National Anthem: South Africa

Today I'm flying to South Africa to do some volentering in the next 8 weeks.
So the next National Anthem Í'm doing is the South African (offcourse).

What I really like about this anthem is how it is build up from 5 of the 11 languages that South Africa has. Xhola, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans en English.
I actually think the South African anthem is one of the most beautiful in the world.

Here are the lyrics of the South African anthem:

(Xhosa)

Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,

(Zulu)

Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo

(Sesotho)

Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa, South Afrika — South Afrika.

(Afrikaans)

Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,

(English)

Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom
In South Africa our land.

 

 

Also listen to the song below, it's the same anthem but it repeats the pieces and I think it is really beautiful.

Grey Explains: How many countries are there?

Our plant is a big place and there are many countries. But how many are there actually?

I can start a list:
- The Netherlands
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Canada
- Egypt
- Turkey
- South-Africa
- ..
- ..

Well, maybe this isn't the best way to find out how many countries there are.

Luckly Grey made a video clip to explain this complicated question.


I would like to try to talk about as many countries as posible on this blog. That makes a long to-do list ;-)

What countries have you been to?

DIY: Asian paper dolls

I like to make paper dolls. They are cute, easy to make and colorfull. I've been looking for nice coloring pages to use for my paper dolls and I found many cute ones.

Today we're making paper dolls of Asian people.

What you need to make these is:
- printed coloring pages
- coloring pencils
- scissors

First print a few coloring pages. Then you and your kids can start coloring them. When finished, cut them out.
I lamineted them but you can also gluw them to a piece of cardboard.

To remember from which country they are, write it down on the back side of your paper doll.

Here some of the coloring pages I used, but there are many more on the internet.

National Anthem: The Netherlands

I'll be starting a 10 week travel around the world by listening to the National Anthems of different countries. I'll start with the Dutch anthem and then pick 9 more, some well known but also some not so well known.

The Dutch anthem is best known as 'Het Wilhelmus' refuring to Wilhelmus van Oranje. It is said that the Wilhelmus is the oldest national anthem in the world. There is some international confusion concerning the oldest anthem in the world though. The Japanese anthem, Kimigayo, has the oldest (9th century) lyrics, but a melody was only added in the late 19th century, making it a poem rather than a anthem for most of its livespan. Although the Wilhelmus was not officially recognised as the Dutch national anthem until 1932, it is the oldest in the world. The anthem was first written down in 1574 making it over 440 years old.

the complete anthem as 12 verses, but we usually only sing the first and sixth.

Here is the lyrics:

Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed,
den vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij, onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geëerd.

 

Mijn schild ende betrouwen
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen,
Verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik doch vroom mag blijven,
uw dienaar t'aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven
die mij mijn hart doorwondt.

DIY: 3D-Lizard

We're going to make a 3D-Lizard in this blog.

I've been a little lazy making this blog and didn't make much photo's while making my lizard. So I'll be linking you to two other blogs where you can find a step by step picture instruction.

First we're going to make the 3D-lizard head.
you nead two square pieces of paper (you can pick the color)
I found a blog named ElemanteryYartFun with instructions. here you'll find a step by step instruction.
When you finished the head you can decorate it with a tongue and eyes. Or even with spikes and more.

Now we're going to make the body of the lizard. You'll find the instructions on Artolazzi blog. Note that you have to read from the bottom to the top of the blog.
Make sure you color it before gluwing it together.

Hope you have lots of fun making your own lizard!

Picture Monday: New York City

Last month I visited New York for 4 days. I've seen a lot. Here a few impressions by picture