He came back

I mean the policeman. And he'll be back on Saturday. For coffee since we're pals now.

Well, that's not entirely true.

Several days after his first visit he showed up at my door again with a 4-page form in hand. He said he would need to ask us several more questions since we were "strange in Belgium". Followed quickly by "well, not strange to me because I know you now". See I told you we were pals. Buuuut, in order to complete this new form, he needed to do it when Jim is home. He asks when Jim would be home and I was getting the sneaking feeling he doesn't believe there really is a "Jim".

See, I knew those office people at our old apartment had led them astray telling them we'd gone back to the States!

I assured him we'd gone to City Hall with the last form he provided and had our address changed. That turned out to be pretty simple, considering. Jim made it home during their business hours and we simply told them our new address and the change was made right then and there. No copy of our lease, or our passports, or our fingerprints required.

We usually haul our personal information file around to every agency, bank, restaurant, . . . with all these documents, plus some - open it up - and say "just take what you need". It's just easier that way. Jim commented one time as we were walking past the carnival at Christmas that the only person in Hasselt who didn't have a copy of our passport may be the guy running that ferris wheel. And he's probably right.

So, back to the police visit.

As I hesitated on my answer (about when "Jim" would be home), he suggests Saturday morning. "Prima!" That would be great. Then he asks me to sign the form and I decide I probably should ask what I'm signing since this isn't my first time to sign and later regret.

Remember Tom?

He (the policeman) begins to explain each page of the form and says he'll need to check to be sure we have things like clothes in our closet and family photos. Stuff like that. Okay. We have clothes. Sure hope the next question on the form isn't "Are they fashionable?". Fail.

Now - family photos may be a problem. Most. Yep, nearly all of them are on my computer. Does this qualify as "family photos"? Who doesn't print and frame their family photos? That's us. But only because we haven't figured out how to do that yet. That's all.

There is also a section where he will talk to the neighbors to be sure it is really us living here. Okay, our huisbaas (the pharmacist) knows us, the frituur (the guy who makes fries) next door to her knows us, Frere Jacques (my French hairstylist) 2 doors down knows us, but the lady right next door with the cat in the window has no idea who we are. He will probably choose her.

Plus there is a whole section on the names of other people living with us. I tell him there's no one else unless you count that dog that's been barking since you got here.

So he says "See you Saturday" and I say "See you Saturday".

I run off to try and find a family photo with "Jim" in it. Just in case!