Our World Tuesday, ABC Wednesday, E for Eye of London

 

Opposite the Houses of Parliament

In the factory of Hollandia in the Netherlands.

After 2000 the Eye of London became a landmark of the City of London. At that time I happened to teach English to a group of adults,of whom several men were involved in the construction of this enormous wheel. Every week they informed me about its progress. I even got  newspapers with the latest news. Enough material for my lessons.

Wikipedia says:
"The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on piled platforms in the river. Once the wheel was complete it was lifted into an upright position by a strand jack system made by Enerpac. It was first raised at 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65 degrees, then left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift. The project was European with major components coming from six countries: the steel was supplied from the UK and fabricated in the Netherlands by the Dutch company Hollandia, the cables came from Italy, the bearings came from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub were cast in the Czech Republic, the capsules were made by Poma in France (and the glass for these came from Italy), and the electrical components from the UK.^[27]"

On our last day in Great Britain in 2007, we were in London, where we made a short trip on the Thames. Here I saw for the first time the Millenium Wheel or The Eye of London. The guide told us that the construction of  the Eye of London was sponsored by British Airways. I was waiting to hear that he would tell where it was constructed, but in vain..

It was made in Holland at the factory where my eldest daughter was a draughtswoman, who had actually drawn a small part of the Wheel.At that time we were very anxious to see if it could be constructed at all.

 It was designed by David Marks and Julia Barfield, who were architects. 

 A well known Japanese company was first asked to do the construction, but they turned it down. Too difficult!! Then Hollandia in the Netherlands offered to do the job, after the engineers studied long and hard on the project.They even made a model of it. It was going to be the biggest wheel in the world. With a splendid ceremony the green light was given on January, 28th, 1999.The work had to be finished before the beginning of the new millenium.It was an enormous challenge.

The wheel was finished in December 1999 and opened on 31st December.

 

This photo shows the assembly of the last section

 on a special platform in the river.

The above photo shows one of the four rim sections, which had to be taken to London from Holland. The right photo shows the first section arriving in London.


The London Eye stands 135 metres (443 ft) high on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England, between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar  This week we are looking for words beginning with E.

ABC Wednesday, E for English broken here

  This post is an "Oldie", because these past few weeks have been very hectic.

The books I used for teaching all kind of skills in English, such as listening, conversation, reading, and pronunciation

 

                   

Some of the English books I used in various classes from beginners to advanced students.

It stands to reason that people whose native language isn't English keep making mistakes in this language. We try to use certain expressions, but this can sometimes turn out to be very funny. Even if we do our utmost to speak English correctly, there comes a moment that we say something wrong. Here are a few examples of people whose mother tongue is certainly not English!

IN A PARIS HOTEL ELEVATOR: Please leave your values at the front desk.

IN A HOTEL IN ATHENS: Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m daily. 

OUTSIDE A HONGKONG TAILOR SHOP: Ladies may have a fit upstairs.

ON THE MENU OF A SWISS RESTAURANT: Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

And what to think of this ?
IN A BANGKOK DRY CLEANER'S: Drop your trousers here for best results.

Here another indecent proposal!
IN A ROME LAUNDRY: Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time!

More indecencies!
IN A ZURICH HOTEL:Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.

It's going to be dangerous if you want to go to Rhodes!
IN A RHODES TAILOR SHOP: Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.

IN THE LOBBY OF A MOSCOW HOTEL ACROSS A RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MONASTRY: You are welcome to visit the cemetry where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists and writers are buried daily except Thursday.

And what does this mean???
IN AN AUSTRIAN HOTEL CATERING TO SKIERS: Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of repose in the boots of ascension.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

ABC is created by Denise Nesbitt. It has been an enormous success. See more lovely and interesting ABC posts.Click on the logo in the sidebar.We are looking for words starting with E

ABC Wednesday, E for English

We thank Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and we must thank Roger too for the weekly job to find  ten bloggers for each of the ABC Team members  to visit and to read their posts. We are beginning to find another round for all the 26 letters of the alphabet. This will be now the letter  E.

Even if we don't like to admit it, English is the most important language in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and last but not least Australia. In the Netherlands French used to be the language for the upper walks of life. The man in the street spoke a  Dutch dialect, and when he met a foreigner he spoke Dutch with the same accent only a bit louder, thinking: the louder I speak the more I make myself clear.

After WW II English became more and more popular. We thought: "Oh, English is not so difficult, if we only learn a lot of words we can translate everything".No wonder that there were a lot of hilarious anecdotes to be told of Dutch expressions literally translated into English, which changed the meaning of the expression completely, Fortunately British citizens also have problems with their own language. Here are a few exemples:

What shall I complain about now??

