Brussels, Belgium 11 November 2008, 08 AM Local time
Good morning – Hyvää huomenta!
I guess the idea for this has been cooking for a while but recent happenings – not least the death of my father who was writing a blog first when he was living in Spain and recently from Thailand – might have been the trigger for me to write. This morning I couldn´t sleep and started to think about things. For some reason it made sense to start writing. Earlier I was planning to write in Finnish about the peculiarities of living in Belgium, but since we are fortunate to have also English speaking friends in Belgium and around the world I decided to go for English.
Ei huolta, aion kirjoittaa jotain myos Suomeksi silloin tallöin, varsinkin jos on jotain sanottavaa englannin kielisesta yleisösta… Nyt vain tuntuu etta englanti sopii paremmin. Anopille voin erikseen kertoa miten hän saa helposti kohtuullisen hyvän käännöksen (kylla, hänellä on laptop ahkerasti käytössä!).
OK, what´s up – why should anyone be interested in reading any of the stuff I´m writing?
This is a bit like in BBC´s dance show Strictly Come Dancing (alkuperäinen ohjelma Suomessa esitetystä “Tanssii Tähtien Kanssa”); a political correspondent is still in the game even though he has got two left feet, but if the audience votes him to continue – he continues. A bit the same here; if you are not interested, do something else. If you like to read this, I hope I am able to raise some thoughts or feelings. Life would be boring otherwise…
Warning: My English is not perfect and my facts might not always be right. I reserve the right to say things that you might not agree with, but then again you have the same right. I try not to insult anyone, but if you feel bad about something please let me know. People say one shouldn´t argue about matters of taste, but a characteristic colleague of mine has well pointed that you should: you get the best arguments from matters of taste since nobody is right ;o) All and all, I´m open for feedback, corrections and suggestions.
Here are some examples that have bothered me along the recent years and I might write about – with an opinion (oh yeah, once I thought I was wrong but I was mistaken…);
Dog poo on the sidewalks of “EU Capital” – Shouting garbage men at 0630 am – Belgium traffic & parking habits – Belgium customer service, or the non-existence of it etc of Belgium – Places worth visit etc.
There are also many stories to tell, like about one book which includes something about Sweden, Prague, Bulgaria and Emil, a dumb night clerk in a Sofia hotel… Or what surprises can happen on a business trip from Stockholm to Ljusdal. Or why you should have a back-up suit with you.
Blogs have a habit to become quite personal, so it is possible you also get some understanding what´s going on with our family. But let´s start with something timely for today – I guess in English it´s called Armistice Day.
Once upon a time at least French and Germans were arguing and had a big battle where also Belgium was involved (World War 1). This was around the same time that Finland had just become independent from Russia (1917) and had its own “civil war” since the reds wanted Finland still to be buddies with Russia. Anyway, while living in Finland we had no idea about the Armistice Day which celebrates the ending the WW1 and seems to be big thing and worth a holiday for Belgium and France. Well, a French man from our gym admitted that particularly the French are good at taking holidays, but that´s a story of itself… What I found interesting in last night´s BBC documentary was that after invading France in World War 2 Hitler made the French to sign an agreement in a very same railway carriage as where the French and Germans signed the agreement at the end of WW1 (war ended on 11 November 1918 at 11 am). I just wonder how he came up with the idea to use the same carriage…
Well, even if it is a national holiday, the garbage men came. How do I know this? The habit in this fairly trashy city is that garbage bags are put once or twice a week on the street and collected by the garbage trucks, and we are lucky to have our pick-up time at 0630 every Tuesday and Friday. Yes I know I should sleep at that time but they collect the stuff right below our bedroom window and these guys don´t seem to be able to COLLECT THE GARBAGE WITHOUT SHOUTING! Soon it is Christmas again and they will put in your mailbox a note with a picture, saying “We are your garbage men, please be aware of fake ones”. Why? Some days later they ring your doorbell and ask for extra money, a “gift” for their service. Taxman should be interested in that extra income, but then again Belgium national sport is Con-the-Taxman. You can guess twice if we have given them anything… Let´s talk about our house caretaker later.
After a storm it´s fresh, sunny morning and breakfast is ready.
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