Guus Bosman

Some night pictures of the area in which we live.

I really enjoy shooting pictures like this, and I'm really happy with the camera and tripod.

In the morning I went to the supermarket to get some fresh bread and Starbucks coffee, and I was struck by a sharp, cold wind. There was hardly anybody outside -- the wind made it feel really cold.

We had an easy day today, and in the afternoon we studied our languages. I revised the first chapters of my textbook, and did the excercises of chapter 3, the last chapter of the previous level of my course.

Last weekend I cancelled the subscription I had on the New York Times.

We had a Sunday subscription since the summer, but I felt it a bit of a waste -- too often I just didn't have the time to read it.

There is always so much else to read, and so little time. Currently I'm reading a left-wing history book, and in addition there is The Economist every week, online newspapers articles and I have to keep up with my Spanish. There's a number of books I have at home that I want to read, including a Dutch book my parents sent me for Christmas.

Today, Sunday January 8th, is the 'birthday' of the newspaper in Haarlem: the Haarlems Dagblad exists 350 years.

Most public places took away their Christmas decoration even before New Year's Eve. The holidays are over, and we're back at work.

Last night I went to CVS to get some stuff, and discovered that the shop was actually prepared for yet another holiday, Valentine's Day. Starbucks also has the Valentine decorations ready. It's about six weeks from now, so they're well on time.

Monday morning we watched the traditional New Year's Rose Parade in Pasadena, California on TV. It was the first time since 1955 that it was raining during the 117 year old parade, we were told. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the Grand Marshall of the parade and she was driving through the crowds and waving to everybody.

When I looked at the living room table that we had prepared for the New Year's Eve dinner, I saw some nice symbolism in the Bulgarian salt-and-pepper set sitting next to the Dutch tulips.

After some research I found two other sets of items in our house that symbolize a combination of Bulgaria and Holland.

On Saturday, the last day of the year, I organized most of the paperwork that we collected in the last year. I bought folders and plastic holders and arranged and sorted all the papers. A tedious but rewarding job.

At 5 pm Sasha called Perushtitsa, and she was on the phone with Milan and Nadia when 2006 arrived in Bulgaria. An hour later the Netherlands was celebrating the New Year and I called Middenmeer to congratulate my parents, Ettie, Gerben and Len who were watching the fireworks in the street.

We started cooking around 6.30 pm, and we prepared a lot of delicious things. With the rakia we had a mlechna salad. Irena had advised us on the brand of yoghurt to use and it worked out very well. The garlic prevents us from eating it during the week and it had been quite a while since the last time I had mlechna.

Our main course was not turkey; after Thanksgiving and Christmas we choose to have a chicken instead. We prepared it using the broil setting of the oven, and it came out very soft and juicy. On the side we had small red potatoes, roasted with rosemary and salt. We had a garden salad, that we served in the new bowls we got for Christmas. We drank a red wine, a Bulgarian Asenovgrad Mavrud from 2001, that won a Golden Riton prize and we found in a wineshop in Georgetown a couple of weeks ago.

Although we had planned to go to an Irish pub nearby for the midnight celebration, we were having such a good time at home that we decided to stay and watch the ball drop on Times Square on CNN. We opened our champaign at midnight and celebrated the New Year. An hour later we also saw the ceremony in New Orleans, where a giant gumbo pot was being dropped.

To all our readers, no matter in what timezone they live: Happy New Year and all the best for 2006!

Two good friends, Daniel and Erika, have bought a new house!

They have been living together in Hungary for a long time, but this is the first house they are buying together so it's a great step. Congratulations!

Daniel sent out some pictures and it looks like a nice place, large and with a great view. It's on the second floor of a three-story building, in a medium sized city called Solnok.

Daniel mentioned that they will have some renovations done before they move in so they will move to their new place in April next year.

This morning when I walked to my work I passed by a nice car.

The owner was obviously very much in a Christmas mood.

Sasha and I are leaving for New York this afternoon; we're taking the 1 pm bus from Chinatown. I'm very glad the strike in New York is over, it would have been a nightmare to enter the city otherwise.

The secret of the mysterious Christmas card has been resolved.

If you open the flower by pulling on the sides, it has a secret message: a happy 2006!