These are apparently genuine excerpts from English letters to local councils. We all know that English is a complicated language and not alone for non-English speakers. I think that we do not need to feel embarrassed if we read these letters of native speakers

Council complaints ( which one is your favourite?)

===============

1.This is to let you know there is a smell coming from the man next door.

2.I am writing on behalf of my sink, which is running away from the wall

3.I request your permission to remove my drawers in the kitchen.

4.Our lavatory seat is broken in half and is now in three pieces

5.Can you please tell me when our repairs are going to be done, as my wife is about to become an expectant mother.

6.The toilet is blocked and we cannot bath the children until it is cleared

7.The person next door has a large erection in his back garden, which is unsightly and dangerous.

8.Will you please send someone to mend our broken path. Yesterday my wife tripped and fell on it and now she is pregnant.

9.Our kitchen floor is very damp, we have two children and would like a third, so will you please send someone to do something about it?

10.This is to let you know that our lavatory seat is broken and we cannot get BBC2.

11.I am very annoyed to find that you have branded my son illiterate. This is a dirty lie, as I married a week before he was born.

ABC Wednesday, E for Edith an Edwardian Lady

Small uprightStJohn's Wort  Stinging Nettle, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Sweet

Branched Bur Reed, Common Flowering Rush  
  Spotted Palmate Orchis,  Rosebay Willow Herb

 

Giant Campanula and Common Agrimony

All my friends and relatives know that  I collect English books. During the time I was studying English I got many beautiful books. And one day I got "The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady" by Edith Blackwell Holden, in English and not long after this also the Dutch translation of this book.
The book consists of a collection of poetry and drawings of plants, insects and birds.


Wikipedia says:

"Edith Blackwell Holden (1871–1920) was a British artist and part-time art teacher, known in her time as an illustrator of children's books.. Much influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, she specialized in painting animals and plants. Holden was made famous by the posthumous publication, in 1977, of her Nature Notes for 1906 under the title The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. She was living in Gowan Bank, Kineton Green Road, Olton, Solihull in 1905-6 when she recorded the notes. The collection of seasonal observations, poetry, and pictures of birds, plants, and insects —which was never even considered for publication when it was composed—had the nostalgic charm of a vanished world seven decades later. It became a world-wide best seller."

 

 

Hazel Nuts and Acorns

ABC is created by Denise Nesbitt. It has been an enormous success. We arrived at the sixteenth round and the letter E. See more lovely and interesting words starting with E.Click on the logo in the sidebar.

                          Meadow Buttercup, Common Bugle, Yellow Heartsease,          
                                                 Large Flowered Bitter Cress,  Yellow Weasel Snout

Our World Tuesday, ABC Wednesday, E for Europe.

In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician woman of high lineage, from whom the name of the continent Europe has ultimately been taken. The story of her abduction by Zeus in the form of a white bull was a Cretan story^. 

 From  Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology: Europa - Mythweb

 ^{Europa was gathering wildflowers in a seaside meadow when she came upon a beautiful white bull. This bull was uncommonly gentle and did not inspire fear. Decking its horns with flowers, Europa was at length emboldened to climb upon its back. Whereupon the bull - actually the god Zeus in disguise - took off at a trot and dove into the sea. Europa was carried off to the island of Crete, where she became the mother of King Minos.}

^{This legend is always very attractive compared to the Europe we have to deal with now. As a true European I must know more of her history and countries. Just now I did a test about my knowledge  of the countries of this continent and I failed!} 

The United States of Europe (sometimes abbreviated USE) or Federal Republic of Europe is an idea that was thought about a long time ago. The Romans tried to create one great empire , Napoleon tried it and so did Hitler.The problem is that the unification of Europe as a single sovereign federation of states, similar to the United States of America, is not possible as we have too many cultures, which are unique in themselves but cannot mix. All those 47 independant countries have their own governments. There are 7 kingdoms, some principalities and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The rest are republiques with a president. None of these countries wants to become part of another country and give up its language. There are so many languages, whereas the USA has only one common language. We have Dutch in the Netherlands as our main language, and most of us have to learn one or two foreign languages.English, German, French, Spanish or Italian. All of them with their own grammatical problems. Fortunately half of our neighbours in the south, the Flemish Belgians speak Flemish, which is very much like Dutch. We watch  the same programs on TV. The other half of the  Belgians speak French.

 The USA has one national flag and one national anthem. Europe has 47 national flags and 47 national anthems.

Well as you see there can never be a United States of Europe, but....we can and must work together, help each other and understand the foreign cultures.

 

 

  Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our  logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar. Thank you Team of O. W. T.!

 

 With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and thanks to Roger. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with E.

