Christmas Beer Festival

The festival took place in a small Belgian town that borders the Netherlands. We went Saturday by ourselves and came back for more on Sunday with some friends. There were over 100 beers to try--most of them only brewed during the holiday season. No wild drunkeness, glasses breaking, or vomiting at this festival. These people are serious about their beer. Mostly, people were just sitting around chatting, eating, playing cards and enjoying beer. It resembled a wine tasting more than a beer festival. They even give you a brochure that lists all of the beers and describes them like fine wines. The brochere also lists the alcohol content. The first beer we tried on Saturday was 13%. We were feeling it before we even finished the glass and the glasses were small.

http://www.kerstbierfestival.be/ENG/index.htm

A Little Taste Of Home

I have not really missed much in the way of food from home and I was not all that excited when a couple of the women from Deloitte suggested eating at Subway in Cologne. Nevertheless, the minute I walked through the door, that signature Subway scent of fresh, baked bread quickly changed my mind. It's amazing what a little taste of home can do for you. The only difference between this subway and one in the U.S. is that there were at least three couples making out in the restaurant. I didn't know Subway was such a romantic place!

Cologne, Cont.

Here are some more pictures. One of them is of the cathedral (Dom), which towers over the city. It is located on the main square and is considered to be the primary tourist attraction. Building of the cathedral first began in 1248 and was not completed until 1880. Bulding was stopped from 1560-1842. It miraculously survived WWII and is one of the tallest cathedrals in Europe. History buffs can visit the attached link for more info. about the cathedral. Some of the other pictures are of a floating market on the Rhine. There is also a picture of a stall selling large heart-shaped cookies with icing on them. There were several stalls selling these and, apparently, they are not edible. They are for decoration only.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral

More Holiday Cheer

We spent a day in Cologne, Germany with some of the folks from Deloitte. Yes, another Christmas Market. There were seven markets in all--we went to four and that was a full day. One cannot get enough potato pancakes, crepes, frites, champignons, and hot wine. We have purchased plenty of ornaments for one season so now we just go for the food, the festive atmosphere, and the quirky street performances and decorations. We have also been to the market in Brussels, but we didn't have our camera so we are going back!

Grandma Cart

Okay, I finally broke down and bought a grandma cart--basically, a backpack on wheels. The only people you really see rolling these around are over the age of 60! Mine is a little more fashionable than the usual boxy, plaid ones that are popular with the grandmas and grandpas. It's neither boxy nor plaid.

Fashionable or not, this new purchase has made my life much easier. I make two trips to the grocery store per week and I'm usually walking, taking a bus, or a combination (walk there, take bus back) depending on my mood and the weather. I, still, sometimes have to carry some items in a bag or backpack, but it sure beats lugging a full backpack and several heavy bags down the street!

Perhaps I can be a trendsetter for the youngerns.

I Must Look Like I know What I'm Doing...

Just today, I got stopped by 2 people who were asking for help. One was asking for directions (I think) and the other about a tram. I got to use my favorite French phrase: Je ne comprends pas (I do not understand), followed by Parlez-vous anglais? The answer to this question in both cases was no, so I was of little help to these people. This was unfortunate because I acutally know my way around quite well.

I've been practicing my French using CD's at home and whenever Rick and I take a road trip and it has definitely improved. I know a decent amount of words and can recognize items in the grocery store, on menus, etc. However, when I actually have to use the language to communicate with another person, I kind of fall apart. I'm still awaiting approval from Deloitte to start my French classes, which I am really looking forward to.

Ciao!

