2,000 Hits and Counting!

I just checked my site meter and the magic number 2,000 has been accomplished. How cool!

So a fitting topic for this entry might be an ode to JieJie and MeiMei's new favorite singing group, K3, otherwise known as "kah-dree" in Flemish (and flip the "r" if you want true authenticity). Our friends M & R (or more correctly their sons, S & V, who had suddenly become aware that boys aren't supposed to like a girl group) gave us the cd "The Wereld Round" and we hear it several times a day.

At a recent trip to the public library, JieJie spotted the DVD of the Wereld Round concert so now we hear the cd AND we see the concert version several times a week. The concert version has some seriously second-rate choreography...I've taken step aerobics classes that were more aesthetically complicated, but the girls really like it, and I have to admit the show is very wholesome. Kind of like Dutch ABBA, as far as the music goes. John really likes it and dances around the apartment to their songs, though he's pretending to make fun of it (after all he has to be Mr. Cool Guy). I like their belly dancing song "Ik Van Je Hou."

So now you can help your preschool girl graduate from The Wiggles to Kah-DREE...I'm actually contemplating taking the girls to the Sportpaleis in April for their concert "The 3 Piggetjes" (the Three Little Pigs, if you haven't guessed).

Thanks for reading! There's plenty more to come.

Tagging along to Leuven

wow--almost 2,000 hits on this blog...thanks for spreading the word!--a

JieJie and MeiMei are getting to be great travelers, and genuinely seem to enjoy getting out and seeing things. They have half-days of school on Wednesdays, so when the university group's trip to Leuven was scheduled for a Wednesday afternoon, I told Mr. K (Director of Logistics) that the LL's (Little Ladies, as he calls them) and I would be along for the ride.

We would need to find our own things to do because the students, who are studying business-related subjects during their time in Antwerp, were going to Leuven to visit InBev, the world's largest brewery, maker of Stella Artois and Jupiler among other brands. No little kids allowed in the brewery.

No matter. Our Michelin Green Guide to Belgium indicated that Leuven is known for its extravagantly decorated town hall and its cathedral, and the map showed a walkable city with plenty to keep us occupied for a little while. We loaded La Stroller on the bus and settled in for the ride, a little over an hour.

When we got to InBev, Mr. K pointed the way to the center of Leuven, we arranged a rendezvous time for the return trip, and we were off. We walked past a big bus depot, the train station, and turned down Bondgenotenlaan for the stroll to the town square.

The girls wanted to look in a few stores along the way, and finally we arrived at the town square, which is small enough that it wasn't possible for me to capture the whole of the impressive Stadhuis (Town Hall) facade all in one photo frame. Today the Stadhuis is the seat of the provincial government of Flanders (Vlaanderen), the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. We didn't go in the Town Hall but we did go in the 15th-century St. Pieterskerk right across the square. It was (as is usual with these great European cathedrals) beautiful, lofty, full of wondrous things to see. JieJie and MeiMei wanted to light a candle. As I lit the one JieJie chose, she sang a prayer in Flemish, one she had learned at school. Pretty neat. I like that they get the connection and we have never had to admonish them about being respectful in these amazing buildings, either. They seem to understand.

One of the things I've enjoyed are the elaborately carved wooden pulpits in the cathedrals. I've never paid much attention to them before but I'm tempted to look for a book on the topic. The thing I find almost funny is the reason behind the elaborate decoration, or one reason anyway: the inevitability that some congregants will daydream during the sermon/homily. And when their attention wanders from the person in the pulpit, what do they see? The tree of knowledge with a snake coiled in the branches, the dove of peace, a crucifixion scene, palm trees symbolising Paradise, or perhaps their glance travels to the base of the pulpit where (in Leuven anyway) they see a vision of a horse and its rider being sucked down into Hell. I took some photos of the pulpit in Leuven, which the Michelin guide says is a scene of St. Norbert struck down at the foot of a rock, but they are a bit too dark to post.

We popped into a toy store called Krokodil just off the square--great store!!! We ended up getting two additions to our growing collection of Groovy Girls, which are great little rubbery plastic dolls with names like Oki and Vanessa and O'Ryan...very cute, ethnically diverse, not at all like the Junior Sluts dolls (Bratz) I can't stand. So we came home with Jenna and Bretta and their dune buggy and bicycle.

John sent a text message that things were wrapping up, so we headed back to InBev, stopping along the way for a Croque Monsiour to go for each of the girls. It was a bit raw and windy, so we ducked into the train station waiting room to eat. We ran back to InBev, which we needn't have done because the students spent almost an hour in the gift shop wasting their money (IMHO) on Stella Artois t-shirts and beer mugs. We hung out with the InBev security guard for a while and then were allowed in the secure area to go get on the warm bus for the trip home.

The rest of Leuven, from what I could tell, looks like a nice place, though it's similar enough to other places we've been in Flanders that I wouldn't go out of my way to go there again before we leave.

Boullion in the Semois Valley

We left Bastogne on our whirlwind overnight and headed southwest to Boullion, a beautiful town in the Semois Valley. So far, Boullion has been my favorite place of all the stops on our semester-long itinerary. This photo manages to capture all of the things we did in Boullion. You see the Semois River winding through the photo. The light tan building across the river is the Archeoscope which tells the story of Godfrey of Boullion. In the foreground you see the center courtyards of Godfrey's castle (I took the photo from the uppermost parapet), and in the courtyard you also see the blue bleachers where we sat to view a falconry demonstration. A most useful picture indeed.

So: the Archeoscope. It's really a great place to take kids before you visit Godfrey's castle. It was especially helpful for our group too because in 24 hours we had skipped around historical eras with alarming suddenness. Charlemagne...19th and 20th century coal miners...WW2 battlefields and now The Crusades?! A little orientation was most appreciated. Godefroid de Boullion was born in the 11th century and was a Crusader who sold his castle to pay for his crusade to the Holy Land, where he took the title Defender of Jerusalem (or something to that effect).

The Archeoscope experience is part film, part multimedia, part diorama. We walked through a dark room where a booming voice told us about (love it in French) Godefroid de Boullion (you've gotta say it out loud, gohd-FWAH duh bool-YOHN...French is fun). Then we went into the next room and got front row seats thanks to Mr. K's insider tip on where the exit from part I was located. We sat down and put on headphones, selected English and chose our volume level, and then a great little show unfolded on a stagelike area in front of us, with moving models and different projections showing the story of Godfrey and the castle. MeiMei noted that Godfrey and his wife "fell into love." I asked her last night what that means and she said "when you fall into love, you really want to hug each other."

JieJie listened pretty intently to the narration. MeiMei's head is a bit small and the headphones kept slipping off, but she did ok. We came out into a gift shop and John bought a great book of puzzles that depict life in a castle. It's in French, but he can read it to them so no matter.

We boarded the bus in the increasingly heavy rain and rode to the castle itself, then found a place to sit for a demonstration of the art of falconry. The falconer had owls, vultures and hawks that are trained to hunt smaller birds and other types of animals. Dogs are not allowed in the castle for this reason. One stubborn dog owner disregarded the rule and the owls apparently got both of his small dogs. The falconer said these were American owls and their names are Bill and Monica. Lovely. Anyway.

