I realized that I have not put up any photos of our apartment. If you would like to see the pictures, just click on this link. You should be able to view the pictures directly and not have to sign in.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=121a73ha.147rp7ve&x=0&y=qa92ig
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Market Dinner
There is an open air market every Wednesday from 2-8pm just down the street from us. I decided to have a 'market dinner' where each of us would buy something fresh at the market and then bring it back to our place to cook and enjoy. We had a great time meeting up at the market and then buying fresh cheese, bread, mushrooms, salad, pasta, sauce and wine. We headed back to our place and had more of an openhouse/progressive supper than a sit down meal. Most people had a variety of other engagements so some people stayed for the cheese and wine and then others made it in time for the pasta. Overall it was a great time and fun for all of my friends to finally meet each other!
Monday, March 28, 2005
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Off to London!!!
We are on our way to the train station to head to London for the weekend. We are staying with our UGA friend Jason Mann. Kyle has never been to London before so it will be fun to tour around with him. Hopefully we will come back with lots of great pictures and stories!
Happy Easter!!!
Happy Easter!!!
Saturday, March 19, 2005
International Fair
Today we went to the International Fair at the International School of Brussels. Yes, we don't even have children and yet we are going to school fairs. But this was much better than any other one because they served alcohol! What kind of school serves alcohol?--one in Europe!
There were booths from all over the world representing 31 countries. Many of the parents (most likely mothers--some things are the same all over the world) went to great lengths to prepare homemade goodies native to their country. We had British scones, Austrian strawberry pie, Brazilian fried things, Japanese chicken skewers and sushi, Australian wine and Tortillia Espanola from Spain (Kyle's favorite). It was all delicious! We were a little disappointed with the USA booth. They only had hotdogs, hamburgers, and lots of prepackaged candy. But then that led us to question---what are foods that symbolize all of the States? Some of my friends suggested macaroni and cheese, but that is about all we could think of. I guess because the States are such a melting pot, we just get to have our favorite foods from all over the world all the time!
I ran into many of my friends from the American Womens Club and that was fun. You really feel established in a place when you know enough people to 'run into' them.
Friday evening we hung out with our friends Anna and Hal. They had 6 friends in town who all have some relation to Georgia, and a few even went to UGA! It was a great feeling to be over here in Brussels but still talking about Broad Street and being able to play the name game. It was also a great reminder that this is a small, small world, and no matter where you go, you will always know somebody (so behave yourself!)
There were booths from all over the world representing 31 countries. Many of the parents (most likely mothers--some things are the same all over the world) went to great lengths to prepare homemade goodies native to their country. We had British scones, Austrian strawberry pie, Brazilian fried things, Japanese chicken skewers and sushi, Australian wine and Tortillia Espanola from Spain (Kyle's favorite). It was all delicious! We were a little disappointed with the USA booth. They only had hotdogs, hamburgers, and lots of prepackaged candy. But then that led us to question---what are foods that symbolize all of the States? Some of my friends suggested macaroni and cheese, but that is about all we could think of. I guess because the States are such a melting pot, we just get to have our favorite foods from all over the world all the time!
I ran into many of my friends from the American Womens Club and that was fun. You really feel established in a place when you know enough people to 'run into' them.
Friday evening we hung out with our friends Anna and Hal. They had 6 friends in town who all have some relation to Georgia, and a few even went to UGA! It was a great feeling to be over here in Brussels but still talking about Broad Street and being able to play the name game. It was also a great reminder that this is a small, small world, and no matter where you go, you will always know somebody (so behave yourself!)
Friday, March 18, 2005
Free Time vs. Idle Time
I have not been as much traveling this week, but it has been nice nonetheless. The highlight was Kyle's article appearing in both the U.S. and European editions of The Wall Street Journal on Friday. What a treat to get to have your morning coffee while reading an article your husband wrote in the WSJ!
I have come to an interesting problem that I am sure not too many Americans encounter because they stay so busy with work and carpool or Nintendo and TV. Now that we have an apartment and are settled with the internet, phone, etc., I don't have as much to do during the day. However, our cable is still not set up, so I do not have TV to entertain me (which I still think might be a good thing.)
