On entering my apartment after a week's absence, I felt I was coming home, and that felt good. The sun was shining and I needed a few things so I went out for a walk. I bought a bunch of orange tulips, a wonderful whole grain bread made with zucchini, and an 'escargot' pastry for tea (like a cinnamon swirl but with butter and raisins). A 5-piece brass band was playing on one of the avenues and they made everyone walk with a smile and a little lighter step. I felt good: I knew I was settling in.
I am content about being here. My 'job' with Andrew has no official description so I'm eager to discover why God brought me here. I look forward to all sorts of new things this year, to being stretched by God in new ways, to being a help to Andrew and the church, to learning Dutch, and, and, and. And it'll be fun to share all this with you.
Tomorrow is Sunday. I begin a new week, my fourth here. I wonder what it will hold for me.......
28 Jan 2012
PILAT
I have just finished my week teaching language acquisition techniques (PILAT) to the PCA missionaries that are here for training before they go off to different countries. This is what I have been doing for the past 5 years and so I wanted to continue doing it this year. It's always a fun, stimulating week but I've come home tired. I give it 200% of my energy.
It is such a privilege for me to do this training. These young singles and couples have been chosen by God to go out into countries and cultures foreign to theirs, to tell them about Jesus and His power to forgive their sins and change their lives. It's a real joy to be part of their training, to give them tools for learning the heart language of the people they're going to.
And I love to see my ol' buddies too: Peter Beck, Minette Lugo and Jeff Marlowe, the directors of the program, and spend time laughing and catching up with them over peanuts and a beer, or a meal out in a restaurant. (This year I had wild boar for the first time!)
Now that that's behind me, I'll be focussing on St. Andrew's again - which I haven't even told you about yet! .............it's coming :)
It is such a privilege for me to do this training. These young singles and couples have been chosen by God to go out into countries and cultures foreign to theirs, to tell them about Jesus and His power to forgive their sins and change their lives. It's a real joy to be part of their training, to give them tools for learning the heart language of the people they're going to.
And I love to see my ol' buddies too: Peter Beck, Minette Lugo and Jeff Marlowe, the directors of the program, and spend time laughing and catching up with them over peanuts and a beer, or a meal out in a restaurant. (This year I had wild boar for the first time!)
Now that that's behind me, I'll be focussing on St. Andrew's again - which I haven't even told you about yet! .............it's coming :)
23 Jan 2012
How do I dry sheets?!
Now that sounds fairly simple, doesn't it? Put them in the dryer or hang them on the line.
Well, I have no clothes line and my washing machine is a combination washer-dryer (Yes, that does exist over here! Rather a cool idea for small apartments). However, electricity costs a fortune in Europe and the dryer takes AGES to dry anything, so.....
Add to that that my sheets are pure cotton.
Add to that that my top sheet is a duvet (eiderdown) cover so it's doubly thick.
Don't forget the 2 pillowslips.
So here I am with this wet, heavy mass of white cotton that needs to dry somehow!
= buy a drying rack
= fold up the sheets so they fit on the rack :( (Oh dear. That means a longer drying time..)
= buy another set of sheets because these are going to take days to dry!! (Hope they don't go moldy first!)
= don't invite anyone over the day I wash sheets ( or for 2 days afterwards)
Adjustment! adjustment! It's fun :)
Well, I have no clothes line and my washing machine is a combination washer-dryer (Yes, that does exist over here! Rather a cool idea for small apartments). However, electricity costs a fortune in Europe and the dryer takes AGES to dry anything, so.....
Add to that that my sheets are pure cotton.
Add to that that my top sheet is a duvet (eiderdown) cover so it's doubly thick.
Don't forget the 2 pillowslips.
So here I am with this wet, heavy mass of white cotton that needs to dry somehow!
= buy a drying rack
= fold up the sheets so they fit on the rack :( (Oh dear. That means a longer drying time..)
= buy another set of sheets because these are going to take days to dry!! (Hope they don't go moldy first!)
= don't invite anyone over the day I wash sheets ( or for 2 days afterwards)
Adjustment! adjustment! It's fun :)
16 Jan 2012
My Brussels 101
One week in Brussels and what are the things that stand out to a Canadian/Quebecois?