The rain picked up considerably and I dreaded another 2 hours in the bus with the girls, who obviously wouldn't be up for a tour through the cold wet castle. Mr. K generously offered to take them back to the bus and hang out with them and Rene the bus driver so I could tour the castle. It is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me as a mom, and I almost wept with gratitude. The girls trotted happily off holding Mr. K's hands and we heard later that he bought them a candy bar, they played hide and seek in the bus, and just generally had a great time. Thanks Mr. K!!

John and I enjoyed the tour of the castle and the spectacular views from the parapets. I couldn't help thinking what a great trip it would be to tour the Semois Valley, by car, by boat, by bicycle, or even on foot, and stay at a little inn along the way. If you are looking for a quiet, idyllic, not-too-touristy place for a long weekend while you're in Belgium, allow me to recommend quaint, picturesque Boullion.

Bastogne & Hotel Melba

That's MeiMei, dwarfed by the enormous Battle of the Bulge Monument in Bastogne, Belgium.

We arrived in Bastogne hungry and tired from our busy day of touring (see Aachen and Blegny) and luckily we were staying at the lovely Hotel Melba, which is part of a chain (Best Western I think) but only for reservation purposes. Everything else about the hotel is one-of-a-kind, and the room was one of the nicest we've ever had.

We had the chance to choose two connecting rooms or a suite, and we decided on the suite--I'm so glad! Turns out the only suite in the hotel is under a peaked roof instead of a flat roof. Each room in our suite had double skylights right over the beds, so we literally slept under the stars, though we pulled the shades over the girls' beds so they wouldn't wake up too quickly.

The girls napped a bit more and played in the room until it was time for a group dinner in the hotel dining room. I wasn't expecting much, but we were so pleasantly surprised. Dinner began with Quiche Ardennes, named for the delicious Ardennes ham that was the main ingredient. The girls wolfed theirs down and were full, so I got them some little activity books to do over by a fireplace/lounge area in the dining room. One of the JMU students voluntarily kept them company while we ate our turkey dinners--I could have kissed her. The girls have to do a lot more keeping themselves occupied on these group trips, so it means a great deal to me that the students go out of their way to help--they certainly wouldn't have to!

After dinner I went up to tuck JieJie and MeiMei in, and by then it was absolutely pouring rain. I didn't realize til then how totally spent I was from all the touring...I sat and stared out the window at rainy Bastogne for a solid ten minutes, I think! John and Mr. K talked down in the lounge for a while longer and then we all went to sleep. I think some of the students actually went out looking for a good pub, despite the rain and their exhaustion, but if they did, I didn't hear them go out or return...I was dead to the world.

Saturday morning dawned rainy and raw. We had breakfast in the hotel, a lovely selection of meats, cheeses, and croissants, and we met Henri, the man who would be our guide for the day. Henri was 8 years old when the Allies defeated the German army in WWII's famous Battle of the Bulge, and he still remembers things like American GI's giving him chocolate. I have a bit of interest in WWII as both of my grandfathers served in the U.S. military, one in the Navy and one in the Army. My Grampa Defries, the Army guy, actually met General Patton, who was involved in the Battle of the Bulge. So I was excited for the tour, though not expecting to hear and/or see as much because I am Parachute Lady with the girls ("Tantrum! Tantrum! Eject! Eject!")

Our group boarded the bus and began the bus tour of Bastogne, where we saw more American flags than I remember seeing at home. There's a church that plays the first six notes of the U.S. National Anthem on its carillon bells, and whose stained glass displays an American Flag.

We arrived at the Bastogne Historical Center, watched an orientation movie (thankfully not too graphic) which the girls paid attention to enough that I could get the gist of it, and then went out into the exhibit areas, which I only wish I could have seen with Grampa. He fixed Jeeps, and there in the exhibit diorama were two full-size Jeeps and depictions of soldiers in uniform carrying out various tasks. I wonder what he would have been able to remember if he could see all of the artifacts collected in this impressive tribute to the Battle of the Bulge.

The girls got squirrely enough that I took them away from the group and we just looked at different tools, uniforms, canteens, and things having to do with soldiers' daily lives. Then we went back to the bus and hung out with Rene, the driver, who is a very nice grandfatherly sort of man. He let the girls sit in his seat and have their pictures taken "driving" the bus, I gave the girls some snacks, and read them "Rumpelstiltskin" which Rene said is called "Rempestentje" in Dutch.

We briefly tried to walk to the outdoor memorial with its view of the beautiful Ardennes landscape, but it was just too raw and rainy so the picture of MeiMei is about all that came of our attempts. When either of my daughters is tired of walking, it's no use trying to go another step (hence the invaluable STROLLER!) and once JieJie just whined "Coold! Tiiiired!" over and over, I knew it was pointless to argue.

John, Mr. K, Henri and the students returned to the bus, we drove out through the forest battle areas and looked at a "foxhole"--John says they can't be authentic because they had freshly broken tree roots as though they had been created or at the very least maintained much more recently than 1944. Still, it was moving to drive through the area and realize how cold it must have been, how hard it was to see through the dense pine forests. If you've seen "Band of Brothers" you know the terrain.

We said goodbye to Henri at the center of town, grabbed a Croque Monsieur (our standby for the girls - they will always wolf down a hot ham and cheese!) and got back on the bus for the trip to our final destination in this whirlwind overnight: Boullion, Belgium.

You might notice that it's taken me a couple of weeks to write about these two densely packed days of touring. I can't wait to finish with Boullion, which must be mentioned since it is so gorgeous. Still, this "assignment" has brought out my inner rebel, the part of me that drags my feet when I know I have something big to finish. I want to get caught up! I want to tell you about JieJie's birthday, about our little trip to Leuven, and today's daytrip wandering around Brussels. I'll get to it, and soon--I have to, because we've got five solid days of touring coming up later this month (including our first ever trip to Paris), and The Decks Must Be Clear!

The Halfway Point

Well, this Friday is JieJie's fifth birthday, and next week is the halfway point of our time here in Antwerp.

I still say I wouldn't live here long-term, as much as I am enjoying the day-to-day. People are nice here, it's easy to get around, the food is great, there's always something fun to see and do, but city life can be constraining. I miss my big back yard, our house, our neighbors and friends, and I am looking forward to getting all of that back. I realized the other day that I hadn't driven a car in two months, and have only been in a car three times since getting here...weird.

What's going to stay with me from our time here? A deep appreciation of the nuances of truly great chocolate making and eating...a love of beatiful wrought iron work...the plan we have to see how long we can get by with only one car and the bus system back home...wanting to try a gorgeous crystal chandelier in an otherwise casual room...being reminded how good a fresh loaf of bread can be...loving train travel.

What I'd like to leave here: JieJie's mad days, MeiMei's whining, my inability to listen to more than one person at a time when three people are all trying to tell me Something Really Important and my head feels like it's going to implode. It's so odd, but this small apartment has made the girls' clinginess (justified of course by the fact that so much is unfamiliar) seem so much more ludicrous. They want me (daddy's no good, apparently) right on their beds with them to fall asleep, and fight over whose bed I'm sitting on. They want me to sit next to them at meals, they want my lap on the tram, they want me to dress them, feed them like a baby...it's hard on them sometimes, which makes it hard on me and on John, who does his best to insist that Mommy Can't Do Everything, or (my favorite) "Mommy delegated this job to Daddy."

Still worth it? Ultimately, yes (who knows what the girls will say?). But there is about a half-hour of every day when I just want to run around like Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone.

