I still don't have a dryer.
Did you know it takes 3 days for jeans to dry without the assistance of hot air or sun?
I still don't have TV.
A man came yesterday from the cable company just to make sure I still didn't have the cable hookup. He couldn't install it or answer any questions. His job was just to check that I did't have it. It was confirmed that I don't have TV. Duh.
But...The girls loved their first day of school and I get to go to Amsterdam and Almere this weekend so I will quit complaining.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Funny email
I recently got an email from a teacher friend with a great sense of humor. She asked 20 questions which I will answer in this blog post. It turns out a lot of my friends have questions about how we're adjusting, how we live and what we eat. We don't live in Siberia, but we do live in a place that doesn't compare to Greenwood, Indiana in any way.
Below is Christi's email printed with her permission. Christi's questions are in black and my answers are in red. Thanks Christi for being a good sport and letting me use your questions!
__________________________________________________________
I hope you have had a wonderful bday! It's probably over by now. I have been reading your blog. I'll bet that flower carpet was just gorgeous. I'll play 20 questions:
1. Did it smell wonderful? WOW! Actually it didn't smell like flowers at all. It was made completely of begonias and they don't have an overpowering scent. However, we could smell the following: beer, body odor, Greek food, Italian food, French fries and waffles.
2. So...what color of speedo did Bob get? Bob refuses to even think about wearing a Speedo. Although if he does, Ron and Kara sent us a great website that sells Speedos with the American flag printed on the front AND back. Cute.
3. Are there any golf courses around you? Yes. There is one in my town and 2 more very close by. Whenever I meet someone I ask if they play. Bob and I have our clubs with us so hopefully we will get to try out the course. Are you free next Tuesday? I could round up a foursome!
4. Why don't you have a dryer? This is a very long story, but you asked so I will tell. If you already know about the issue with our dryer, now would be a good time to get a cup of coffee. Bob did lots of research and found that we could bring a huge American washer and dryer with us to Belgium. He found that the dryer might not have its timing device, but we would still be able to use it if we changed the plug when we got here. This was a great idea since washers and dryers are much smaller in Europe and cost much more than what they cost in the US. With the use of a transformer, my huge washing machine works great. Unfortunately even an electrician and the Bosch manufacturer have not been able to figure out how to make an American dryer with American wiring work in a house with European wiring. So...I wash the clothes in the washer and dry them outside on a huge tree-like drying contraption. Bob thinks this is kind of funny and enjoys telling people my laundry saga. My friend Becci has called me a pioneer. My mom feels sorry for me. The entire family is under strict orders to only put things in the wash that are really dirty. No more can you try something on in the morning and just throw it in the laundry basket to let mom worry about. Once you're dressed for the day, that's it. I don't care if the temperature fluctuates 40 degrees, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE ANOTHER OUTFIT DIRTY! Did I mention the weather in Belgium is not very sunny and it rains every day? This makes hanging clothes outside on the clothesline even harder. If you haven't felt a tinge of compassion for me already, you should feel sorry for me now.
5. Are you satisfied with the paint color of the house? The house is a light red brick with navy shutters. Inside most of the rooms are white with a few accents of taupe or brown here and there. All of the bathrooms are either grey or light brown. My kitchen has cream cabinets and brown square tiles from floor to ceiling. I know that sounds odd, but it is actually very pretty. The house is brand new and has lots of closets which is odd for Europe. Maria sleeps on the third floor and the rest of us sleep on the 2nd. The first floor has the normal stuff including an office for Bob. The basement has a huge garage, a wine room (yeah) and a room for the maid with a separate entrance. Too bad we don't have one because she could help me hang out the clothes on the clothesline!
6. Have the girls started school? They finally start school tomorrow. Leah and Jenn have a male teacher for the first time and will also be in the orchestra.
7. What are their hours of school? School starts at 8:45 and ends at 3:35. The bus picks them up in front of our house and drops them off there too. Originally we thought they would be picked up at the bakery at the end of our street, but now the bus will come all the way to our house. They have a 30 minute bus ride both ways.
