Matthew in the Spotlight

Matthew played a duet in the band concert last night. That may not seem remarkable to many of you, but here are a few things you need to know about Matthew: He hates to be in front of people--he has yet to sing with the primary for Mother's Day. He hates to get dressed up. He hates to be the center of attention, unless of course he is talking Pokemon Mystery Dungeon strategy. He is not big on collaboration. He is not much for extra effort.

Now, here are a few things you need to know about last night: He volunteered to play the duet. He wore a white shirt and a tie AND his shoes. He stood at the front of the stage. There were several hundred people in attendance. He played with another person. He bowed.

Wow, that is just about all I can say...wow. I wish I had had my camcorder.

PS: Matthew plays the baritone. He didn't mess up.

Thanksgiving

Happy Holidays! I have just completed what I hope is the busiest week of the year, and now have a few moments to catch up on recent events. Thanksgiving is the Passey family's favorite holiday. There are several key ingredients to a successful turkey day: No school, lots of food, and lots of people. Traditionally, the no school is a no brainer, but since Belgium is a special case, no school has become an issue. Only Americans and Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving--Belgians celebrate Beer. Consequently, school is in session on Thanksgiving day. Last year I made the kids go half day. What a colossal mistake. I ended up spending an hour of prime cooking time running all over Brussels collecting children. Lest you think I exaggerate here, Sarah had a special off campus service project at the Salvation Army home for "stinky, creepy old men" (her words, not mine) in downtown Brussels and I went around the same statue several times and the wrong way on at least two one-way streets trying to find her. This year I learned my lesson and we all slept in--Heaven. Part One--check.

Part Two--lots of food. That is not a problem. But I must discuss part three so you can truly appreciate part two.

Part Three--lots of people. At home in Texas, family fills this requirement. We haven't had any luck so far in importing relations for our Belgian Thanksgiving, so we have to resort to begging friends to eat with us. This year the begging paid off so here are the details of Part Three--lots of people combined with Part Two--lots of food. Robin and John Keesling with their two boys, Dallin and Pierce, brought three pies, sweet potatoes, and drinks. Alicia and Jean Paul Chausee with their two girls, Giselle and Valarie, brought a turkey, rolls, and three pies. Karen and Tim Forsyth and their son, David, brought green beans, flowers, and two pies. Ilene O'Dwyer and her daughter, Monica, brought brownies. And Reece and his girlfriend Magoscha who is Polish and had never experienced Thanksgiving, brought flowers and a very open mind. I made Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, Grandma Passey's Red Cabbage, Traditional Penrod Cranberry Jello, rolls, and three pies. For those of you math wizzes out there, that equals alot of dessert. Parts Two and Three--check.

The kids worked off their desserts watching movies (surprise, surprise) and we adults had great fun talking traditions, politics, and telling stories on our kids. After everyone left and the dishes were done, the kids declared the day a success. "Not quite the same as family, but pretty fun." High praise from a teenager.

Snow!

We've got snow! Actually, we had snow...it is all melted now, but what we had made for a great Sunday afternoon. We had Stake Conference yesterday and for our family that means Sunday afternoon naps. When I curled up under my blankets and gazed out the window on my way to blissful slumber there were giant flakes whisping around. When I woke up a few hours later there were several inches on the ground and 5 pair of sopping wet mittens drying on the radiators, with pairs 6, 7, and 8 in use outside. Matthew and Julia ran over to the park and made as much disorder as they possibly could in the pristine blanket there and then headed home to tear up our back yard.

They soon had plenty of company, and although it was bitter cold, the snow was perfect for snowmen and lobbing snowballs at the mother from the second floor terrace (Thank you Matthew!)
I took these picture at about 5:30 pm. It was completely dark and cars were sliding all over the road. By 10:00 this morning, all the snow was gone and the sun was out for a few minutes. It doesn't get much better than that--great play with easy cleanup. Now I just have to get all those mittens put away!

Lombardy and the Lakes

Travel consumes vast amounts of time, money, and conversation here in Belgium. While buying the most amazing red raspberries in the market last week, I learned all about the vendor's upcoming trip to Dubai, his last year's trip to South Africa, and his thoughts on traveling with a baby--he and his wife are expecting their first child soon. Whenever conversation lags, "What trips do you have planned?" never fails to perk things up. And thanks to school schedules, we have lots of time to explore.

At the beginning of the year, we asked the kids where they would like to go and then wrote as fast as we could as each threw out suggestions that ranged from Paris to Egypt to a Mediterranean cruise. After throwing out the odd balls and completely unrealistic (I don't think we'll make it to China this year) we had a master list of Passey Possibilities.

With October break on the horizon, we decided on Milan and Lake Como for the simple reason that roundtrip airfare for our whole family (seven bodies) came to a grand total of 84 Euros. One of these days I will have to devote a post to the treasure hunting that is European travel planning. We found an adequate apartment on the lake, rented a car, and set out to explore and eat.

We started off in Bergamo, a really great town with an upper city accessed by a funicular railway. The morning was misty and grey, but we found the city strikingly beautiful. There was a great cathedral complex and plenty of gelato. I am constantly amazed by the number and splendor of Churches throughout Europe. Italy must have more churches per capita than any other country.

