an american in belgië

Enlightenment

2012-02-10T10:42:00.001+01:00

Perhaps the Mayans were actually predicting a new age of enlightenment in 2012 instead of the end of the world. I think I'll go with this theory.

The Age of Enlightenment.

"A cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe, that sought to mobilize the power of reason, in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted science and intellect and opposed intolerance and abuses of church and state."

Just some of the intellectuals of the day we are all familiar with . . . Voltaire, Thomas Paine, Mozart, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin.

The City of Light was the hub of this movement. La Ville-Lumiere.

Duly named for being the center of education and ideas at the time - enlightenment. It is also the first city to illuminate its streets with arc lamps.

Developed by Russian Pavel Yablochkov, these "electric candles" were first used to light the Grands Magasins du Louvre - not the museum, but the store.

Louvre - a framed opening in a door or wall or window with fixed or movable horizontal slats for admitting air and light.

Yes, the louver - apparently having nothing to do with the name of the museum or street lamps.

I am very excited that we will be visiting La Ville-Lumiere again this weekend!

Bob's your uncle

2012-02-07T09:06:00.000+01:00

This past weekend we took a drive over to Everburg and joined about a hundred other people shopping at

The place was packed on a Sunday morning. I had no idea there were so many Brits in Belgium.

I was delighted to see this bakeware display. I've looked everywhere in Hasselt for a cookie sheet with no luck. Jim says I just haven't looked in the right place, but this shelf speaks for itself.

That's why they're getting €9.50 ($12.40) for a cookie sheet. Because they don't sell them anywhere else. Or loaf pans. Or muffin tins. As delicious as they are, it's a tart or a tart here and the only place I've seen homemade cookies is at Subway.

We bought one.

As you would expect there was an entire aisle of tea.

And nearly an entire aisle of shortbread cookies. Walker's, of course.

It was nice to see bagels available because thus far we've only seen them at the American Food Store. Guess there aren't enough Jews in Belgium?

Brush with greatness for sale.

I still don't get it. The royalty thing, I mean.

Apparently the British never throw anything out. They use it to make haggis.

Naturally, Jim bought a can.

In case you are not familiar with this stinkin' stuff . . . they refer to it as a type of pudding, but that alone makes it sound good. It's actually a mixture of a sheep's heart, liver, and lung minced up with onions, oatmeal and spices. Traditionally this "mixture" was encased in the animal's stomach and slow-cooked for a few hours.

Pudding?

As Jim Gaffigan would say at this point, "I'm offended on so many different levels".

As much as I love Lucky Charms, $12.40 a box seemed like a lot.

We really enjoyed our shopping trip and we'll probably go back again. I think I may need one of those muffin tins. Who knows, maybe they'll run a sale on that commemorative cookie tin.

And there you have it or as the Brits would say . . . Bob's your uncle.

"Always winter

2012-02-06T09:33:00.000+01:00

. . . but never Christmas."

The White Witch's spell of a hundred years.

Nearly a half century before Hogsmeade and a decade before Maycomb, Alabama, there was the White Witch and . . .

I don't know about the last hundred years, but I believe it has been a record setting cold winter here in België. It has been well below freezing for days and days with no end in sight.

If it's going to be winter, there should be Christmas and if it's going to be freezing, there should be snow.

Somewhere it may be "Always cold . . . but never snowing".

Not here!

Un grand jour

2012-02-03T10:51:00.001+01:00

I said "Well, it's not every day you move to Paris."

But that's just what he did.

A big day and a big city.

You know a city when you see one. Often by its skyscrapers.

Like Chicago

or Hong Kong

or New York.

But not Paris.

A huge metropolitan area with nearly no skyscrapers.

There's a reason for that. And it didn't happen by accident.

Way back in 1853, Napoleon III commissioned Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann to modernize Paris and the urban planning began.

His design was initially criticized, but later praised by his peers. The look of Paris today with its wide tree-lined boulevards, cafes, shops and large open spaces is evidence of Haussmann's vision.

Tall buildings were relegated to the outskirts of the city and with the exception of the Eiffel Tower (at ~1000 ft), built in 1889, Haussmann's vision continued

. . . until 1972.

Clearly "a 70's mistake", the 210 meter (689 ft) Montparnasse Tower entered the landscape of Paris.

Some say it sticks out like a sore thumb. No argument from me.

Perhaps in response, in 1977, a City Code was adopted limiting building height to 37 meters (121 ft).

The city of Paris has a population of only 2 million while the metropolitan area has 12 million, simply because there is very little housing within the city and it's as expensive as it is elusive.

In an effort to reduce "urban sprawl" and accommodate more residents closer to the city, a new urban plan was adopted in Paris in 2010. Apartments may now rise to 50 meters (164 ft) and office towers to 180 meters (590 ft).

But Haussmann's urban plan and the unique look of Paris will remain intact as these "skyscrapers" are still relegated to the outskirts, but not too far out.

Bienvenue a la maison, Ross.

Marmots

2012-02-02T07:50:00.001+01:00

First. Americans and Canadians. Happy Groundhog Day!

Did you know groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, are about the size of a house cat, can swim, climb trees and burrow where they hibernate from about October to March or April? I suppose that's why Punxsutawney Phil is dragged out of hibernation to predict whether he'll emerge permanently in March or in April.

I don't know if there will be six more weeks of winter in PA, but it is most certainly winter today in BE. The wind chill this morning is minus 21 degrees Celsius (-6 F = bitter cold by any standard). We are now keeping our ice cream on the patio.

The European groundhog is the marmot. Same as a groundhog/woodchuck/large squirrel. Those who know them best often refer to them as a nuisance.

As far as I know, there is no Marmot Day in Belgium nor a large squirrel weather forecaster.

Marmots usually dine on grass and insects. Agricultural crops are also a favorite when available. Smakelijk!

They will actually eat nearly anything and it doesn't necessarily have to be edible. Their menu often includes car insulation, radiator hoses and anti-freeze, poisonous to all except the marmot. Bon appetit!

I've heard they can wreak havoc under the hood of a VW, apparently more tasty than say, a GM or BMW. So take care to protect your auto should you find yourself in an area with groundhogs/woodchucks/marmots, weathermen or just large squirrels.

Even if you haven't seen this movie, it's still a good song :)

Village Cinema

2012-02-01T09:42:00.000+01:00

We've gone to a movie the past three weekends. Prior to that, we hadn't gone to a movie in a theater in . . . too many years to count.

But we used to. Back in the late '70's we went nearly every weekend. Because that's what you did.

Movie tickets here are 9 euro (~$12) no matter what time of day you go. About $9 will get you into an evening movie in the States or $6 if you go to the matinee. We noted that movie tickets have always seemed expensive - even back in 1978 when it was less than $3!

I really go to the movie mostly for the popcorn. I love movie popcorn. On our first movie weekend here at the Euroscoop Genk, our first stop after ticket purchase was the concession for popcorn. You can imagine how dismayed I was when it turned out to be sweet. Who eats sweet popcorn at a movie?

On our next movie weekend we tried the Kinepolis Hasselt. Delightedly they had real movie popcorn. The kind with salt and butter. Like it should be. They also offered the sweet stuff for whoever eats sweet popcorn at a movie.

Back in the '70's, Ruston's movie theater was the Village Cinema. Right next to El Pollino's serving up excellent Mexican food. It was located on West California (behind Taco Bell). It's a vacant lot now, but Google Maps still reads "Village Plaza Shopping Center", but all that's pictured is grass and old concrete.

Village Cinema was run by one guy. I believe he sold tickets and ran the projector. He may have even sold popcorn. Real movie popcorn. The kind with salt and butter. Like it should be. Once the movie had run its course, he would take the movie posters down and if you went by and asked him, he'd give them to you. My bedroom was wall to wall movie posters and bulletin boards. Jim had his share of them too.

Together we had original posters like Star Wars, Grease, Saturday Night Fever and the first movie we went on a date to see - Heroes. I should watch that movie again. I don't remember anything about it.

Anyway, those posters stayed in the attic of my parents house for years. Who knows where they are now.

I think this movie (aka popcorn) thing might become a regular event. It has so far.

All to ourselves

2012-01-31T13:00:00.000+01:00

After our beer run to Westvleteren, we decided to drive to the coast. We were only a few minutes away and decided on the closest coastal city - De Panne, Belgium.

It was terribly cold and windy, naturally, as it is January.

Winslow didn't seem to notice the cold. He had a big time!

De Panne is the western-most city in Belgium and borders France.

You can actually see Dunkirk, France in the distance in the photo above.

Much of the beach was covered in these broken shells. I dug a hole several inches deep and never reached sand - just more shells.

We definitely had the beach to ourselves. Well, except for this horse and buggy. I was so surprised when I saw it off in the distance. The following video will give you an idea of just how chilly it was!

After a numbing stroll on the beach, we drove around the center of town. Definitely nice enough to warrant another visit - in the spring or summer.

Forecast: Sun

2012-01-30T14:33:00.001+01:00

January 27 marked the first day of sun in 2012 and boy, was I glad to see it.

I don't know if you ever notice the weather gadget over there on the right side of my blog?

It's not always accurate, often showing a picture of the sun. While there is sun, it's often behind complete cloud cover. I love how the BBC's U.K. forecast always says "white cloud" like somehow that sounds better than "overcast".

I guess maybe it does.

