4th of July in Europe

What better way to spend the 4th of July than in London eating fish, chips and mashy peas? Yes, I shook off the shackles of America's oppressors by enjoying the finest cuisine and beer (not pictured) they have to offer! And shopping and partying, of course!

Before heading to London on the Eurostar (2 hours ... it is ridiculously close) Friday afternoon, my colleagues and I celebrated the 4th of July in Brussels by feasting on burgers and fries at the local American sports bar, Fat Boys. Yes, it is called Fat Boys. The burgers aren't particularly good, but apparently it is the place to watch American football when the season starts so it will probably be fun to go there on Sundays in the Fall and hang out with other Americans.

I went to London to hang out with my friend Justin who is there working for Feds. I would tell you about how amazing his apartment in Marlybone is, but I am still oozing with jealousy and don't think I can bring myself to.

As luck would have it, the weekend I visited was Gay Pride, so we got to see the parade I missed in D.C. The guy in the photo below was my favorite spectator. He had some weird oven mitt he turned into an alligator, fastened on a stick, that he would snap at all the people who went by. It was ridiculous and totally entertaining. At least he was having fun and not hurting anyone.

On Saturday night, Justin and his roommates hosted a birthday party for a friend's 40th birthday (happy b-day Willie!) and it was loads of fun. Lots of fashion people, lots of fabulous gay men, lots of champagne, and me realizing that my tolerance has dramatically decreased and crawling into bed WAY before the party came to an end. C'est la vie!

Sunday, I spent the day wandering London and shopping. I went to Spitalfields market, Brick Lane, walked along the Thames and shopped on the Portobello Road. Yes, I bought some very fab jewelry (which should come as no surprise to anyone) but I mostly bought books (the English language bookshop in Brussels is tres cher). My favorite purchases are a tie between Russell Brand's autobiography and a guide to the wine regions of France. I am laughing my way through "My Booky Wook" and planning my first visit to French wine country. Delightful!

London is such an amazing city. Everyone says Brussels is such an international city ... and it really is ... but there is nowhere more international than London. It is just a crush of people speaking every langauge under the sun, of every nationality, of every class, and of every walk of life. I almost felt out of place speaking English there. I would LOVE to go back to Brick Lane and spend another day at the Sunday market. Brick Lane is known for being the center of Bengal life in London (there is a great novel called "Brick Lane" if you are interested and someone told me they are making it into a movie). Amidst all of the Bengal shops, they've got food stalls with every cuisine you can imagine ... Russian, Japanese, Chinese, French, Turkish ... anything you want. Definitely my kind of place ...

Luxembourg: Why You've Never Been

Saturday morning found me on a train bound for Luxembourg. I'd never been before and I had plans to meet my former French teacher, M. Jean-David Laplance, at a dog show he was judging in a small town called Stadibremus in Luxembourg on Sunday. So I decided to go down on Saturday, do some sightseeing, and see what Luxembourg was all about.

So you know why you've never been? Cause there is nothing interesting to see there. Sure, it is quaint, and pretty, and clean ... but really, there is no real reason to go there if you can go to France, or Swtizerland, or even Belgium. After a couple hours of sightseeing, I decided to take advantage of the fact that the sales had just begun, so shopped like the rest of the city seemed to be doing. I also had lunch in a cafe with a little old German couple who didn't speak any English or French ... and the little old woman kept crying ... it was odd to say the least.

Want to get a bus from Luxembourg to Stadibremus (16 kms away) on a Sunday? Good luck. Want to get a taxi? How about paying 70 euros? For comparison, it cost less than half that for the 3 hour train ride to Luxembourg from Brussels. I finally found a bus that would get me 3 kms away and then I walked the rest.

Stadibremus was actually quite lovely. It is a little resort town in wine country, and I spent the afternoon sitting in the sun, drinking beer, and watching the dog show. I want to say it was corny, but it wasn't. I had a lovely, relaxing day, met some really nice people, and got back on the road and home to Brussels on Sunday evening.

Think things are any difference for me here in Brussels than they are anywhere else? On no, don't worry ... the little Turkish man sitting across the aisle from me on the train did his best to get me to have coffee with him and to give him my phone number.

Here are a few photos from my trip to Luxembourg:

Dispatches from a Dog Show: Entry #1

Here's me at a dog show in Luxembourg:

Here's me getting drunk at a dog show in Luxembourg:

Any questions?

Why Belgium Sucks #1: The Belgian Poste

The first in what I am sure will be an ongoing series of rants about my new, temporary home.

Last week, the Belgian Poste tried to deliver my boxes from the U.S., but surprise surprise, I was at work during the middle of the day on Wednesday. My choices for getting the boxes? Pick them up myself with my imaginary car in a town I've never heard of or arrange another day for them to deliver. My colleague Rebecca, who speaks way better French than me, graciously called on my behalf and scheduled a day for them to deliver the boxes ... yesterday, sometime between 9 am and 7 pm. Thanks for narrowing down that delivery window, Belgian Poste!

So yesterday, I stayed at home and waited. And waited. And waited. And when 7:30 rolled around, I was so frustrated that I just left and went for a really long run. And you know what? Still no sign that they've even attempted to deliver them. According to my colleagues, this means that I've had my first real encounter with Belgian customer service. According to me, Belgium sucks.