I keep myself busy with friends, but there is still a lot of free time in the day. A friend had a perfect description of it: When you are working or have something major going on in your life, time that is not scheduled is free time, which is good and healthy. However, when you do not have anything big going on in your life, your free time turns into idle time, which is not healthy.
Being a woman (and especially one that thinks and analyzes too much to being with), I find that too much idle time just leaves me too deep in thought to be healthy. I end up analyzing every aspect of the world. It is odd how you can try and be as thankful and positive as you want, but after awhile, it is much easier to think of bad things rather than good ones.
I spent four hours outside today because the sun was finally out. As I sat around this beautiful pond with ducks and greenery all around, there was only so long that I could say, "I am so lucky. I love life. This is great." After awhile, I thought, "Why are those kids who only look 13 smoking? Why can't I understand one word any person around me is saying? As great as this wind is, I am sick of my hair blowing everywhere. Oh crap, the sun moved behind the trees and now I am freezing. I have to go to the bathroom, but (because we are in Europe) there are none around."
I got up to head home, mad at myself that I was thinking a bad thought when I am so lucky. On the way home, I passed a large roundabout that has restaurants on all sides. Anywhere there was sun, there was a table with chairs filled with people laughing, talking and having an afternoon beer. It looked like such fun, I decided to join them. The only empty place was sharing a table with a guy from Sweden. It turns out he was waiting for his girlfriend to leave work, and I was waiting for Kyle to get out too. We shared a beer and I learned all about Sweden, while he learned my thoughts on why Americans are obese (he asked) and how Kyle and I met. We went our separate ways, but just this chance encounter really helped to brighten my day.
So all of this to say: everything in moderation. You shouldn't work too hard, but you also should not have too much free time. You don't have to always think positive, but don't dwell on the negative. You shouldn't constantly be around people so that you don't have any time to think about things on your own, but you also should not have too much alone time to just dwell on life.
Another aspect of having too much free time is guilt. You know all of the things you say you will do, if you "just had the time." Well, when you don't work and you are living in a foreign country with a handful of friends, you do have the time, and let me tell you, you still don't want to do those things.
I always said I would exercise more, try meditating, pray more, write more letters, clean out my e-mails, make photo albums, just plain organize my life. All I have basically done is feel guilt about everything I haven't done, and then take a nap to make myself feel better. I have finally figured out that if you put something off then you might as well just accept the fact that you don't want to do it. Because if you did want to do it, you would make the time. We make the time for things we want to do in life and we make excuses for the things we don't want to do. Even though I have come to this realization, I don't know if I will ever be as bold as I would hope and just be able to say, "You know what? I just don't want to do that and I will never want to do that, and I am going to admit from the beginning that I don't want to do that and not just put it off." I guess if I ever say something like that to one of y'all, then you know I will have come to an acceptance of this topic!
I have come to an interesting problem that I am sure not too many Americans encounter because they stay so busy with work and carpool or Nintendo and TV. Now that we have an apartment and are settled with the internet, phone, etc., I don't have as much to do during the day. However, our cable is still not set up, so I do not have TV to entertain me (which I still think might be a good thing.)
I keep myself busy with friends, but there is still a lot of free time in the day. A friend had a perfect description of it: When you are working or have something major going on in your life, time that is not scheduled is free time, which is good and healthy. However, when you do not have anything big going on in your life, your free time turns into idle time, which is not healthy.
Being a woman (and especially one that thinks and analyzes too much to being with), I find that too much idle time just leaves me too deep in thought to be healthy. I end up analyzing every aspect of the world. It is odd how you can try and be as thankful and positive as you want, but after awhile, it is much easier to think of bad things rather than good ones.
I spent four hours outside today because the sun was finally out. As I sat around this beautiful pond with ducks and greenery all around, there was only so long that I could say, "I am so lucky. I love life. This is great." After awhile, I thought, "Why are those kids who only look 13 smoking? Why can't I understand one word any person around me is saying? As great as this wind is, I am sick of my hair blowing everywhere. Oh crap, the sun moved behind the trees and now I am freezing. I have to go to the bathroom, but (because we are in Europe) there are none around."