But today in Hasselt it's showing a grey cloud with snow falling and today it's accurate. It's been snowing all day and if that weather gadget is right, it shouldn't melt any time soon.

It won't get above freezing for at least the next 10 days with an average high of 21F and average low of 15F. Brrrr!

But at least it's going to be sunny :)

A walk in the park this morning with Winslow.

Beer Run

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000+01:00

On the appointed day and time to make phone calls to the Beer Hotline (seriously, that's what it's called) and after hitting redial 165 times, we finally got through to Sintsixtus Abbey to order the allotted 2 cases of Westvleteren 12 beer.

On the list!

We went on our designated day and time to pick it up with the few and the proud who also made the list (these monks are very organized). As you drive up, there are crates and crates of empty bottles that have been returned for full ones.

I took a picture of this sign so I could translate it later. As Jim noted, it seemed odd there were so many words we didn't know :-\

It reads something like this:

Schuif aan in de rij, laat uw leeggoed in de auto tot het uw beurt is.

Slide to the queue, let your empties in the car until it is your turn.

Zo vereenvoudigt u voor ons het werk.

So simplify our work.

dank u

thank you

Here's our stash! Two prized cases.

We also bought this gift set with special glasses and bottles. These sets are being sold as an additional fundraiser for the construction of the new abbey. You gotta hand it to these Catholic monks. Why have a bake sale when you can sell beer?

Naturally we went to the onsite pub for a taste of the good stuff.

The area around the abbey is rural and many fields are used for growing hops. In case you've never seen how hops are grown - it looks like this. These are empty at the moment, but when they are ready for harvest . . .

they look something like this. Hops are used for giving beer a bitter, tangy flavor.

Cheers!

Allgitout

2012-01-26T10:20:00.001+01:00

We attended a social gathering this past weekend. That alone is news. We sat at a table where all the people were nice enough to speak English for us. We talked about a lot of things like . . .

most of the people here have lived and worked in the same area for generations and many would likely not leave for any reason. They said they would find it almost impossible to move to another city, away from their families. Not even within Belgium.

But the longest conversation centered around language.

This map illustrates the shape of most every Belgian city

- a little circle, 1/2 mile across, in the center with all the shops, restaurants, hotels, bakeries

- a bigger circle, 2 miles across, with all the neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, grocery stores

Every road leading out of the circles goes to a little "suburb" and the point where the language changes.

Yeah, ten minutes down the road and they've got their own ebonics. Basically, not proper Dutch and germane only to that region.

For example, on the other side of Belgium - in the west - a whole 2 hours away - the local news on television is actually subtitled in proper Dutch so all those in the east can understand it!

Our dinner companions asked if it is the same in America. And that's how ebonics entered into our conversation.

I said, well, it's not exactly the same. I usually don't need subtitling to watch the news, but I have occasionally needed a translator in Arkansas.

Like their "suburban/not-proper-Dutch" - just a community of people living in close proximity for generations, developing their own way of communicating

- adding those unnecessary words after nearly every necessary word in a sentence

- creative sentence structure

- pronouncing words in a whole new way

Not-proper-English, if you will.

They were eager for some examples.

My very first thought was an old SNL skit with Eddie Murphy doing Buckwheat. I sang a few lines of the country song "Lookin' for love in all the wrong places, lookin' for love . . .".

Nope, just a blank stare.

Okay, my best effort at ebonics.

"Dem yo churrin'?" (Are those your children?)

"I finna ax Bef could she bring dat to Kim crib, ya know what 'm sayin'?" (I'm going to ask Beth if she can bring that to Kim's house.)

Nope, still not gettin' it.

And lest you think I'm being racist or disrespectful, this speech pattern is recognized by linguists and they call it AAVE (google it).

Okay, last try. Deep south for which I need no translator.

Lawd! Gimme some are! Changin' dat flat tar done plumb wore me out. (Changing the flat tire made me tired.)

Sit yosef down rite cheer. (Have a seat.)

Pretty sure that went nowhere. If that don't beat all.

I gave up.

Our dinner companions expressed a sadness at the possibility of the local Dutch dialects disappearing over time. I'm not sure I feel the same way about those noted above.

I never got a good example of the various local or regional dialects. I guess they gave up too. I figure it's best not to confuse myself any more than I already am, ya know what 'm sayin'?

A New President

2012-01-25T10:48:00.002+01:00

Did you know the Kingdom of Belgium, with over 10 million people, set a world record for the longest period without a government? 541 days. Easily beating Cambodia's record of 353 days without a government. It didn't seem to stop things from going on as usual though.

But that came to an end in December 2011 when a new Prime Minister (President equivalent) was finally sworn in. Elio di Rupo. As you might guess, he was born of Italian immigrants. He lost his father at age one and grew up in poverty. Apparently with the help of a teacher who recognized his talents, he was able to attend university and well, the rest is history.

He is said to have lived the Belgian version of the American dream.

He speaks fluent Italian, French and English. Herein lies the issue with Mr. Di Rupo.

He's the first French-speaking Prime Minister of Belgium in over 30 years and he doesn't speak Dutch (what the majority of Belgians speak). This is a big deal because language is a big deal here.

You won't hear people from the French-speaking part of Belgium speak Dutch. Mostly because they can't.

You won't hear very much French spoken in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium either. Mostly because they can, but won't.

So way back over 30 years ago in 1979, when Mr. Di Rupo began his political career and was first elected to Parliament, he was asked if he was gay. His answer was, "Yes. So what?" And that's how it's been ever since - no big deal.

The real issue here in Belgium and for Mr. Di Rupo is the same as it is most everywhere - the economy. That's what the media here tends to focus on. Well, in addition to him not speaking Dutch. Because that's a big deal here.

He is taking Dutch classes. I wish him veel succes with that and that economy thing. Because that's a big deal.

Pickups and Roadkill

2012-01-24T07:44:00.003+01:00

Vogel. Dutch for bird. Yesterday morning and again this morning at 5:00 a.m., I heard a vogel singing his little heart out. Pitch dark outside. After about a minute or two it stopped. Perhaps one of the other roosting vogels informed the singer that it wouldn't be dawn for at least 3 hours.

Vogels. Pretty much all the wildlife we see here.

We live on a busy city street. One morning I heard a flock of seagulls making quite a ruckus outside. There must have been at least 15. All of them - swarming around in a circle outside our 2nd floor window, flying up to dodge the traffic, diving back down . . . for a prized partial baguette.

Apparently there is no Dutch word for ruckus.

Wildlife. There are no frogs or lizards or snakes. Even outside the city, a rabbit from time to time, but no raccoons or opossums, skunks or armadillos.

Just the vogels.

While at home for Christmas we noted a few things we'd nearly forgotten about . . . like pickup trucks and roadkill. With petrol at around $10 per gallon and most pickups getting about 15 mpg, it's no wonder.

As for the roadkill . . . I guess the only thing we'll see is the occasional mallard duck. Seriously. I'm not sure where they come from, but I have seen a few . . . as roadkill.

Eend. Dutch for duck.

Laughing Stock

2012-01-20T10:19:00.006+01:00

The phrase "laughing stock" originated back in the 16th century and it means the same thing now that it meant then - an object of ridicule.

From time to time I read international newspapers online. Shocking, really. Never once, before moving to Belgium, did I ever do this. Never once did I even wonder what was going on in Libya or Egypt or Turkey. Frankly, I could hardly find them on a map.

But Europeans sure know what's going on in all those countries . . . and more. They know exactly what's going on in the U.S. At first I found that odd, but now, I realize they just like being informed. It's embarrassing when the frituur owner down the street asks me, in perfect English, about something that's happened recently in the States and I realize he knows more about it than I do.

I've got a long way to go, but unlike these gaffes, going back a decade, I do know that Africa is still not a country. Still. Not.

George Bush in 2001 - "Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease".

Sarah Palin in 2008 (McCain staffer said in a debate "prep" session she did not know Africa was not a country - Palin denied it)

astonishingly yet again in 2011,

with Rick Santorum - "Africa was a country on the brink."

and Michele Bachmann - "Now with the President, he put us in Libya. He is now putting us in Africa."

It should be noted that Libya is IN Africa.

Did you know that when George Bush resigned as governor to bewilder us for nearly a decade as President, Rick Perry, as Lieutenant Governor, assumed the role of Governor of Texas in 2000? Okay, you may have known that, but did you know that he was elected in 2002, re-elected in 2006 and again in 2010? Oh, it's true. So, if I'm doing the math right, he's there until 2014.

I must say, after following the campaign for the Republican nomination, mercifully the world will no longer have to endure further mentally deficient quotes from the likes of Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain and Rick Perry.

Prior to his humanely bowing out of the race and after his bonehead remark about the government of Turkey, even Texas Republicans weren't going to vote for him with many feeling that "Perry's candidacy has hurt Texas' image".

You think?

To his credit, I don't think Rick Perry has mistaken Africa for a country, but he did say . . .

"Juarez is reported to be the most dangerous city in America."

Okay, I know it's on the border, but Juarez is still in Mexico, right?

Click here if you'd like to take a little geography quiz.

ATL

2012-01-19T08:24:00.000+01:00

The Atlanta (ATL) airport has nearly 100 million passengers every year. Way more. Like 10 to 25 million more than its closest rivals:

Beijing (PEK - Beijing, China)

Heathrow (LHR - London, U.K.)

