THIMUN 2008

THIMUN 2008

Chris recently participated in THIMUN, The Hague International Model United Nations. It is the Woodstock of Model UN. It’s the biggest Model UN in the world. There are over 5,000 Delegates from around the world descending on The Hague for a week of Teenage Debate on real world issues.

Chris was the delegate from Sao Tome and Principe, a small island natin off the coast of Africa.

During the opening ceremony the Delegation was addressed by Bill Clinton and Ban Ki Mon, the current Secretary General of the UN.

He and his team were located for debates in the offices of the OPCW (Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons). OPCW is a real live Non Governmental Organization (NGO) located in The Hague. It is next to The International Court of The Hague.

Chris and his team were charged with coming up with a resolution, socializing it around other delegations and getting it passed in front of the THIMUN General Assembly.

The resolution that Chris and his team developed, debated and got passed was related to the non proliferation of Weapons by Organized Crime and Para Military Organizations. There were hundreds of resolutions developed during the week Chris and team were one of the few whose resolutions were debated and passed. The resolution will be sent to Ban Ki Moon for further consideration by the UN

We are very proud of our emerging International Statesman. Go Chris.

The Closing Flag Cermony

Update February.....OOOOOps! Congrats Giants

CONGRATS TO THE 18 and 0 PATS

Thinking About Summer

Its Winter In Holland And We Are Dreaming About Summer

Below are a few photos from this past summer. We can dream can't we?



This is Annies. It is at the convergence of the New Rhine and Old Rhine rivers in Leiden. The floating docs has seen the Sullivan clan many evenings when the sun shines to 10PM.



A couple of shots of wind mills from the water. Tis working windmill is along one of the canals north of Leiden. We went boating on the canals a couple of times this past summer.

We rented the canal boats from a marina on a lake 15 km north of Leiden in Woorburg, NL. This raft up reminded is of our sailing weeks on the Cheaspeake.

In September we took our bikes to Amsterdam on the train. The top 2 pictures are in Vondel Park in the middle of the city. Its a mini Central Park like setting with trails, lakes, a concert center and a number of restaurants. The bottom is of Chris and Andrew biking back home from Leiden.

Lets Go Summer!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Its 2008 mnd time to wish everybody a Happy New Year. We had a great holiday season over here and are now ready to get back at it.

The crazy thing about a Dutch New Year is the fireworks. For 2-3 days a year they are legal and the Dutch have a blast with them. Our neighbors started around 9am with a keg of beer, €3,000 worth of fireworks (from small to giant by the way...they sell these crates with 96 shots of fire work in them...... 5 minutes of exploding fun) a canister of gun powder and several jerry cans of gas. Think that makes for a fun time? It was a bit crazy, dangerous and at times just a bit over the edge.....but they are professionals so we were all ok (professionals in the fact they have been doing that for 8 years running without a problem)

At midnight all of the other Dutch Crazy's set off their big ones and the sky was ablaze.

Today on my way to work the streets were litered with bottle rockets, boxes of 96 shot, firecracker paper and the like. Check out this news paper post @ http://www.nlplanet.com/almanac/topic.php?id=45

Anyway, HAPPY NEW YEAR and next year we'll take video.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS

To all our family and friends we wish you a happy and merry Christmas. We love you all and miss you. We'll post some Christmas pictures later in the day.

Love Rob, Joan, Chris, Andrew and Turbo

Winter In Holland

It's Almost Christmas and we got a bit of Winter in Holland this week.

DAYTIME


Santa was on the Langstraat in Wassenaar. behind him is a tent where they were selling Gluhwein, a hot german concoction. We have had our fill of Gluhwein this year.....thats for sure.

The mist rolling in off the North Sea froze as the temperatures fell over the past couple of days. The effect was spectacular. All the trees were covered in a coating of white icing.



This is just outside of outr house looking down Rijksstraatweg.



Looking out at a tree behind the back yard.



Another back yard tree.



A close up of the bushes in the back yard.




Turbo the Teckle in our back yard. THis may be the only time the dog sees snow until we return home.


NIGHT TIME



A winter's full moon.


A shot of the stars in Leiden across a canal at night.






After dinner outside of the Grande Cafe Stadhouder.

American Womens' Club Gala

Black Tie



Getting ready for the Gala.....we didn't bring the Teckle!




Decked out in our masks.



Joan and a friend in their masks




Another fun night in The Hague.