I got up to head home, mad at myself that I was thinking a bad thought when I am so lucky. On the way home, I passed a large roundabout that has restaurants on all sides. Anywhere there was sun, there was a table with chairs filled with people laughing, talking and having an afternoon beer. It looked like such fun, I decided to join them. The only empty place was sharing a table with a guy from Sweden. It turns out he was waiting for his girlfriend to leave work, and I was waiting for Kyle to get out too. We shared a beer and I learned all about Sweden, while he learned my thoughts on why Americans are obese (he asked) and how Kyle and I met. We went our separate ways, but just this chance encounter really helped to brighten my day.
So all of this to say: everything in moderation. You shouldn't work too hard, but you also should not have too much free time. You don't have to always think positive, but don't dwell on the negative. You shouldn't constantly be around people so that you don't have any time to think about things on your own, but you also should not have too much alone time to just dwell on life.
Another aspect of having too much free time is guilt. You know all of the things you say you will do, if you "just had the time." Well, when you don't work and you are living in a foreign country with a handful of friends, you do have the time, and let me tell you, you still don't want to do those things.
I always said I would exercise more, try meditating, pray more, write more letters, clean out my e-mails, make photo albums, just plain organize my life. All I have basically done is feel guilt about everything I haven't done, and then take a nap to make myself feel better. I have finally figured out that if you put something off then you might as well just accept the fact that you don't want to do it. Because if you did want to do it, you would make the time. We make the time for things we want to do in life and we make excuses for the things we don't want to do. Even though I have come to this realization, I don't know if I will ever be as bold as I would hope and just be able to say, "You know what? I just don't want to do that and I will never want to do that, and I am going to admit from the beginning that I don't want to do that and not just put it off." I guess if I ever say something like that to one of y'all, then you know I will have come to an acceptance of this topic!
Friday, March 11, 2005
A Lesson on Belgium
If you are like me, you knew nothing about Belgium until I mentioned we were moving over here. It is a common joke over here that no one outside of Belgium even knows it is a country. It took me living over here to really understand some things about this country and its people. Since most of you aren't planning on moving over here anytime soon, I thought I would give you a rundown of what I have learned so you can save yourself some time, and feel more worldy all at once!
Belgium is about the size of Maryland. It is divided into the northern region of Flanders and the people there speak Flemish. The southern half is Wallonia and the people there speak French. The people from Flanders and Wallonia hate each other. I thought this was a friendly little rivalry like two colleges have. Man, was I wrong! They both hate each other so much, that they actually know the others language, but refuse to 'belittle' themselves to speak it. They compromise by speaking English, which is why it is such a prevalent language over here.
Brussels is actually in the Flemish region, but the majority of speakers here are French. This is why it almost seems necessary for us to learn both French and Flemish, because whenever we go outside of the city, we are in Flemish country. However, because there are more French speakers in the world than Flemish speakers, the Flemish are actually much better English speakers. Also, there language is very similar to English, so we do not have too difficult of a time discphering things.
Below are two good websites of maps and facts on Belgium.
http://www.trabel.com/belgie-imap.htm
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/be.html
Belgian people are not very friendly. Their thought is, "If I don't know you, then why should I say 'hi' to you?" Therefore, my southern tendancies of greeting everyone are really weird to them. With living in a big city where people walk alot, you are bumped into often. I guess because they would end up having to say it all day, they have decide to just not, but they rarely say "Excuse me or Pardon" when they bump into you. Trust me, you definitely feel like they are rude, until you realize that it is just their way.
In going along with their introverted tendancies, the majority of the people in the country just strive to be middle class. This means, that even if they have alot of money, they only want to look like they are middle class. People rarely wear showy things or try to draw attention to themselves. Apparently, our across the street neighbor has a beautifully decorated apartment with lots of antiques. However, you could never tell it from the outside. The bricks are dirty and the front door looks just horrible. He will never change it because, "Then that would attract attention to me and people might know that I have nice stuff inside!"