O'Hare (ORD - Chicago, U.S.)

This aerial view indicates they took a lesson from the cathedral architects.

Make a building shaped like your business.

I've been through the Atlanta airport quite a few times and it has, for the most part, never been a pleasant experience.

That is until this last time.

It was evident to me both times - coming and going from Belgium - that there was something different. Everyone we encountered was helpful, cheerful and seemed to genuinely enjoy their job.

Believe me, this is in stark contrast to our past experiences at ATL. So what happened? It probably isn't just one thing, but about a year ago the Atlanta airport got a new general manager.

His name is Louis E. Miller and he has 32 years of experience in airport management. His predecessor had been in the job for the previous 12 years. No doubt he made some improvements since this airport has become the busiest in the world.

But whether it is Mr. Miller or something else, ATL has improved in my opinion.

And it was the first time anybody in U. S. Customs ever said to me "Welcome Home."

Goedendag - peck peck peck

2012-01-15T20:38:00.000+01:00

The ad wizards sure do keep us entertained. I'm amazed at the spin they come up with. I read a headline this week that Mitt Romney was being criticized for being able to speak French. Really? I'm just jealous because I can't speak French. Maybe his critics are too.

One hundred percent of Belgians speak French in addition to all those other languages that aren't native :-|

Without a doubt, Europe has its share of problems, but it's possible there might be worse things than "going more European"? The graphic below got my attention, made me laugh, so I read the accompanying article (in the NY Times).

Graphic by Jason Logan

Why is Europe a Dirty Word?

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: January 14, 2012

New York Times

QUELLE horreur! One of the uglier revelations about President Obama emerging from the Republican primaries is that he is trying to turn the United States into Europe.

“He wants us to turn into a European-style welfare state," warned Mitt Romney. Countless versions of that horrific vision creep into Romney’s speeches, suggesting that it would "poison the very spirit of America."

Rick Santorum agrees, fretting that Obama is "trying to impose some sort of European socialism on the United States."

Who knew? Our president is plotting to turn us into Europeans. Imagine:

It’s a languid morning in Peoria, as a husband and wife are having breakfast. “You’re sure you don’t want eggs and bacon?” the wife asks. “Oh, no, I prefer these croissants,” the husband replies. “They have a lovely je ne sais quoi.”

He dips the croissant into his café au-lait and chews it with zest. “What do you want to do this evening?” he asks. “Now that we’re only working 35 hours a week, we have so much more time. You want to go to the new Bond film?”

“I’d rather go to a subtitled art film,” she suggests. “Or watch a pretentious intellectual television show.”

“I hear Kim Kardashian is launching a reality TV show where she discusses philosophy and global politics with Bernard-Henri Lévy,” he muses. “Oh, chérie, that reminds me, let’s take advantage of the new pétanque channel and host a super-boules party.”

“Parfait! And we must work out our vacation, now that we can take all of August off. Instead of a weekend watching ultimate fighting in Vegas, let’s go on a monthlong wine country tour.”

“How romantic!” he exclaims. “I used to worry about getting sick on the road. But now that we have universal health care, no problem!”

Look out: another term of Obama, and we’ll all greet each other with double pecks on the cheek.

Yet there is something serious going on. The Republican candidates unleash these attacks on Obama because so many Americans have in mind a caricature of Europe as an effete, failed socialist system. As Romney puts it: "Europe isn't working in Europe. It’s not going to work here.”

(Monsieur Romney is getting his comeuppance. Newt Gingrich has released an attack ad, called "The French Connection," showing clips of Romney speaking the language of Paris. The scandalized narrator warns: “Just like John Kerry, he speaks French!”)

But the basic notion of Europe as a failure is a dangerous misconception. The reality is far more complicated.

What is true is that Europe is in an economic mess. Quite aside from the current economic crisis, labor laws are often too rigid, and the effect has been to make companies reluctant to hire in the first place. Unemployment rates therefore are stubbornly high, especially for the young. And Europe’s welfare state has been too generous, creating long-term budget problems as baby boomers retire.

“The dirty little secret of European governments was that we lived in a way we couldn’t afford,” Sylvia Kauffmann, the editorial director of the newspaper Le Monde, told me. “We lived beyond our means. We can’t live this lie anymore.”

Yet Kauffmann also notes that Europeans aren’t questioning the basic European model of safety nets, and are aghast that Americans tolerate the way bad luck sometimes leaves families homeless.

It’s absurd to dismiss Europe. After all, Norway is richer per capita than the United States. Moreover, according to figures from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, per-capita G.N.P. in France was 64 percent of the American figure in 1960. That rose to 73 percent by 2010. Zut alors! The socialists gained on us!

Meanwhile, they did it without breaking a sweat. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that employed Americans averaged 1,741 hours at work in 2010. In France, the figure was 1,439 hours.

If Europe was as anticapitalist as Americans assume, its companies would be collapsing. But there are 172 European corporations among the Fortune Global 500, compared with just 133 from the United States.

Europe gets some important things right. It has addressed energy issues and climate change far more seriously than America has. It now has more economic mobility than the United States, partly because of strong public education systems. America used to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world; now France and Britain are both ahead of us.

Back in 1960, French life expectancy was just a few months longer than in the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. By 2009, the French were living almost three years longer than we were.

So it is worth acknowledging Europe’s labor rigidities and its lethargy in resolving the current economic crisis. Its problems are real. But embracing a caricature of Europe as a failure reveals our own ignorance — and chauvinism.

Nicholas D. Kristof, a columnist for The New York Times since 2001, is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who writes op-ed columns that appear twice a week. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College and studied law at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, graduating with first class honors.

My weather log

2012-01-07T10:56:00.001+01:00

On our recent visit home for Christmas, one of my brothers asked me what one thing in Belgium had been the most challenging to get used to.

I had to say the weather.

Despite the red tape, metrics, and the language, it is still the loooong summer days, the short winter days, and well, the rain that challenges me every day.

In our first year I was convinced it

- rained all the time

- with a constant cloud cover

- and it was always cold.

In our second year I was convinced it

- rained a lot

- it was cloudy a lot

- it was not always cold

- and it was never hot.

Now, as we are half way through our third year, I am convinced this climate is actually not half bad. I've also become much more appreciative of a really beautiful day.

So I've decided to keep a "weather log" to further convince myself that the rain stops occasionally and there are many days when there's not a cloud in the sky.

So far in 2012, it has rained every day with an average temperature of 45F. The sun shone for almost a 1/2 hour on Wednesday. I was out the door soaking it up . . . with umbrella in hand :)

But come April to October . . . the days will get longer and longer and the temperature may reach 80F. Could make one forget all about those short, wet winter days.

Thinking small

2012-01-06T17:12:00.000+01:00

I have a tendency to "think small". Like when I see the statistic that Exxon Mobil made $30.46 billion last year, it really doesn't mean that much to my small mindedness.

If you break that down, it's something like $58,000 a minute - every minute - all year.

In plain English and even without "socialism", the U.S. government spends a $#*+load of money every second.

Belgium is probably no better, but Belgium is so small it usually doesn't even make the radar when European financials make the news.

Of course, some of us (definitely me) can't wrap our head around the amount of money it takes to run a country. If we think it's as simple as taxing the rich we probably think just cutting out a little Medicare, Social Security, some military or electing someone new to work their magic is simple too.

I read the proposed budget for 2012 is $3.7 trillion. I think that's like over $7 billion a minute. Boy, even all of Exxon Mobil's money wouldn't make a dent in that.

Fed Chair Ben Bernanke stated in January 2007: "The longer we wait, the more severe, the more draconian, the more difficult the objectives are going to be. I think the right time to start was about 10 years ago."

Thanks to Ross for showing me this video. It illustrates just how much a $#*+load really is.

1997 was a good year

2012-01-05T08:42:00.001+01:00

This is a picture of the roof of my car, covered in dust and cobwebs, just before we went through the car wash.

It had been sitting, undisturbed, for over 2 years in this warehouse.

After charging the 5-year old battery (old by battery standards), my 1997 Acura, with over 230,000 miles and all its original parts, started and ran like a top on 2 year old vintage gas and oil, for the remaining 2 weeks of our visit to the States. We did have to buy a couple more tanks of new gas.

Jim's 1996 Toyota 4-Runner, with similar mileage and original parts, has a similar story.

We have, from time to time, considered selling both our old cars since we have to maintain registration and insurance on them, but after this . . . I'm convinced our cars may be like wine.

24/7

2012-01-04T12:38:00.001+01:00

Did you know Lake Superior State University has been compiling a list for the past 37 years of overused words that should be banished?

Okay, not only did I not know this, I've also never heard of Lake Superior State University. It's located (as you may have guessed) in Michigan and has about 2500 students. This list (and hunting unicorns) may be all they're famous for unless, of course, you count a few hockey championships. Hockey. Soccer. Whatever (banned in 1997).

It seems we haven't taken the banishments very seriously. Here are just a few (including the year of proposed banishment) that I have used and may accidentally use again despite their banishment status:

As if - banned in 1997. Really? (banned in 1979). That long ago.

Awesome - banned in 1984 and again in 2007. Seriously? (not on the list . . . yet).

Sucks - banned in 1995. I never used this one much so I guess I won't miss it now that I know it's been banned for the last decade and a half.