- always carry an umbrella with you (Did I say 'always'? I meant 'always'!). The climate can change hourly.
- always carry a grocery bag with you. You buy groceries you need when you see them so that you don't have a HUGE load to carry with 'once-a-week' shopping ............. because you walk everywhere. I'm learning :)
- greetings are ONE kiss on one cheek. If he/she happens to be French from France, then it's two. Really formal is 3. Keep it straight, Nancy!
- There is no timidity about speaking your own language in public. There are so many different peoples here that no one looks at you if you're speaking English or Turkish. And there is no ridicule if you don't get the grammar right or if you don't know something. I have never heard a 'put-down' when children of immigrants act up in the public transportation system - rather refreshing and validating!
- Most sidewalks are very large and are made of cobble stones or bricks or paving tiles and are ALWAYS uneven. It's very difficult to walk in high heels and it must be frightening for an elderly person. Your gaze is always downward to avoid stumbling or falling.
- And if you're not trying to avoid the heaved stones, then you're trying to avoid the dog poop! Dogs are beloved by the Belgians, and they poop everywhere and it's not picked up.
- When you enter a public institution for a transaction, as I have several times this past week to open a bank account and to register as an inhabitant of Brussels and get a public transportation pass, this first meeting is only to choose a date for a second appointment which is when the deal is done = you go back at least twice for each transaction :)
- All traffic stops for you when you cross the street on a crosswalk: no fighting taxis, no angry drivers, and that's saying something in a very busy city like Brussels where people are constantly crossing the streets.
- The corridor lights in the halls of public and apartment buildings are on a timer. You press a button on the wall when you walk in, or when you leave your apartment, and the lights go on and stay on several minutes, then go off again. There are lights onevery floor. After you've been caught in the dark in the middle of a stairwell a few times, you remember to spot the wall buttons and use them!
- always carry an umbrella with you (Did I say 'always'? I meant 'always'!). The climate can change hourly.
- always carry a grocery bag with you. You buy groceries you need when you see them so that you don't have a HUGE load to carry with 'once-a-week' shopping ............. because you walk everywhere. I'm learning :)
- greetings are ONE kiss on one cheek. If he/she happens to be French from France, then it's two. Really formal is 3. Keep it straight, Nancy!
- There is no timidity about speaking your own language in public. There are so many different peoples here that no one looks at you if you're speaking English or Turkish. And there is no ridicule if you don't get the grammar right or if you don't know something. I have never heard a 'put-down' when children of immigrants act up in the public transportation system - rather refreshing and validating!
- Most sidewalks are very large and are made of cobble stones or bricks or paving tiles and are ALWAYS uneven. It's very difficult to walk in high heels and it must be frightening for an elderly person. Your gaze is always downward to avoid stumbling or falling.
- And if you're not trying to avoid the heaved stones, then you're trying to avoid the dog poop! Dogs are beloved by the Belgians, and they poop everywhere and it's not picked up.
- When you enter a public institution for a transaction, as I have several times this past week to open a bank account and to register as an inhabitant of Brussels and get a public transportation pass, this first meeting is only to choose a date for a second appointment which is when the deal is done = you go back at least twice for each transaction :)
- All traffic stops for you when you cross the street on a crosswalk: no fighting taxis, no angry drivers, and that's saying something in a very busy city like Brussels where people are constantly crossing the streets.
- The corridor lights in the halls of public and apartment buildings are on a timer. You press a button on the wall when you walk in, or when you leave your apartment, and the lights go on and stay on several minutes, then go off again. There are lights onevery floor. After you've been caught in the dark in the middle of a stairwell a few times, you remember to spot the wall buttons and use them!
9 Jan 2012
Pinch me: am I really here?
We literally bounced out of the skies onto the runway at Brussels airport the morning of January 5th. There were winds of over 100km/hour jostling the plane on our descent, making everyone either sick or very nervous.
It was wonderful to see Evan and Trisha Lamos there to meet me! They are a super young couple who have helped me from the very beginning to manoeuvre my way through all the Belgium red tape and finally arrive in Brussels.
They drove me to the rental office; we signed my lease and drove to my new home on the 4th floor of rue de la Concorde 54 (more about my apartment later). As I walked in, I wanted to pinch myself: am I really here? Is this what I'll call home for a year?