8. Have they kind of settled in? We have been here for over 4 weeks and they are doing quite well. We have found the pool and the amusement park. Last week they went to multisport camp at their school and got acquainted with the grounds and some of the kids.
9. How's the food? Expensive to eat out but cheap at the grocery store. Outdoor markets and fresh produce are everywhere. If you stick to the local food, you're fine. If you want to buy American type stuff, it is impossible. For example, pancake syrup is on the shelf but it is 10euros a bottle. Eventually we will find the things that are similar to the foods we like and then shopping won't be such a challange. I should take pictures of the grocery store. The chip aisle is very small and the butter/cheese aisle is enormous.
10. What is a favorite of the family to eat? You can buy waffles on the street and they are delicious. But our favorite are the french fries. Belgium claims to have invented them. They are fried twice and served in a handheld large paper cone with mayonaise on top. Of course chocolate is everywhere and very rich and delicious.
11. Do you eat in or out more? Eating out is very expensive although we have sampled some places in our town. We have McDonald's which is good but not the same as the ones in the US. We had great Chinese and Japanese plus some not so great Mexican. There is a pizza parlor down the street that serves very thin individual pizzas. It is customary here to only order what you will eat. You never see anyone with a "doggy bag".
12. Does Bob like his job there? He won't admit it but he loves it.
13. Does he have to travel as much? He still works out of the house one day per week and goes to the office one day. The other 3 are usually traveling. He was in the US last week and brought us back the things we were missing like microwave popcorn, stove top stuffing and magazines in English.
14. Did ALL of your things come safely? No. My dining room table has the imprint of bubble wrap all over the top of it. It looks kind of artistic. My brand new drapes from JCPenney are still sitting in customs.
15. Why did the frenchmen laugh at you while getting gas? It is customary for frenchmen to laugh at American women and ridicule us. I'm just kidding. I asked him to help me figure out how to pay for my gas. It is complicated the first time you do it. He laughed at me and told me they didn't sell gas and I should go to the station up the street. I did this, while he and his partner were continueing to laugh, and found that the station up the street was no longer in business. I turned around and passed his station again and he was still laughing and pointing. Maybe I had toilet paper stuck to my shoe or something.
16. Why did my font suddenly change when I didn't do anything? I don't know but I didn't want to erase one of your questions.
17. Do you miss teaching? Yes. I had to hold my arm down this morning during elementary school orientation so I wouldn't volunteer for every position available.
18. Would you like to have my class that has a chair thrower, chair kicker, and desk pusher in it? No. Been there done that.
19. How are you feeling, how is your health? Thanks for asking. I feel ok. When my head hurts really badly I know what to do. I have great medicine which I have to take religiously. Most of my problems occur when I forget to take the medicine.
20. Will you email me back with answers? Is a post on my blog visible for anyone in the world good enough?
Below is Christi's email printed with her permission. Christi's questions are in black and my answers are in red. Thanks Christi for being a good sport and letting me use your questions!
__________________________________________________________
I hope you have had a wonderful bday! It's probably over by now. I have been reading your blog. I'll bet that flower carpet was just gorgeous. I'll play 20 questions:
1. Did it smell wonderful? WOW! Actually it didn't smell like flowers at all. It was made completely of begonias and they don't have an overpowering scent. However, we could smell the following: beer, body odor, Greek food, Italian food, French fries and waffles.
2. So...what color of speedo did Bob get? Bob refuses to even think about wearing a Speedo. Although if he does, Ron and Kara sent us a great website that sells Speedos with the American flag printed on the front AND back. Cute.
3. Are there any golf courses around you? Yes. There is one in my town and 2 more very close by. Whenever I meet someone I ask if they play. Bob and I have our clubs with us so hopefully we will get to try out the course. Are you free next Tuesday? I could round up a foursome!