Things Not So Lovable About Brussels

1. A lot of PDA from people of all ages
2. Bad driving, with most things being ignored by police
3. Rude pedestrians, who bump into you without an apology and often will not move out of the way to let another person pass
4. Expensive prices in restaurants
5. Dining out being a major event
6. Paying for water in a restaurant
7. Having to dodge dog crap on streets and sidewalks
8. A lack of environmental awareness-cigarette butts, etc. just thrown on the ground
9. Belgian Radio-stations play what we call the "Belgian Mix"-there are no stations dedicated to a specific type of music-you can be listening to the Rolling Stones one-minute and some techno-jazzy French song the next-it’s weird and extremely annoying.
10. Music in general-mostly jazz, techno, and 80’s disco/top 40 from the U.S.
11. A strange fondness for Michael Jackson’s music
12. Television
13. The Weather
14. Nudity-let’s just say the ladies locker room at the gym can be very interesting (these women are not shy)

Things to Love About Brussels

1. Beer-delicious and each type is served in its own special glass
2. Frites-yummy, especially with mayo
3. Cheese-there are some so stinky the smell lingers for awhile and you must wash your hands immediately after handling
4. Bread-even the grocery stores have several choices of fresh bread that you can put in a slicer if you wish
5. Dairy Products-creamy and delicious
6. Chocolate-we eat for dessert daily
7. Waffles-sold everywhere from shops to street carts (even outside of stores like Ikea)-several topping options, but we like the plain ones that have sugar baked into them
8. Wine-you can get a very good bottle of wine for what amounts to less than $10
9. Warm mulled wine during the holiday season
10. Very fashion conscious people
11. Nudity-not a huge issue-sometimes can be seen on daytime TV and in advertisements
12. Alcohol served at an ice-cream/snack stand in the park and other places you would never find it sold in the U.S.
13. Neighborhood markets-several neighborhoods have there own on different days of the week-there’s one down the street from us every Saturday and Sunday
14. Marché De Noel or Christmas markets-throughout he Benelux region
15. Fresh flowers-very popular and each neighborhood has several flower shops-they are also sold at the markets
16. Generally nice people who are willing to help even if your French sucks!
17. A lot of walking
18. Respect for the elderly and for family in general
19. A very diverse population
20. Outdoor cafes

Monschau, Germany Christmas Market

Christmas Markets are very common here. We experienced our first one this past weekend and it helped us get into the holiday spirit. We left all of our Christmas decorations back in Atlanta, so we decided to buy a few typical, German ornaments and a small, wooden tree to start us off. We had a light lunch of roasted chesnuts, potato pancakes with applesauce, and some more potatoes fried in a skillet and topped with mushrooms, onions, and cream--the regional specialties in Germany are yummy, but not at all good for your figure! We took a picture of a kielbasa for you meat eaters. We plan on doing more Christmas decoration shopping. We are going to another market in Cologne, Germany with some friends in a couple of weeks. Brussels also has one on the Grand Place that I'm sure we will check out too.

Television

Couch potatoes would be in trouble here. The TV options for English speakers are very limited even with cable. Most of the channels are in French. They show some American programs, but they are dubbed in French. There’s something very wrong about Bart Simpson and Eric Cartman speaking French! We watch it sometimes just because it’s hilarious.

We get a couple of Dutch channels and all of the shows are in English with Dutch subtitles. These channels are a mixture of Dutch and American TV programs. They show a lot of cop/law dramas and American movies that were made for TV only or that went straight to video. I’m not sure who does the programming here, but they have really bad taste. I hate to think that this is what their idea of American television is. With that being said, we have seen a couple of decent movies and we sometimes get Larry King, Jay Leno, and Conan O’Brien during primetime. Friends is also pretty reliable. I was told that Desperate Housewives comes on Tuesday’s at 10:00, but I seem to keep missing it. It’s one season behind the U.S., so I’ve already seen all of the episodes anyway.

We also have a couple of BBC channels and CNN. Besides BBC World, however, the BBC channels are not much better than the Dutch channels.

Our one saving grace is that we brought our American TV and DVD player, so we’ve been watching a lot of Simpsons and Seinfeld on DVD.

We have definitely lowered or standards as far as television is concerned. We find ourselves watching some of the lamest stuff!

All Settled In

We moved to our new apartment on October 27. All of our earthly possessions arrived relatively unscathed. There were a few scratches here and there, but not too bad. The movers loaded the boxes on to a motorized lift that looks like a ladder with a platform attached to it and sent them up five floors. The boxes were then loaded through a window. I couldn’t watch! I guess this is how they do it in New York City, but I’ve never seen it before.

