Dear family, friends, colleagues, and neighbours,
Our Christmas and New Year regards comes this year from the jolly Christmas atmosphere of London. London is where Rob and I have treasured romantic memories as, many years ago, on the 22nd of December 1989, Rob proposed to me in the Speaker’s Corner of Hyde Park!
We arrived in London near the end of August. Rob nearly immediately jumped into his role on the 1st of September at Heineken UK which coincided, also, with our wedding anniversary. For work, Rob travels every other week to Edinburgh as the finance team is stationed there. Our shipping-container eventually arrived on the 27th of October. The move came along at high speeds because of the amazing help of Tineke and Pieter! After 6 days, we were settled nice and cosily in our new home. All 300 boxes were unpacked, furniture put back together, and paintings hung up - we had nothing more to do!!
At the start of the year, we were shaken by the news that Russia had invaded Ukraine. The repercussions of which is felt not only in Ukraine and have reverberated across the globe. The Ukrainian people are standing up for much that we hold dear, fighting for their land and lives! Our thoughts and prayers go out to all Ukrainians, especially those who we personally know. We sincerely hope that peace may soon return. Slava Ukraini!!
Beyond the troubles of the world, life goes on.
On a happier note, we attended two weddings. One in Florida which was quite the excursion from Lagos to Tampa via Paris and then Atlanta. The long journey was well worth it as it was fantastic to see the Cranmers again and to see the happily married couple: Lauren and Mark. The second wedding was of Jackie and Graeme’s daughter in Scotland. It’s always lovely to see all the Scots in their kilts! The betrothed, Fionna and Steward, looked beautiful. It was very special to see Graeme walk Fionna down the aisle; the ceremony being filled with emotions. The wedding had taken place just after a heatwave that struck the UK, so it was exceptionally warm for Scotland. The next wedding that we have in our books will take place in Zanzibar between our “son”, Patrick, who lives in Lagos and Nastyia who lives in Azerbaijan.
Rob and I visited Dubai around the time of Eid el Fitr, the end of Ramadan, where the city had transformed itself like London has now with lights and evening fireworks. It was also great to see Noa there who had flown an hour from – nearby – Qatar.
In May/June we started slowly informing some friends and family that we were going to move; we could not tell our new destination, simply because Nigerian Breweries is a listed company. After the whole Covid-ordeal, we wanted to organize an old-fashioned leaving-party. The party surpassed all our expectations. Marc and Patrick kicked us from the WhatsApp group chat to organize things behind the scenes. What a job they did! We were joined by a famous Nigerian DJ and enjoyed some delicious cocktails and fantastic food. The men gifted us on behalf of all our friends a keke napep! Also known as a yellow three-wheeler that dominate the streets of Lagos. It was such a cool gift! They knew to give this as Rob once drunkenly said that we wanted to have one when we would leave Lagos. Rob’s work fare-well party may have been even more special! In special outfits with lots of music, of course, all his colleagues gathered in the brewery bar. It was a real spectacle with personal speeches, dancing and music. The party was streamed so that the children and I could still be there.
What else happened in our family this year?
Robin (29) and Armin (30) became the proud parents of, Daisy, a puppy from Romania. They also finished renovating their dream house which is Armin's grandmother Vicky's old house. In July, renovations started with the breaking and gutting of the entire house, now they have just moved in. In their holidays, they love sailing on the Adriatic near Croatia. Next year, I’m invited and get to come along as skipper and am already looking forward to it!
Jack (27) and Ailsa (26) are still enjoying living in Zoeterwoude with their dog Zara. Ailsa works in South Amsterdam and Jack in The Hague at the ANWB. Jack and Ailsa started the year with a fortnight in Lagos with Hugo at the end of January and the two of them also enjoyed a nice holiday in Jamaica this summer. We all had such a blast in Nigeria! Jack travelled a lot over the summer to help his little brother move this summer. First, getting all Hugo's (24) stuff from his flat in St Gallen to Zoeterwoude. Then, at the end of September, moving Hugo’s belongings to Luxembourg where he is doing an internship at the European Parliament. He is having the time of his life having been elected as the events coordinator, not that he needed an excuse to dive into pubs with his fellow interns! I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree ;-) His studies, his second master's in St Gallen is not yet finished, which he will likely resume in March.
Noa (26) is nearing her last day of work at the Hilton in Qatar which she will leave just after the World Cup ends. She will be coming to London for a month in January where she will do a bartending course and we will see her every day for a month. After that, she wants to go to Canada to visit her friends as she suddenly and somewhat hastily left in April 2020 due to Covid. She wants, as she says, to make up for the damage of 3 years of incarceration: Covid and Qatar. In March 2023, she wants to go back to work which might just take across the globe. We will wait and see.
In the summer, we spent a lovely long time in Austria. We went to the Grand Prix in Spielberg with Frank and, his youngest son, Joep. Ten days before we came, a massive storm hit Carinthia and it was very noticeable when we arrived. Part of a neighbour's tree had blown down and landed on our roof. The slight damage to our roof was nothing compared to the devastation all around us. It is indescribable what can happen in mere minutes. It was the most extreme at the golf course with hundreds of trees having snapped as if they were matchsticks. Further afield in Carinthia, villages were cut off from the world, roads were swallowed up by the earth and electricity lines severed. A havoc of sorts. Two weeks after the storm came another storm (albeit not as extreme) with hail and this turned rivers into mudslides over roads and this too caused devastation to houses close to rivers. Hugo ‘enjoyed’ seeing a perfectly sunny day change into a storm in the span of minutes.
November 17th was a beautiful day for Rob’s father, Piet, who celebrated his 90th birthday with Willy. It is extraordinary that they are still together and living independently.
This letter is too short to tell what we’ve experienced this year, therefore you can easily read the rest on our blog: www.the-kleinjans.com
Over the year, we’ve had to say our goodbyes to dear people in our lives. The family recently lost Guus (67) who we cherished deeply, shall miss, and take a moment to thank San and Joe for being in our lives. To those friends and family still fighting for their lives, we all wish you strength, hope, and love!
Let us enjoy one another’s company over the coming year and we hope that you all have an amazing, healthy, and joyful year to come – 2023!