4. Why don't you have a dryer? This is a very long story, but you asked so I will tell. If you already know about the issue with our dryer, now would be a good time to get a cup of coffee. Bob did lots of research and found that we could bring a huge American washer and dryer with us to Belgium. He found that the dryer might not have its timing device, but we would still be able to use it if we changed the plug when we got here. This was a great idea since washers and dryers are much smaller in Europe and cost much more than what they cost in the US. With the use of a transformer, my huge washing machine works great. Unfortunately even an electrician and the Bosch manufacturer have not been able to figure out how to make an American dryer with American wiring work in a house with European wiring. So...I wash the clothes in the washer and dry them outside on a huge tree-like drying contraption. Bob thinks this is kind of funny and enjoys telling people my laundry saga. My friend Becci has called me a pioneer. My mom feels sorry for me. The entire family is under strict orders to only put things in the wash that are really dirty. No more can you try something on in the morning and just throw it in the laundry basket to let mom worry about. Once you're dressed for the day, that's it. I don't care if the temperature fluctuates 40 degrees, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE ANOTHER OUTFIT DIRTY! Did I mention the weather in Belgium is not very sunny and it rains every day? This makes hanging clothes outside on the clothesline even harder. If you haven't felt a tinge of compassion for me already, you should feel sorry for me now.
5. Are you satisfied with the paint color of the house? The house is a light red brick with navy shutters. Inside most of the rooms are white with a few accents of taupe or brown here and there. All of the bathrooms are either grey or light brown. My kitchen has cream cabinets and brown square tiles from floor to ceiling. I know that sounds odd, but it is actually very pretty. The house is brand new and has lots of closets which is odd for Europe. Maria sleeps on the third floor and the rest of us sleep on the 2nd. The first floor has the normal stuff including an office for Bob. The basement has a huge garage, a wine room (yeah) and a room for the maid with a separate entrance. Too bad we don't have one because she could help me hang out the clothes on the clothesline!
6. Have the girls started school? They finally start school tomorrow. Leah and Jenn have a male teacher for the first time and will also be in the orchestra.
7. What are their hours of school? School starts at 8:45 and ends at 3:35. The bus picks them up in front of our house and drops them off there too. Originally we thought they would be picked up at the bakery at the end of our street, but now the bus will come all the way to our house. They have a 30 minute bus ride both ways.
8. Have they kind of settled in? We have been here for over 4 weeks and they are doing quite well. We have found the pool and the amusement park. Last week they went to multisport camp at their school and got acquainted with the grounds and some of the kids.
9. How's the food? Expensive to eat out but cheap at the grocery store. Outdoor markets and fresh produce are everywhere. If you stick to the local food, you're fine. If you want to buy American type stuff, it is impossible. For example, pancake syrup is on the shelf but it is 10euros a bottle. Eventually we will find the things that are similar to the foods we like and then shopping won't be such a challange. I should take pictures of the grocery store. The chip aisle is very small and the butter/cheese aisle is enormous.
10. What is a favorite of the family to eat? You can buy waffles on the street and they are delicious. But our favorite are the french fries. Belgium claims to have invented them. They are fried twice and served in a handheld large paper cone with mayonaise on top. Of course chocolate is everywhere and very rich and delicious.
11. Do you eat in or out more? Eating out is very expensive although we have sampled some places in our town. We have McDonald's which is good but not the same as the ones in the US. We had great Chinese and Japanese plus some not so great Mexican. There is a pizza parlor down the street that serves very thin individual pizzas. It is customary here to only order what you will eat. You never see anyone with a "doggy bag".
12. Does Bob like his job there? He won't admit it but he loves it.
13. Does he have to travel as much? He still works out of the house one day per week and goes to the office one day. The other 3 are usually traveling. He was in the US last week and brought us back the things we were missing like microwave popcorn, stove top stuffing and magazines in English.
14. Did ALL of your things come safely? No. My dining room table has the imprint of bubble wrap all over the top of it. It looks kind of artistic. My brand new drapes from JCPenney are still sitting in customs.
15. Why did the frenchmen laugh at you while getting gas? It is customary for frenchmen to laugh at American women and ridicule us. I'm just kidding. I asked him to help me figure out how to pay for my gas. It is complicated the first time you do it. He laughed at me and told me they didn't sell gas and I should go to the station up the street. I did this, while he and his partner were continueing to laugh, and found that the station up the street was no longer in business. I turned around and passed his station again and he was still laughing and pointing. Maybe I had toilet paper stuck to my shoe or something.
