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.
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