Thinking outside the box - banned in 2000. Bummer (not on the list. Really? - still banned since 1979), I really liked that one.

And then there are some that were banned before I ever knew they existed (or tried to forget they existed) . . . like:

Staycation - banned in 2009. I must get out more. Quit staycationing?

Orientate - banned in 1988. Right up there with irregardless (banned in 1979 and again in 1988) :-|

Thirty-seven years makes this list go way back to 1976 when I was still in high school so I suppose I really show my age when using words like scenario (banned in 1976) and surely (banned in 1980).

I notice 24/24 from time to time on signs around Belgium and I wondered why Belgium didn't know it was 24/7 (banned in 2000).

Well, if you think about it, I believe the Belgians may have it right.

24/7 (banned in 2000) = 3.42857143

24/24 (not on the list) = 1

But . . . it is what it is - banned in 2008.

The Complete List

The Perfect Christmas

2012-01-01T21:50:00.000+01:00

Welcome!

Traina's birthday cake for Oma

Riding the Jefferson Christmas train

Hanging out with Opa

Reading with Oma

Opening gifts with Big Jim

Let Your Heart Be Light

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000+01:00

It is supposed to snow here this weekend. The locals keep telling us that it rarely snows in Belgium. So far it has snowed every year since we got here. This is our third winter.

We will not be here to see the weekend snowfall because we're going back to the States for Christmas! This will be the first time since our move and the first Christmas since 2008 that we have been in the States for Christmas. I know it will be a memorable time that I'm really looking forward to and to sharing some of those memories when we return.

So, have yourself a merry, little Christmas . . . let your heart be light.

Scales of Stones

2011-12-16T09:52:00.000+01:00

I was reading an article on the BBC website the other day and learned that the average British woman weighs 11st. Doesn't sound like much, does it?

11st. That's 11 stones.

A stone. Once the official measurement of weight used in Northern European countries before metrics and still used in the UK sometimes - obviously used currently to determine the average weight of a British woman. Some habits die hard.

Like the use of imperial measure in the U.S. The British, who started the whole thing, moved on like the rest of the world, but we Americans just can't let it go :-\

The stone was mostly used for agricultural purposes, but wasn't standardized until 1824. Prior to that a stone in London was 8 pounds while a stone in Scotland weighed 16 pounds.

I've been pretty happy with my weight in metrics. Kilos just sound so much better than pounds. A 100 pounds is only 45 kilos. How great is that?

Well, as great as it is, I'm now in the market for scales of stones. That 45 kilos is only 7 stones! Of course, I don't weigh a mere 7 stones, but still. It's all about perception.

Wondering what you weigh in stones?

Killing Spree

2011-12-14T14:31:00.001+01:00

You've probably heard we (and by "we", I mean Belgium) made the international news. A lone gunman left home yesterday morning with hand grenades, a pistol and a rifle. But first, he put a bullet in the head of his neighbor's cleaning lady, age 45.

He proceeded to the busiest square, Place Saint Lambert, in the city of Liége, threw 3 hand grenades and opened fire on a huge crowd killing 3 more people. Dead are 2 teens and a toddler, shot in the head. About 125 more are injured - 5 in intensive care.

Photo - Telegraph UK

The Christmas market that is held each year in Place Saint Lambert was delayed in opening yesterday because of bad weather. Otherwise it is likely more people would have been killed or injured. The rampage ended when the shooter put a bullet in his own head.

Liége is a city about a half hour south of Hasselt (where we live). It lies in the French-speaking part of Belgium and has a population of nearly 200,000.

The shooter was 33 years old. He was in the crowded square on this day because that's where the Palais de Justice (courthouse) is and because he was summoned for questioning by the police about charges he was facing. He apparently did jail time for firearms and drugs so this isn't his first brush with the law. Only his last.

As you may know, gun ownership in Belgium is very restrictive compared to many countries, including the U.S., and gun homicide rates are also very low in most all of Europe. So, having said that, the incident in Liége is quite rare.

There are many questions to be answered . . . with a criminal record, he is not allowed to own or possess a gun. How did he get the rifle, pistol and hand grenades? Where does anyone get a grenade?! I look forward to hearing the outcome of the investigation while realizing something like this really can happen to anyone, anywhere.

The Spirit of Xmas

2011-12-13T08:13:00.001+01:00

Every box of Christmas stuff we had when I was growing up was labeled "Xmas". Although I rarely write it, my mother wrote it on everything. You may know the origin of "Xmas", but in case you don't . . . it has nothing to do with robbing the word of its Christian origins. I've read that the whole thing stands for Christ's Mass. In fact, the "X" is simply the first letter in the Greek word for Christ - Χριστός.

No doubt you've seen this symbol if you've ever been in a Catholic or Protestant church,with the first and second letters of that same word, Χριστός, used as a symbol to represent Christ.

So, since Xmastime is here, I've been listening to Xmas songs. I love Xmas music. There are soooo many fantastic holiday songs (and a few that just won't go away :) like . . . The Little Drummer Boy. I really hate that song.

So, in the spirit of Xmas, here's one you'll recognize. Well, except that it's in Dutch. But it has tekst so you can sing along.

We're only human

2011-12-09T09:54:00.000+01:00

. . . and that should be enough.

In 1948, 10 December was designated to honor the United Nations General Assembly proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Ironically and befittingly, this day was also chosen as the date for award of the Nobel Peace Prize presented each year in Norway. It is the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel who left much of his wealth for its establishment.

Alfred Nobel lived from 1833 to 1896 and was a Swedish chemist, engineer and inventor. He has numerous accomplishments to his name including 355 patents, the most famous for dynamite. The 5 Nobel Prizes are awarded to individuals with outstanding achievements in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, and for work in peace.

Most have heard of the Nobel Peace Prize and would recognize many of its recipients . . . and we should. Among them are:

2001 - Kofi Annan (Ghana)

1979 - Mother Teresa (India)

1964 - Martin Luther King, Jr. (United States)

Perhaps you haven't heard of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights. Created in 1993, it is presented annually in Geneva, Switzerland to honor and protect individuals around the world who demonstrate exceptional courage in defending and promoting human rights.

Martin Ennals lived from 1927 to 1991 and was a British human rights activist. He served as Secretary-General of Amnesty International from 1968 to 1980. Coincidentally, Amnesty International was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.

It is quite possible you wouldn't recognize one name among the 18 recipients of the Martin Ennals Awards . . . but we should. Among them are:

2011 - Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera (Uganda)

2009 - Emad Baghi (Iran)

1995 - Asma Jahangir (Pakistan)

Great strides have been made since 1948 to make basic human rights a reality for all people. Some countries have been very progressive and I truly hope we will see the day when discrimination is a thing of the past.

The demand for basic human rights by ordinary people all over the world is profound, inspiring, and vital. The right to live in safety, to worship as you wish, to be accepted for who you are, free and protected is not a special right, it's a human right.

Tomorrow, December 10, do one thing for a better world. If you find yourself on a self-righteous high horse, get off.

Tot ziens, Hannah

2011-12-08T17:43:00.000+01:00

Hannah heads back to the States early in the morning.

It has been a pleasure to have her and we hope she comes back to see us again soon!

Will I EVER Learn?

2011-12-07T11:30:00.000+01:00

I've gotten really comfortable here. Even donning my velour warm-up and tennis shoes to walk the dog. Only early in the morning. When there's only a few people around. I think I'm over not becoming the "fashionista" I had once aspired to be.

This morning I woke up to a pretty good rain so decided to wait on the dog-walking event. Then the sun came out (sort of) and the rain stopped. I suit up and we're off. We get about 1.5 kilos (that's a mile for us 'mericans) away from home. Now that may not seem like very far, but it is. Basically from Tech exit to old Wilson Cafeteria/Barnett Springs Road.

Well, I'm (theoretically) at the Tech exit and I hear thunder and lightning. Really? In December? In Belgium? Me and the hondje begin to power walk as it begins to rain - hard (somewhere over I-20). Then we begin to sprint (about Starbucks) and I'm a very poor sprinter. I can't see one bridge, awning, nothing to duck under - it's a neighborhood.

Oh, and it's also freezing cold. Yes, the high today is 45F with 15 mph winds. So if that weren't enough, it begins to sleet along with the rain (somewhere about Lambright Center). Then the "sleet" becomes Mentos-sized and I realize it's actually hail (we're probably at JC Love Field now). We are being pelted with hail and my forehead is beginning to hurt.

Ironically, I encounter only three people in this 15 minute time-frame: one woman in raincoat with umbrella and 2 guys hanging on the back of the trash truck. Not one other Belg is out in this ridiculous weather.

I am sure I must have looked like a complete fool as I came up my street (Tech Drive), velour-soaked to the bone. I have a headache, can squeeze water out of my bra and have never been so glad to see my front door (aka Wilson Cafeteria). I swear I'm going to treat my paraplu like an American Express card . . . NEVER leave home without it.

Soon the Bells Will Start

2011-12-06T11:01:00.000+01:00

Are you singing "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas"?

This past Saturday we visited our local kringwinkels (secondhand stores) to check out the Christmas decorations. I got a few gift tags, an ornament, and a little bag with Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet (that's Santa Claus and his helper, Black Pete). Although I didn't purchase one, I estimated there were no less than 100 nativity sets at one kringwinkel. I am probably underestimating. Big, small, wooden, ceramic . . .