Our apartment is a decent size and we have plenty of room for guests. It’s strange b/c it’s so modern compared to our house and to many apartments in Europe. We sacrificed character for space, comfort, and location. Because there is such a huge expat community here and people are always coming and going, you can get good prices on second-hand items. We bought a washing machine and some wardrobes that way. European apartments have no closet space. We also made a few purchases from Ikea and now we’re all settled in and ready for visitors! You might want to wait until spring. The weather sucks right now.

More Ghent Pictures

Ghent Pictures

Ghent

We spent a day in Ghent, which is another small city with gothic architecture and canals. It is compared to Bruges, but much less touristy. We went on November 11, which is a holiday (Armistice Day), so it was eerily quiet. Aside from the cold and dreary weather, it was a great time to go. We visited St Baafskathedraal, which houses the famous painting by Jan van Eyck, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. You can purchase a headset to get an audio explanation of each panel--very interesting. The inside of the building was amazing, but photos were not allowed. We also toured Gravensteen Castle, which was also very cool. Ghent is a beautiful city and is only 30 minutes from Brussels. We can't wait to go back when the weather is better.

BOO!

Halloween is not as big here as it is in the U.S., but it is growing in popularity. We actually went to a Halloween party. Rick and I are big fans of the holiday so we were glad we had the opportunity to celebrate. This party had a theme – California Gone Wrong. It is an annual event thrown by six people who share a house. Two of the hosts work at Deloitte and are moving to San Francisco. Hence, the theme. One of the hosts is French, but has lived in San Francisco and has parents there. The other is Belgian. The idea was to come up with a costume that was uniquely Californian and add some blood and gore. Rick and I went as tacky, American tourists who got hit by a bus. There were some pretty hilarious costumes! By the way, those are not natural-they may be sans silcone, but they are avec socks! Anyway, I had fun sporting those babies around for one evening.

Dog Crap

It’s everywhere—on the grass, on the street, on the sidewalk, and, consequently, often on the bottom of your shoes! I have learned to look down when I’m walking. Perhaps this is why nobody pays attention when crossing the street.

I’m glad that the Belgians are so fond of our canine friends. I just wish they would scoop the poop!

Blaaaaggghhh!

Amsterdam and vomit have an interesting history. Legend has it that Amsterdam was first settled when a merchant sailor landed with his seasick dog. As they were looking for a place to rest, the dog vomited and that was where they decided to stay. Obviously, Amsterdam was founded by a stoner – who else would decide that the best place to stay was next to regurgitated Alpo? Phew!

Then there’s the "Miracle of The Vomit". (I am not making this up – we learned about it the first day that we were in Amsterdam. They have a painting of it in the history museum. If you don’t believe me, here are links to two websites that talk about it: http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/history/fr/amsterdam.htm?terms=dying+wool
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/amsterdam/0043034657.html)

Anyway, the "Miracle of The Vomit" was that some guy went to communion and then puked up the wafer. They threw the vomit into the fire (again, what was wrong with these people – why would you want the stench of that stuff in the church?). The fire burned through the night, but in the morning, they looked at the ashes and the wafer was still intact. Priests were told about it and the regurgitated host became a shrine at Oude Kerk (Amsterdam’s "Old Church").

Today, the vomit tradition of Amsterdam lives on. Americans and other wasted youth come to the city by the millions. We saw a guy take a bad spill outside one of the cafes after he had too much to dream. Don’t know if he inverted his stomach, but it is not outside the realm of possibility. We did have to step over some of Amsterdam’s finest tradition on our way to the park on Sunday.

You learn so much by visiting other cultures.

Amsterdam

We took a trip to Amsterdam last weekend. What a great city and only two hours from Brussels! There is so much to see and do there. We only had two days so we decided to tour some historical sites during this trip. We visited the Historisch Museum and the Anne Frank House. The Historisch museum covers seven centuries of the city’s history using art, archaeological finds, and interactive displays. There is even a section on Amsterdam’s drug culture and the legalization of soft drugs. We spent three hours and still did not get to see everything. I would highly recommend this museum to anyone who visits Amsterdam and is interested in history. Look for a post from Rick about the important role that VOMIT plays in Amsterdam’s past and present. The Anne Frank house was fascinating too. It was chilling to actually be in the house where Jews hid during the war. I got a better sense of what daily life was like for these families and of how precarious the situation really was.

