Thursday 30 June 2016

Post 115—Our Dutch Trip--Reflections


I’m back!  And if I get this post online today, I’m back even earlier than promised on May 27.  And let me tell you, as wonderful as our trip was, there’s still nothing like home, which for me is downtown Vancouver BC.
Canada--My Home
Yes, home for me is in Canada, but I continue to have a strong feeling for two other countries. There is my birth country as well as Nigeria, the country where my wife and I spent 30 years in ministry, where we raised our family and, even after having left there 20 years ago, is still uppermost in my mind and affections. But for today, it is my birth country, NL—The Netherlands.
My Affection for Nigeria
My many Nigerian friends who read this post should not be jealous at my “divided” affection. Many things in life diminish when you share or divide them. When you give a $100 to one person that recipient gets more than when you divide it over two persons. But when you give love to one or two or a thousand persons, it does not diminish, each gets an equal share. Money divided diminishes; love or affection divided increases. That’s the nature of the beast. (I should probably call it “the angel” rather than “the beast.”) 
Besides, if you check my website ( www.SocialTheology.com) , you will find that I have paid much more attention, energy, time, money and, yes, affection on Nigeria than I have on the NL. At the same time, the background and perspective I utilized in my Nigerian ministry, including my many publications, have a definite Dutch philosophical and theological colouration, based as they are on the Kuyperian or Reformational school of thought. So, a nice mixture of these two cultures in my life with no need for either party to be jealous! Actually, I don’t believe anyone will be jealous in this situation, but there is nothing like  pre-emptying a negative possibility! But for this post and the next, it will be NL.
Flat and Green
Living as I do in BC (British Columbia, Canada), there is one thing that particularly strikes me every time I visit the “Old Country” is its flatness.  When I lived in Nigeria and visited the country, I was struck by its greenness. So fresh and green everywhere as soon as you leave the city. And that, in contrast to Nigeria’s seasonal green, all year round. But coming out of BC, it is the flatness of the country that is impressive, especially when combined with the green. It is interrupted only by the many man-made “hills” that serve as approaches to bridges or as overpasses.  Now such unending flatness may sound dull to those who prefer rolling hills or towering mountains, but in combination with the green, it creates beautiful breath-taking scenery wherever you go. I am not sure which of the two I would prefer to live in, flat or mountainous, but for a change, I simply loved it as my wife and I rolled through it all by means of train, bus, rental and even bike. The flat lusciousness of it all.
The Bike Culture
Living as I do in North America (NA), another thing that made my eyes grow green with jealousy is the large presence of bicycles (from here on referred to as “bikes”).  What a different love affair from NA’s love of cars. Bikes everywhere, no matter where you turn, except, of course, along express ways. Not being used to such heavy bike traffic, it was more challenging for us as pedestrians in the city to avoid collisions with bikes than with cars. They even have single-floor parking garages for bikes but often store them two high above each other, especially at bus and train stations. Bikes are used for most local trips as well as farther afield. They are used for serious transportation even more than for recreation, but their vacation use is the greatest demonstration of the Dutch love for the bike. Our hosts took us out biking into the country along a network of crisscrossing bike paths everywhere.
Various features of the bike culture struck me. Most people wear ordinary street clothes on their bikes; no special attire, even women in minis. No helmets and, not infrequently, no hands either, for they are needed for the smart phone as you negotiate traffic!  
Single bikes are good for transporting entire families!  A parent in/on the saddle doing the peddling, with one child on the back carrier and one in a special seat mounted on or behind the handle bar. Our main hostess told us that this is a major time of intimacy with your little tike at your front on your bike. And if your children are not on the actual bike, they could be sitting comfortably in a box mounted on the front of the bike, an arrangement called “bakfiets” or “boxbike,” two or even three at a time, but now we have graduated to three-wheelers.  
Another sociable feature of the bike culture is that with separate bike paths, people often ride side by side, chatting amicably as they go, so different from the sparse biking in Vancouver where it is always behind instead of next to each other. As to the bakfiets, it is also used to transport goods, sometimes in open, sometimes in covered boxes.
You’d think that flat country would make for effortless biking, but there is a hitch—strong winds that are as challenging as steep hills. From my own childhood I remember regularly coasting up one of these artificial hills, pushed along by strong winds, but peddling hard on the way down. I also remember peddling a bakfiets to deliver bread for a neighbouring bakery. So, as fascinating as I found the bike culture, it was not altogether new to me. I experienced all the above features at one time or another way back then. Though other forms of transport have greatly proliferated since then—cars, buses, trains—the bike has not lost its popularity or omnipresence in any way.  In fact, the bike has increased along with the country’s population.  
Mayor Robertson's Bike Challenge

I’m sure our Vancouver mayor’s eyes must be as green as mine were. I wish him all the success, luck and blessing he needs to make our city more bike friendly.  He has courageously pushed ahead in his bike programme in the face of much ridicule and opposition. I hope he will not relent. I believe he represents the future of our city when it comes to biking.  We once thoughtlessly embraced the car without considering many of its negatives or even being aware of them. It will take a lot of planning and politicking to undo the damage we have inflicted on ourselves and our environment.