Then on Sunday morning we went to the Tongeren Antique Market to look around. It was freezing cold and had been raining (imagine that) and we got a late start so many of the vendors were packing up. There are only a few who have Christmas items, but the one we found was all we needed to find. She had hundreds of ornaments. We had such a good time looking through these ornaments (despite my numb hands) that I'd like to go back next week.

All the ornaments in this particular booth were mercury glass. I've never known much about these kind of ornaments except that they are pretty and usually old. Once the lady at this booth saw our interest, she began to tell us about her collection. She spoke Flemish, but she spoke it very slowly and clearly and I was amazed that we could both understand nearly every word she said. It was so nice.

She showed us a book with pictures and descriptions of the very ornaments she had and told us the story of the Ajeko (Ajeco) glass ornament. There is a wide variety of shapes from Santas to bells to fish and mushrooms. I'd never heard of it before, but I came home and googled it and learned only a little more.

Here's how the story goes . . .

The Jezelin family of glass blowers immigrated from what is now the Czech Republic to Belgium and manufactured various glass objects - mostly for laboratories. As the war prevented the import of German Christmas ornaments, Alfred Jezelin expanded the business to produce ornaments and registered a patent for the glass hook, dated 8/27/1943.

Mr. Jezelin moved to Luxembourg in 1952 and founded Verrerie - Glasfabrik Gremoglas for the production of Christmas ornaments. For reasons unknown, production stopped and it was moved in 1954 to Euskirchen, Germany and that's about all I know, but I'm sure there's more to this story.

Anyway, I've never been a big fan of antiques or of breakable Christmas ornaments. We've had a few break from time to time, so I quit buying them . . . until now. We did buy a couple of the Ajeko ornaments because they are unique and were apparently made in Belgium. They also weren't too outrageously priced at €12 each.

I also learned a little more about mercury glass . . . it is glass blown double walled then silvered between the layers and sealed. Although mercury was originally used for mirrors, ornaments, etc., it was never used in tableware.

Food for Thought

2011-12-05T11:03:00.000+01:00

Since our move to Belgium more than 2 years ago, I have and continue to be fascinated with the openness of the European culture. I can't say I've formed an opinion one way or the other, but it seems the level of tolerance, or better yet, acceptance by the vast majority of Europeans, intrigues me. Now, don't get me wrong, they've got their share of racism and fear, but overall, I think they are broad-minded.

I am a child of the '60's and was raised in the South. I don't pretend to be as forward-thinking as many, but I like to think I'm open-minded because unlike some, I don't have all the answers :-|

When I come across an informative article that addresses any topic that indicates an opportunity to challenge my old-fashioned ways, it becomes food for thought for me. In this case, the facts (and they are facts) actually speak for themselves, but I think it's very possible we are a long way from being ready to hear them.

First, this is a post about an interview with a writer named Amy Schalet, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The article is entitled Mind Reading: What We Can Learn From the Dutch About Teen Sex. So, I guess if you're not interested in what we can learn from the Dutch about teen sex, you will not be interested in the rest of this post :)

It is surely one woman's opinion and some of it may even shock you, but the statistics are certainly worth re-reading to get a clear picture of how significant they are and they are not an opinion.

If you're still with me . . . I challenge you to read the interview, not from the perspective of being a parent (if you are one), but from the perspective of being the adolescent you once were.

Dr. Schalet received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley and her Bachelor's degree in Social Studies from Harvard University. While that's impressive, it's the fact that she is American, but grew up in the Netherlands that first got my attention. As you know, the Netherlands borders Belgium and is the only other country that speaks the same language.

A quick reminder - Holland and the Netherlands are one and the same and the people who live there are Dutch.

* * * * * * * *

Mind Reading: What We Can Learn From the Dutch About Teen Sex

By Maia Szalavitz

Health Writer for Time magazine

Teen birth rates are eight times higher in the U.S. than in Holland. Abortion rates are twice as high. The American AIDS rate is three times greater than that of the Dutch. What are they doing right that we're not?

For starters, two-thirds of Dutch parents report allowing their teenage children to have sleepovers with their boyfriend or girlfriend, a situation even the most liberal American parents would rarely permit. Is there something Americans should learn from the Dutch about relaxed attitudes toward sex (and drugs — indeed, the Netherlands has more lenient drug laws than the U.S., but three times lower rates of marijuana use)?

Healthland spoke with Amy Schalet, author of Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens and the Culture of Sex, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

What got you interested in the studying the differences between American and Dutch approaches to teen sexuality?

I was born in the U.S., but grew up in the Netherlands. When I moved back to this country at 21, I was stunned to find out that teen pregnancy was a problem in the U.S. Growing up, I had not known of anyone [getting] pregnant.

The other piece I'd noticed with my American friends is that there wasn't a lot of conversation between parents and teens about sexuality, and there was a lot of discomfort around the issue. It was handled very differently than what I'd seen in the Netherlands.

So, why do you think the Americans and the Dutch responded so differently to the sexual revolution?

A couple of pieces are important. One is that [the birth-control pill was] quickly disseminated in the Netherlands, starting in the '70s; teen pregnancy started to drop. There wasn't this association between teen sex and danger and lives ruined that we have in this country.

There's also a cultural piece. Coming out of the sexual revolution, the Dutch really decoupled sex from marriage, but they didn't decouple sex from love. If the first piece is that there weren't these immediate associations of teen sex with danger, the second is that it remained anchored in the concept of steady relationships and young people being in love.

There's a strong belief in the Netherlands that youth can be in love — boys as well as girls — that makes sex in many ways seem safer and more contained because it's embedded in a relationship.

It seems terribly sad to me that we view teenage love as being about "just hormones" and teen boys as incapable of being in love — but then we turn around and bemoan this culture of "hooking up," when we've basically given adolescents no space to actually have loving relationships.

I do think this is something that resonates with a lot of people. Every culture has those aspects of human [nature] they celebrate. And the U.S. celebrates individual development and freedom, so there isn't a good language for talking about social cohesion, whether between two teenagers or whether as society as a whole.

One of the things I really emphasize is the need for a better cultural narrative for talking about relationships and love that isn't just, Marriage is best. That is not appropriate for teens and we need to validate their connections and give guidance around that.

Instead, we tend to pathologize teen relationships as obsession, co-dependence, addiction.

I agree. It's become more popular to talk about teaching healthy relationships but a lot of that is about avoiding unhealthy relationships. Of course, that's important. But there's lots of attention to dating violence and very little talk about what it feels like to be in love. One of the things that always surprises people is that one of most popular Dutch sex education curricula is called 'Long Live Love.'

For boys, our culture devalues their impulse to love. But research shows that in the U.S., boys are quite romantic. Other research finds that for girls, recognition of sexual desire and wishes is taboo, so they have fewer tools to assess what's right for them. That makes things very difficult.

Do you think the more relaxed Dutch attitude toward drug use is associated with views on teen sex?

Yes. I argue that underlying the normalization of adolescent sexuality are certain concepts of the person and how people operate, and how to exert social control.

The expectation that a young person can know when he or she is ready [for sex] and can self-regulate is so contested [in the U.S.]. [The idea that teens can] pace themselves and take protective measures also pertains to the concept [in Holland] that it's possible for people to smoke marijuana without becoming heroin addicts.

Whenever we get into the idea that the Netherlands is so liberal and permissive, [we should] emphasize the aspect of social control as I do in the book. [Parents] are actually able to check out the boyfriend or girlfriend, and they only permit [sleepovers] when they like and have gotten to know them.

Many conservatives mistake my findings as being about: 'These are parents who just want to be friends with their kids, and parents have to be parents.' But a lot of Dutch parents [have homes where] dinner is 'at six and not a minute later.' They have a strong sense not that certain rules are to be obeyed, but that there are agreements that have to be kept. [In the U.S.] we're located between the dichotomy of, 'Either I'm in charge or someone else is.' We don't have the concept of a form of control that is more shared and modulated.

[The Dutch] say, 'We permit so we can control,' and that's also their attitude toward drugs and prostitution. It's worth pointing out that U.S. teens are more likely to use drugs than the Dutch, even though there are more liberal policies [in the Netherlands].

That idea of, 'It's actually a form of control,' is for most people in the U.S. counter-intuitive. But if you expect self-control and give people an opportunity to exercise it, you might get more of it.

Meanwhile, Americans seem to think that if people are left to their own devices, everyone will become alcoholics and addicts.

What's interesting about that is that there is a certain pessimism that underlies it. Something that did strike me when I came in early '90s to this country is that one of the differences in the aftermath of the sexual revolution is that Dutch society became a lot more secular.

What stood out to me was that so often [in the U.S.] people seemed to think you can only have morality and a strong social fabric if you believe in a higher authority, a God that would otherwise punish [people]. There isn't a belief that people are naturally cooperative, which lots of research suggests they are.

American parents also frequently brought up the [influence of] media, and that is different. In the U.S., portrayals of sex in the media are very unrealistic. It's very instrumental — people are using each other. There's a lot of sexualizing of young people in terms of portraying their bodies, but not portraying positive [relationships].

U.S. parents fear that sex is everywhere and they want to protect kids from it. I argue that you want to have a positive vision that you can lay out there, not a vision of keeping sex away from you. Because then, you have two options: either a very sensationalized unrealistic scoring type of mentality or no sex until marriage. Those are not two good alternatives.