We enjoyed wandering the canal-lined streets and people watching, which is an event in and of itself. I wanted the quintessential Amsterdam experience so we stopped in a "Coffee Shop." Unlike, the other patrons, however, we ordered coffee exclusively. From the coffee shop, we got to witness a common event in Amsterdam—a tourist passing out. Some guy overindulged and fell flat on his face as he was leaving. He actually passed out for a few minutes and when he woke up he had to be held up by his friends. It took a while before he attempted to walk again. I thought it was pretty scary, but at least he didn’t vomit, which is apparently another common event. The waitress commented that this type of thing happens a lot and is bad advertising for them. I think I’ll just stick to coffee!

No trip to Amsterdam would be complete without a stroll through the Red Light District. I found this both amusing and disturbing, but interesting nonetheless. There is no shortage of sex shops, sex shows (the advertisements themselves are more raunchy than anything you would see in the U.S.), and sex itself). At least the women in the windows were attractive for the most part. They are also in business for themselves and, therefore, have some control over their work.

We did a lot of walking and spent much of our time dodging bikers—I think we will rent bikes next time. Future trips will take us to some art museums and, of course, the Heineken Brewery--I’ve heard that you get a tour plus three beers for about 7 Euros. Now, that’s a deal!

Priorit`e du Droite

Tanslation: Priority from the right

I'm in no hurry to drive a car in Belgium. In general, Belgians are very aggressive drivers. Most driving rules are optional and lanes are created where there were none. The one hard-and-fast rule, however, is priorit`e du droite (priority from the right). This means that cars coming from the right always have the right of way unless it is otherwise marked. Only major roads have stop lights or stop signs. This means that you must always be looking to the right as you approach an intersection. In theory, drivers are supposed to slow down as they approach intersections so that they can see if anyone is coming from the right. They are not required to stop, however. Most people do not slow down. If you are not looking, you will get pummeled!

It gets really tricky when entering a 4-way intersection. It basically becomes a game of "chicken" with every driver for him or herself. Furthermore, if you hesitate for an instant, you will lose your priority. Rick thinks this is synonymous with losing his manhood. He often makes a game out of not losing his priority.

Another driving challenge is trying to avoid hitting pedestrians. They have the right of way in any marked intersection and because of that they don't even bother to look for cars when crossing. So, this is the scenario: you are looking to your right to make sure there is not a car coming. You see that you are in the clear, so you begin to make your move through the intersection just in time for a pedestrian to jump out in front of your car and force you to slam on the brakes! To further complicate things, there are some intersections where piorit`e du droite is not required and you have to look for certain markings on the street to know this. This is the same for round-a-bouts. Anyone already in a round-a-bout has priority.

If you don't know your way around, you are really screwed! Streets are not marked with signs. If you want to know what street you are on you have to turn down the street and look for small plaques, which are located on the buildings themselves. It helps to have one person driving and one person reading the map and looking for signs.

We read an article about driving in Belgium in the Wall Street Journal just before leaving the U.S. The article mentioned the large number of auto accidents and fatalities that occur in Belgium due to the crazy driving rules and the aggressiveness of Belgian drivers. The article was spot on!

The Grocery Store

It’s funny how something as simple as going to the grocery store can be a humbling experience when you are in a foreign country. It doesn’t take much to make one feel like a complete idiot! It took Rick and I 15 minutes to pick out yogurt and coffee cream. We know a few words in French and many items have pictures on the labels that are helpful, but it becomes more difficult when you have to read the labels to look for certain ingredients that you do or do not want.