Blegny-Trembleur

After our visit to Aachen / Aix-la-Chapelle, we went to Blegny-Trembleur, Belgium to visit the last working coal mine in Wallonia (French-speaking Belgium) which shut down a couple of decades ago.

I was fairly sure the girls and I would skip the mine tour, because I wasn't sure how we would be able to get out if MeiMei decided she was "SKAWED!" all of a sudden. I'd heard that there were lots of playgrounds at ground level. I made sure we had a couple of snacks handy and we waved goodbye to John and the university students as they headed into the tour orientation area.

There were indeed playgrounds! One was for toddlers and one was for bigger kids. I have to say (again) that the playground equipment here is so fun, due in part to the novelty value for us Americans, but also due to the fact that the liability insurance issue is not as major here. There were things on that playground that no American playground planner would touch with a ten-foot pole. Long multi-person swings that basically look like seats on a swinging battering ram...the merry-go-round things that U.S. playgrounds did away with when I was still a kid...really really tall slides that have no guardrails on the top and seem greased for the ride down. Needless to say, the girls had a blast!

After about an hour of that, they started to wander from thing to thing and I thought okay, enough of this. I told them it was my turn to pick what we did, and we headed off down a tour path toward who-knows-what. Turned out to be an exhibit of the different types of coal cars and miner transportation vehicles, digging machines, etc., all connected to each other and displayed on rails. The girls seemed interested in all the little cars (short of course so they could fit through the narrow passages). And then: ANOTHER playground! And a little zoo with birds and farm animals!

Finally I saw a path that led up this enormous slag heap. It was so amazing to me that just the waste from the mining operation could create a mountain which now sustains a whole ecosystem of birch trees, moss, various animals, birds, etc., but which still smells faintly of coal. We climbed the mountain together, the girls and I, and I was impressed with their ability to make it to the top with a minimum of whining. The view from the top was reward enough (see photo). We had such great weather that day. It was a really fun time, just following our noses to see what we could see.

We headed back down and the tour was just ending, so we met John and the students and went back to the bus. They said the mine tour was really interesting, and the guide (b. 1943) had actually worked for the mine (mining and then managing) from age 16 til his retirement when the mine closed. They told some pretty horrific stories about the conditions the miners worked in, and how awful the lives of the horses were that had been used to pull loads of coal down in the mine before machines were available. The horses were sometimes kept down in the mine for years at a time, never seeing the sun and often going blind down there.

You might wonder, what's the value of this tour for a group of American university students? But coal was a major industry in Wallonia. The students no doubt learned the association between an industry, the local economy, the culture and identity of a place. Perhaps in the future they will think to inquire about the major industries and "economic heritage" of the places they visit and work.

Next: Bastogne and a great little hotel

Whirlwind Overnight Part I: Aachen, Germany

FINALLY catching up! Okay. Where was I? A week ago today, we put two sleepy little girls in the Stroller and walked a few blocks to the Paardenmarkt (Horse Market) bus stop of our private tour bus. We were prepared with juice boxes and cereal bars for the girls, so all they'd have to put up with at 6:30 in the morning was getting dressed.

We met the bus at 7:15 and settled in for a quiet ride east from Antwerp to Aachen, Germany. The French call this town Aix-La-Chapelle (pronounced like EX-la-sha-PELL). The college students were sleeping off whatever they'd done the night before, and the girls snoozed since there was nobody to play with but Boring Old Mom and Dad and Mr. K, who was busy talking to Daddy.

Aachen is a neat city, one I would like to return to and which definitely whetted my apetite to see more of Germany. John's paternal heritage goes back to Kiel, in northern Germany, and his Oma used to work at a German bakery in Point Pleasant, NJ where John is from.

After getting off the bus and giving the group a sense of where they were to meet up, we were given 15 minutes to grab a quick roll and coffee. John said many of the items in the bakery/cafe we found reminded him of things his grandmother helped make at Mueller's in NJ. Mr. K said he loved getting the German pastries, and I admit they were really tempting! I just wanted some coffee. The girls wanted to get something---luckily there was a fruit stand a few meters from the cafe seating so we got them some grapes and a banana. I switched languages from "een banaan, alsdublieft" to "eine banana,____" and (rats!) the fruit seller answered in English. My goal with shopping while here is not to have the person I'm buying from switch to English, though I certainly don't expect them to think I'm a native speaker of Nederlands (Dutch/Flemish).

We then went to our tour of the Aachen Cathedral. This building is significant for a couple of reasons. First, it is where many German coronations have been held. Second, it is where Charlemagne was crowned and where his remains...well, remain, I guess.

Before seeing the sanctuary itself, we went through a great museum called the "treasury" where some important treasures including significant paintings, crowns, jewels and reliquaries are displayed. The girls were still pretty tired and not all that interested (I wasn't expecting them to take notes or anything. Really this was their first museum visit). I spent much of that tour taking the girls to the potty. Ah well. JieJie seemed interested in a tryptich depicting major events in Christ's life, especially the part where he disappears into the clouds at the "end" (reading the tryptich from left to right, heaven is in the upper right hand corner).

Before we went into the cathedral, our guide Bernadette showed us something about the cathedral's architecture using a little bronze model. That's the picture at the top. She explained which parts of the cathedral are original and based on an octagon (sorry, can't remember why!). Then she showed us the door, which has a legend attached to it. It's called the "wolf's door." Legend has it that when the building was finished, the devil planned to take the soul of the first being to enter the cathedral. Nobody wanted to go in. Someone came up with the idea of sending a wolf through the door first. Bernadette showed us a crack in the bronze door, and said when the devil found out that he'd been tricked, he slammed the door so hard it cracked.

We went in the very impressive sanctuary. I notice that they're hosting a performance of Bach's St. John Passion there on March 25th, but there's no way I can go because we have travel again the next day and if I got stranded there...bad news! Still, I can't imagine how breathtakingly beautiful that performance will be, with the acoustics in there and the stunning art and mosaics.

We saw Charlemagne's throne. Not what you'd expect! It's made of marble, not all gilded and bejeweled. Bernadette told us that because Charlemagne wanted an empire based on Christianity, he wanted a throne made from marble from Jerusalem. Experts have noticed that the marble appears to have been salvaged, since some surfaces are unfinished or rounded (the stairs up to the throne look like a column cut into quarters) or otherwise irregular. Also they've found some carving on one side that looks like a sidewalk game (like marbles), suggesting that at least one of the pieces was made from a paving stone. The throne faces Jerusalem and is on the second floor, overlooking the larger congregation area.

JieJie and MeiMei were interested in the throne--again, all this fairy tale stuff and Princess stuff...they at least know the word, and there's a concrete association to make. We also called their attention to the stained glass windows, so colorful and intricate. JieJie tried to find a depiction of Noah's Ark with animals.

Because of damage in WW2, the stained glass windows are not original (there are pock marks in the outside too if you look closely) but they are beautiful nonetheless. After our tour of the cathedral, it was back to the bus and time to head back over the border for a our of the Blegny Mine in Belgium's French-speaking region, Wallonia. to be continued

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You:

Yes indeedy! Sorry for the lapse. I've been recovering from last weekend. Tomorrow, I promise narrative and pictures from our whirlwind overnight bus trip with a great guide, two intrepid preschoolers, an amazing husband, and thirty impressive university students, plus a very nice bus driver.