I have an American friend who has lived over here for 12 years, and has been married to a Belgian man for 10 years. She has helped to enlighten me on their culture. Throughout history Belgium has been belonged to many different countries and been occupied by a variety of people. She believes that basically over time, one caught on quickly that if you kept your head down, didn't say alot, and kept to yourself, then you survived. If you were loud and called attention to yourself, then trouble would come to you from whoever was occupying the country at the time. This is why everyone wants to just look very middle class and keep to themselves.
Odds and Ends
(My random thoughts on Europeans and Belgians)
Europeans as a whole hate how loud Americans are. I have found it very difficult to learn to lower my voice. At times, I honestly feel like I am whispering, but to them, it is just a normal volume.
Belgians hate to give change, but not as much as people in France do. One friend told us about how when he lived in Paris, he would stress himself out to always have lots of change so that store owners wouldn't get mad at him. One time the total was 13.35 and he gave them 13.50 and yet, they still said, "Do you not have the .35?"
Kyle noticed the other day that there is a sign on the Coke machine at his office that says, "Please use correct change." Even machines want correct change over here!!!
Of all people, bus drivers really want exact change. They would never accept at $20, let alone a $10 bill for a bus ride. Another friend realized that he didn't have any small bills when he was waiting for a bus. But then he realized that he was in front of a bank. He went in and requested that they give him change for the $20 and they said with a straight face, "I'm sorry, we don't have change." They are a bank!!!!
I am so curious to see what an economics class over here is like. Things that seems so obvious to Americans are definitely not obvious to business people over here! For example, I went to an open air market the other day. It was 12:10pm, a very common time for lunch in most places. There was a stand with someone making Pad Thai on one side and some stirfry on the other with three people working. That was it, that was all they were making and yet, I waited 13 minutes and the line of 4 people in front of me never moved once. The Pad Thai cook ran out of one ingredient, so she had to look in a cooler for some more. Then she opened the package and tasted it. Then she explained to the first man in line what it was. Then she started cooking and telling a few jokes with the man. The third woman decided that hey, it was 12:10 and she was hungry, so it was time for her lunch break, so she sat down and ate!!! The concept of preparing things ahead of time so you can be ready for the rush is unheard of over here. During this 13 minutes I saw 4 people leave the line to go elsewhere (myself included), but I don't think it ever connects in the owners mind that "Hey, if I make it faster, I can serve more people."
The idea of supply and demand is so foreign over here that you encounter some lack of (obvious) economics principles almost every single day. The grocery store I normally go to is out of croissants by almost 9-10am every moring. I have often gone in there wanting to buy a croissant, but they are often sold out. As Kyle says, they must think, "Oh, it will be better to fully sell out, than to make more and have to throw a few away, (but make extra money on the additional ones we make.)"
Well, that is all I have for now. I hope you feel enlightened!
Belgium is about the size of Maryland. It is divided into the northern region of Flanders and the people there speak Flemish. The southern half is Wallonia and the people there speak French. The people from Flanders and Wallonia hate each other. I thought this was a friendly little rivalry like two colleges have. Man, was I wrong! They both hate each other so much, that they actually know the others language, but refuse to 'belittle' themselves to speak it. They compromise by speaking English, which is why it is such a prevalent language over here.
Brussels is actually in the Flemish region, but the majority of speakers here are French. This is why it almost seems necessary for us to learn both French and Flemish, because whenever we go outside of the city, we are in Flemish country. However, because there are more French speakers in the world than Flemish speakers, the Flemish are actually much better English speakers. Also, there language is very similar to English, so we do not have too difficult of a time discphering things.
Below are two good websites of maps and facts on Belgium.
http://www.trabel.com/belgie-imap.htm
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/be.html
Belgian people are not very friendly. Their thought is, "If I don't know you, then why should I say 'hi' to you?" Therefore, my southern tendancies of greeting everyone are really weird to them. With living in a big city where people walk alot, you are bumped into often. I guess because they would end up having to say it all day, they have decide to just not, but they rarely say "Excuse me or Pardon" when they bump into you. Trust me, you definitely feel like they are rude, until you realize that it is just their way.