16. Why did my font suddenly change when I didn't do anything? I don't know but I didn't want to erase one of your questions.
17. Do you miss teaching? Yes. I had to hold my arm down this morning during elementary school orientation so I wouldn't volunteer for every position available.
18. Would you like to have my class that has a chair thrower, chair kicker, and desk pusher in it? No. Been there done that.
19. How are you feeling, how is your health? Thanks for asking. I feel ok. When my head hurts really badly I know what to do. I have great medicine which I have to take religiously. Most of my problems occur when I forget to take the medicine.
20. Will you email me back with answers? Is a post on my blog visible for anyone in the world good enough?
Monday, August 25, 2008
Koln, Germany
Koln, Germany was a great day trip! It is just 2 hours from our house. The first thing we saw upon entering Germany was a Burger King. Although not my first choice of restaurants, the rest of the family was elated and we stopped for lunch. I was looking more toward the sour kraut and sausage menu, but I was outvoted 4-1. The pictures above are of the Kolner Dom or Cologne Cathedral, in English. It holds the relics of the 3 Wise Men among other artifacts. We have started to notice that there is a Cathedral in every town we visit. It is the center of the town and always old. Some are spectacular and some are small. No matter the size, each one has something magnificent. We have started to look for the differences, the thing that sets one cathedral apart from another. At the Kolner Dom the floor was the most spectacular. Tiny inlayed pieces of marble were placed together to form beautiful mosaics on the floor. The picture above is just an example of many of the floor designs.
Below are pictures from the Lindt Chocolate Factory. The free samples were delicious and flowed from the coolest chocolate fountain overlooking the Rhine River. Bob was in his prime explaining the entire packaging process. He got so animated and really enjoyed being able to show the girls his expertise. Next Sunday we will be in Almer, Netherlands to watch Mike Sawa compete in the Iron Man and keep Nancy company while Mike runs, rides and swims. Mike was Maria's 6th grade teacher at Center Grove and Nancy is a teaching friend from Sugar Grove.
My goal is to visit 10 different countries in 2 years. Where should we go next???????????
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Drama! I no longer have my Center Grove email account. I knew using it was a risk, but I took it anyway. It was the most reliable email I had and always could be accessed from home, McDonalds or anywhere I could find a connection.
My mother would never approve of this, but I am actually going to give out my new address through the blog. I know, I know!! I shouldn't give it out. Every weirdo in the world could email me now. That is the risk I will have to take to communicate with friends and family!
robertbiasi@aol.com
The bad thing about loosing that center grove account was that I have also lost most of my addresses. Please just send me a quick email so I can get all of you back into my system. Maybe today will be a big day and I will hear from everyone I know all in one day!
My mother would never approve of this, but I am actually going to give out my new address through the blog. I know, I know!! I shouldn't give it out. Every weirdo in the world could email me now. That is the risk I will have to take to communicate with friends and family!
robertbiasi@aol.com
The bad thing about loosing that center grove account was that I have also lost most of my addresses. Please just send me a quick email so I can get all of you back into my system. Maybe today will be a big day and I will hear from everyone I know all in one day!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Pros and Cons
The girls are at camp this week. I promise to take pictures of the rock climbing, floor hockey, and general play if they let me. Maria is teaching dance to the campers, yes she is teaching. The story is long and boring to the general public. But if you are 16(almost 17!), love to dance and have been doing it for 12 years, and are bored out of your mind, teaching kids to dance is a wonderful thing. So far they love her and asked if she would continue working for them in the after school program all year.
New subject...
This really is a beautiful place to live and a beautiful country. There are some not so great things about living here too. I was made fun by a Frenchman while trying to fill my gas tank. It rains EVERY SINGLE DAY. This little fact probably wouldn't matter so much but I don't have a dryer and I have to hang the clothes outside to dry. I am constantly hanging them up and taking them down, hanging them up and taking them down. Sometimes it rains (and shines) 4-5 times a day! Communicating is hard too. I can only mime what I need at the grocery store since many of the stockers don't speak English. Today as I checked out I was "Controlled". It is hard to explain what this means, but in a nutshell, it makes the person behind you wait twice as long. The guy behind me kept shaking his head in disgust. Then as we were walking out, he was parked near me and, you guessed it, he saw my Indiana plates on the car and gave me that face that says "Oh now I understand why you're causing me so much trouble. You're from America."