Yoga, the international language

Today, I started a month-long yoga course being taught by Hanna, a Finnish woman who used to work at the firm. The classes take place at Maison de Finlande and everyone in my class is Finnish! It is pretty awesome. The class is great ... all beginners like me ... and I love the experience of being the only American there. Not that it is so different from work, where I am one of three Americans, but this is pretty cool. Hopefully I'll learn a little Finnish along the way!

Speaking of a foreign lanuage, my colleagues are doing their best to teach me the proper English versions of American words and sayings. I've warned them that if I get in the habit, I'll be made fun of relentlessly when I get home. Here are the English words that are being pushed on me at the moment:

Crosswalk = zebra crossing. And the "zebra" is pronouned like "Debra".

Cookies = biscuits (things which are overflowing in my office ... today's were coated with brown sugar and came from Israel)

Tea time = dinner time (apparently only used incertain parts of Britain, but part of my education nonetheless)

Cross = angry (I knew this one but found it funny when my colleague asked me, "If I told you I was cross with you, would you know what I meant?" My response: "Yes, but I am pretty sure I would have from the non-verbal signs too.")

Shops = store. No one here says they are "running out to the store". They are just "popping out to the shop".

Oh, and changing all of the "z"s to "s"s in words like organization (organisation) is just a pain, but necessary. I know there is more but can't remember anything else at the moment. Maybe it is all the oxygen in my brain from the yoga?

Tomorrow is the dreaded day where I sit at home and wait for my boxes to arrive from the U.S. The post office's timeframe for delivering them? Sometime between 9 am and 7 pm. Sounds strangely familiar ... oh that's right, I have Comcast cable in D.C.

The Atomium and Mini Europe

This is the Atomium.

It was built for the 1958 World's Fair held in Brusslels. It is a replica of an iron crystal molecule magnified 165 billion times. If I were feeling cynical, I would say it is a lame excuse for a tourist attraction. But since I have a deep fondness for world's fair history (I wrote my undergrad thesis on the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and am a big fan of The Devil in the White City), I am going to let you know that visiting the Atomium is actually pretty cool.

Once you get inside, you get to take stairs and escalators up to the spheres to see different exhibits about the World's Fair. You get some pretty amazing views of Brussels from up there. My favorite fact about the '58 Fair: they hired hundreds of women to serve as "ground hostesses" ... they wanted them to be a combination of "air hostesses" and beauty queens, but with brains and good foreign language skills. That's pretty much a direct quote from the audioguide. Here are a few more photos of the Atomium:

Now you want to know what's lame? Two things ... the Pavilion of Temporary Happiness and Mini Europe. The Pavilion of Temporary Happiness is the building set up specifically to highlight the 50th anniversary celebration of the '58 World's Fair. Look how lovely it is.

Apparently, it is constructed from real materials used at the '58 Fair. Oooooh ... ugly. I would have gone in but it was an extra 5 euros I didn't feel like spending.

Now Mini Europe is another attraction located next to the Atomium. Mini Europe is basically what it sounds like ... the most iconic buildings of Europe re-created in miniature and set in a min-golf-like setting. Seriously, it would have been more interesting if you could have been putt-putting through the exhibit.

I see London, I see France, and I see a water park in the background!

Mini Europe is really meant to be a propaganda ... sorry educational ... tool about the European Union. They only have recreations of buildings from the 27 Member States and they nicely juxtapose the ancient buildings of Europe with exhibits that show Europe's economic prowess.

Look, mom! It is an authentic Spanish bullfighting arena ... complete with little mechanical bulls that charge at the bullfighters!

Look, dad! In France, they have airplanes! And in Luxembourg, they move commercial goods by truck!

Three-legged dog, oh my!

Moving to a new place is hard, whether its to a new city or a foreign country. It is exciting to be here, but I do miss having my friends around and people to call up and make plans with for the weekend. So what did I do to cheer myself up? I went shopping, of course!

I started my day off having breakfast at a nice little cafe in my neighborhood and saw the best thing I've seen since I've moved here ... a 3-legged dog hobbling down the street. I wish to God I had gotten a picture of it ... it was awesome. As everyone looked on, I couldn't help but think that if this was the U.S., that dog would have a prosthetic leg by now. And then I wondered why there isn't an "Extreme Pet Makeover" show yet where the experts come in and makeover the pet that's had a hard life (abandoned by his mother, hit by a car and lost a leg, finally adopted by loving owner, gets cancer and loses all of his fur, now on the brink of recovery) ... just a thought.

So I again walked around the neighborhoods ... this time with shopping as my goal ... and ran across two street fairs. The one in the picture is in Marolles, a part of town with a big immigrant population. I don't think you can tell from the picture, but the guy was selling "As seen on TV" products. It made me laugh.

I ended up in Zara and Espirit, and actually bought the few things I set out to buy ... a trench coat, flats and some new jeans. And a cute little sweater for good measure. Since I don't have anyone to show off my new purchases too, I've put a picture of them below. I did go to the Mango, but yikes ...

Last night, I had after work drinks in Place Luxembourg with my colleague Rebecca. Apparently, it is the place to go for anyone working in the Parliament or having anything to do with EU relations. It was a sea of suits of all nationalities! Rebecca's great and it was a lot of fun getting to know her better. After that, I met up with Jeremy, my friend Jerry's friend who lives here in Brussels. Yay, Jeremy! It was so nice to hang out with an American and just socialize for a while. I am happy to know Jeremy (and his girlfriend Femke) so that I've got some outside of the office contacts here.