Largest Pumpkin Contest

  • October 4, 2009 4:23 PM

Wow, it’s October! The temperatures have dropped, the skies have turned gray, I celebrated another birthday, and pumpkins are ripe.

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You don’t see pumpkins here often, and no jack-o-lanterns since they don’t celebrate Halloween here. Our grocery has a few halved pumpkins in the produce area, but no canned pumpkins for pumpkin pie or casserole. But yesterday, Ali (and her baby, Reagan) and I went to Duisburg, about 30 minutes away, to see the Largest Pumpkin Contest.

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People brought their biggest pumpkins, hauled in trailers, to be weighed at this annual competition. We posed by a few pumpkins and then headed inside. There were tables packed with beer-sipping locals as they waited to hear who had the next heaviest pumpkin. We poked around – tried some pumpkin liqueur, bought some pumpkin butter, and checked out some of the fancy chickens and doves on display.

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By the time we left, the largest pumpkin so far was 303kg (about 660lbs).

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Afterward, we headed back and went to a little cafe near my house for some hot chocolate. I’ve been there before and it seems to be the hangout for the retired crowd. As soon as Ali pulled Reagan out of her carrier, they all gathered around to pat her hands, tickle her chin, and coo at her. It was really funny how gah-gah they went over a random baby, but she is a cutie!
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If you’d like to see more photos from our outing, I’ve posted them on Flickr:

Brussels Roller Parade

  • October 3, 2009 9:23 PM

Every Friday night in Brussels, from June through September, hundreds of rollerbladers gather to skate through the streets of town in the Brussels Roller Parade.  The last Friday of the season, Reid and I joined them.

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We showed up at the starting line, Place Poelaert, around 7:30PM where there were people renting skates and practicing.  I had brought mine with me from the US, but Reid was able to rent a pair for just 10 euros.  There were all levels, from those jumping off steps and skating around lined up bottles to those just hoping to keep their balance on flat ground.  At 8PM, the Roller Parade began.

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Each week, the route changes, but it runs for about 3 hours, about 20-25km.  Our route took us by Chatelain, up Porte de Namur, by Parc Cinquintenaire, down to VUB, near the Bourse, and so on.  It’s very organized with volunteers blocking cars, a bus following with medics, and even police on skates.  People on bicycles followed the skaters and residents peeked out of their homes to cheer us on.  With so many skaters, it’s pretty slow, and we had several breaks where they handed out whistles, glow sticks, water, Red Bull, and candy.

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Reid and I stayed toward the back where she was able to sweet talk one of the volunteers into letting her hold onto him down the hills.  After 13km though, we were getting exhausted, and we knew we still had two big tunnels left, so we stepped out and hopped on the bus to ride the rest of the way.

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Even with our early departure, we had a great time.  I really haven’t rollerbladed since I played roller-hockey in NC almost 6 years ago, but it reminded me how relaxing I find it.  There were some difficult parts – on cobblestones and up hills, but the group energy really keeps you going.  I hope to join in out a few more times next Summer.

For a while at the beginning, Thomas followed along on foot and took photos.  I’ve posted a few of them on Flickr:

Parc Paradisio

  • September 29, 2009 7:27 PM

Two weekends ago, Thomas and I went birdwatching in Champagne (blog post coming soon).  Although we saw many birds on our trip, we spotted them through our scope, further than we could capture with our cameras. The next weekend, though, we guaranteed ourselves some bird photo-ops at Parc Paradisio outside of Mons.  Our buddies, Reid and her daughter Connor, joined us for the fun.

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I was instantly drawn to Parc Paradisio in our Belgium guide book because it promised hundreds of exotic birds.  When we arrived, we discovered the price was higher than a normal zoo at almost 20 euros per person, but we figured after our 1.5 hour drive, we couldn’t turn around just yet.  I’ll admit that I was disappointed at first, when we found cages of birds lining the sidewalk.  They were beautiful, exotic birds, but I have become spoiled in my zoo photography after our Behind the Scenes Atlanta Zoo Tour.

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We continued on, and I’m glad we did.  Just a little further and we were surrounded by a beautiful Japanese garden with waterfalls, pagodas, peaceful music, and cranes out in the open.  As we had specifically been searching for cranes on our Champagne trip, it was a real treat to see all the varieties they had there.

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The park also had sections for giraffes, elephants, monkeys, etc.  They weren’t as fancy as the Japanese garden, but they were nicely landscaped, clean, and the animals has some room to roam.  The coolest part of the park, however, was the playground.  It gets two thumbs up from the toddler in our group, and the adults.  They had rope bridges strung all over the place, giant spider webs to climb, bowl-shaped swings you can lay in, and my favorite, which you can see Reid and Connor on below, was a see-saw that not only went up and down, but also around.

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So overall, despite the high cost, and the long drive, it was well worth it.  Thomas and I have already decided that whenever our niece and nephew come visit us, we’re going to take them to Parc Paradisio.

All of these photos were shot with an 80-200 mm lens.  If you’d like to see more photos from the park, I’ve posted them on Flickr:

Nine Months Later

  • September 8, 2009 8:49 PM

Last Fall, when preparing to move to Belgium, I corresponded with a blogger who was about 6 months ahead of me in the process. (Hi Julie!) She gave me a list of documents I would need and clued me into the red tape of Belgium residency cards. I’ll admit it..I disregarded some of what she said because I was sure our process would be different. We’re an American/EU citizen couple, and we thought we were going to get to skip through the whole process. We were way off..in fact, my American/American friends who arrived at the same time as us got their cards months earlier. Mine took 9 months…

Here’s how it worked… Note: Every commune (neighborhood) seems to have different rules. I live in Ixelles.  If you live in another commune, your process probably has some differences.