So what can parents do? I know you talk about A, B, C and D. What does this stand for?

A is autonomy. A lot of times people do realize that adolescents are supposed to develop autonomy during that phase of life, but that doesn't get applied to sex, or it is interpreted narrowly as 'Just say no' or in adversarial terms.

Autonomy is the ability to discern inside what one feels in relation to sexuality to make choices, to exert what sociologists call agency in response to sexuality. Sexuality is a spectrum of behavior; it's not just one act. To use that sense of self-knowledge, and to develop that capacity for self-regulation and planning, and to be able to prepare for sex acts that require protection — that's the individual piece.

B is build good, positive relationships. We need more emphasis on healthy teen relationships: what does respect look and feel like, how do you build intimacy so it doesn't become this huge unrealistic fantasy that's very difficult to overcome if it doesn't work out? Research does show that when young people have more intimate positive relationships, they tend to have better first sexual experiences.

C is connectedness. It's possible to really challenge the assumption that teens and parents have to be at loggerheads. Connectedness between parents and teens is critical for teen well-being, not just sexually.

D is diversity. A lot of sex education doesn't recognize diversity around sex. I don't just mean differences in orientation, but differences in the pace at which young people develop and also the diversity in cultural values. It needs to be part of sex education that people have different values around sex and those are to be respected.

D is also disparities. I try to emphasize that sexual health problems are very much correlated with lack of resources and lack of good education and lack of access to health care. One of the reasons that the Netherlands has done so much better is that the poverty rate is a lot lower. The Dutch have scored highest on equity in access to health care, and they do a lot better in providing social services. If we want to promote adolescent sex health, we need to provide society with level resources.

Can you explain the idea of gezelligheid and how it plays into relationships between Dutch parents and teens?

It literally means 'cozy togetherness.' Like many words that denote a cultural state, it's very hard to translate because we don't have a real equivalent. It's like 'pleasant togetherness' or 'conviviality.'

What it refers to is the pleasure people are expected to take in each other's company, parents and children and also teens together in their peer group. There's a lot of intergenerational gezelligheid. The Dutch celebrate every birthday, whether 8 or 80, and you are expected to show up and enjoy it. The Dutch also devised policies to maintain it. They made part-time work easy for mothers and fathers, so there are policies that support family life.

Can we import some gezelligheid?

I [am] optimistic. When people know something is missing, they look for it. Just as we have a lack of language to talk about togetherness, there's also a desire for more of it, I think. When people see something in another culture that resonates inside, they think, I want that too. They might not have the same support, but that doesn't mean it isn't part of who we are or who we want to be.

Got a Condo Made-a Stone-a

2011-12-02T09:32:00.000+01:00

The Brussels Expo recently featured a King Tut exhibit. It wasn't the real thing, but we went to see it and it was a good replica. Apparently the "real" stuff is all over the place. Until the 1960's, most of it was in the Cairo Museum.

In the '70's and '80's, many exhibits traveled the globe, mostly in Russia, the UK, and the US. It is still possible to see it somewhere even today.

Just some quick geography.

You may remember the Ancient Rome map in one of my "Rome posts" that showed the River Nile and Alexandria, Egypt. Cairo is on the Nile and is about 3 hours south of Alexandria. Probably just below that "T" in EGYPT.

Here's a close-up of the area along the Nile River. King Tut's tomb is near Luxor (like the Vegas hotel :)

And just one more map I thought gave some perspective on where this is on the globe.

His tomb was encased in these gold boxes.

One inside the other like nesting dolls.

This was the final one.

The "nesting" didn't stop there. Then he was in this.

This is all real gold. You can see all the hieroglyphs which covered all those huge gold boxes as well. I read about hieroglyphs on wikipedia and still do not have a full understanding of how it all works. I guess it's sort of like Chinese symbols which don't simply translate into English. If you'd like to know more . . . hieroglyphs.

Anyway, then his body was in this one.

The famous mask covering his face.

The detailed stonework and gold inlay is amazing.

This is an Anubis (Greek) or Inpu (Egyptian) - a jackal-headed god associated with the afterlife usually portrayed as half jackal/half man.

We definitely got a glimpse of how elaborate the burials of the pharaohs (King Tut was a pharaoh) were and how it was all centered on the afterlife. Nearly everything in the tomb was to be used in an afterlife where one would need furniture, shoes, and chariots.

This is the throne he would use in the afterlife.

No one knows for sure how King Tut died, but the consensus is that he'd broken his leg shortly before his death and it likely became infected. Tests on his remains also showed the presence of malaria so the combination probably led to his death.

There was only one pair of shoes exhibited and boy were they elaborate. Those aren't painted, they are inlaid. The audio guide we listened to said King Tut had over 100 pairs of shoes. I didn't think that was so many :) I wonder what his wife had back in her "closet".

Actually, they didn't have closets, just box after box after box to keep everything in.

By the way, he (King Tut) was married to his half-sister. They lived a long, long, long time ago. King Tut lived from 1341 BC to 1323 BC - only to the age of 18 years and he was ruler for the last 10 of those.

The couple had two children, both stillborn. Their bodies were also found in his tomb.

Another of the hundreds of elaborate decorative items to be used in the afterlife.

Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the exhibit may have been the way the tomb was discovered. Despite excavators declaring there was nothing left to find in the Valley of the Kings, Howard Carter, who had worked in Egypt for over 30 years, was certain there was the tomb of King Tutankhamun yet to be found.

Carter and his sponsor, Lord Carnarvon, began excavating in 1914, but were interrupted by WWI. Work resumed, but after years of funding, Lord Carnarvon became dissatisfied giving Carter one more season to find the elusive tomb.

On November 4, 1922, they found the tomb that had been largely undisturbed for nearly 3,000 years. It was to be the most intact and preserved of all the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

This is a map of the Valley of the Kings. KV62, "KV" meaning Valley of the Kings and "62" is the exact area of King Tut's tomb.

We went to the Brussels exhibit with our neighbors who've lived in Belgium all their lives, traveled a good bit and have been to Egypt more than once, the first time more than 20 years ago. They encouraged us to see Egypt while we are still in Europe. I read that to see the pyramids, you can walk, take a horse and buggy or ride a camel. Three choices. Given this and the fact there's been some unrest there of late, I don't know when I'll be ready to see Egypt.

Up until now, this video is about all I knew of King Tut . . .

Hi-Yo Silver!

2011-12-01T11:07:00.001+01:00

I thought it was Hi Ho too, but it's not and he . . .

just might have been de-licious. We'll never know because he's been dead for decades, but my fellow Americans, you will soon have the golden opportunity that we who live in Belgium have enjoyed for . . . well, forever, I guess - paardenvlees.

You probably recognize that word because I've written about it before.

That's right. Horse meat. Black Beauty and Mr. Ed served up as sausage or lunchmeat. America could even become one of the top 8 countries that consume 4.7 million horses every year.

And it's better for you than Elsie, of course, with less fat, calories and cholesterol.

Apparently, Congress quietly lifted the 5 year old ban on horse meat inspections (it's only been 5 years?!). I think it was slipped into a spending bill that was probably already several hands high.

Keep in mind, the sale of horse meat wasn't illegal, just a ban on inspections which I presume essentially made the sale illegal.

Well, my friend Flicka, not anymore.

However, I did read that the sale of rabbit meat does not require federal inspection so if you can't stomach a nutritious Trigger steak, perhaps Thumper is the next best thing. The Belgians love it and France is the largest producer and consumer of it. Rabbit is all white meat and actually has less fat, calories and cholesterol than even chicken.

Probably tastes like chicken.

As I've mentioned before, I was a vegan for 2 years - the worst 2 years of my life. I've really got to stop thinking about those sad-eyed bovine I've been eating lest I go crazy again.

Carnivore or not, I refuse to dine on My Little Pony.

The American Road Trip II

2011-11-30T08:05:00.000+01:00

Our first stop on this day was Heidelberg, Germany.

The fog makes it difficult to see all the houses going up the hillside.

High above the city is Heidelberg Castle (Heidelberger Schloss in German).

There's a tram that will take you to the top so we decided to try it.

The views were really nice.

The castle was in good condition too.

Construction began some time before 1214.

I think this picture looks kinda like a postcard.

That's the River Neckar running through Heidelberg.

Our next stop was Cologne, Germany. I've never seen the cathedral at night - just beautiful.

The Cologne Christmas Markets had opened that very day. There are about 75 cities in Germany that host Christmas markets like this one.

More decorations I loved.

There was plenty to eat and drink like gluhwein (hot wine - not so good) and bratwürst. This fish was chopped up and made into a sandwich - lekker.

There are several markets throughout Cologne. You can see this one is set up right at the base of the cathedral.

We stopped at a pub for some German beer. I don't usually like German beer, but I must say this was pretty good.

Then it was home for our Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends.

[Jan, Annemie, Jim, Ross, Hannah, Bert, Daniele, Laurel, & Pieter]

The American Road Trip I

2011-11-28T09:30:00.002+01:00

We left early on a Saturday morning heading south on our American Road Trip (meaning a long car drive there and back).

First stop was Luxembourg City.

It is the capital of the country of Luxembourg. Kinda confusing. Like New York, New York.

On this map, you can see the tiny country of Luxembourg (Lux.) bordered by France, Belgium, and Germany. Luxembourg City has a population of about 100,000 people and the entire country has less than a half million.

