Short and Bitter Sweet (The Belgium Summer)

Here comes the rain again

Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion
I want to walk in the open wind
I want to talk like lovers do
I want to dive into your ocean
Is it raining with you

So baby talk to me
Like lovers do
Walk with me
Like lovers do
Talk to me
Like lovers do

Here comes the rain again
Raining in my head like a tragedy
Tearing me apart like a new emotion
Oooooh

–Eurythmics

La Dégustation

The 2nd annual Verbeelen wine tasting extravaganza was yet again an amazing affair. This year the two-day event was condensed into one and we are all still recovering. The weather was amazing; little did we know that it would be the last day of summer. Françios was here from the vineyard introducing his first solo bottle of red. He is who Dirk is going to collaborate with to create wine in the cave they are renovating. So keep your eye open for Château Verbeelen in 2008.

Françios and his girlfriend enjoying the party and their wine!

French 101

Natan's Quotes of the Day

“When I grow up I want to know all the languages of the world,
so I can fly all around and talk to everyone.”
Somehow I can see this in his future perfectly!

Bonjour, Goeien dag, Hello!

So, French is over! I was more than happy Friday to be leaving a week before the end, but today I am missing it and wondering what they are learning. It was a three week / 4hr a day / every day course, but I had to finish early, because this week I am teaching a summer art course. It was not only 4 hours each day, but I also had to study for an hour each morning before the course and do about 2 to 3 hours of homework each night, but that said it was very nice and I feel very confident and more comfortable in Brussels.

So, you are probably asking why then did it take so long? I have been in Brussels almost SIX years! Well, I was never quite ready mentally to take on another language. I already felt very inadequate in my acquiring of the Flemish language. Now I felt very ready to take on the challenge and to dive in headfirst and study loads. I just have to continue and use it each day, but the funniest thing is, not really about French, but that I have found my courage to speak Flemish!

“How comes that?” Natan would say.

Great French language links;
Very nice interactive site
BBC French online course
online grammer quiz

I can do everything myself!

Kai's Quotes of the Day

eten,eten,eten,eten,eten!"
(eten=eat)

Kai is 1.5 years old in 5 days and he has decided, actually for some time now, to act as if he where TWO! For some things this is welcome, drinking alone from a cup, getting some food in his mouth with a spoon, using more words and signs to show what he wants and being able to walk for longer distances.

BUT there are some unwelcome things as well. Screaming, throwing himself to the ground and banging his head if you even think about touching something he has. Screaming and throwing a fit when his toes touch the water in the bath. Screaming and running away when he sees anything that resembles medicine. Then most of all refusing to be helped with ANYTHING!

(Example: Thinking I am going to give something fun and enjoyable I give Natan and Kai an ice lolly. The stick is to short for Kai's fingers so he must hold the icy part, which is to cold, but he can’t lay it down or it gets dirty…. so, screaming and head banging seem in order).

I got your nose!

Yesterday was father’s day in Europe (or at least in Belgium). It was an amazing day with 30°c and sun. This day always sneaks up on me, because it is before father’s day in the states, so I only found out when Natan showed me SECRETELY a bag of popcorn and poem he made at school.

I think every stage of a child’s life is amazing and wonderful, but there is something about finally have an intellectual conversation with your child and realizing as he talks that you are also learning something that is truly brilliant.

So hat’s off to all the Papa’s and especially to our Papa Pieter!

Summer is here and French is in the air!

For the last few days we have had AMAZING weather here in Brussels. 30°c (86°f, which sounds like a cool summer day to you in Iowa, but here it is a VERY HOT day. The boys went to the sea for the second weekend in a row and Natan even got to go body bording, well he calls it surfing, today! In this weather our house is at it's best. You can open it completely up and have the feeling you are always outside, yet it stays cool inside. If only we could have this weather more then one week of the year.

Tomorrow my world expands as I will begin an intensive two week French course. Yes, I have live in a primarily French speaking city for almost 6 years and can only say VERY basic words. My hope is that it is all in my head swimming around and by the end of the two weeks (everyday) it will all be put in its proper place and I will be fluent! That could happen?

Well, I will try to keep up with the blog and practice my French during the course! Hope it goes better than my daily photo's this month, yes you can say it PATHETIC!

Weekends are for relaxing!

I can’t seem to find anything interesting to blog about. It just seems I would repeat myself over and over because everyday life seems to do that, but I guess everyday things should also be blogged not just the special events.

This weekend was a bit special and a bit repetitive as well. Pieter’s parents asked on Friday if the boys could stay the night and go to the sea with them in the morning and then we would go to the sea on Sunday and pick them up and stay till Monday since it was a holiday. Ummm lets see two nights and one whole Saturday just Pieter and I, what the heck we said yes!

It was wonderful; we woke up late and went out for breakfast, went shopping, had lunch out, shopped some more and then came home before getting ready to go out with Kelly and Rich. It was 16:00 we did a few home improvements, gardening and then sat in the garden with a glass of wine wondering why this day seemed so long? Usually, by 17:00 I am exhausted with a headache and wondering what the boys will eat, when Pieter will get home and how it is still to long until their bedtime at 19:00.

Sunday, we went by train to the sea in time for lunch. After lunch we went with Pieter’s parents for a bike ride. Kai was in a cart behind my bike and Natan on his own bike We went to The Netherlands, 25km (15.5miles) and Natan rode the whole way without one complaint! Actually, it appeared he had more energy at the end than at the beginning. How wonderful it would be to have that much energy in your day!


Monday, we spent a bit of time at the sea, but then decided to pack up and come home to the kitten. We thought she would be missing us, but when we got home Oma and Opa, who had come home on Sunday, where sitting in the garden with her. What a wonderful thing to live in the Verbeelen commune.

View from the flat at the sea.

p.s.
By the way we are still working on names for the kitten. The first few days she was Josephinetje, then for a day Mika, after that she was Agje for four days or so, then Nu, then Numi, yesterday it was Kiara and today…Natan seems to be enjoying coming up with names to much to settle on any one!

Natan's Quotes of the Day

Natan imparts his four year old wisdom on his Opa
“Opa, vergeten is ook verloren.”
"Opa, to be forgotten is also to be lost."