ABC Wednesday, E of Endeavour

Replica on the Endeavour River

In the Cooktown Library hangs this beatiful poster of the Endeavour, HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour.

. She was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771.

Wikipedia:

In April 1770, Endeavour became the first ship to reach the east coast of Australia, when Cook went ashore at what is now known as Botany Bay. Endeavour then sailed north along the Australian coast. She narrowly avoided disaster after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef, and Cook had to throw her guns overboard to lighten her. He then beached her on the mainland for seven weeks to permit rudimentary repairs to her hull. On 10 October 1770, she limped into port in Batavia (now named Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies for more substantial repairs, her crew sworn to secrecy about the lands they had discovered. She resumed her westward journey on 26 December, rounded the Cape of Good Hope on 13 March 1771, and reached the English port of Dover on 12 July, having been at sea for nearly three years.

The place where Captain James Cook landed in Queensland is called Cook's Landing in Cooktown named after Captain Cook.It's now an eating place where we often ate Fish and Chips.

Cook's Landing

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt,  who created ABC, and Roger, who took over from her. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with E.

Our World Tuesday, ABC Wednesday, E for Elizabeth

 

Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our  logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar

 With thanks to Denise Nesbitt,  who created ABC, and Roger, who took over from her. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar. This week we are looking for words beginning with E.

Book 1999, materials: copper, velvet and two white tiles.




Elizabeth van de Akker

The first time I met Elizabeth and her friend Susie, 58 years ago, was in an ecumenical workcamp in Zierikzee- Zeeland. The year after Zeeland was flooded in the night  of  Saturday 31 January 1953 and the morning of 1 February 1953, Students from all over the world came to help cleaning. We had to clean the soil of a particular piece of land, and to take all the bricks and rubbish out of the soil.

 

 

There I learned that Bep and Susie were students at the Academy of Fine Arts. That was the beginning of a long lasting friendship. A few weeks ago Elizabeth ( Bep) celebrated her 80th birthday. There were many people. Among them was also Susan. We talked a lot about the two workcamps we had worked in and viewed old photos.

During all this time from 1954 till now, I had the pleasure to see a lot of Bep and her art work.

Elizabeth van den Akker was born in July 1933. After grammarschool in1952 she went to Paris, where she stayed till 1953. Then she returned to Rotterdam and became a student at the Academy of Fine Arts. Her principal subject was monumental wall paintings and murals. After finishing her study,  she was looking for possibilities to exhibit her work and to get commissions.

More and more she was convinced that working with all kinds of textiles was what she wanted and did best.

 Elizabeth always works in series. Apart from textiles she also uses wood, various kinds of metal, cardboard, papier mâché and plastic.

Elizabeth is attracted by nature, music and travelling. In the seventies her first series of textile works was created around the theme "Vegetables". In 1984 Elizabeth began a new series of sculptures titled "What drifts on Water". Transparant fibre refers to a water surface, with on it and under it plants garbage and other objects which move on. In her book "Organisation et Méthode" we see the development of her work until 1999, the year in which she was already widely known.

 

You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

What drifts on water 1984 ( detail of the series)

material: glass fibre gauze, tulle, wood, papier mâché



Fleet of the past 1990 , a series of gondolas

Representing the various stages of art in history:

Greek,  then romanesque ( 900-1300),

 baroque, rococo.

Material: tulle, papier mâché.

Byzantine,1996, detail. Material: cotton,

metal, cardboard,adhesive plastic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These last two works are commissioned by the City of Rotterdam for two public buildings.

Headoffice public transport Rotterdam commissioned

by the city of Rotterdam 1982,material:

canvas,acryl

Police station Maashaven  commissioned

 by the city of Rotterdam 1980, material:

 mortar, plaster, wood, tissue of sisal twine.





ABC Wednesday, E for Echidna

This is the photo I took in the zoo of Tasmania.

 

Photographer Steve Parish

Photo from Wikipedia

Wikipedia says:

"The Echidna (or Spiny Ant-eater) and the Platypus are the only two surviving monotremes, a primitive link between the reptiles and the other more advanced mammals. Like the Platypus, the Echidna lays eggs.
Echidnas are widely distributed throughout Australia, and New Guinea. In Australia they live in a variety of habitats, from dry deserts to humid rainforests or in the Australian Alps.
 
There are several kinds of spiny ant-eater. A short-beaked species with strong and numerous spines is widely distributed throughout the mainland. The Tasmanian species is larger and more hairy. 