John is reading page proofs for two books due to come out later this year, so he gets first dibs on the computer. Tomorrow morning I plan to catch up, but just to whet your appetite, you will get to read about:

Aachen, Germany, where Charlemagne's tomb and throne are located;

Blegny-Trembleur, Belgium, where the last working mine in Wallonia (French-speaking Belgium) has been turned into a museum about mining;

Bastogne, Belgium, site of the WW2 Battle of the Bulge, where we toured battlefields and museums with a Bastongnian man who got chocolates from American GI's as an 8-year-old; and

(talk about historical whiplash!) beautiful Boullion, in Belgium's Semois River Valley, where we visited the castle of Godfrey, a crusader born in 1060 who became the first King of Jerusalem. Here's a taste of Boullion's storybook charm (can you tell it was my favorite?), taken from the castle rooftop:

Also coming up over the next few days (possibly):

"I've gained too much weight!"--cheese and chocolate revisited

and

"Behavior modification charts: Who are they Really For?"

A Real Olympic Pool, Now Public

Click on the title of this post and you can read (albeit in Flemish) about the Zwembad Wezenberg, or Wezenberg Pool, which the girls and I splashed around in on Wednesday.

It was time for a kid-focused day, and we had a great one on Wednesday. The weather was dreary and rainy, limiting us to indoor options. Knowing how much JieJie and MeiMei love swimming pools, I asked the assistant program director, here in Antwerp for the week, how to get to the pool he'd mentioned. He gave me great, detailed directions, we packed our suits and towels and were on our way.

I might remind you that we have those wonderful DeLijn passes, so we never have to worry about finding pocket money for bus or tram fare. We just go! We took the tram to the Centraal Station where the #17 bus stops, but didn't see any signs indicating a #17 stop. Luckily I'd peeked at the map and had a hunch that if we went down a road called DeKeyserlei, we might find something. It wasn't there, but we caught sight of a #17 turning a corner up ahead and found the stop on the Quellinstraat, where the school uniform store is also located.

We waited at the stop, the girls asking about the different buses, and a woman asked if we wanted the #17. I said yes, and she advised us to go a bit further up the block. There's a lot of construction around the train station right now, so things are a bit out of usual. She asked where we were from and I said Virginia. She smiled and said she was from North Carolina and that her daughter was at a military base in Virginia right now. Her accent was not North Carolinian in the least, so I asked her what brought her to Antwerp. She said she married a Belgian man 30 years ago and had been here ever since.

We caught the bus and got off at the perfect stop, walked only a block and saw the swimming pool complex. Antwerp hosted the Olympics in the 20's, and this pool complex was built for those games. The whole facility was renovated in 2002 and it's really beautiful and clean and bright.

It was only 2 euro to get in, kids under 6 free (yay!). We paid and got a card that made the entry turnstile work. I was looking for the women's locker room entrance but there was only one door. I wasn't sure whether to go in because I saw men inside...but then I saw women too. Okay, be cool, co-ed locker rooms. Jeez, I keep coming up against how Puritannical we Americans are about these things...ironic when we export the likes of Madonna and Britney Spears (who I hear has checked herself into rehab...are we surprised?!). Anyway. We rented a locker for a refundable 2 euro coin and closed the doors of our little changing room. JieJie and MeiMei were SO EXCITED to be going to a swimming pool!!! We joined one a few summers ago and spend half the summer splashing around, so it's a familiar and fun place for them to be.

After getting our suits on and running through a quick shower, we found the kids' pool and it was perfect. MeiMei is only a yard high but the pool was up to her shoulders for most of it. For a good hour, we splashed, chased, laughed and talked about how great it will be to go to our pool with its mountain views this summer. It was such a great escape from all the unusual situations the girls have adjusted so well to. They deserved a fun day just for them.

After swimming,, we rinsed off (co-ed showers too, swimsuits on...everyone is just so NORMAL about this--why does nudity always equal lust in our culture?! It's really sick.) and went to our changing room. A nice grandfatherly man in his suit and towel stopped to ask the girls how their swim was and they eagerly told him that they aren't scared to go under water and that they take swimming lessons. Again, my American Mom habit of mind was "who is this man and what kind of a perv is he?" and again I realized, here was a nice man who just wanted to be friendly.

We got dressed and headed across the parking lot to a restaurant that I think must have been a cafeteria for the athletes during the Olympics. It's called Colmar and it's part of a chain. The kids menu was 6 euro and included a dessert bar. They both chose meatballs and fries, and for dessert JieJie had rice pudding with berry topping, and MeiMei had a pancake with chocolate mousse and whipped cream on top. They both got a toy to take home and there was a coloring page menu. It was kid-friendly, definitely, but what I had was nice too: Norwegian salmon en croute with Bearnaise sauce and a salad bar with a wonderful selection of toppings. I'd go back, definitely, but only with the kids as a treat for them. It's not a date restaurant, at least on par with the places that are on John's and my list for the nights when we can get away.

We had a wonderful rest-of-the-day at the apartment, just hanging out, coloring, watching tv, whatever, and the girls fell asleep just after 7. Perfect timing, as we had a sitter over so we could take a student group to City Palace Restaurant in Chinatown. Best Chinese food I've had outside of China--AMAZING dim sum!

G. Bastin Chocolate Factory Tour

Click on the title of this post and you will see the website of a 100 year old Belgian chocolate maker named G. Bastin, which is a few blocks from the University of Antwerp neighborhood where we live.

On Tuesday morning, our family accompanied a group of 15 JMU students as we toured their factory, and it was a delicious morning! We went through the showroom to a back room where we watched a preliminary video about the cocoa bean growers in Ghana whose beans are processed and shipped all over the world. Our tour guide, Raymond, told us that different companies' chocolates have a distinctive taste because they select from over 1200 possible varieties, depending on type of bean, how it's roasted and processed, and combinations of beans that give a unique flavor. They have been using the same combination of flavors in their chocolate for fifty years, and don't plan to change. They feel that their market chooses them, and they want to remain faithful to the niche they've created.

Next, we got into an elevator that smelled strongly of chocolate. We went down to the chocolate dungeon, ha ha ha, and got a two-hour demonstration of chocolate making. There was a vat of melted chocolate being constantly stirred, there was a conveyor belt that could carry fillings under a chocolate spout to be covered in delicious dark, milk, or white chocolate. There was a machine that automatically filled shell molds to make the filled chocolates that Belgium is famous for. On racks by the wall were empty chocolate eggs the size of honeydew melons, waiting to be filled and decorated for Easter.

We watched as one of the founder's grandsons made "Antwerp hands" (see references to the Brabo Fountain earlier in the blog) with a filling flavored with a secret recipe liqueur called Elixir d'Anvers (Elixir of Antwerp). We got to try writing with warm dark chocolate, and the college students even helped JieJie and MeiMei try their hand at writing their names in chocolate. JieJie can actually write her name, so when she finished, she got a round of applause that put a twinkle in her eyes.

Then we got a marzipan lesson. We had already been told by the Chateau Blanc chocolate guy that what most Americans think is marzipan is either partly or sometimes entirely coconut, not almonds at all. What we learned at G. Bastin is that there are different grades of marzipan. They use a 50/50 marzipan, meaning half almond paste, half sugar. They said the sugar content can go up to 70% (ew!). I have to admit, the marzipan decorations on our Valentines' Day cake from Goossens were much more flavorful than I was expecting. You really can taste the difference.