1. Collect information in US
There were several documents we had to collect before we moved. Unfortunately, the list varies depending on what commune you live in. We did not know where we were going to live yet, so we collected them all just to be sure. First, I requested a certified copy of my birth certificate and marriage license. Though I could go into the Atlanta office for the marriage license, the birth certificate was on the other side of the country and had to be ordered by registered mail. These documents had to be apostilled, sort of like a notary but by the state department. Next, I got a physical and a notarized medical certificate (preferably by an approved doctor) that I was healthy. Finally, I was fingerprinted at the police station and sent the fingerprints to the FBI for a copy of my official criminal history record. It was also recommended that we get these all translated into French or Dutch, but we didn’t.

2. Moving in
As I mentioned before, your residence card depends on what commune you live in. Therefore, we couldn’t start the process for the first month while we were in temporary housing. Soon after we moved into our permanent apartment, we were visited by the police. No, we weren’t partying too loud – they just wanted to confirm that we really lived there. We weren’t home when they visited us, but they noted our names on the mailbox and left a note with an appointment to come to the station to fill out some forms. Some of our friends have had them come in their homes and request to see their passports.  After filling out the forms, they gave a letter stating that they checked us out.

3. First visit to commune
Though we moved into our permanent apartment February 1st, we were not able to get an appointment at our commune until the end of the month. At our appointment, we took all of our documents from Step 1 and 2, plus 4 passport photos each and filled out more forms requesting our residency cards. They looked only at our birth certificates and marriage license.  At this point, Thomas was very anxious for his residence card so he could buy a motorcycle and get a Belgian driver’s license, but that’s a whole other story. They told us that when everything is ready, they’ll mail us a PIN number to pick up our cards.

4. Thomas gets his card
Four weeks later, we got our PIN and went in for our appointment. Thomas got his permanent residency card, but I was told that I would have to wait 5 months while they investigated that our marriage is legit. Supposedly, if I had gotten a spousal visa before moving, this would not be required, but we did not know. I was given a temporary card and told that I couldn’t leave Belgium for the 5 months. (Shhh! Just ignore the Around the World category on this blog.) Actually, the issue was that I couldn’t get my passport stamped, but there are  25 EU countries (Schengen states) that don’t stamp passports when traveling from Belgium. I just stuck to those, but I did have to cancel my flights to Ireland and the US.

5. Five months pass
I guess I passed the marriage test because at the end of August, I got an invitation in the mail to visit the commune again. I arrived first thing in the morning and it took all of 15 minutes to fill out the paperwork for my card. They took my temporary card and 4 more passport photos and told me to wait for my PIN in the mail.

6. The final appointment
Two weeks later, I got the PIN in the mail and headed back to the commune. Again, I was there first thing in the morning and seen right away. I handed in my letter and my PIN number and they handed me my residency card. It’s a type F (family) card, which means that I’m married to an EU citizen. If Thomas moves away from the country, I’m not allowed to stay, but I am allowed to work here in the meantime.

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I'm now a card-carrying permanent resident of Belgium.

Thank goodness we had our relocation company to help us. Our commune was very flexible in speaking English to us, but having help reduced the headaches. This experience helped illustrate to me what this process must be like for people entering the US. It’s not a fun deal.

Note: There were some fees paid at the commune for our residency cards, but our relocation person handled that, so I’m not sure what they were. They weren’t much though.

Boardgames, Beer, and Peter Pan

  • September 6, 2009 11:15 PM

Thomas and I have been on a boardgame kick recently. Saturday morning, we checked out our local gaming store, L’Antre Jeux. They’re a small store, but packed full of games. We were thinking about getting Pandemic or Small World, but left empty-handed…maybe for Christmas. Thomas was interested in the complete wall of role-playing books, since he’s been thinking of starting an English-speaking role playing group here. Do you play boardgames? What are your favorites? My favorite party game is Apples to Apples, and my favorite strategy game is Carcassone.

In the afternoon, we met a few of our friends at the Brussels Beer Festival. I had a great time, but I wasn’t very adventurous. With over 200 beers to try, I went for a cherry and a coconut beer. The coconut beer, Mongozo Coconut by Delirium, was delicious. It tasted like a pina colada and was served in a coconut shell. Thomas’ favorite was the St. Bernardus 12.  The most surprising thing about the beer festival was how many English-speakers I heard.

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Jan, Thomas, Cedric, Dallas, Veesa, Tamino, Michelle, and Nina at the Brussels Beer Festival

That evening, Thomas and I went on a date to see Peter Pan at the Brussels Circus School. The location was a great hint to the uniqueness of the show. It was held in a tiny circus tent hidden behind some old buildings. Walking up the Christmas light-strung path made me feel like I was entering a fantasy land. Just inside the door was a bar and then the stage, surrounded by wooden stands with pillows to sit on. Despite the setting, the play really didn’t feel like a circus. The actors spoke French, but there were subtitles projected over the stage in Dutch and English.

The story followed the comic book version of Peter Pan, telling how he came to Neverneverland in the first place, escaping from an abusive home. Captain Hook and the pirates, Tigerlily, and Tinkerbelle (Clochette in French) were present, but the Lost Boys did not yet exist. Instead, Peter hung out with characters from Greek mythology – a mermaid, Pan, and a centaur. Peter gained Pan’s name after accidentally killing him in an operation to remove a bullet from his chest. It was definately not the same version that Disney did, but still interesting.

How was your weekend?