 They look like a hedgehog or porcupine but are not related. Echidnas grow up to 50cm (20") in length. Their backs and sides are covered with spines and coarse hair. They have small eyes and the ears have no outer part, being mere vertical slits. It has a long, black, tubular snout with a small mouth and long narrow, sticky tongue to gather up their food. The nostrils are at the tip of the snout. It has no teeth. The Echidna has short strong feet with sharp claws. It waddles when it walks. The male is larger than the female and has a spur on the ankle of the hind leg, however there is no functional poison gland. It is a useful means of distinguishing between the sexes.
 
Echidnas are solitary and restricted to a home range. They rest in hollow logs, under stones, clumps of vegetation or in short burrows. Unlike other Australian mammals, it can be seen during the daytime. Their pattern of activity appears to be influenced by the temperature, and they may be active by day or by night. In the hotter parts of the continent they tend to be nocturnal. They are rarely seen during winter.
 
The Echidna is not an aggressive animal.
 
The short-beaked Echidna eats ants and termites, the New Guinea species eats worms. The short-beaked Echidnas living in arid areas may fast for weeks when there is a shortage of insect food.
 
The spiny ant-eater has remarkable defensive ability when it feels threatened. It rolls itself into a ball, with prickly spines out to protect its soft under-parts, and can dig itself into sand or earth with a great rapidity. If disturbed, the Echidna's instant reaction is to burrow straight downwards. Once half buried, with the massive claws of its incredibly strong limbs hooked under roots or rocks, it is almost impossible to lift up or turn over.
 

Man is the only natural predator of these mammals, though they are increasingly falling prey to feral cats and dogs.
Echidnas in captivity have lived for up to fifty years."

The only echidna I saw was in this zoo on Tasmania, but my daughter saw many of them while walking on the beach. 

 We thank Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and we must thank Roger too for the weekly job to find  ten bloggers for each of the ABC Team members  to visit and to read their posts. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar . This week we are looking for words    beginning with E , in our new round.

ABC Wednesday, E for Elijah's Chair.

 Elijah is a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, during the reign of Ahab and his Sidonian wife Jezebel (1 Kings 16 :29-34).At that time Israel was divided in two kingdoms, which happened after king Solomon died.



Wikipedia says:

ELIJAH'S CHAIR:

"At every circumcision Elijah, "the angel of the covenant," as he is called in Malachi (iii. 1), is supposed to be seated at the right hand of the sandek, upon a chair richly carved and ornamented with embroideries . Even in the salutation to the child to be circumcised  is read the invitation to Elijah .

When, under the influence of Jezebel, circumcision in the northern kingdom was about to be abolished, Elijah is said to have retired to a cave. There he prayed to God (I Kings xix. 10), and complained that Israel had forsaken the covenant of the Lord; whereupon God ordained that no circumcision should take place except in the presence of Elijah."

 Therefore there is a chair for Elijah in every synagogue. The one you see here is found in the Jerusalem Great Synagogue.

A lot of thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC, and Roger, the new captain of the team.Click on the logo in the sidebar if you want to see the other posts. This week we are looking for words beginning with E.

Our World Tuesday, ABC Wednesday, E for Eleven Cities Tour

Welcome to Our World Tuesday! This meme continues in memory of the work of Klaus Peter, whose "that's My World" brought people together from around the world every Monday to share the wonders therein--big and small.Please click on our new logo for "Our World Tuesday" in the sidebar.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.We started round 10 of the fascinating meme of ABC. For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with E.


Last week in our entire country we had been discussing if it is possible to organize an Eleven Cities Tour in the province of Friesland. Wikipedia says: The Elfstedentocht (English translation: "Eleven Cities Tour"), at 200 km, is the world's largest and longest speed skating competition and leisure skating tour, and is held in the province of Friesland, Netherlands only when the ice along the entire course is 15 cm thick.The tour is conducted on frozen canals, rivers and lakes between the eleven historic Frisian cities: Leeuwarden, Sneek, IJlst, Sloten, Stavoren, Hindeloopen, Workum, Bolsward, Harlingen, Franeker, Dokkum then returning to Leeuwarden. The tour is not held every year, mostly because not every Dutch winter permits skating on natural ice. The last editions were in 1985, 1986 and 1997. Adding to that, the tour currently features about 15,000 amateur skaters taking part, putting high requirements on the quality of the ice. There is a stated regulatory requirement for the race to take place that the ice must be (and remain at) a minimum thickness of 15 centimetres along the entirety of the course. All skaters must be a member of the Association of the Eleven Frisian Cities. A starting permit is required. Further more, in each city the skater must collect a stamp, as well as a stamp from the three secret check points. The skater must finish before midnight.

Sadly enough the board of authorities has just informed us that there is no chance to organize the tour, as the ice thickness is not sufficient. Everybody is disappointed.

These photos are all borrowed from Wikipedia.