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!