After these demonstrations, Raymond stopped talkign chocolate and started talking business (our students are all business majors). He made a crucial point: if you mechanize your business, insist that the machine work with the product, and not vice versa. Apparently, they had ordered some machines custom made some years ago, and the machines didn't make chocolates of the quality the company expected. The machine company suggested a recipe change. The Bastins suggested a machine change, and the new equipment arrived a few months later. 'Nuff said!

After the business lesson, it was time to eat! We got to try the Antwerp hands, the chocolate covered marzipan, and the chocolate writing, which had set by that time. Finally we got to have something to drink--you know how chocolate makes you thirsty--and there was more chocolate to have with the water or milk or orange juice. It was all so good, and we ate so much!

On the way out, we each got a pretty box of 20 or so pralines (the word for Belgian filled chocolates) to take home. We are slowly working our way through our two boxes, savoring every nibble.

New Year in Chinatown

Today we saw the big celebration in Antwerp's Chinatown to ring in the Year of the Pig according to the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac animals. For the record, I'm a Dog, JieJie is a Horse (and how!) and MeiMei and John are both Sheep.

Jiejie and MeiMei loved their new Chinese dresses, which of course look fantastic on them. I tied my Chinese silk scarf around my neck and we headed out. About 2:20 or so, the girls and I headed down to Van Wesenbekestraat on the tram so we could get a good spot for the 3pm Lion Dance parade and ceremonies. I'd never been to one before so wasn't sure what to expect, but there was a big arch by the Sun Wah Supermarket so we just parked there so we could get a good view of whatever was about to happen. VanWesenbekestraat has a tram line running right down the middle, so every so often we all had to pause to let the trams through, which was kind of funny. They went very slowly, thank goodness!

As we waited, we saw several families that look like ours, presumably adoptive families. It's always so great just to make eye contact with the parents and get that knowing smile, that we've been through the same thing and we know how blessed we are. International adoption from China is common in Belgium. There's a little girl from Hunan Province at the girls' school, so that's 3 girls out of a 200-student population.

Just as the girls were getting antsy, the last tram passed by and then I heard cymbals from the other end of the street. I could see red and black banners and people were stepping out into the street to get a look, which meant that we lost our good spot unless we stepped out too, so we did. The arch by the supermarket had cabbages hanging from it and also a rolled up banner, so I knew something was going to happen there.

When the lion dance parade got to our end of the street, the dancers crouched down in front of a long rope of firecrackers, and crowd control people urged us to back up. There was no way the girls would be able to see with all the commotion, and I didn't want to lose hold of them or have them get trampled, so I put MeiMei on my shoulders and held JieJie as high as I could so they could see (it's ok, my back didn't go out this time...).

What a great explosion of color and movement ensued! You can see in this photo that about half of the firecrackers have popped (that's the red paper all over the street), and the rest of the string has yet to go. They were SO loud! MeiMei was crying a bit but clapped by the end. The lion dancers were very skilled, jumping at the firecrackers and shimmying in the smoky street. They climbed ladders, "ate" the cabbages that were hanging from the archway (an offering?) and unveiled a Happy New Year sign before going into the supermarket to bring it good luck for the next year. "Gong Xi Fa Cai" is the happy new year greeting, but it actually means "Hope you make more money next year" so it's an appropriate thing to say to a store owner, eh?

After the lions went into the store, I thought maybe things were over and a lot of people were leaving. The girls said they were hungry so we popped into Bakkerij De Kort, one of the few non-Chinese businesses on that street, and got chocolate croissants. I was hoping there would be some Chinese food being sold from carts or something, but not today.

We were about to leave when we realized that the procession was coming right toward us. I looked at the business next door to us, a Chinese Dim Sum restaurant, and noticed a suspicious cabbage hanging from above the doorway. And framing either side of the property, a long string of firecrackers! The noise of the firecrackers is supposed to scare away bad luck and/or evil spirits, so that's where that tradition comes from. The lions ate the offering, the firecrackers blasted away, and the lions went into that business to bring good luck. As I looked down the street, I saw several more sets of cabbages and firecrackers, but realized that we should probably head home. You know how it is with kids - best to leave while nobody's having a fit!

If you are reading this as a real aficionado of lion dancing, my advice would be not to worry about the big introductory dance as far as fighting to get close in. The longer the ceremonies go on, the fewer people were left, so you can probably get closest to the action by being patient.

As for me, I'm more determined than ever to spend Lunar New Year in China someday. It must be something spectacular. And speaking of spectacle, I can't wait til the 2008 Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing. We're going to get Chinese satellite tv channels so we don't have to have Bob Costas interrupting us to tell us what we're seeing (shut up, Bob! Please! If you want to describe everything to your audience, that's called RADIO. You should check into it.) We will be in China next summer, but we'll be leaving just before the Olympics begin, though it would be tempting to stay.

The Aalst Carnaval

Click on the title bar of this post, and you will see three onions dancing to a bad cover of Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." It's the 2007 Aalst Carnaval website, and it gives you a teensy tiny sense of the gargantuan party we dropped in on this afternoon.

We had come to understand, over the past few days, that Carnaval is a Big Deal in Belgium.

CLUES:

1. JieJie's classmates wore funny hats throughout their studies this week.

2. I saw a "Carnaval Kit" while shopping at the Carrefour, which contained confetti, a mask, noisemakers, streamers and silly string.

3. On tv lately, there have been shows on the local station that feature a strange hybrid of the Big Joe Polka Show and a crazy Halloween party.

4. The schools are all out this coming week, and Friday afternoon there was a party-like atmosphere in the public squares as people began the late winter holiday.

5. BIG CLUE: While walking around Thursday, John and I saw an entire school group in costumes (one teacher was Minnie Mouse) parading toward the town center. If we'd been in the US, I would've said "oh, they're all going trick-or-treating."

So we were starting to get the picture. We had our choice of two places to go for Carnaval festivities today. Aalst is west of Brussels, and about 1.5 hours by public transportation. Binche, whose Carnaval celebration is on the UNESCO world heritage list for notable cultural events, is further south of Brussels, getting close to the French border. At first we were leaning toward Binche, but The Green Guide (a very helpful series of travel guides, I must say) said that Sunday's events begin at 10pm, so that was out and Aalst was in.

Caught the 11:40 train to Brussels-Zuid (south) but it was delayed, so we missed the direct train to Aalst. We found an alternate, though it was a local. It stopped everywhere on its way so we didn't get to Aalst until almost 2. On top of that, Genius Mom forgot to pack food because I assumed all the trains had snack carts rolling down the aisles, but this is not so. Lesson learned--no train travel without just-in-case food & water. You'd think I would know this by now. Anyway.

We were wondering whether we would know where to go from the train station to see all the festivities. THAT IS A REALLY FUNNY THING TO WONDER WHEN GOING TO THE AALST CARNAVAL because before we even got off the train, we heard the raucous music and crowds and we could see the parade, already underway, from the train overpasses. All the streets were closed, and this town was kicking off a three-day binge that culminates on Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras). But it was a family-friendly binge. Of course. Just like the beer on tap at Pirateneiland Fun Park.