The country has become a financial and administrative center and many companies have established an office or even a regional headquarters there. Like Skype, eBay, PayPal. It's not Switzerland, but I think it gives the term Swiss Bank Account a whole new meaning. Perhaps it's their legal banking secrecy laws where banks are not allowed, by law, to provide authorities with personal and account information about their customers unless there's been a criminal complaint filed, for example. Some might call this a tax haven.

Anyway, Luxembourg also enjoys the title of second highest per capita GDP in the world. Second only to Qatar (that's in the Middle East near Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - oil).

There's a lot more to see here (not just because of the fog) and I hope we can return one day.

Our next stop was Interlaken, Switzerland. Jim and I have been here before and it was just as beautiful this time.

Hannah and Ross looking through binoculars to get a close-up view of the Jungfrau Mountain in the Alps.

Interlaken is a popular ski destination. You can see the Jungfrau peak in the top center of the map and you can see Interlaken in the bottom center of this map. It lies between these two lakes, hence the name.

I can't imagine living here with this as your view.

We drove up the mountain to get a better view. This picture looks like a painting to me.

The first snow of the season had not fallen yet, but we found a little snow.

Our next stop was Lucerne, Switzerland. Jim and I have also been here before and I think it is one of the most picturesque cities we've ever seen.

The city lies on Lake Lucerne and this is the Reuss River which runs through it. The Chapel Bridge was erected in the 14th century. The Alps mountains of Pilatus and Rigi are in the distance, but the fog makes it difficult to see in the photo.

When I say "take a picture of all of us", Jim always obliges.

I guess this last one is where we said "okay, that's good enough".

Our next stop was Strasbourg, France. It lies only 3 miles from the German border and is the capital of the French Alsace region.

I just loved these Christmas decorations.

This is the Ill River which runs through Strasbourg and empties into the Rhine River in Germany. It's difficult to see every city during the day as our days are so short this time of year, but sometimes they are just as beautiful at night.

Last stop on this day was Zürich, Switzerland's largest city.

It was getting late and pretty chilly so we didn't stay too long. The city lies at the end of Lake Zürich and what's not showing in this picture are the mountains that surround Zürich.

It is a beautiful city and the Old Town area was really nice. I hope we can go back some time.

Achilles' Heel and the Midas Touch

2011-11-25T11:30:00.001+01:00

I studied mythology briefly in college and I've read some here and there over the years. I usually just get confused by it all because it's a bit complicated.

After our trip to Rome, I had a renewed interest in reading about the basics of not only Roman mythology, but Greek mythology too. It's still confusing to me, but . . . in a nutshell.

Mythology for the Greeks and Romans was story telling of both fiction and history and was used to explain their world - the "here and now" and the "afterlife". The stories were passed down through the years and often it is difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is made up because a lot of it is fact and a lot of it is fiction.

There is evidence that Egyptians also believed in some type of afterlife in the Neolithic period in 6000 BC and gods (like Isis and Osiris) were definitely present in their world around 3000 BC when Egypt was unified. This religion endured for over 3000 years, but that's a whole other story.

Both the Greeks and Romans practiced mythology as part of their religion. There's not a lot of difference, but they are definitely not one and the same. No one knows for sure when Greek mythology began, but it came way before Roman mythology and the Romans borrowed much from the Greeks.

The Greek myths are chronicled in Homer's Illiad and Odyssey and focus on the Trojan War while Roman myths are chronicled by Virgil's Aeneid.

Both Greek and Roman mythology have gods and goddesses and often they are the same god with a different name. This makes sense because both Greeks and Romans were trying to explain the same world around them.

Among the principal GREEK gods were the 12 Olympians:

Aphrodite - goddess of love

This is Apollo - god of music, healing, and later the sun

Ares - god of war and murder

Artemis - goddess of the hunt

Athena - goddess of wisdom

Demeter - goddess of life

Dionysus - god of wine

Haphaestus - god of fire

Hera - queen of the gods

This is Hermes - god of flight

Poseidon - god of the sea

Zeus -king of the gods

The equivalent ROMAN gods are:

Venus - goddess of love

Apollo - god of music, healing, and later the sun

Mars - god of war and fertility

Diana - goddess of the hunt

Minerva - goddess of wisdom

Ceres - goddess of life

This is Bacchus - god of wine

Vulcan - god of fire

Juno - queen of the gods

Mercury - god of flight

This is Neptune - god of the sea

Jupiter - king of the gods

There are many phrases and expressions that find their roots in mythology too.

Achilles' heel - Achilles was a hero of the Trojan War, but was killed with an arrow shot by Paris to his only unprotected body part - the heel.

Midas touch - Midas found the satyr Silenus, foster father of Dionysus (god of grape harvest and wine), drunk and passed out in his garden. Midas treated him hospitably and Dionysus granted Midas the choice of any reward and he asked to be able to turn anything he touched into gold. He later cursed his wish for wealth when everything he touched turned to gold including his daughter.

Pandora's box - Pandora was given a box with instructions never to open under any circumstances, but her curiosity got the best of her and she opened the box and all evil contained spread over the earth.

The story goes that the Olympian gods overthrew their ancestors, the Titans, and were then the main Greek gods who ruled the Cosmos. They lived on the highest mountain in Greece - Mount Olympus, built by the Cyclopes. Zeus was their leader. The gods didn't age or die, but other than that, they were like humans - they sometimes married, had children and faults, and had ichor instead of blood. There were many Olympian gods, but never more than 12 at one time.

The Roman gods were faceless and divine, but still powerful. The human form of Roman gods came later and was borrowed from the Greeks. There were also 12 main gods in Roman mythology called the Dii Consentes. Jupiter was their leader. Romans of this time wanted nothing more than favor from the divine for himself, his family and the state.

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of mythological figures in addition to the main ones named above . . . like Atlas, Nike, Medusa, Nikon, Triton, Cupid, Hercules, to name a few.

And that's probably all I'll ever know about mythology.

List of Greek mythological figures

List of Roman deities

Give Thanks

2011-11-24T09:05:00.001+01:00

Since we're hosting an American Thanksgiving dinner for our neighbors and friends, I decided it might be a good idea to refresh my memory as to why we celebrate this holiday. I mean besides it being the day before Black Friday, of course.

Black Friday . . .

has traditionally been pegged as the biggest shopping day of the year since 2005 and the term "Black Friday" is now defined as the day when retailers begin to profit and are "in the black". The term, as it is used today, actually originated in Philadelphia in 1966 and was used to describe traffic jams and mobs of shoppers. Way back in 1869, the term was also used to describe a financial crisis in the U. S.

Anyway, happy shopping if you're one of the brave.

Thanksgiving in the U. S. has been celebrated on different dates, often determined by each state, but the first Thanksgiving when all Americans celebrated on the same day was in 1863. President Lincoln declared the final Thursday of November as Thanksgiving. It was in 1941 that the date was changed to the fourth (not always final) Thursday of November and became a national holiday.

Did you know other countries celebrate Thanksgiving too?

Canada - 2nd Monday of October

Liberia (that's in West Africa) - 1st Thursday of November

Norfolk Island (that's in Australia) - Last Wednesday of November

Grenada (that's an island in the West Indies - Caribbean Sea) - October 25

None of these on the same day as America. Well, except one other . . . more on that later.

The American holiday all began in 1621 at Plymouth (aka Massachusetts) or maybe it was 1565 in Florida or perhaps it was 1619 in Virginia. There are several declared origins, but the Pilgrims celebrating a good harvest helped by the Native Americans who provided seeds as well as teaching them to fish is usually the favorite. Of course that's a couple hundred years before we decided to take their land and kill them.

Here's an interesting theory on how it all got started . . . many of the Pilgrims who migrated to Plymouth had resided in the city of Leiden in the Netherlands. It is thought they may have been influenced by the annual Thanksgiving services for the relief of the Siege of Leiden in 1574 while they were staying in Leiden.

Briefly, the Seige of Leiden was during the Eighty Years War when the Spanish tried to capture the rebellious city of Leiden, but failed.

To this day, the church in Leiden, Pieterskerk, commemorates the hospitality the Pilgrims received in Leiden with a Thanksgiving Day service on the American Thanksgiving Day. So that's the other country that celebrates on the same day as us.

Leiden, Netherlands - Last Thursday of November

Leiden, Netherlands is about 2 hours north of where we live. We've never been there, but I found this picture on the internet. Looks like a nice place.

Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrim! We do have so much to be thankful for.

This is MMXI

2011-11-23T08:09:00.000+01:00

The Roman Numeral.

Usually only seen on a clock face or a list in a document, Roman numerals were replaced with Arabic a few centuries ago.

Once upon a time I knew how to write Roman numerals. I suppose I learned it in a math class somewhere along the way, but I really don't remember when or where it was. I'm not very good at it anymore, but I do know the basics. Perhaps you knew this at one time too?

Letter values:

I = 1 (one)

V = 5 (five)

X = 10 (ten)

L = 50 (fifty)

C = 100 (one hundred)

D = 500 (five hundred)

M = 1000 (one thousand)

Rules:

Letters are arranged from largest value to smallest and with the value added to the previous ones.

Only powers of ten can be repeated and no letter can be repeated more than 3 times in a row so some numbers must be written using subtraction. This is accomplished by placing the letter of smaller value before the one with a larger value. Only one letter can be subtracted.

