I began writing this Nov. 10, but have just now gotten around to finishing it, which is why the references don't add up.
We have been studying grace in church this month and I have been going to a Bible study every Wednesday, so between having so many reminders of God in my life this week, I have had a much calmer sense about me recently. I credit this calm feeling for being the only reason I did not end up crying Friday evening, even though one more experience might have just pushed me over the edge. My friend Gweneth had a great analogy for Brussels. She said the worst thing about it is that you are tricked into thinking that you are really making it and doing just fine, and then WHAM, all of the sudden you are clipped from behind and you are reminded of just how little you know.
Last Friday I was checking our mail outside when a woman let her dog take a gigantic, smelly, liquidy poop two feet away from where I was standing, just on the other side of our front door. I was in such shock that I didn't say anything, so I was mad at myself the rest of the day for not knowing enough French to yell at her, and for not thinking quickly enough to just say anything at all. That evening Kyle and I were leaving for the weekend and as we locked the front door to our building, we looked four feet away to the next building and saw a man urinating onto the side of the next apartment building. This time we didn't want to say anything because it was obvious we were leaving for the weekend (our suitcases were in our hands) and the man had just seen us lock the door, so he knew where we lived. Even worse was that this man didn't even look homeless. He had on normal clothes and was carrying a bag from a store where he had obviously purchased something. In case you are wondering, we live in a really nice neighborhood with lots of great restaurants and shopping. The surrounding area from our apartment is often mentioned in tour books as a place to visit, so it is not like we live in the dumps. People around here just behave this way on a daily basis.
Monday morning our computer monitor just wouldn't turn on, so Tuesday morning I hauled it all the way back to the store where we bought it. I waited in line for 10 minutes, elbowing a few people so that they wouldn't cut me off and when I told the man it wasn't working, he gave me the number of the monitor company and told me I should go home and call them instead of bringing it to the store. I was hoping (although after living in Brussels for two years, I knew this was a pipe dream) that they would just exchange the monitor for another one, but of course that didn't happen. I asked the man if the store could just send the monitor in to the company and he said that that would take over a month and that it would be faster for me to call them. I couldn't help but think that he was just being lazy and not wanting to have to deal with the problem.
So Wednesday I called the French phone number and, when I finally got through, I was told to call the Flemish number instead, because they would speak English. Over the next three days, I called the Flemish number and sat on hold for 15 minutes then got hung up on, 10 minutes and then I hung up, and then another 8-minute call where I finally hung up again, never once getting an answer. In Belgium they rarely have toll-free numbers, and there is a charge for every phone call you make. So far, I have spent 3 euros on parking to be told to come home and call, and 8 euros in phone charges to never be able to talk to a customer service person. Kyle wrote the company an e-mail and guess what their answer was: "Call us to talk about the problem." Kyle called and was on hold for 30 minutes, before he finally spoke to someone who told him to contact UPS to set up a pick-up time for them to come pick up the monitor and have it sent to the company to be repaired.
This past Saturday was Armistice Day (Veteran's Day), but whereas in the States my mom told me she was going to a Veteran's Day sale, instead everything was closed on Saturday in Brussels. So Friday night I had to go to the grocery store because we were having people over for lunch on Saturday and we would also need food for Sunday, because every store is always closed on Sunday. I went to one grocery store and there was not one parking space available. In fact, there was a line of cars just pulled over to the side and waiting for someone to even come out of the store so that they could do the 'slow stalk' you often see in the parking lot at After Thanksgiving Day Sales in the States. I finally gave up even attempting to find a parking space at that store and went to another grocery store. This one also had no parking, but after creeping along for a few minutes, I miraculously found one tucked away in a corner. I elbowed my way through the crowded store, bagged all my own groceries, made it home and then hauled them up four flights of stairs. Thank goodness for good Belgian beer on weeks like this one!
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
I'm Sinking
We went to a marriage enrichment retreat with our church this past weekend. Among the 20 people in attendance, the countries represented were: USA, Scotland, South Africa, Malaysia, Holland, Germany, France and Luxembourg. So the languages that were heard throughout the weekend were English, Dutch, German and French. With so many different cultures and languages, the main comments you heard were, "What does that word mean?" or "How would you explain that in _____ language."
