Voetbal

Soccer is unbelievably popular here and called voetbal (football). This, of course makes much more sense since it is in fact a sport played solely with the foot. No pun intended. According to the internet, Soccer and American Football originated about the same in the late 1800's while Rugby was about 100 years before that. No matter, soccer is a big deal here.

Belgium isn't even in the World Cup, but it's what's everybody is talking about. Apparently the Netherlands is in the Quarter Finals and since the Netherlands is only about a half hour from here the excitement trickles down.

Jim doesn't usually watch a lot of sports on TV, but he watched the USA team lose this past Saturday. Apparently they were out-matched, but at least they were in the running. That's something coming from a country that is at best indifferent about soccer.

Well, it wasn't the World Cup. but we attended a soccer game this past Friday night. Norbord has a soccer team and while they might be in the same league as USA, they had a lot of fun and we did too.

And after a tough soccer match you wouldn't think of drinking water. In Belgium, of course.

Just a few of my favs

This thing is so hard to get out of

Mandatory shades and over-40 vision

Buffing the Chuck Taylor's

Is that lipstick on my forehead?

My pride, joy, and so much more.

Another long day in de bus.

Can you do this?

I'm going to get out of this thing now.

Multi-tasking at its best.

. . . and these just make me smile

:)

Just hangin' out

Although we had fun traveling and sightseeing, sometimes we just stayed home. And that was fun too.

Cheaters

We missed the last three weeks of our Flemish class followed immediately by the final test. It consisted of writing, listening, and speaking. The writing part wasn't so difficult. The listening was somewhat difficult because the speaker was speaking too fast. By that I mean, too fast for me.

Our teacher, experienced and apparently anticipating cheating, separated family members and friends before handing out the test. This initially surprised me since we're all adults. Who cheats on something like this?

Answer: the person on either side of me.

Frankly, I couldn't believe it. On the written section, we were to write a short letter in response to an invitation. The older guy to my right actually asked to see mine once I'd finished so he could copy it. Naturally, I said no and furthermore I began to hover over my paper so he couldn't see it. I'm not sure why I did this. I'm really not sure why I cared if he cheated. He's not my responsibility.

Later in the listening section, we were to complete a map after being given driving directions in Dutch. The young girl on my left asked to see mine so she could copy it. Naturally, I said no, but again, she's not my responsibility. Why did I even care?

As Jim says, maybe these people are just survivors trying to get to the next level as an immigrant.

Maybe I should have helped them.

We both finished our test and left before anyone else. Then we returned the following day for the speaking part. The teacher showed us the results of our written test and we both passed. Even did pretty good. The speaking part was awful and I felt like an idiot, but mercifully and generously, she said we passed and could take part in the diploma ceremony - which is tomorrow night.

I do hope the older guy and the young girl are there too. If they aren't and even though they aren't my responsibility, I think I may feel responsible.

Brugge by Nite and Day

This was our third visit to Brugge and we agree it's still one of our favorite places to visit. It is very picturesque and small enough to see in a day. At first I was disappointed we arrived after dark because it was so late and we were tired, but we made the effort to walk around a bit and the city was even more beautiful at night.

The horse and buggy were a favorite for Frazier. He was definitely fascinated by the horse.

Where's Winslow

Winslow. World traveler. Goes pretty much everywhere with us. Jim thinks he needs his own blog. He just took his second trip to Westvleteren to buy more "world's best beer" this week!

In lieu of his own blog, here's Winslow.

You lookin' at me?

Are we there yet?

Pacis. My favorite.

This is the life.

Captive.

I definitely wasn't ready.

Smile :)

Captive.

Again.

I'll keep an eye on him.

Doing lunch in Amsterdam.

Would really like to lose this leash.

I am the baby, right?

I'll fetch, but then I'm keeping it.

Photographer Please

Ever think how nice it'd be if you had a personal photographer along for all your vacations, family get-togethers?

Most often the "photographer" just isn't in the picture.

Or you take two pictures so the "photographers" can switch out.

Or the person with the longest arm (or sitting at the end of the table)

attempts to get everyone in the picture.

Sometimes it takes a few tries.

Definitely our most used method.

Are we improving?

Or sometimes the waiter is kind enough to play photographer too.

Or sometimes a bystander boldly asks if they can take our picture so we can all be in it.

Thanks to all the bystanders who do this.

Be one of those when you can.