First 30 days in Belgium

We have been here in Belgium, all together as a family, for about a month. So we thought it was time for and update.

We arrived first with Maman. Zoe's godmother, Chupa, came to visit from the Netherlands and they set out right away to find us a place to live. With them out of the way we had plenty of time with our grandparents and cousins Daphne and Louis.

Maman found us a great big, beautiful house in the town of Overijse. We are in the same town as Mammy and Papy and our cousins. There is a third floor we don't even use, it's just waiting for visitors from far away. At first we were so excited to have our own rooms but after two days we changed our minds. We like sleeping together, and the other room just became a very big closet. We didn't bring along any furniture from America and this house was just wide open space. But we have had a lot of luck with Ebay, Ikea, freecycle and loans. We also hit a lot of the flea markets at first but Delphine declared this way too boring. Next up: a washer and dryer. We can't have Mammy doing our laundry forever. Although, one can really get used to having one's sheets ironed.

We go to the Athenee Royal Maurice Careme in the nearby town of Wavre. They have a French/English immersion program there. We start each week with two days in English and end each week with two days of French. Wednesdays switch back and forth between the two. And Wednesdays are half days! We love first grade and are making a lot of new friends. There are some new things to get used to, like missing toilet seats. Also there is no toilet paper in the bathroom stalls, you have to bring it in with you! And then we can't wash our hands until we are back in our classroom. We overheard Maman and Daddy talking about a new school.

Our new Friend "mini-Sophie"

We play soccer every Saturday morning. Our team, The Jaguars, gets better and better with each game. We especially like to play defense. It's really fun to take the ball away from the other team. Our games are played in the town of Waterloo. Yes, that Waterloo.

                   

The Jaguars in action...

                   

Intimidation                                 Waffle Break

After our first game we visited the Battlefield of Waterloo, Napoleon's last stand. There's a monument to mark the site, a huge lion sits on top of a hill overlooking the countryside. We climbed all 226 steps to the top.  Afterwards a last splash in our cousin's swimmingpool was due...And who said that in Belgium it's not good weather...

      

Battlefield of Waterloo                     Up to the top....

              

                     View from the top                                                   Future Frites                                                

                     

                               Last splash                                      The invisible pony ride

We have had a few dinner parties already starting with Mammy and Papy's 45th wedding anniversary. Uncle Phillip and Aunt Deborah came along with Daphne and Louis. Uncle Phillip smokes quite a bit, just like most Belgians. Maman doesn't like this and we have to agree that it really stinks

Chupa made a return visit along with her mom who was visiting from Chicago. She asked us to call her Yia-Yia, which means grandma in Greek. They were our first stay over guests and we had a lot of fun. We visited the zoo in Plankendael and were all very impressed, so much so that we became members. Those baby giraffes have not seen the last of us.

New Arrival

On Safari

Maman found a job right away. After several interviews she began working with a local caterer developing a new concept called the "cocotte" which is a little individual pan where you eat out off. She is extremely busy and we don't see her a lot, we hope this will not last.

Daddy, for the moment, is looking after things at home. There was a brief stint as a teacher's assistant at our school, looking after kindergardeners. Let's just say Dad has a new found appreciation for those in that line of work.

He has begun an intermediate French class. We expect he'll make some real progress as soon as he correctly understands which days of the week he actually has lessons. Le Catch-22. He promises to "get creative" with his spare time. Maybe he has too much spare time. More on this as it develops.

As we said earlier our house is in the town of Overijse, just 15 minutes from downtown Brussels. If we happen to forget which town we live in we can just step outside our front door and read the sign planted in our yard. For those of you who may not know, Belgium has two primary languages, Flemish and French, and the country's regions are clearly divided to reflect these linguistic differences. The town of Overijse sits in the Flemish speaking region. The town of Rosieres, which begins just across the street, is French speaking (remember the sign post in our front yard). So, depending on what direction one is traveling, we are either the first house or the last house in the Flemish speaking region (or Flanders).

The weather here during the month of September was extraordinarily mild. Not at all what we expected.  At some point we knew there'd be Hell to Pay. Well, guess who just showed up to collect? Right now it's pouring rain, thunder and lightening, has been this way for hours. It has begun to rain indoors. We have buckets and towels scattered across the living room floor...It seems that we have to clean up the gutters as they are filled with leaves...

These are our first 30 days in Belgium...Keep us posted on how you are doing by joining your comments