First Impressions of Belgium

Obviously, I'm not much of a blogger. And this one won't even be about quilts, although I will mention a quilter. But, I thought this would be a good place to record some of our family's first impressions of Belgium after living here for three weeks.

First, it's cold. Actually, it hasn't been really cold, but the highs are generally in the low to mid 60s. Remember, we lived in Suriname for 6 years, and when we left North Carolina, they were having a record-breaking heat wave. I think it was over 90 the day we left.

I have noticed that people, especially women, really are more style-conscious than most Americans. I went downtown in my New Balance walking shoes (think white sport shoes). Standing at the bus stop, I watched people walk by. The only pair of white tennis shoes I saw were on a 12-year-old boy. I think I am too old for jeans, too, but they will have a hard time breaking me of that. I haven't worn my white shoes downtown again, though.

Carrots. They must be the national food. They are in everything. It's a good thing we like carrots. My kids tried something called a taco. It was a triangular pastry, filled with ground meat (probably pork or mixed pork and beef), peas and carrots. The kids said there was nothing even reminiscent of a taco in the flavor, although they weren't bad.

Everything is smaller and more expensive. But I already knew that would be the case. We have been here before, just not to live.

We have lots of spiders in our house. I don't know if it is the time of year, an especially "spidery" year, or just normal for Belgium. There are many perfect "Charlotte's Web" type webs in the corners of the windows.

You really have to conserve your drink. If you go to a restaurant and order a Coke (for 1.50 - 2.00 Euros), you will get an 8-oz glass of Coke with no ice. There are no refills. We have a running contest to see who can have the most drink left when their food is gone.

Nescafe is considered coffee.

It is normal to be a super gardener. You should see the yards. I'm in trouble. I bought some cute pots of herbs to grow in my kitchen. They died by the third day. I love plants, but my kids say I have a brown thumb.

I have not found any powdered drink mixes (Koolaid). This is very annoying, since my only transportation at this point is the bus. I can only get enough food for two days at a time, and bottles of soda pop are heavy! I don't think I could shop for a whole week anyway, since my refrigerator is European-sized. (Think small.)

Bakeries are awesome!

Architecture is almost always interesting, often gorgeous.

Closets? Why waste space on that? Or second bathrooms, or stairways that can accommodate a queen-size box spring?

People are friendly and very accommodating. As soon as they realize I am struggling to find the right words in Dutch, they switch to English for me. It's very nice of them, but it won't help me improve my Dutch.

O yeah, the quilter I mentioned. In the town right next to mine, there is an internationally-known quilter. Her name is Monique Gilbert. She has a website at www.moniquegilbert.be. I saw her quilts hanging at the City Hall when I was there to apply for stay papers. Quilting is not common here. In fact, I have yet to find a fabric store with any fabric suitable for quilting. I haven't met Monique yet, but I intend to.

So, there are my first impressions. This place will become "gewoon" (ordinary) in time, so I thought it would be good to record what I think now, when I still notice the things that are different.