Lake Como is spectacular. The lake is long and narrow and ringed by tree covered hills and craggy peaks. There are small villages dotting the shore and ferries criss-cross the lake carrying cars and people from village to village. This has been prime real estate for centuries, and there are Villas enough to attest to the wealth and taste of Italian aristocracy. All along the lake you can glimpse terraced gardens with marble statues and hidden alcoves. Many towns are almost completely car-free. The houses are built on the steep slopes of the lake and narrow passages lead from the main street through the maze of dwellings down to the lake. The houses are painted the warm colors of the mediterranian: shades of coral, sienna, and deep, rich, yellow. We hiked up the steep hill on the outskirts of Varenna to the old fortress overlooking the town. Surrounded by olive and cedar trees and encircled by an impressive wall, the castle had its own collection of armor and weapons ready for use. Benjamin cannot resist a good sword or spear and he soon had Julia and Anna outfitted and ready to spar. Anna held her own pretty well, but Julia was a little top heavy and kept wobbling around like a drunk.

By far the favorite activity was finding and sampling the best gelato. There are gelato stands everywhere and we got pretty good at finding the bargains and comparing the quality. Stracciatella and Amarena are the favorites, although I think Matthew sampled every lemon flavor he could find. Gelato and shoes seemed to be the big sellers in Italy. I don't think I have ever seen such delicious boots in my life.

We spent our final day driving through Northern Italy into Switzerland. We love Switzerland. Since we didn't have a set itinerary, we just drove toward anything that looked interesting. We found a ruined church, a small monestery, an impressive waterfall, and St. Moritz, the famous ski town. We got stuck on an unrealistically narrow street, searched far too long for an affordable lunch, and admired the clean, free toilet facilities. We decided that we definitely want return to Switerland. Therein lies the problem with Passey Possibilities--the list just keeps getting longer!

Lille Brocante

Wherever you turn in Europe, tradition greets you. In the US, we think something that has lasted 60, 70, 80 years is a treasure. Here, traditions have a longer life.

It is no secret that I love old things. Give me a cardboard box in a dim corner, partially obscured by a ratty guitar case and hideous throw pillows, and I see a potential gold mine. I love to dig through decades of random domestic detritus and rise triumphant with a carved jett acorn clinging to its powdery elastic cord, the final three beads of a once treasured bracelet. It's crazy, I know, but it's fun. The fact that I have no idea what I am going to do with that little acorn does not diminish the joy of it's discovery. Just one more difference between David and me...

So, tradition meets treasure in the Lille Braderie. Braderie come from the French " to get rid of," and this market has been a fixture in the French border city of Lille since the middle ages. Tradition has it that the servants and slaves of Lille were allowed one day from dawn to dusk to sell their owner's cast-offs. What started as a daylight second-hand sale has ballooned into what some say is the largest Flea Market in Europe--lasing virtually 48 hours straight--from early Saturday morning until well past midnight on Monday. The center of Lille is closed to traffic and there are thousands of stalls ranging from fine antiques to Indian scarfs, from cheese the size of tractor tires to college kids selling old posters and "paraphenalia."

It is impossible to see everything, as the sale winds up and down the major roads, but spills over into the side streets and back alleys. In some spots it is so crowded that movement actually stops and people are locked in the epitome of European "clumping" tendancies. We were trapped in a solid block of humanity for 15 minutes, while an optimistic but misguided gentleman tried to carry an 19th century gate-leg table over his head against the flow of several thousand serious shoppers. We finally escaped by crawling under tables and squeezing between cargo vans and wrought iron fences.

We saw some beautiful furniture as well as fabulous junk. I came home with three enamel canisters, three bakelite easter egg molds, a WW2 surplus messenger bag for Benjamin, a French writing award pin, a really cool silver something that will be great on a necklace, a WW2 Belgian liberation pin, and several other things that I can't quite remember, but are really fantastic. But my favorite find was the Braderie itself. I have discovered tradition-- and I already know what I'll be doing on the first weekend of September 2009.

Brussels Flower Carpet

There is always something going on in the Grand Place. We have seen the trappings of concerts, flower markets, weddings, gigantic christmas trees, even a tennis match. However, the most famous Grand Place event is the bi-annual flower carpet. For three days only the square gives up most of it's space to a vast collection of begonia blossoms artfully arranged into a replica of a classic carpet pattern. The kids and I went down on Friday afternoon to watch the garden club members create the 700,000 blossom masterpiece. In just four hours, workers transform an enormous piece of plastic tarp into a replica of a Savonnerie carpet.David and I stopped back by on our way home from Amsterdam to see the finished product. The viewing balcony was closing down so I climbed up on a railing at the end of the Grand Place to take these pictures. It took me a while to get down...people kept handing me their cameras!

Where Did September Go?

I lost September somewhere between stray homework pages and Cross Country meets. The only proof that it existed at all are the bags under my eyes, the calendar pages that have more black than white, and the gas needle on empty again. I am running off to the next event, but here is a little of what we have been doing! Julia loves on anything she can find. (I have no idea whose dog this is!)

Anna and Sarah dig volleyball after volleyball in Amsterdam, Luxembourg, The Hague, Waterloo...

Benjamin flashes his smile and his eyes in every female direction, and when he has time, runs Cross Country.

Matthew hides out in the car playing Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and stays as far from the camera as possible.

David travels to Norway and Croatia, and irons lots of shirts.

I get people where they need to go and...well, other fun things too...