I like to use half and half in my coffee. I didn’t see anything that resembled half and half, but I stumbled upon something in the coffee section that looked like non-dairy creamer. It had a picture of a coffee cup on the front and as far as I could tell it looked like it was a real, dairy product and not non-dairy creamer. I wasn’t sure, though, because it wasn’t refrigerated. It was called Nutrema and I found out later that it was, in fact, a dairy product. It tastes pretty good.

We have a big grocery store right next to our flat. The window to our living room (if you could call it that) literally looks over the parking lot to the store. It’s great because refrigerators in Europe are very small (especially in Le Box) and one must make frequent trips to the grocery store.

We have been very satisfied with the products so far. We’ve only found a few U.S. brands, but everything we have tried has been delicious--especially the bread, butter, cheese and coffee. We found some yummy veggie burgers, hummus, falafel, pita and pasta. The produce is also pretty good. I’m afraid we may put on the "freshman 15" as we are eating well, but are not yet members of a gym. The bread, cheese, and beer alone will do it! At least we are doing a lot of walking.

Bruges

Because of our faux pas on Saturday, we headed to Bruges on Sunday. Finally, some good weather! It has been cold and rainy since we got here, but Sunday was sunny and in the 70’s. It was a magnificent day to take a trip. I’ve learned that one must take advantage of days like these. Bruges is very touristic (a Belgian expression), but stunning! It’s a small, medieval town with gothic architecture, several waterways, and cobblestone streets throughout. There are many sites to tour, but we decided to spend most of our time wandering around and soaking up some sun. Many people bike around the town, but we decided to walk. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe. We ordered a beer with lunch and were asked if we wanted small or medium. We chose medium and when we got the check we realized that we spent 20 Euros on two beers! Oh well, the beer was delicious (Rodenbach) and this is a tourist spot. One of the sites that we toured was a belfry where you can climb to the top via some old, twisting stairs. The belfry houses a carillon room where you can observe the turning of a large drum that controls 47 bells. They city still employs a full-time bell ringer. The view from the top is amazing! There is a hall at the base of the belfry that houses temporary exhibitions. We got lucky because they were holding a Dali exhibit. We have been to the Dali museum in Tampa, Florida, but this exhibit featured some sculptures and watercolors that we had not seen before. We ended our trip with a visit to a recommended chocolate shop. We will be back to Bruges!

Da Car

We experienced our first rookie mistake this past weekend. We got up, not so bright and early, on my birthday (10/7) eager to take a trip to Bruges. Much to our dismay, our car was not where we parked it the night before. Before I go on, let me just say that parking in Brussels is not an easy task to begin with. We got home late from a party on Friday night and were delighted to find a space that was not too far from our flat. We did not see the sign that was posted on the Place (Plaza) in which we parked because these signs are posted on the end of each street. The sign was in French, but it was easy to tell that parking was not allowed on the first Saturday of each month due to a market that was held in the square. By the time we emerged from our flat on Saturday afternoon, the market was gone and so was our car! Needless to say, my birthday plans changed. We were both a bit irritated, but the situation was so comical that we could do nothing but laugh and start figuring out how to get out of this predicament.

We began by calling several of Rick’s American colleagues and our relocation specialist, who is Belgian. Unfortunately, the two people who have had this happen to them before did not have their cell phones on. The relocation specialist told us that the first thing we needed to do was find the police station—yeah right! Brussels is organized into several different neighborhoods called communes. We found our commune listed in a book and learned that each commune has its own police station. We called the station to get directions, but the person Rick spoke with did not speak English. We decided to walk around and soon found a police officer. He directed us to the station where we had to pick up a form that would be used to retrieve our car. The person at the station did not speak much English either. We were told that the car had been taken to a place called "Da Car." We also found this amusing. In her broken English and our terrible French, we were somehow able to get directions to "Da Car" from a woman at the station.

We hopped on the Tram and headed to the outskirts of Brussels. We got off at a stop that was just off a highway and was in the middle of some strange industrial area. This is where her directions ended. After walking around for about 5 minutes we asked a guy parked at a red light for directions. We were right around the corner. He was nice enough to give us a ride. Everything turned out fine, all things considered. We were lucky that they took credit cards at "Da Car" because we don’t have a bank account set up yet and there are only a few ATM machines that will allow us to withdraw Euros. We found out that towing fees vary depending on the day of the week and weekends, of course, are the most expensive. So 110 Euros (about $150) later, we were back in business. The whole ordeal only took about 3 hours and we learned a lot from it. By then it was 4pm. We were able to salvage the rest of the day and made plans to visit Bruges on Sunday.