In going along with their introverted tendancies, the majority of the people in the country just strive to be middle class. This means, that even if they have alot of money, they only want to look like they are middle class. People rarely wear showy things or try to draw attention to themselves. Apparently, our across the street neighbor has a beautifully decorated apartment with lots of antiques. However, you could never tell it from the outside. The bricks are dirty and the front door looks just horrible. He will never change it because, "Then that would attract attention to me and people might know that I have nice stuff inside!"
I have an American friend who has lived over here for 12 years, and has been married to a Belgian man for 10 years. She has helped to enlighten me on their culture. Throughout history Belgium has been belonged to many different countries and been occupied by a variety of people. She believes that basically over time, one caught on quickly that if you kept your head down, didn't say alot, and kept to yourself, then you survived. If you were loud and called attention to yourself, then trouble would come to you from whoever was occupying the country at the time. This is why everyone wants to just look very middle class and keep to themselves.
Odds and Ends
(My random thoughts on Europeans and Belgians)
Europeans as a whole hate how loud Americans are. I have found it very difficult to learn to lower my voice. At times, I honestly feel like I am whispering, but to them, it is just a normal volume.
Belgians hate to give change, but not as much as people in France do. One friend told us about how when he lived in Paris, he would stress himself out to always have lots of change so that store owners wouldn't get mad at him. One time the total was 13.35 and he gave them 13.50 and yet, they still said, "Do you not have the .35?"
Kyle noticed the other day that there is a sign on the Coke machine at his office that says, "Please use correct change." Even machines want correct change over here!!!
Of all people, bus drivers really want exact change. They would never accept at $20, let alone a $10 bill for a bus ride. Another friend realized that he didn't have any small bills when he was waiting for a bus. But then he realized that he was in front of a bank. He went in and requested that they give him change for the $20 and they said with a straight face, "I'm sorry, we don't have change." They are a bank!!!!
I am so curious to see what an economics class over here is like. Things that seems so obvious to Americans are definitely not obvious to business people over here! For example, I went to an open air market the other day. It was 12:10pm, a very common time for lunch in most places. There was a stand with someone making Pad Thai on one side and some stirfry on the other with three people working. That was it, that was all they were making and yet, I waited 13 minutes and the line of 4 people in front of me never moved once. The Pad Thai cook ran out of one ingredient, so she had to look in a cooler for some more. Then she opened the package and tasted it. Then she explained to the first man in line what it was. Then she started cooking and telling a few jokes with the man. The third woman decided that hey, it was 12:10 and she was hungry, so it was time for her lunch break, so she sat down and ate!!! The concept of preparing things ahead of time so you can be ready for the rush is unheard of over here. During this 13 minutes I saw 4 people leave the line to go elsewhere (myself included), but I don't think it ever connects in the owners mind that "Hey, if I make it faster, I can serve more people."
The idea of supply and demand is so foreign over here that you encounter some lack of (obvious) economics principles almost every single day. The grocery store I normally go to is out of croissants by almost 9-10am every moring. I have often gone in there wanting to buy a croissant, but they are often sold out. As Kyle says, they must think, "Oh, it will be better to fully sell out, than to make more and have to throw a few away, (but make extra money on the additional ones we make.)"
Well, that is all I have for now. I hope you feel enlightened!
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Monday, March 07, 2005
The Entertainer
We had a nice weekend just hanging out in Brussels. Our new friend Josh (a recent UGA graduate over here interning for the AP and DowJones) came over to dinner. I have this problem of imagining myself entertaining like Martha Stewart or some chef you see on TV who cooks and talks at the same time. For some reason, I keep thinking that I will entertain just like that....dressed nicely, slowly stirring a pot of something yummy with a glass of wine in hand, taking a little taste of it on my wooden spoon and then adding just a pinch more salt. Instead, the harsh reality is that I am trying to keep up friendly conversation with my guests while burning one dish, drinking out of their wine glass instead of my own, dirtying every pot in the house, and having all three parts of the meal ready at different times. I also have a problem of forgetting to read the directions before I decide to cook the meal (and only realizing 1/2 way through the preparations that I don't have a blender or the right spice or something) and also I keep choosing to make something that I have never made before rather than an old handy faithful recipe. And yet, I keep inviting more and more people over and making the same mistakes again and again!