So we started to zigzag through the crowds and follow the giant floats that depict Belgian politicians in caricature through huge groteque statues. That's the hallmark of this parade: it's a chance for the hoi polloi to make fun of the movers and shakers, and they take their job very seriously! There were lots of song parodies with tunes I recognized, like "Love and Marriage," "Downtown" and "Jailhouse Rock" to name a few, but all sung in Flemish with lyrics that I'm sure were skewering the local politicians. One of the Belgian princes is in a bit of trouble right now over the financing of the large addition he's putting on his home, or something like that. His picture was upside down on a mirror being manipulated by a skeleton on one float. That one seemed the most serious of the floats we saw though...the rest of them had certain features in common:

1. Cross-dressing men, bonus points for a huge "bumsie" as we call it. Faux breasts optional, but if you use them, bare them!

2. Depict the politician in question in some phase of using the toilet. Bonus points for flushing noises.

3. Choreographed dances that spotlight huge bumsies emitting huge flatulations are sure to please.

4. The louder the music, the better the float!

We watched the parade (which lasts 5 hours if you want to see the whole thing!!!) from several different vantage points, and the work that goes into the floats and costumes is just amazing. It's like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Tournament of Roses Parade and whatever parade you can think of all rolled into one and multiplied by fifty. And it's not just a holiday for performers! Many of the spectators are all dressed up in detailed colorful costumes, and they have huge bags of confetti to throw. Lots of the men we saw today were in hilarious drag outfits...latex groteque breasts seem to be a cottage industry somewhere - we saw so many today, we got blase about them after a while.

The girls had a blast today! I wish we'd gotten there earlier. If you're reading this wondering whether to take the kids, definitely go. We saw people of all ages today and it was a totally kid-friendly event. There are food booths everywhere, rides, games, and of course the main event, and people are in this great festive mood, throwing confetti on complete strangers and laughing together. The girls didn't want to leave when we had to head for the train (which we had to approach several times by different roads because the crowds were too thick to navigate with The Stroller). They loved the parade, had great fun throwing confetti on each other and on us, and even got to ride on a carousel with REAL PONIES - whoa! We were so busy watching the parade and festivities that we barely ate, just hot dogs and bratwursts, with plenty of onions.

What's the deal with the onions? Well, I don't know why, but tomorrow's festivities in Aalst include throwing onions from the tops of buildings. I'll see if I can find the story behind that one, but this carnaval is an old tradition, so who knows if anyone can even explain it anymore.

Tuesday there's another parade there, with more cross-dressing hilarity. And probably more beer drinking. Of course people along the parade route were drinking. I saw cans of Jupiler (the Budweiser of Belgium) in many hands today, and people on the balconies along the parade route were toasting mightily while their kids threw confetti on the merrymakers below. But what's more, there were floats in this parade specifically designed to dispense beer from not-so-concealed taps as the costumed participants went down the 5-hour parade route. Party on, Garth!

Three days of Bacchanalia and rule-breaking, and on Wednesday we will be reminded: you are dust, and to dust you shall return. In the meantime, to quote the Mary Tyler Moore show, "a little song, a little dance, a little selzer down your pants." Or Jupiler, in this case.

Holiday Pileup

As many families do, we have layers of holidays to celebrate through the year. There's a layer of church-based holidays, national holidays, personal holidays like birthdays and anniversaries, "Hallmark Holidays" as my dad likes to call Mother's Day and Father's Day, and on and on.

When we adopted our daughters from China, we added Chinese holidays. Now in the fall, we mark the Moon Festival and the Lunar New Year, and added two personal holidays, our daughters' adoption days (aka Gotcha Day).

Now that we're in Belgium, we have yet another holiday festivity to add: Carnival, the crazy few days before Ash Wednesday begins the more sober, contemplative Lent season.

I wonder how JieJie and MeiMei are taking all of this in, because it's all happening simultaneously! Wednesday was Valentines Day. Last night at midnight the Chinese community here rang in the Year of the Pig with fireworks down in Chinatown. Our apartment is decorated with hearts (thanks Mom - your beautiful handmade mobile got here all in one piece) and red and gold Lunar New Year decorations, and now there's Carnival confetti spilled all over the carpet from when we got back from a Carnival parade and took our coats off (I have a feeling there will be more confetti on the floor when we change into our pj's - lots of confetti in the air!).

And after this all dies down, it will be JieJie's 5th birthday!

Saturday Market in Antwerp

Saturday morning, John had some errands to run for the university, so I took the girls to the Saturday market, also called the Bird Market. One of the things we love to do back in Harrisonburg is walk down to the local farmers' market on Tuesdays and Saturdays, so I figured once they saw where we were, they'd know just what to do.

What I hadn't anticipated was just how amazing this market would be! The best market by far that I've ever been to, just for the size and sumptuous food, is the Mercato Centrale in Florence, Italy, but it was as though about 1/8 of that market was flown to Antwerp and arranged outside in a beautiful plaza. We walked all through the market, intending to purchase our choices on the way back. I wanted to make sure I didn't spend all my money at the first stall only to see even better things later.

There were so many varieties of fruits, vegetables, meats, cheese, nuts, breads, and other specialty items...and then the regional specialties: food wagons for Italian, Greek, and Spanish cooking, and then we found a little cafe area in one corner where there was an ESCARGOT WAGON!!! I kid you not. Hey, it's just like Harrisonburg, right? (not).

I paid 2 euro for a small bowl of escargots in broth. The broth was chicken broth with lots of pepper and also some celery chunks cooked in there. The escargots were firm and delicious. I let each of the girls try one, and they really liked them, so I just crouched down next to the stroller and we shared, taking turns. I figured out how to put the escargots in their mouths in just the right way so I could grab the little remnant of shell before they ate it. It was getting chilly, and the broth was still steaming as we took turns sipping it to warm ourselves. Yum! I notice you can get a glass of white wine there, and you can also get escargot already coated with herbed butter in the shell for preparation at home. I wanted to mention that none of the foods being served at the market were served in throwaway containers. Besides being more ecologially sound, the more important message seemed to be Sit Down and Enjoy...What's Your Hurry?!

So we did. After the girls chose their raspberries, we sat down at some tables near what I thought was a Greek place, since there were several varieties of baklava. We got some different kinds (almond, hazelnut, mixed nut) and then got hot mint tea in a glass, not a mug. That was when I realized, this was Moroccan food. It's so neat to see all the different places the vendors come from.

The girls loved the tea, and we went home to tell John about the market. He went back later in the afternoon and said it was just mobbed with people, so much that he couldn't possibly have bought anything, but now we know: if we're here on Saturday mornings, we will be doing our shopping first at the Bird Market, and filling in from the SuperGB, not backwards.

Oh--and remember the PTA Rave Party? While we were at the market, I heard "Hey!" and ignored it, because who the heck knows me here, anyway?! I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was the husband of the couple who so nicely drove me home that night. He does some marketing on Saturday mornings while his daughter is in ballet. It was nice to see him, and just nice to have the very familiar feeling of running into someone I know at the farmers' market. Next time we go, I promise to take pictures.

Thanks to the F family

A quick note of thanks to D&D F (they know who they are) for the microwave popcorn from home for us and the Hershey Kisses for the girls, since they were yearning for familiar chocolate (hey, more of the good stuff for us!). It was very thoughtful of you to bring the treats.

A BIG PLAYGROUND!!! YAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!