I guess those are the cons of living here today. They might change tomorrow as I continue to fight for TV/cable hookup!
If there are cons about living in Europe, then there have to be some pros too. Actually there is just one and it is big...
I LIVE IN EUROPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is pretty darn cool!
New subject...
This really is a beautiful place to live and a beautiful country. There are some not so great things about living here too. I was made fun by a Frenchman while trying to fill my gas tank. It rains EVERY SINGLE DAY. This little fact probably wouldn't matter so much but I don't have a dryer and I have to hang the clothes outside to dry. I am constantly hanging them up and taking them down, hanging them up and taking them down. Sometimes it rains (and shines) 4-5 times a day! Communicating is hard too. I can only mime what I need at the grocery store since many of the stockers don't speak English. Today as I checked out I was "Controlled". It is hard to explain what this means, but in a nutshell, it makes the person behind you wait twice as long. The guy behind me kept shaking his head in disgust. Then as we were walking out, he was parked near me and, you guessed it, he saw my Indiana plates on the car and gave me that face that says "Oh now I understand why you're causing me so much trouble. You're from America."
I guess those are the cons of living here today. They might change tomorrow as I continue to fight for TV/cable hookup!
If there are cons about living in Europe, then there have to be some pros too. Actually there is just one and it is big...
I LIVE IN EUROPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is pretty darn cool!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Grande Place
Tonight we are going to Grande Place to see the Flower Carpet. I posted a picture on Tuesday of the beginning of the construction and we will see the finished product later on today. The link below will show you a movie of the carpet in 2006.
http://www.flowercarpet.be/site/main.php?lg=en&otm=1&mtm=6&hst=_05_01&pg=126
Thanks for reading the blog Aunt Ruth and Aunt Mary! You are welcome to come for a visit...How about the 3 sisters taking a long vacation to Europe?
http://www.flowercarpet.be/site/main.php?lg=en&otm=1&mtm=6&hst=_05_01&pg=126
Thanks for reading the blog Aunt Ruth and Aunt Mary! You are welcome to come for a visit...How about the 3 sisters taking a long vacation to Europe?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Swimsuits
I know the picture is a little hard to read, but let me explain. Over the weekend we bought a pass to the amusement park, Walibi, and the attached indoor water park, Aqualibi. They are located near our town about 10 minutes in the opposite direction of Brussels. (For all of my Indiana friends, we are the same distance from Brussels as you are from Indianapolis. The girls go to school in Brussels and the drive from Overijse, our town, is the same as you would have if you drove to Perry High School. Walibi and Aqualibi are as close to us as the city of Franklin is to you. I hope that makes it easier to understand our location!) Now, about that picture. As you enter the water park, there is a sign. Maria took a picture of it because we just couldn't believe what it said. Stated very clearly, it says you cannot wear swimming trunks if you are a man. You must, for hygienic reasons, wear a Speedo. We giggled a little and continued on to the communal changing area. There in front of our eyes were men of every shape and size in Speedos. No kidding. We laughed so hard because Bob was at work. We knew he would be so excited to hear that he will have to wear a Speedo if he wants to go swimming with the girls at the water park!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Driving in the City
Today was a big day. I drove to Grande Place in the city of Brussels. It is just 20 minutes from our house but I felt like I was driving in New York. Brussels is a crazy place to drive. There is construction around every corner and people everywhere crossing the street wherever they want. It doesn't help that I am driving a car that they don't even sell here with license plates from Indiana. Yesterday a man was driving very close behind me and got out of his car at a red light to say, "You drive from Indiana, America?" He thought this was very funny. I was scared to death. Other people just stare at us. Anyway, without the GPS I would not be able to go anywhere. There are no straight streets and each is labeled in Flemish and French. I have got to learn one of those languages.