The Internet guy arrived shortly after and connected me to the rest of the world. It was a good feeling to know that my friends and family were now only a click away....must start setting up Skype....
Saturday I was alone. Oh , the jetlag! And this dumb cold. And the rain falling. And a chilly apartment. Spent the day unpacking and finding homes for my things; then off to a grocery store to buy food to eat - of course, only what I could carry in my 2 hands because I have no car now! :) I'll learn!
Sunday I got the tram to my new church family: St. Andrew's Church of Scotland (lots more about it later on). Counted the stops and yes...got off at the right spot! Andrew introduced me to the congregation and I met several of them after the service. This is going to be interesting! Andrew and Julie took me back to their home for the rest of the day and I returned home on the tram in the dark. Now try getting off at the right stop when you can't see the names of the stops and you've never done this before. Didn't do too badly! I like to walk anyhow :)
Today, Monday, I shadowed Andrew on visits to 3 shut-ins, which took all day because we used public transportation - subway and trams. Julie takes the car to work so Andrew uses public transportation all the time. I will too because I have no car :) I'm sure we walked one hour to see one gentleman in the hospital! This is going to be good for me.
Tomorrow I get my residence card (have to register at the Hotel de Ville and prove that I'm here legally): hopefully I have all the legal papers required. Belgians are sticklers for paperwork. Then I plan to open a bank account which, apparently, is not easy for foreigners to do (???), and then I will be visited by the police to see if I'm really Nancy Craig and I really do live at this address. Then I'll need another card to show I'm a Brussels resident. Oh, the bureaucracy here! And then, after lunch, Andrew wants to take me with him to visit another parishoner. Talk about jumping in with both feet. Oh yes, then I'll have to go to the grocery store again to get another armload of food and supplies :)
But I'm delighted to be here and glad to get started.
And that brings you up to date. I'll probably do "theme posts" from now on because that'll be more interesting than my daily schedule.
It was wonderful to see Evan and Trisha Lamos there to meet me! They are a super young couple who have helped me from the very beginning to manoeuvre my way through all the Belgium red tape and finally arrive in Brussels.
They drove me to the rental office; we signed my lease and drove to my new home on the 4th floor of rue de la Concorde 54 (more about my apartment later). As I walked in, I wanted to pinch myself: am I really here? Is this what I'll call home for a year?
The Internet guy arrived shortly after and connected me to the rest of the world. It was a good feeling to know that my friends and family were now only a click away....must start setting up Skype....
Saturday I was alone. Oh , the jetlag! And this dumb cold. And the rain falling. And a chilly apartment. Spent the day unpacking and finding homes for my things; then off to a grocery store to buy food to eat - of course, only what I could carry in my 2 hands because I have no car now! :) I'll learn!
Sunday I got the tram to my new church family: St. Andrew's Church of Scotland (lots more about it later on). Counted the stops and yes...got off at the right spot! Andrew introduced me to the congregation and I met several of them after the service. This is going to be interesting! Andrew and Julie took me back to their home for the rest of the day and I returned home on the tram in the dark. Now try getting off at the right stop when you can't see the names of the stops and you've never done this before. Didn't do too badly! I like to walk anyhow :)
Today, Monday, I shadowed Andrew on visits to 3 shut-ins, which took all day because we used public transportation - subway and trams. Julie takes the car to work so Andrew uses public transportation all the time. I will too because I have no car :) I'm sure we walked one hour to see one gentleman in the hospital! This is going to be good for me.
Tomorrow I get my residence card (have to register at the Hotel de Ville and prove that I'm here legally): hopefully I have all the legal papers required. Belgians are sticklers for paperwork. Then I plan to open a bank account which, apparently, is not easy for foreigners to do (???), and then I will be visited by the police to see if I'm really Nancy Craig and I really do live at this address. Then I'll need another card to show I'm a Brussels resident. Oh, the bureaucracy here! And then, after lunch, Andrew wants to take me with him to visit another parishoner. Talk about jumping in with both feet. Oh yes, then I'll have to go to the grocery store again to get another armload of food and supplies :)
But I'm delighted to be here and glad to get started.
And that brings you up to date. I'll probably do "theme posts" from now on because that'll be more interesting than my daily schedule.
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