Civil Disobedience

Every so often, people just have to express their frustration. We all know the feeling: someone makes you mad, so you stew for awhile, and fume for awhile, and eventually you have to vent.

Since Brussels is the capital of the European Union, we get quite a bit of venting. The Tibetians camped out in front of the Chinese Embassy, which just happens to be down the road from our house, for about two weeks in the spring. I kinda got used to the chanting. Several weeks ago, the Icelandic fisherman burned tires in front of the Parliment, which just happens to be up the road from our house. That was a little less pleasant.
And just last week, the farmers, taxi drivers, and truckers expressed their disapproval of high gas prices by encircling the city on the main roads and parking for several hours. And guess what? One of the main roads runs right by our house! Literally hundreds of farm tractors drove into Brussels about 10 in the morning and parked around Montgomery Circle, one of the major crosspoints in SE Brussels for about 5 hours. The taxi's took over the inner ring, and the truckers parked on the outer ring effectively shutting down the city for the day. Fortunately we were warned several days beforehand so it was a vacation for some and a busy day for the metro.

Of course, everyone had to come out to watch and take pictures, and with the air cannons going off every few minutes and the armored police vehicles everywhere, it was quite a party atmosphere. We are getting even more education than we bargined for here in Europe!

Paris for the Day

On Monday, I took a break from real life, and lived an alternate reality for almost 12 hours. My friend, Rhonda, turned 50 and her husband informed her that she was old enough to do whatever she wanted. SO, she decide to grab two friend and run away to Paris for the day. This is the kind of thing that we always talk about, but never do. Well, we did it! Paris is a little over an hour by train from Brussels. We met at the metro, jumped on a train, ate Fig Newtons and Reeses peanut butter cup while talking about books, and jumped off in front of my favorite chapel in the whole world: Sainte-Chappelle.
Built in 1248, there is just enough stone work to frame the stained glass. King Louis IX had the chapel built inside the palace walls so he wouldn't have to walk across the street to Notre Dame. They say he used to come to service in his PJ's. My kind of King.
I have seen pigeons this tame, but never sparrows. They really liked the Fig Newtons.
Lunch on the Champs Ellysees in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe where a 1/2 liter bottle of water costs : 8.70 euro, thats $14.24 US. And we think gas prices are high... Now what should I do when I turn 50? The Taj Mahal...the Great Wall...Easter Island...Babe's Chicken Dinner House?

Year in Review

Since the school year is almost over, I thought this might be a good time for a retrospective of our first year at the International School of Brussels:

September

Matthew and his class after some science field work in a meadow near the school.

October

Our first Belgian ER visit: Julia lost control on the Monkey bars at school and cut her nose straight across. Not everything in Belgium takes forever--we saw an ER Doc and a specialist and were done within 1.5 hrs!

November Benjamin's Cross Country Championships in Paris

DecemberAnna's class had a field-trip to the skating rink at the Christmas Market in downtown Brussels. They took the metro!

JanuarySarah and her Friends relaxing between classes.

FebruaryRugby Season + Rainy Season = Mud Wrestling

MarchJulia prepares to dazzle at the 2nd Grade Music Presentation

April Anna and her 6th Grade class in Florence, Italy. How's that for a field trip???

May OK, so this really happened in October, but just imagine...Matthew's 4th grade extended field trip to a sports camp in France. This was a pretty big deal for a kid who doesn't do heights!

June

Sarah and the B-Boys (Brennan and Billy) after some excruciating science finals.

Belgium...

Ok, so here is something that you need to understand about Belgium--things are done a bit differenly here. Take internet access for example. Belgacom, the country's leading internet provider, rations downloads. This means that come the 20th of the month or so things slow down. Way down. Especially if you have two teenagers with their own school issued laptops (how dumb is that?) that like to hide out in their rooms and watch back episodes of American TV shows. Consequently, for about the last ten days of the month, we cruise through websites at the speed of dial-up in the mid-90's. So although I promised to try and post every Monday, Belgium is a special case. Prague will have to wait till June 1st.

Prague Spring

I have a new destination to add to my list of favorites: Prague. I had heard that it was beautiful, but I was amazed by more than just its beauty.

Ten Things to Love about Prague

1. Everything is in English! Essential to my French-fried Brain

2. 14th Century Buildings Seldom Look this Good.

3. Shopping on the 700 year old Charles Bridge

History meets architecture meets commerce meets bliss...

4. Classical Music in Baroque Churches

5. The Jewish Cemetery

6. Prague Castle by Moonlight

7. Prague Castle by Daylight
8. Live Jazz in a 600 year old cafe + great Pizza

Sorry, No Picture...Just Imagine

9. The Astronomical Clock

10. Checz Sense of Humor

Don't you love the way the old statue is eyeing the new guy!

I went with a friend from church for a long weekend. We hired a private guide to keep us from getting lost, wasting time trying to figure out where to go next, and translate for us (we didn't expect to be able to fend for ourselves on that front). Irena was great--friendly, knowledgable, and willing to share some of her experiences living under Communist rule. She had some pretty amazing stories. Friends, we have it so good! I could have spent a whole week wandering the streets and eating gelato. Another place on my list of return visits!

American Idol in Belgium!

We are new to this psuedo-military life and are discovering its benefits little by little. One of the perks of being allowed on Military Bases is access to the USO tours. Elliot Yamin, of American Idol Season 5, came through a while ago and we headed down to Chievres Air Base for the show. Since Season 5 was the one season we really followed, it was fun to see Elliot up close--really close! The concert was held in a small gym and all the little kids danced right in front of the stage. After the concert, Elliot came out and signed a ton of autographs. He is a genuinely nice guy, and even the big kids enjoyed posing with the star!

Our friends, Grace and Kristina Larson joined us for the evening--Julia and Kristina made cards for Elliot. Now Elliot has Julia's autograph too!

People really do look taller on TV!

Brussels in the Spring

Spring is officially taking over Belgium. The weather is beautiful, and these Europeans take their flowers very seriously. We experienced our first tulip immersion at the Kukenhoff Gardens near Amsterdam. Each year over a million bulb are planted at Kukenhoff, which means "kitchen garden" and the variety and displays are amazing. If I had a team of over 100 gardeners, my yard could look like this too!

In Brussels, one of the spring tradtions is visiting the Royal Greenhouses at the Palace in Laeken. The Royal Palace sits right on a main road, so it is suprising to find what lies hidden behind the gates and trees. In 1873, architect Alphonse Balat designed for King Leopold II a complex of greenhouses which complement the castle of Laeken, built in the classical style. By royal decree, the gardens are open to the public each year for a few week during their colorful peak.

I can't help wondering what it would be like growing up in a place like this. It gives new meaning to the phrase "Mom, I'm going outside to play..."

Another of the many great spring treats is the Bluebell forest in Halle. Southern Brussels is bordered by a huge beech forest. There are miles of trails throughout, and the kids love to build forts and swordfight under the canopy. In late April, the bluebells overtake the forest floor, and you feel like you are walking through a purple mist. It is the kind of place where you would not be at all suprised to meet fairies or elves. We brought our own sprites along on this trip.

Julia with the four Scherbel girls from our Ward.