I think it is wonderful to learn things from so many cultures and languages because by no means does American English have the perfect definition for every word. But when you have to explain or simplify every fifth word you say, it can become exhausting. I try never to use contractions or any "big" words that someone learning English might not have come across yet. In case you wanted to get an idea of just how much extra work it requires, imagine having a conversation with someone while both of you are trying to walk backward the entire time. It just takes that much extra thought and effort that it can sometimes make you just not want to say what you are thinking!
A few examples from this weekend: How would you explain to someone what a hub (like a large airport) is in simple English? It is also challenging to hear a French person speak English because they do not have the H sound in their vocabulary (so Thomas sounds like Tomas). At one point someone was using either driving or thriving in a sentence, but I could never figure out which.
For some reason (don't ask me why) I used the phrase "Keep on truckin' " in a sentence while I was talking to the group. Afterward, my conversation with someone from Luxembourg went something like this,
"What does 'keep on truckin' mean?"
Well it is what drivers of 18 wheelers say.
What is an 18 wheeler?
It is a big truck that drives across the USA and has 18 wheels.
So what is "truckin?"
Truckin is driving.
So I can say I am truckin today?
No, truckin is just a slang word.
What is slang?
Below is a commercial that sums up many of my day to day interactions here:
I think it is wonderful to learn things from so many cultures and languages because by no means does American English have the perfect definition for every word. But when you have to explain or simplify every fifth word you say, it can become exhausting. I try never to use contractions or any "big" words that someone learning English might not have come across yet. In case you wanted to get an idea of just how much extra work it requires, imagine having a conversation with someone while both of you are trying to walk backward the entire time. It just takes that much extra thought and effort that it can sometimes make you just not want to say what you are thinking!
A few examples from this weekend: How would you explain to someone what a hub (like a large airport) is in simple English? It is also challenging to hear a French person speak English because they do not have the H sound in their vocabulary (so Thomas sounds like Tomas). At one point someone was using either driving or thriving in a sentence, but I could never figure out which.
For some reason (don't ask me why) I used the phrase "Keep on truckin' " in a sentence while I was talking to the group. Afterward, my conversation with someone from Luxembourg went something like this,
"What does 'keep on truckin' mean?"
Well it is what drivers of 18 wheelers say.
What is an 18 wheeler?
It is a big truck that drives across the USA and has 18 wheels.
So what is "truckin?"
Truckin is driving.
So I can say I am truckin today?
No, truckin is just a slang word.
What is slang?
Below is a commercial that sums up many of my day to day interactions here:
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Happy Halloween! (among many other things)
No, I haven't slipped on a big pile of dog poop, cracked my head and been laid up in the hospital. I just haven't had time for blogging because I've been really busy babysitting, showing newcomers around Brussels and being social.
In the last week, Kyle celebrated his 28th birthday. We went to a great restaurant just around the corner from us; La Quincaillerie. It used to be an old hardware store, so it definitely has character!
It is amazing that some of the people that are closest to me in my life all have birthdays within five days of each other:
Carla, my best friend from high school
Kyle (enough said)
Kelly, one of my best friends in Belgium
SK, one of my best friends in college
Plus, two of Kyle's best friends from high school, Jigar and Keich, were born on Oct. 29 and 30, respectively. So I guess if you have a birthday between Oct. 26-30, there is a good chance you might become a really good friend of ours!
I have been reading A Year in the Merde and I highly recommend it, especially to anyone that has lived in France or Belgium and might speak a little French. The book is written in English, but there are some French phrases that make it even funnier. (Note: "Merde" means "shit" in French but is used a bit more loosely or casually.) The author has a really funny way of summing up so many crazy experiences that we have also encountered here.
We had incredible fall weather through all of October. Each day was just a light jacket or sweater type of day, with sunshine in abundance. I don't think I have ever talked about or had such strong feelings about the weather as I do here. All of my friends agree that we are so happy to have had such good weather, but at the same time, we never know what sunny day will be our last for the next five months, so we enjoy each one to its fullest. As wonderful as that is, you can't get a lot done when you are trying to be outside all day for 31 days straight!
