeks ago, I surprised my now 'fiance' on a Saturday morning by fetching the post and included was a reservation at the Charingworth Manor hotel in nearby Chipping Campden (we dont live in Holland anymore, we are just visiting). I explained that I just wanted to take her away somewhere nice for the weekend. We drove up, had lunch in a pub and then checked in to the hotel and as we had just finished dressing for dinner I ordered a bottle of bubbles for our room and got down on one knee and asked Cornelia Johanna De Graaf to marry me as I offered her a ring. She said yes of course and we kissed and drank! I definitely surprised her. The only person that knew was my new friend Alison who helped me understand about engagement rings! A slightly misty eyed dinner followed and then, would you believe it, we looked outside to notice that the estate was covered in a blanket of fresh snow. You cant write this stuff can you. We changed and went out for a roll in the snow, threw snowballs and made angels. Snow is like a drug for me (and no I dont mean cocaine) Just plain old snow. This was a very happy evening indeed!
Anyway, here we are in the year 2000. I have just started my first job as a secondary maths teacher at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, I have just become engaged to the lovely Lianne, we live in an amazing 300 - 400 year old terraced cottage in the middle of Witney on the edge of the cotswolds. The world has apparently survived the millenium bug and I wonder what the new century holds for it. I want to write this diary in part to chronicle my own life and those of my family and friends and partly to chronicle the 21 st century as I see it! Who knows, someday it might make a good read! For now I think I need some more paracetamol and something to eat! Pictures to follow.....
This year I am getting married! 2 weeks ago, I surprised my now 'fiance' on a Saturday morning by fetching the post and included was a reservation at the Charingworth Manor hotel in nearby Chipping Campden (we dont live in Holland anymore, we are just visiting). I explained that I just wanted to take her away somewhere nice for the weekend. We drove up, had lunch in a pub and then checked in to the hotel and as we had just finished dressing for dinner I ordered a bottle of bubbles for our room and got down on one knee and asked Cornelia Johanna De Graaf to marry me as I offered her a ring. She said yes of course and we kissed and drank! I definitely surprised her. The only person that knew was my new friend Alison who helped me understand about engagement rings! A slightly misty eyed dinner followed and then, would you believe it, we looked outside to notice that the estate was covered in a blanket of fresh snow. You cant write this stuff can you. We changed and went out for a roll in the snow, threw snowballs and made angels. Snow is like a drug for me (and no I dont mean cocaine) Just plain old snow. This was a very happy evening indeed!
Anyway, here we are in the year 2000. I have just started my first job as a secondary maths teacher at Bartholomew School in Eynsham, I have just become engaged to the lovely Lianne, we live in an amazing 300 - 400 year old terraced cottage in the middle of Witney on the edge of the cotswolds. The world has apparently survived the millenium bug and I wonder what the new century holds for it. I want to write this diary in part to chronicle my own life and those of my family and friends and partly to chronicle the 21 st century as I see it! Who knows, someday it might make a good read! For now I think I need some more paracetamol and something to eat! Pictures to follow.....
