Pressies sorted

So what do you do when you need to get presents for more than 40 cousins, uncles, aunties, second cousins, great-aunts, old workmates and former drinking buddies? A pounamu (greenstone pendant) for everyone would be cool but would use up half my travel fund, so instead I've chosen my favourite photos of the past couple of years and had them printed on A4 card. Now I just have to sign them, pop them into sleeves, and pressies are sorted... 

Oops, there goes the surprise. Oh well...

Two weeks to go

Today my favourite travel agent, the awesome Aimee from Kaikohe, made the last arrangements and printed out my tickets. There's really no backing out now. Thank you Aimee for your patience and cunning plans! Only two weeks to go...

I'll drink to that

Long ago the de Graafs were grog merchants - this was their shop in the Dutch city of Leiden. Apparently the building is still standing so I'm hoping to find it. Funnily enough mum's side of the family was in the same business, so it seems I am descended from a long line of booze sellers. That could explain a few things... 

Garden party beckons

In June I'll be returning to the school I taught at through much of the 1990s for the annual Garden Party, where prizes are awarded to the top students of the year and the kids perform skits and songs to hopefully impress their parents. This photo, of the senior girls and my old mate Roger (what is he doing there?), was taken about 1995. They've all grown up, got jobs and had kids, but the school still looks pretty much the same. Called Česko-anglické gymnasium (Anglo-Czech High School), it was one of the first private schools set up in the Czech city of České Budějovice* after the Velvet Revolution of 1989. 

* In case you were wondering, České Budějovice is pronounced CHESS-keh BOOD-yay-o-vits-eh. Something like that anyway. It's about three hours south of Prague by train. 

Double trouble

I'm also looking forward to seeing my cousins Jolande and Lidwien. Both live in Amsterdam these days where they've promised to take me out for a "koffie/lunch/hapje/borrel" (coffee/lunch/snack/drink). Maybe I'll just opt for all of those. Whatever we do, going by what I remember of the twins, it's bound to be fun... 

Ráchel, Boris and me

And here's someone else I want to catch up with (no, not Boris the inflatable tyrannosaurus rex, though he is still somewhere in the Czech Republic). Ráchel, here aged about nine, was a child genius and one of my favourite students. She may still be a genius but she is certainly no longer a child. I used to spend the odd Christmas with Ráchel, her sister Sarah and their mum Barbora, who served as a sort of surrogate family for me. Both girls now live in Prague and are globe-trotting extreme frisbee exponents but I'm sure I'll see them somewhere.
In case you were wondering, those are not Czech national costumes we're wearing. This was a Halloween dress-up, the year before an unfortunate incident involving me in a pirate costume, the Czech police, and a fine my boss somehow made go away. But that's another story...

Jěstě jedno pivo, prosím*

Another person I'm looking forward to catching up with is Simon Gill (pictured here in his natural habitat, a pub in Moravia). Originally from Liverpool, Simon taught in all sorts of curious places before he ended up in what was then the Slovak half of Czechoslovakia a couple of weeks before the Velvet Revolution of 1989. These days he lives with his wife, daughters and dog in a two-pub village in Moravia, the eastern part of the Czech Republic. Simon is extraordinarily good company and is, I believe, a world authority on the English language, traditional Czech pub culture and music recorded on New Zealand's Flying Nun label in Dunedin in the 1980s. I kid you not.

*One more beer, please

Love is in the air

So it turns out my cousin Jan de Graaf is getting married while I am in Europe, to the lovely Yvette. I'm stoked for both of them. Only small complication: They're not getting married in Holland but in Rwanda. Cue several late nights poring over the interweb looking for affordable flights and another visit to my friend Aimee the travel agent, and I am now the happy owner of a return ticket to Kigali for a traditional two-day African wedding in mid-August. It's going to be a mission - the flights are Prague-Istanbul-Entebbe-Kigali - but it's going to be awesome.

The last photo

This is the last photo my mum took - a windmill in a snow-covered landscape on the way to Schipol airport - when she left the Netherlands more than 50 years ago. I hope it's a bit warmer when I get there.

Back to school

Here's some more ancient history ... my first farewell party at Česko-anglické gymnasium (Anglo-Czech High School) in the Czech Republic. I'm guessing this is about 1995. Embarrassingly, this was only the first of many going-away parties because I kept going back. Also leaving for adventures overseas were Jarda (seated, left), Klára and Lenka. Note how the darlings spelt out a message using my favourite kind of slice. 

I'm still in touch with some of these students; hopefully I'll be able to catch up with them soon. 

  

Kde domov můj?

Here's another place I'm looking forward to seeing again - České Budějovice, a city about three hours south of Prague, where I lived from 1992-99. I still have lots of friends here and the school where I used to teach is expecting a visit...

* Kde domov můj? is the name of the Czech national anthem. It translates as: Where is my home?

Bert, Marie-Louise and co.

I also hope to catch up with this lot - my mum's oldest brother Bert, his wife Marie-Louise, their lovely daughters Jelke and Sanne, plus their husbands and kids. And a dachshund. Mum and dad each have six brothers and sisters so I'll have my work cut out visiting them all.

Hipster cousins

While I'm in Holland I also hope to catch up with this lot. As you can see, fashion in the Netherlands is almost as up to date as in New Zealand. No, wait ... this photo was taken in the early 1970s.
These are the children of my late Uncle Frans and Auntie Gien plus a few hangers-on. Believe it or not, they include a doctor of tropical medicine, a judge and a museum director. And my namesake, Peter de Graaf, which caused me no end of confusion when I was a child.

Sophie the singer

Another person I'm keen to catch up with is my talented cousin Sophie de Graaf, who will graduate from Arnhem Conservatory on June 20. I hope I can make it to her graduation concert! This is her singing You don't know what love is with her boyfriend on piano.

Trivia about Arnhem...
- This Dutch city was the location of the World War II battle which inspired the movie A Bridge Too Far.
- The Dutch/British actress Audrey Hepburn studied at Arnhem Conservatory in 1939-45. I'm sure Sophie will be way more famous.

Family flashback

This is my Auntie Do around 1930, before my dad was on the scene. That's her seated in the middle. She hasn't changed much. Slightly older, possibly. I think I'll still recognise her.

Welcome aboard

This year my Aunt Dorothea (Do for short) turns 93 and my Great-Aunt Octavie (Occa) turns 96. I haven't seen Do since 2008 and Occa since ... let's just say it was a very long time ago. It's high time I went back to Holland and saw them again.

If I'm going to head to the other side of the planet to see my aunties, it would be silly not to try catching up with a whole bunch of cousins, friends, ex-workmates and students. They've managed to spread themselves out a bit since I was last in Europe, so I'll have my work cut out.

Hence the 2016 Favourite Aunties and Old Comrades Reunion Tour. Welcome aboard.