Tag: university
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Elementary School – Final Years
Read More: Elementary School – Final YearsIn 1944 I became twelve years old and almost finished elementary school. In Holland you went to High school after grade 6. There were three types of high schools. The ULO was the easiest, The HBS prepared for university education, especially for engineers and business jobs, while the Gymnasium was the hardest, because you had…
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Health Problems
Read More: Health ProblemsDuring the last years of the war my mother began to suffer from Meniere’s Disease, which affected the balancing components in the middle ear. She was always terribly dizzy and would sometimes keel over unexpectedly. As children we had to be very quiet, because noise upset her terribly. Now, as I am sixty years old,…
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Retirement
Read More: RetirementFor My Descendants Living During The Year 2050 Moses had no computer. Yet the books of Moses have been written faultlessly, all the events within them seem to be in perfect chronological order, and Moses’ style of writing is to the point, succinct, and in places wonderfully poetic. Like Moses, I have no computer either.…
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Aylmer, Bach, blessed, Canada, church, college, family, London, marriage, music, politics, religion, school, ship, Toronto, university, Winschoten
Immigrants – The First Two Years
Read More: Immigrants – The First Two YearsThe train ride to Toronto was a two-day affair, at first interesting, then tedious, as we had little priority and were sidetracked for scheduled passenger- and freight trains many times. We did get a feeling for Canada’s extent and for the distance we were putting between us and Holland, between me and my girl. In…
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Aylmer to Granton
Read More: Aylmer to GrantonThat summer (1954) our parents had started to look for a farm of our own. Dad was itching to be his own man again, had occasional differences with boss Jerry and disputes with colleague Albert. By late summer several places were visited and then one became a serious candidate. It was in Middlesex County, north…
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Searching
Read More: SearchingSearching for a farm, searching for a future If we were without a care, our parents were not. Seven years go by quickly when you have no prospects at their end. From 1950 onwards our next farm became the most frequent topic of dinner table conversation. It seemed that for Dad farming was very rewarding…
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Harry van der Laan
Read More: Harry van der LaanHarry van der Laan’s memoirs cover the shared trajectory of the van der Laans, from Harry’s birth until a couple of years beyond immigration
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~ James de Bree
Read More: ~ James de BreeIn one such attic room, James De Bree is cramming for Physics 301. Nuclear physicist, that’s what he wants to be, much to his mother’s dismay. But father De Bree lets his fellow workers at the big General Motors plant know that his son will go far in the world.
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Joop
Read More: Joop3 EEN Niemand moest ooit gewaarworden dat ik in de schuur geweest was. Meer lijken zouden er wel niet begraven worden, maar de mensen van het FBI Laboratorium konden nog wel eens op komen dagen. Daarom verbrak ik het hangslot niet met een van de gereedschappen om banden te verwisselen. Meer had ik niet bij…
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James de Bree
Read More: James de BreeAls de rest van de mensheid hun avonden verknoeien voor de beeldbuis, zitten studenten van Mc. Master University in Hamilton tot midden in de nacht te studeren voor hun ‘Christmas Term Papers”. Ze wonen in afgetimmerde zolderkamertjes, twee studenten per kamer om geld uit te sparen. Onopgemaakte bedden, hopen wasgoed op de vloer, en bureaus…