Âld en Nij, WWIII and a new car for Crystal

Well, we survived! Christmas is over, and more importantly, Âld en Nij, literally translated as Old and New, otherwise known as New Year's Eve, is over!! Over here in Holland, fireworks or firecrackers are sold to the general public, and official laws indicate that you can shoot them off from 10AM on December 31, until 2AM January 1. All day yesterday we heard a pop here, a snap there, and the occasional "BOOM!" (those would be the illegal fireworks that people pick up across the border in Germany). What we also hear during the day is "carbit sjitten", where people put some carbit, a white, chalky stone in a metal milk can, add water, which releases a gas, then put the lid on the can. There is a hole in the bottom, which they hold shut while shaking the can, then the put it on the ground so the can is diagonally facing an open field, put a flame up to the hole, and the lid flies off. This makes a loud noise, which can be heard kilometers in the distance. Here is a picture from the internet:

So, lots of fun. Once it's dark, the fireworks really start, mostly by big groups that have bought some quality fireworks. A lot of families also shoot some off, before their kids go to bed. At midnight the fun really starts, (I'm being sarcastic) when everyone goes outside, wishes their neighbours happy new year, and then start with the fireworks that they haven't shot off yet. Like I mentioned in the title of this blog, it really sounds like World War III, so much noise! They have some things called Duizend Klappers, or thousand bangs, which is literally a thousand big bangs and pops. Here is a picture of someone lighting one:

We live in a housing complex that face other houses, so the bang really reverberate against the houses, which makes it really loud. In all this noise we are always anxious about how Ilianna is doing. Well, I can tell you, a train could have come through her room last night, and it would have made less noise than all the noise outside, but she did not wake up!! We were really amazed, and still are!

Here is a picture of what the town look like on New Years morning:

Here is a small fact. 16 million people live in Holland. Many of those are senior citizens, and a good majority is children. Holland spent 60 MILLION EUROS on fireworks this year, 5 million more than last year, and that does not include the illegal stuff that was brought across the border!

Well, since today I can drive Jan's lease car from his work. We have arranged that we can drive it for private use, so we went for a drive this morning. It took a bit of getting used to, since it's bigger, and a diesel, where as I drive a car on gas/petrol. It also have cruise control, which I've never used, so that was fun!

Well, to all of you out there, my family and friends, the three of us wish you much joy, health, prosperity, and pretty much all of the best in 2008.