Friday afternoon was GORGEOUS weather, up in the high fifties, sunny, not too breezy, so we headed out for a stroll, all four of us. MeiMei had complained that her shoes were too tight, so she and I went to Torfs shoe store near the Super GB grocery store on the Groenplaats and she picked out the most adorable sneakers I've ever seen - baby blue Chuck Taylor All-Stars decorated all over with butterflies and flowers, with pink laces. Love 'em!

We caught up with JieJie and John on the Groenplaats. Since it was not only a beautiful Friday afternoon but the day before a week-long holiday here, the plaza was filled with people enjoying a drink and snack at the outdoor restaurants.

It was so nice out, we figured we'd try taking the tram under the river to the other side to see what was there. We got off at the very first stop after the tunnel, as we'd heard that there was a nice park area overlooking the Antwerp skyline. Indeed there was! At last, big expanses of green grass and loads of fun playground equipment. It's so easy to get to from here, I'm sure we'll be very familiar with it before we head out of town in April.

The girls yelled Yippee! and ran ahead to explore. In no time they were crawling, sliding, see-sawing and JieJie even made a friend, a little boy about her age. It's out of character for her to be so outgoing, but maybe her experience at the new school has changed her a bit in that regard. John and I turned around to see her see-sawing with this curly-haired adorable boy, both of them laughing and shouting.

Poor MeiMei...this is really the first time I've seen her get thrown over for a peer, and she was pretty heartbroken to lose her best friend, even for a few minutes. I helped her climb around on things until her big sister came back for her.

They wanted to see what else was in the big park, so we walked along the riverside path with its spectacular view of the downtown until we came to an open-air nautical museum featuring various anchors, buoys, bells, that kind of thing. Little tiny flowers were blooming and the girls picked a whole bunch for me.

My mom-spidey sense was just beginning to tell me that I should scout out a bathroom should the need arise, when all of a sudden MeiMei said "oh no! I need to go potty!" and I looked over to see the inseams of her pink pants turning darker as she wet herself and her brand new Chuck Taylors, which are now drying in the windowsill after a tumble in the wash mashine.

She was a great sport about it, we rode home (MeiMei always insists on being in my lap on the tram but in this case she stood, thankyouverymuch!) and got the girls into their pj's in time for the babysitter's arrival.

Another reason to go back to that park: The Sint-Annatunnel, a PEDESTRIAN tunnel under the river that kids love, ends up there too. And there's a restaurant adjacent to the playground that sells Antwerp's signature dish: mussels and frites. Some warm afternoon we'll have to have some and then let the girls go play while we watch them from the patio of the restaurant--it's all fenced together so there's no danger of the girls going too far away.

Antwerp American Club

Last night was a night we had been looking forward to. It was the "Valentines Day" meeting of the American Belgian Association or Antwerp American Club (the plates were engraved ABA but I think we were actually meeting as the American Club). To read more about how the club was founded, click on the title bar of this blog post. It's quite a story.

The sitter arrived about 7, another of our lovely students, and our hosts, Mr. K and his wife, Ms. van H, arrived at 7:30 to walk us over to a beautiful old building on Venusstraat where the club's dinners are held. The club used to have the whole building at its disposal, but the membership dwindled so much that they finally sold the building to a restaurant with the caveat that monthly meetings could continue to be held in a sumptuous back room in the building.

At the beginning of the evening, the assembled members and their guests (about 11 in all) gathered at the bar for drinks and chatting. I was the youngest person in the room by at least ten years, so I can see the concern about dwindling membership. Everyone was sparkling, excited about a great evening ahead. I had a Kier Prinse, which is a Kier Royale with sparkling wine that's not from the actual Champagne region. Next, a lovely cream of broccoli soup was served from the bar in espresso-sized cups. I'd never think to do this as a run-up to dinner, but it was delicious, a convenient way to serve a first course too! The second course was also served at the bar: tiny bowls of escargots in a cream sauce. Each bowl was enough to fit just two scrumptious escargots, which happen to be one of my favorite "luxury foods."

We adjourned to the dining room and stood behind the chairs surrounding the round table to figure out who should sit where. Nobody was allowed to sit next to a spouse, so I ended up between C, the president of the club, and J, a very interesting man from the Canary Islands who has worked extensively for the European Union. We had a fascinating conversation about the differences between Americans and Europeans (he has visited America and is married to an American, so he speaks from experience). We both agreed that sometimes the differences can be surprising because our assumption might be that because we have some shared cultural heritage that we would be more alike. In reality, there can be big differences in how people approach social situations, how they define what is private and what can be shared, that sort of thing. Obviously it differs from person to person within both cultures--anyway, he recommended a book by an American expat called "Understanding Europeans" that sounds worth a perusal.

Dinner was great, a carpaccio of beef followed by a plate of two kinds of fish in a lovely sauce, with vegetables and a bit of mashed potato. Dessert was a sampler of apple tart, a chocolate/sponge layer cake, and a small scoop of homemade ice cream. Then there was coffee and (guess what?) chocolate.

When we got up from the table, I assumed the evening was over. Ha! Back to the bar for cordials! I had heard of this Elixir d'Anvers (Antwerp elixir, a liqueur) which they didn't have, but they did have Elixir de Spa, from the town of Spa in Belgium. It had notes of citrus and licorice and was a nice thing to try once, though I don't think I'd run out and buy a bottle. Too strong--40% alc. by vol.! Anyway, I chatted with C, the president of the club, and we have been invited by him and his wife to visit them at their farmhouse (ca. 1740) in a village not too far from here. I hope we do, as his village sounds like a beautiful place, a place the girls would certainly enjoy. The city is fun, but it's nice to get out into the countryside occasionally.

A Pleasant Thursday

Mornings had gotten increasingly contentious. By the time we left the apartment, always about 10 minutes after we should have, we'd all be cross and cranky, and stomp our way down to the tram stop. About a block from the tram stop, we'd see a couple of trams go by that we should've been on in order to get to school on time. A couple of days in a row, the girls' classroom doors were already closed when we arrived. That's just no way to start a day!

Thursday morning, we tried getting up a half-hour earlier to see if that would help, and it really did, so from now on it's 6:30am on school days. What a difference a half hour can make - we skipped happily down to the corner, had our choice of trams, and arrived at school with enough time to get settled and have a chat with the teachers and other parents.

With the whole day ahead of us (since the girls stay til 3:30 on Thursdays), we decided to see a movie. We were hoping to see "Borat" but it wasn't playing any longer at the 18-screen UGC Cinema downtown. We chose "The Illusionist" instead, with Edward Norton. Our friends J and G had seen it and recommended it highly - music by Philip Glass, too, whose work I very much like. What a great movie! We both loved it. The 11am matinee was only 5 Euro apiece and we had the whole theatre to ourselves, too. We noticed that for 14.90 Euro we can buy a movie pass that gets us into unlimited movies for a month. Tempting!

We parted ways after the movie, John to his office hour and me to lunch (at the U. of Antwerp cafeteria, not bad for 3 Euro) and errands.
After lunch, I decided to go to Sun Wah Supermarket for Chinese New Year decorations. I found some beautiful paper decorations depicting orange trees (round foods are often served for the New Year, like citrus fruits and dumplings) and a Fu(2) for the door (the 2 means as you say it, your voice goes from a low to high pitch, like asking a question--this is to differentiate it from other meanings of the syllable "fu" which would be written with different characters). I also got the girls red envelopes for their lucky money, a triplet for the door (three red and gold placards with New Year sayings on them) and some red tassels. The big find: silk qipao dresses in hot pink and red. Sun Wah Supermarket is on Van Wesenbekestraat, in the heart of Antwerp's Chinatown.