One of the other things I have done recently is take a tour of a volunteer Emergency Rescue Service that a woman who is active in the AWCB helps to fund (she is married to a Belgian). The group was started because they did not feel that emergency service was rapid or well-trained enough in the rural area of southern Brussels. To give you an idea about working with the Belgian goverment -- this volunteer group raised enough funds to buy three helicopters for air rescues. The Belgian government decided that the group was infringing on the government's ability to save people, so it told them to stop using their helicopters. However, the Belgian government only had one helicopter, and no money to buy another one. So six months out of the year, the Belgian government helicopter was in the northern part of Belgium (Flanders) and the other six months of the year it was in the southern part (Wallonia). You better hope you don't need to be airlifted during the wrong month! Click here for the pictures (but I will warn you that they aren't too exciting.)
On October 28, Kelly and her friend Donna organized a Trick or Treat on our street. Donna is an American married to a Belgian and she and Kelly wanted to share the Halloween tradition with many of their children's friends and parents. After the kids were done, the parents all got together for a party at Donna's house. Halloween is just starting to become known in Belgium, and somehow the Belgians picked up on the dressing up in costume idea, but didn't catch on that you can dress up as anything you want -- because they ONLY dress up as scary things (witch, devil, or anything that requires only wearing black). Of course I was thinking like an American when I got our costumes and so I went as Snow White and Kyle went as my prince. At one point during the party I looked around and realized that every other person in the room was wearing black, except for good ole' Snow White. Click here to see the photos.
In the last week, Kyle celebrated his 28th birthday. We went to a great restaurant just around the corner from us; La Quincaillerie. It used to be an old hardware store, so it definitely has character!
It is amazing that some of the people that are closest to me in my life all have birthdays within five days of each other:
Carla, my best friend from high school
Kyle (enough said)
Kelly, one of my best friends in Belgium
SK, one of my best friends in college
Plus, two of Kyle's best friends from high school, Jigar and Keich, were born on Oct. 29 and 30, respectively. So I guess if you have a birthday between Oct. 26-30, there is a good chance you might become a really good friend of ours!
I have been reading A Year in the Merde and I highly recommend it, especially to anyone that has lived in France or Belgium and might speak a little French. The book is written in English, but there are some French phrases that make it even funnier. (Note: "Merde" means "shit" in French but is used a bit more loosely or casually.) The author has a really funny way of summing up so many crazy experiences that we have also encountered here.
We had incredible fall weather through all of October. Each day was just a light jacket or sweater type of day, with sunshine in abundance. I don't think I have ever talked about or had such strong feelings about the weather as I do here. All of my friends agree that we are so happy to have had such good weather, but at the same time, we never know what sunny day will be our last for the next five months, so we enjoy each one to its fullest. As wonderful as that is, you can't get a lot done when you are trying to be outside all day for 31 days straight!
One of the other things I have done recently is take a tour of a volunteer Emergency Rescue Service that a woman who is active in the AWCB helps to fund (she is married to a Belgian). The group was started because they did not feel that emergency service was rapid or well-trained enough in the rural area of southern Brussels. To give you an idea about working with the Belgian goverment -- this volunteer group raised enough funds to buy three helicopters for air rescues. The Belgian government decided that the group was infringing on the government's ability to save people, so it told them to stop using their helicopters. However, the Belgian government only had one helicopter, and no money to buy another one. So six months out of the year, the Belgian government helicopter was in the northern part of Belgium (Flanders) and the other six months of the year it was in the southern part (Wallonia). You better hope you don't need to be airlifted during the wrong month! Click here for the pictures (but I will warn you that they aren't too exciting.)
On October 28, Kelly and her friend Donna organized a Trick or Treat on our street. Donna is an American married to a Belgian and she and Kelly wanted to share the Halloween tradition with many of their children's friends and parents. After the kids were done, the parents all got together for a party at Donna's house. Halloween is just starting to become known in Belgium, and somehow the Belgians picked up on the dressing up in costume idea, but didn't catch on that you can dress up as anything you want -- because they ONLY dress up as scary things (witch, devil, or anything that requires only wearing black). Of course I was thinking like an American when I got our costumes and so I went as Snow White and Kyle went as my prince. At one point during the party I looked around and realized that every other person in the room was wearing black, except for good ole' Snow White. Click here to see the photos.
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