The girls and I had fun at Grande Place. There were lots of tourists and many street performers. The city is getting ready for the Flower Carpet, a huge display of flowers placed on the floor of the Grande Place in a design similar to a French tapestry. We went to watch the beginning of the creation that will be completed on Thursday afternoon. The picture above is of the work being started. You can click on any of the pictures and they will get bigger. The other pics are of our bike ride to the forest and Maria on the computer.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Overijse Market
Every Thursday is market day in Overijse. I LOVE THE MARKET. I know I have already had a post about the market, but here are pictures to give you an idea. Notice the girls are never facing the camera. They were very embarrassed that I was taking pictures! Snails and Sandals
Slimey creatures!The picture of the snail is just a sample of the ones that hang out around our house. Every morning the girls can gather at least 6 that are crawling up the house or around the sidewalk. The shells are beautiful. Bob wanted me to add a picture of him wearing sandals. He is trying to be European even though he bought the sandals at Target in Greenwood, Indiana!
Monday was moving day. These movers were the most efficient guys I have ever met. They showed up at 8:00 and unloaded everything in one day. They even used an elevator to get our things to the second and third floors. On Tuesday they unpacked and arranged furniture. Only a few things were slightly damaged, but our dining room table didn't fair as well as everything else. It was wrapped in a paper type bubble wrap and after a long ride across the ocean, the wrapping left plastic circles all over the top of the table. It is a cool design but not quite the look we were going for! We put everything away on Wednesday and Thursday and the house now looks like a home. We are ready for company!
Monday, August 4, 2008
The Overijse pool, or should I say, Begijntjesbad, is unbelievable. The entire complex is indoors with an olympic size pool, kiddy area with fountains, sauna, restaurant, and water slide. Leah and Jennifer LOVED the slide. It is actually 8 turns filled with rapid type water that pushes you through untill the end where you are dumped into a whirlpool area big enough for 30 people. I think you can make the pictures bigger if you click on them. You'll notice that Leah and Jenn are in 3 but the other picture was taken to show you how many people wear Speedos. (Too many in our opinion!)
Sunday, August 3, 2008
No TV
For 9 entire days, my family has gone without TV. I truthfully can't believe it. We are at the mercy of the Belgians when it comes to television. There are some major installations that have to take place in order to get cable or satellite. We really don't want cable, even though it is practically free, unless we are planning to watch only CNN and the Discovery channel. Every other channel would be in Flemish or French. Satellite TV is our English speaking option and here it costs around 2000 euros to get started! When the representative came over to explain the plan, I thought Bob was going to fall off his chair. He did his patented "frown with his head shaking" and said "NO". Even if we decided to give up 2000 euros to be able to watch TV it would be from the UK. Maybe we would enjoy watching Fawlty Towers and Dr. Who!
I know what all you technical people are thinking; just watch shows on your computer. That sounds like a good option but in Belgium you can only use 25GB per month. I have no idea how much that is, but I probably need to find out.
Maybe one you knows the answer to our problem. Please remember, this family had 10 televisions back in Greenwood. Going completely without TV for 2 years is not a good solution. How would we watch the Olympics, the election, and most of all Project Runway?
I know what all you technical people are thinking; just watch shows on your computer. That sounds like a good option but in Belgium you can only use 25GB per month. I have no idea how much that is, but I probably need to find out.
Maybe one you knows the answer to our problem. Please remember, this family had 10 televisions back in Greenwood. Going completely without TV for 2 years is not a good solution. How would we watch the Olympics, the election, and most of all Project Runway?
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tailgate memories
Having our twins at the same college was just perfect. Bob and I were able to enjoy Leah and Jenn and their college journey together. The...
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For 9 entire days, my family has gone without TV. I truthfully can't believe it. We are at the mercy of the Belgians when it comes to te...
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Jennifer is on the phone telling Grandma all about her broken arm! She fell in Gym class and had a perfect break to her wrist. She will g... -
The Overijse pool, or should I say, Begijntjesbad, is unbelievable. The entire complex is indoors with an olympic size pool, kiddy area wit...