Next stopped at UNIF school uniform store on Quellinstraat to get MeiMei an extra shirt, since she only has one. We've lucked out so far with spills, but I want a backup! The saleslady there was so nice, very helpful, and even offered to try and fix the red knit sash we have that is fraying. I may take her up on it this week while the girls are out of school.

Raced to get the girls, and showed up at their school just as they were starting to excuse the students, phew! On the way to the school I noticed the BBC WORLD English language book store, so we'll have to get back there one of these days.

We took the tram(s) home and I have to say, the girls are getting quite sophisticated about the whole process. They now do things without really thinking about it, like making sure they have a handhold as soon as we get on (learned that the hard way!) and they stick close by me. They know how to get ready to get off and wait for the last little back-lurch when the tram finishes stopping. They love the trams, so we are not really using The Stroller for school right now. When the weather's nicer, perhaps we will again.

On the way home, the cellphone rang and it was John, calling from right behind us on the block! He and Mr. H, the dorm counselor for the program, were coming back to the apartment to have a glass of wine and chat. We all came up together and enjoyed some late aftenoon tv & snacks.

Thursday night was a dinner with some of the students--THIS time we had a sitter! We made dinner for the girls and the sitter, then headed back to that rib place I wrote about in January. The students loved the all-you-can-eat delicious ribs and the fun atmosphere. It was a great evening and we truly enjoyed the students. Many of them had just been to Stockholm last weekend. It was fun to hear about their adventures, though they did say it was really cold, and the airport offering the low fare was 1.5 hours outside of Stockholm by bus.

The students had gotten lost on the way to that restaurant - John and I decided that we need to start scheduling these student dinners a bit farther afield to force the students to see a bit more of Antwerp than the university neighborhood where they're spending most of their time.

A Pleasant Thursday

Mornings had gotten increasingly contentious. By the time we left the apartment, always about 10 minutes after we should have, we'd all be cross and cranky, and stomp our way down to the tram stop. About a block from the tram stop, we'd see a couple of trams go by that we should've been on in order to get to school on time. A couple of days in a row, the girls' classroom doors were already closed when we arrived. That's just no way to start a day!

Thursday morning, we tried getting up a half-hour earlier to see if that would help, and it really did, so from now on it's 6:30am on school days. What a difference a half hour can make - we skipped happily down to the corner, had our choice of trams, and arrived at school with enough time to get settled and have a chat with the teachers and other parents.

With the whole day ahead of us (since the girls stay til 3:30 on Thursdays), we decided to see a movie. We were hoping to see "Borat" but it wasn't playing any longer at the 18-screen UGC Cinema downtown. We chose "The Illusionist" instead, with Edward Norton. Our friends J and G had seen it and recommended it highly - music by Philip Glass, too, whose work I very much like. What a great movie! We both loved it. The 11am matinee was only 5 Euro apiece and we had the whole theatre to ourselves, too. We noticed that for 14.90 Euro we can buy a movie pass that gets us into unlimited movies for a month. Tempting!

We parted ways after the movie, John to his office hour and me to lunch (at the U. of Antwerp cafeteria, not bad for 3 Euro) and errands.
After lunch, I decided to go to Sun Wah Supermarket for Chinese New Year decorations. I found some beautiful paper decorations depicting orange trees (round foods are often served for the New Year, like citrus fruits and dumplings) and a Fu(2) for the door (the 2 means as you say it, your voice goes from a low to high pitch, like asking a question--this is to differentiate it from other meanings of the syllable "fu" which would be written with different characters). I also got the girls red envelopes for their lucky money, a triplet for the door (three red and gold placards with New Year sayings on them) and some red tassels. The big find: silk qipao dresses in hot pink and red. Sun Wah Supermarket is on Van Wesenbekestraat, in the heart of Antwerp's Chinatown.

Next stopped at UNIF school uniform store on Quellinstraat to get MeiMei an extra shirt, since she only has one. We've lucked out so far with spills, but I want a backup! The saleslady there was so nice, very helpful, and even offered to try and fix the red knit sash we have that is fraying. I may take her up on it this week while the girls are out of school.

Raced to get the girls, and showed up at their school just as they were starting to excuse the students, phew! On the way to the school I noticed the BBC WORLD English language book store, so we'll have to get back there one of these days.

We took the tram(s) home and I have to say, the girls are getting quite sophisticated about the whole process. They now do things without really thinking about it, like making sure they have a handhold as soon as we get on (learned that the hard way!) and they stick close by me. They know how to get ready to get off and wait for the last little back-lurch when the tram finishes stopping. They love the trams, so we are not really using The Stroller for school right now. When the weather's nicer, perhaps we will again.

On the way home, the cellphone rang and it was John, calling from right behind us on the block! He and Mr. H, the dorm counselor for the program, were coming back to the apartment to have a glass of wine and chat. We all came up together and enjoyed some late aftenoon tv & snacks.

Thursday night was a dinner with some of the students--THIS time we had a sitter! We made dinner for the girls and the sitter, then headed back to that rib place I wrote about in January. The students loved the all-you-can-eat delicious ribs and the fun atmosphere. It was a great evening and we truly enjoyed the students. Many of them had just been to Stockholm last weekend. It was fun to hear about their adventures, though they did say it was really cold, and the airport offering the low fare was 1.5 hours outside of Stockholm by bus.

The students had gotten lost on the way to that restaurant - John and I decided that we need to start scheduling these student dinners a bit farther afield to force the students to see a bit more of Antwerp than the university neighborhood where they're spending most of their time.

Happy Vawentimes Day

What a great place to celebrate such a chocolate-intensive holiday. We didn't want to make a huge deal out of Valentines Day, because I would rather stress the heartfelt, homemade gestures that children can share in. The girls each made cute cards at school. One says "JieJie loves mummy and daddy" in her teacher's handwriting and has a beautiful flower made of hearts that JJ lovingly glued to the paper. MeiMei's has a butterfly that she drew and it says "Liefste mama en papa, ik zie jullie zoo graag!" (I'm thinking it means Dear Mom and Dad, I love you so much!"

Dinner was salmon (hey, it's pink!) with various sides, and then for dessert I rolled out my surprise: a chocolate layer cake with marzipan flowers from Goossens, a bakery that has been around for over 100 years here in Antwerp. And it was REAL marzipan too--we've been alerted to the fact that much of what the world thinks is marzipan is mostly coconut, a cheap imitation of the rich almond paste that comprises the real deal. The marzipan banner across the little cake said "Valentijn."

John and I gave each other a nice bottle of red wine, and the girls got John some chocolates. The girls got cards from us and some strawberry candy. Why not chocolate? Don't read this part if you are easily shocked. JieJie "doesn't like Belgium chocolate." She says she likes Harrisonburg chocolate better because it tastes better.

SACRILEGE!

But it's ok. It just means I get to have hers when she tastes it and doesn't like it, heh heh heh.

Weather continues to be in the 40's and rainy off and on. Beats the snow and ice storm that has paralyzed our home town - JMU is closed today for the second day in a row!