Note that "one" is the smallest number because the concept of zero and negative numbers did not exist.

Examples:

100 is not LL (not a power of ten) or XXXXXXXXXX (too many X's repeated).

~ 100 is C

_______________________________

1510 is not XDM (10 + 500 + 1000) because the largest number value goes first.

~ 1510 is MDX

_______________________________

800 is not CCM (100 - 100 - 1000) because M is the largest value and C can be repeated up to three times.

~ 800 is DCCC (five hundred plus three hundred)

_______________________________

45 is not VL because 5 is not a power of ten.

~ 45 is XLV (fifty minus ten plus five)

_______________________________

140 is not XCL because fifty isn't smaller than ten.

~ 140 is CXL (one hundred and fifty minus ten)

_______________________________

Or better yet, you can just use this handy online Roman Numeral Converter.

The Five Country Tour

2011-11-22T08:59:00.001+01:00

We're back from our little road trip (1,600 km = ~ 1,000 mi) or as our neighbors call it "an American trip". They call it that because Americans think nothing of getting in the car and driving 8 hours somewhere then turning around and coming back. Belgians wouldn't think of it. An hour's drive is long enough for one day.

I haven't downloaded one photo, but we had a nice trip, visited 5 countries (France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Netherlands), 7 cities (Strasbourg, Freiburg, Interlaken, Zurich, Heidelberg, Cologne) and the weather cooperated with mostly sunny skies, no rain and very little fog. We confirmed that no one does Mexican like the Germans and that the Germans should leave the beer brewing to the Belgians.

I'm catching up today and starting to think about our upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. We're hosting dinner for 10 and although that may not sound like much, I've never hosted Thanksgiving dinner. Ever. So hopefully in the next 2 days I can figure out the metric measurements, find a turkey and we can pull off an American Thanksgiving dinner.

But most importantly, I'd like to wish a happy 31st wedding anniversary to . . . us!

Welkom in België

2011-11-18T10:15:00.000+01:00

Ross's good friend Hannah arrived today. It's her first trip to Europe and although it's a bit chilly here in Belgium, we've ordered sunny skies and according to the forecast, it should be sunny.

Hannah & Ross at Ross's graduation

March, 2010

We've got a busy weekend planned with she and Ross and Ross has some great travel plans for the two of them after that, so keep your fingers crossed for those sunny skies!

Welkom in België, Hannah!

Arrivederci Roma

2011-11-17T08:05:00.000+01:00

As we walked back to our hotel in Rome, I took this photo down one of the narrow streets. No editing on it either. The sky really looked just like that.

The next day we headed to Termini Metro Station to give my wallet away, then we took the bus to the airport.

I love taking pictures from the airplane. I can only take a few despite taking the dramamine. It may be hard to tell, but this is the coastline. Blue sky at the top, then clouds, then ocean, then land at the bottom.

This map of the Alps shows about what a flight path might look like "as the crow flies" from Rome (bottom center) to Brussels (top left). It crosses over the island of Corsica, then over the Alps where they meet the Mediterranean Sea.

We assumed this could be a land mass, but don't know for sure. The airspace here was incredibly busy. Do you see the plane in the far left of the photo?

Then another plane flew right underneath us!

It was obvious when we began to fly over the Alps.

This plane flew along beside us for a while.

Soon after I saw this plane.

And then immediately, another one flying in the opposite direction. I really can't believe I got a shot of this.

The sun was really pretty on the open ocean.

I thought this looked beautiful with the sun glowing through the clouds.

We did throw coins in the Trevi Fountain to ensure a return visit to Rome. And once the "wallet incident" fades . . .

La Cupola

2011-11-16T09:06:00.000+01:00

St. Peter's Square

Once again we climbed to the very top of the cupola. This one is the highest in the world at 375 feet high and 491 steps. We took the elevator, but it only reduces the climb by 171 steps leaving 320 the old fashioned way. See those people walking around on that orange roof? That's where the elevator drops you off.

I did think the stairs were much safer than the others we'd climbed during this same week.

At one point there is a place where you can walk around the dome on the inside. Isn't that view amazing? You may remember from my first post on the basilica . . . those letters around the top are 8 ft. high!

It is the Biblical verse Matthew 16: 18-19

TV ES PETRVS ET SVPER HANC PETRAM AEDIFICABO ECCLESIAM MEAM. TIBI DABO CLAVES REGNI CAELORVM

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.... I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

The area for walking around the dome inside is filled with these mosaics made from tiny tiles.

Michelangelo served as the main architect for a while and designed the famous dome. That hole at the top is 28 feet wide - that's like a 3-lane highway.

This view is toward the River Tiber.

The view was pretty amazing from the top. You can see the Tiber River to the right and Hadrian's Mausoleum to the left. That huge white structure in the middle left of the photo is the Corte Suprema di Cassazione (Supreme Court) of Italy.

Hadrian's Mausoleum

Corte Suprema di Cassazione

You can walk around the entire perimeter of the dome so this photo is taken from the other side. This huge "yellowish" complex is the Vatican museums and courtyards and the Sistine Chapel.

Here's a close up of that courtyard seen in the top left of the other photo.

The grounds of Vatican City are really beautiful.

Here's a close up. That is the Coat of Arms of Pope Benedict XVI. In case you don't know who that is - he's the 265th Pope or better known as the current Pope since 2005. He's originally from Germany and was born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in 1927.

St. Peter's Square

Definitely worth all that climbing.

Basilica Sancti Petri

2011-11-15T09:29:00.000+01:00

Basilica Sancti Petri

(those little tiny things lined up across the front are people)

St. Peter's Basilica

We've certainly seen our share of cathedrals and basilicas. I suppose I now know why this one is the most famous. It's not only huge, it's definitely the most ornate and beautiful of any I've ever seen.

There is no way to capture the scale of this thing. Here's some perspective . . . those letters across the top are 8 feet tall. Eight feet! The sun is a bit bright, but perhaps you can see a guy working in that window.

Here's a better view . . .

This window alone must be 20 feet tall.

Another one of the most famous sculptures and one of the first things you see to the right of the entrance is Michelangelo's famous sculpture called the Pieta'. The word pieta' means "pity" in Italian. The statue, carved in 1498-1499, depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary.

It is the only piece he ever signed. According to an Italian historian, Michelangelo overheard someone remark that it was the work of another sculptor so Michelangelo signed the sculpture with MICHAELA[N]GELUS BONAROTUS FLORENTIN[US] FACIEBA[T] (Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this) on the sash running across Mary's chest. It is said that he later regretted his outburst of pride and swore never to sign another of his works.

The really nice thing about almost every painting, sculpture, tapestry, is that none of them are behind glass. Usually a rope is in front, but that's all. Except for this one.

Apparently in 1972, a deranged geologist attacked the statue with a hammer. The damage was repaired, but now we all get to see it through glass. Of course if your some sort of Asian diplomat you get to go behind the glass. Naturally, they took pictures :)

Michelangelo was also the main architect for a while and designed the dome of the present church. The original basilica on this site was from the 4th century begun by Emperor Constantine.

Construction of St. Peter's began in 1506 and was completed in 1626. The building covers nearly 6 acres. It still fascinates me that people had the foresight to start a project that ultimately took 120 years to complete. No one who began the project saw it to completion. Even with modern technology and construction machinery, it is rare to see an undertaking like this today as pre-fab, synthetic, and faux have replaced it.

St. Peter's Basilica stands on the site where the apostle Peter was crucified and buried.

It is recorded in the Biblical book of the Acts of the Apostles that after the crucifixion of Jesus in the 1st century AD, Simon known as Peter took a leadership position among Jesus' followers. It is believed that after an approximate 30 year ministry, Peter travelled to Rome where he was executed during the reign of Roman Emperor Nero in 64 AD. Peter's remains were buried near his execution site and is now the site of the basilica.

Interesting factoid . . . In 1939, Pope Pius XII began 10 years of archaeological research under the crypt of the basilica, an area inaccessible since the 9th century. Indeed, it was discovered that the area now covered by the Vatican City had been a cemetery for many Christian burials including St. Peter.

This is his tomb in the crypt below the church. I guess this is one more thing with a glass front. They are actually doors, but visitors are not allowed to enter.

This is an ancient bronze statue of St. Peter (c. 1300), sculpted by Arnalfo di Cambio.

The feet are completely worn down from centuries of pilgrims touching it. It is thought that this was encouraged by Constantine, but with another statue.

This is Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Baldacchinno, the canopy covering the papal altar. You can see by the people milling around how large this canopy really is. It is 98 feet tall (that's like nearly 10 stories) and said to be the largest piece of bronze in the world.

This is Cathedra Petri (Throne of St. Peter). It is said to have actually been used by St. Peter, but it likely dates from the 12th century. When it began to deteriorate, Bernini was commissioned to enshrine it.

Interesting trivia . . . St. Peter's has a strict dress code: no shorts, no skirts above the knee, and no bare shoulders. You will not be let in if you don't come dressed appropriately. In a pinch, men and women alike can buy a big, cheap scarf from a nearby souvenir stand and wrap it around their legs as a long skirt or throw it over their shoulders as a shawl. If you're still showing too much skin, a guard hands out blue paper capes similar to what you wear in an (American) doctor's office.