Le Box

OK! We arrived in Brussels wednesday and settled into our temporary housing, which we have named "Le Box". It looks like it is going to be a long 30 days until we find and move into an apartment. The location is great - right next to a large grocery store and not too far a walk from the metro. The appliances and furniture are modern and pretty OK. But the place is tiny. And the bed is only a full. Stephanie and I like to sleep in different zip codes. I guess the Belgians will see us as the bleery-eyed Americans for the next month.

On the fly

All of our stuff is now in a shipping container headed to Jacksonville, Florida to be loaded on a boat to Belgium. It was a strange feeling to watch the truck drive away with our belongings, knowing that we won't be reunited with them for 4-6 weeks. It was equally as strange to hand the keys over to the new owners of our house. We are a little spoiled now because we got to sit back and watch someone else do the packing and moving. All we have left to do is to finish getting all our CDs on the iPod - we can finally breath a little.

All of our family got together in Atlanta this weekend, so we have said our goodbyes to everyone, but it still does not seem real that we are leaving. We have been too busy with the preparations for the move to be nervous or excited.

We leave for Brussels on Tuesday (10/3) and arrive there on Wednesday. We will stay in temporary housing for the first 30 days, while we look for an apartment. Stephanie has already spoken with our relocation specialist and we will likely start looking for places on Thursday.

We have a busy weekend planned. Rick's new partner is having a party on Friday (10/6) and on my birthday (10/7) we are heading to Bruges, a picturesque, medieval town in Belgium. Rick starts work on Monday (10/9).

Click on the link below to see more photos:
http://www.kodakgallery.eu.com/Slideshow.jsp?&localeid=en_GB_EURO&mode=fromsite&collid=260867372133.612097372133.1163094901476&conn_speed=1

Adios Nail World!

Stephanie took her last trip to Nail World this week. Nail World is the local emporium of all things cuticle - manicure, pedicure. It is also the frequently recurring item on our credit card bill during the Spring and Summer months. So in the plus column for Belgium is that it will be cold and not "open-toe shoe" season for most of the year.

Of course with my luck this will somehow result in more shoe purchases...

- Rick

The House We Left Behind

Here's the house - all our work - we won't forget - now you can't either.

Saying Goodbye

It still doesn't seem real, especially because we don't have our tickets yet, but we are starting to say goodbye to Atlanta and the U.S.A. We are heading to Brussels for a 3-year expat assignment.

We had a party at our house last night and being dim-witted, we didn't take any pictures! Oh, well. We will do better at documentation going forward. I guess we got caught up in all the preparation. It was the first time a lot of our friends saw the house because Stephanie would not let anyone look at our house while it was being renovated. Now that we have sold our house and are renting it back, it was OK to throw a wild party. (Wild for us old folks - we had cheese and brownies.)

I don't think we actually said goodbye to anyone, we were more focused on making sure everyone knew that we wanted them to visit. So if you are one of those people and are reading this - Come Visit. En Francais - Venir nous voir!

It is September 17 and we still don't have tickets. It is a little frustrating because we can't tell anyone an exact departure date. Hopefully, we will get word on Monday about whether we should go ahead and buy a ticket. I have all the paperwork for my temporary residency visa and have an appointment at the Belgian consulate for Thursday. According to the person I talked to on the phone, I should walk out on that day with the visa. The only bureaucratic hurdle we have after THAT is getting our marriage documents and birth certificate stamped by the proper state authorities. For the marriage document, that means Costa Rica. That means problems, most likely. It toook over a year for us to get the marriage documents. We don't need these things until after we get to Brussels, but if we don't have them - I think we get shipped back. Luckily, Stephanie is around and can keep up with the proper people to keep things moving.