The other difficult thing about entertaining in Brussels is that they have set a very high standard. To entertain the 'right way' you should have champagne, white wine, red wine, bottled flat water, bottled bubbly water, two types of beer, sodas, coffee and tea available. Well, let me tell you that when you are the packhorse (aka Emily) and have to carry all of this stuff on your back down 5 blocks from the grocery store and then up 4 flights of stairs, you really only want to give people one option---tap water. Belgians also don't just have the main meal. You usually have something to snack on while the appetizer is being prepared (like olives, nuts, chips etc.) and then the appetizer, then the main meal, and of course you need bread and butter at the main meal too, and then a dessert.
Well after all of this Friday night, I was still crazy enough to invite our friends Jessica and Jarno over for dinner on Sunday. The real reason I asked them over is because Jessica is fluent in French. When you move into an apartment over here, the most detailed person in the world comes over and makes a note of every little scratch and dent in the apartment. This is so that when you move out, they can compare what damage was here originally versus what you did, so that they can take it out of your deposit. Unlucky for us, the 16 page document was all in French. So in exchange for our wonderful cooking and company, Jessica walked us through the whole apartment and translated the document for us. It was a painstaking experience because it is more of a legal document than just everyday French, so we were using the French/English dictionary ALOT. After 2 hours, she was only on page 10, so she is coming over tonight to finish up. I think it might just be PBJs for dinner tonight!
The other difficult thing about entertaining in Brussels is that they have set a very high standard. To entertain the 'right way' you should have champagne, white wine, red wine, bottled flat water, bottled bubbly water, two types of beer, sodas, coffee and tea available. Well, let me tell you that when you are the packhorse (aka Emily) and have to carry all of this stuff on your back down 5 blocks from the grocery store and then up 4 flights of stairs, you really only want to give people one option---tap water. Belgians also don't just have the main meal. You usually have something to snack on while the appetizer is being prepared (like olives, nuts, chips etc.) and then the appetizer, then the main meal, and of course you need bread and butter at the main meal too, and then a dessert.
Well after all of this Friday night, I was still crazy enough to invite our friends Jessica and Jarno over for dinner on Sunday. The real reason I asked them over is because Jessica is fluent in French. When you move into an apartment over here, the most detailed person in the world comes over and makes a note of every little scratch and dent in the apartment. This is so that when you move out, they can compare what damage was here originally versus what you did, so that they can take it out of your deposit. Unlucky for us, the 16 page document was all in French. So in exchange for our wonderful cooking and company, Jessica walked us through the whole apartment and translated the document for us. It was a painstaking experience because it is more of a legal document than just everyday French, so we were using the French/English dictionary ALOT. After 2 hours, she was only on page 10, so she is coming over tonight to finish up. I think it might just be PBJs for dinner tonight!
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Christine's Birthday Pictures
Through Hal and Anna, we have become friends with a lot of Deloitte people. It is interesting to hear about their relocation packages versus others. Who knew I would one day be analyzing relocation packages! They are a great bunch of people all around our age. A few weekends ago Christine had a birthday party at a really neat Moroccan restaurant with dancing afterwards. I have attached the link to her friends pictures. Her friend's husband is very artistic, so some of the pictures are quite interesting.
(This link acted a little funny when I was trying to view the pictures, so let me know if you have trouble with it.)
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=15ofg0il.a9w67ss5&x=1&y=-45a71v
(This link acted a little funny when I was trying to view the pictures, so let me know if you have trouble with it.)
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=15ofg0il.a9w67ss5&x=1&y=-45a71v
Lier
We had a nice day Sunday taking a day trip with our friends Hal and Anna Davis. They both went to UGA law school and got married in Athens, so we have lots in common. We went to a little town called Lier, just south of Antwerp. It was a great area, but absolutely freezing! We tried to enjoy as much as we could, but when we couldn't feel our toes anymore, we decided to head home. Hope you enjoy the pictures!
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=121a73ha.4ren1ji&x=0&y=yl2t6y
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=121a73ha.4ren1ji&x=0&y=yl2t6y
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