With the time difference between New York and Brussels being 6 hours, Kyle oftentimes has to work until 8, 9 or even 10 o'clock at night. This leaves me with LOTS of freetime and sometimes I just can't wait until 10pm to eat dinner. This past Monday was one of those nights.
My distant cousin Winkie has inspired me with her desire to become a 'local.' I, too, want to be known somewhere; to have the waiter bring me something without even asking because I always order the same thing ; for people to walk by and say 'That is where we can always find Emily.' Basically, I want to be Norm from Cheers. Well, I have eyed some bars in our neighborhood and decided to check out The Duke. How can you go wrong with a name like that? So I went in and ordered a beer and checked out the place.
After sitting down I noticed a table of middle-aged men speaking Engligh. (You have to understand how excited I get when I can finally understand what people are saying.) As I was looing at the menu, one of the men leaned over and said I should try the minestrone soup. After that, we struck up a conversation and I have found a new set of friends! I met John, a Brit that teaches English around here. When I told him about my quest for a local bar, he said that he, too, had been on that journey and has been frequenting The Duke for the past year, because it is the best bar around. I was then introduced to Guiseppe, the owner, and chef of the minestrone soup. We chatted a bit longer and then I bid John and Guiseppe farewell, but told them that I would be back soon.
Next, I went to dinner where I had been a few nights before. The waiter recognized me and when I slipped up and said 'Muchas gracias' instead of 'merci bucou' he laughed and told me that he speaks French, English, and Spanish, so I could talk in any of the languages. After that, he mentioned that he wanted to work on his English, so I am going to meet him for coffee in a few days so we can chat. Hopefully I can work on my French too!
On my way home, I decided to meet my neighbor at the corner grocery store. I think I have definitely found the person that is going to pull my heartstrings in Brussels. His name is Moonith and he is from Bangladesh. Between he and his wife, they work 12 hours a day at the store so that they can send their sons to private school. He told me that his sons (15 and 10 years old) are his future and anything he makes, he wants to invest in them. His family lives above the store and he likes that better so he can see them more often. Needless to say, I now go in the store everyday to see how things are going a buy a few things. (The good thing is that he speaks Engligh and French, so I might use him to translate to the plumber!)
All in all I mets lots of new friends and I think I will definitely be known as 'That overly friendly American with the big hair' in the neighborhood now! I'm off to The Duke.....
No comments:
Post a Comment