Ash Wednesday is a holiday in Belgium where the area locals came out to play a fabulous game of crossage. Here is an example of some Americans playing crossage a few years back.
The goal of the game is to hit your cholette (a wooden ball the size and shape of a grenade) with your rabot (a wooden mallet a cross a between a hockey stick and a golf club) in as few hits as possible to the empty beer keg. We played in two teams of 3 people and we took turns hitting the cholette. Which, you have to yell "Cholette!" before you hit it so everyone else on the street knows to look out. (I got hit 3 times from a rolling chollete, my husband got hit once pretty hard....he wasn't paying attention) The team that hits the keg first gets a round of drinks paid for by the losing team.
In the town of Chievres, there were 29 kegs for us to hit, set up all around the town. We did not play all the kegs and we did not drink at all of them either. (we're responsible crossage players) We did, however, pay for all the kegs we lost, much to the delight of our opponents.
I believe that Chievres started inviting the Americans as a show of friendship a few years back, and let me tell you, they made some money off of us! There were about 180 Americans playing, along with a few other nationalities from SHAPE. Our team consisted of a British Colonel, my husband and myself against an American Colonel, a German Colonel and an American contractor. We had to buy our rabots and cholettes for 33 Euro and it cost another 23 Euro to play, I believe. Three of that was for insurance in case we broke any windows or other property. (we did not!) Next year, we'll have our equipment so we will only have the cost of the game. Then, each of the kegs has a tent or residence selling beverages and snacks. Jupiler was the cheap drink of choice for many of the tents, and even selling them at 1,30 Euro, they still made a good profit.
The game itself was so much fun. There seems to be little consistency with the making of the cholettes or rabots, so some of them were much more can shaped and heavier than others. For the uphill shots, we played with the smallest cholette in hopes that it was give us the advantage of lightness. I don't know if it really helped or not. Our ringer was the British Colonel that was lucky as could be with some of his shots! He hit one from a block and a half away that took a bounce on the cobbles, hopped the curb and hit the keg right in the middle.
It was such a beautiful day for February in Belgium, about 50 degrees and the sun was out almost all day. The wind was chilly, but we were in-between houses and stores most of the time, so it was no big deal. Crossage was the most fun have had since being in Belgium, and that's saying something. We didn't see anything historical or significant, but we laughed and enjoyed a local sport that means alot to the Belgians in this region. We can't wait until next year!! I might even have to get team shirts made!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Pre-Lenten Recess
My son is home for a week from school for Pre-Lenten Recess, or as the Americans call it, Ski Week. We were told in our Headstart French class, taught by a Belgian, that most Belgians identify themselves as Catholics. They identify themselves as Catholics, but they don't go to church. They don't go to church, but almost all their government holidays are religiously based.
That being said, this week, the whole of Belgium's schools are out for Pre-Lenten Recess. This would be the same as all of Louisiana getting off for Mardi Gras week, because Mardi Gras is the kick off of Lent. Now, maybe they do and call it spring break, I don't know. My son's school had a big party last Friday for the kick-off of recess. They were allowed to wear "fancy dress" (costumes) and bring treats to share and they made masks and something my son calls a "marcher." It was a big deal for all the kids and my son had a great time. The only disappointment for him is that he was pretty sure his teacher would dress up as Batgirl and she didn't.
There are many things going on this week such as parades for families and parades not for families, volksmarches, bike races and community celebrations. We missed the biggest one this past weekend in Binche, but have heard it is worth going to next year. (if we don't have wrestling championships the same weekend) My husband and I will be participating in one of the events that goes on this week, crossage. I'll blog about that next, it happens on Wednesday.
That being said, this week, the whole of Belgium's schools are out for Pre-Lenten Recess. This would be the same as all of Louisiana getting off for Mardi Gras week, because Mardi Gras is the kick off of Lent. Now, maybe they do and call it spring break, I don't know. My son's school had a big party last Friday for the kick-off of recess. They were allowed to wear "fancy dress" (costumes) and bring treats to share and they made masks and something my son calls a "marcher." It was a big deal for all the kids and my son had a great time. The only disappointment for him is that he was pretty sure his teacher would dress up as Batgirl and she didn't.
There are many things going on this week such as parades for families and parades not for families, volksmarches, bike races and community celebrations. We missed the biggest one this past weekend in Binche, but have heard it is worth going to next year. (if we don't have wrestling championships the same weekend) My husband and I will be participating in one of the events that goes on this week, crossage. I'll blog about that next, it happens on Wednesday.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Wild Ride Home
Last night, on my way home from choir practice, I had to use my best driving skills. Ok, I'm exaggerating a bit (a lot) but it was a wild ride home.
First off, we live about 9 miles away from SHAPE, not a big deal in Nebraska, but it seems to be here. The roads that we travel are considered farm roads here. They are all paved, with the exception of the Roman road, but they aren't gravel. They aren't even that bad of roads, a few pot holes, but not horrible. What they are though, is narrow. Very narrow in American standards, but if you're driving two tiny European cars, I guess they're accommodating.
After you leave the small housing area from SHAPE, the road does not have a speed limit as far as I can tell. There is not speed limit sign one way or the other. I've driven with both kinds of Belgians and Shapians on those back roads. Those that think, "Hell yeah, I'm on the autobahn!" or "There's no center line, I better drive at a escargot's pace." Both irritate me, but one more than the other. Last night was the escargot that I got behind that I was unable to pass because they were in the middle of the narrow road. Then we got stuck at the railroad crossing.
Generally, the trains come and go pretty quickly, and I'm very happy that Belgium is so diligent with their crossing bars. We haven't been on a road yet that hasn't had them. So, now I'm stuck behind the sloth car at the crossing. We waited at the crossing for much longer than usual, I don't know what the hold up was, but we were there about 10 minutes.
The slow car goes ahead and we're the only two cars at the stop. I let her go for a bit before I put the car in drive and go myself. At this point, I see a nasty rat scuttle into the road to grab some grain of something that was in the street. A rat! This is the third rat that I've seen on the road or cross the road in the rain, the second at night and I have to say, they're a bit grosser at night. My inner redneck came out suddenly and jerked the wheel to try and hit the little varmit. I missed, which is probably a good thing. I wouldn't have liked the effects of hitting it, I'm sure. Blech! Little, nasty animal number one lives.
At this point, probably at seeing my lights jerk around in their rearview mirror, the escargot driver pulled over and let me pass. Excellent, now I had the command of the road on the straightest, most well cared for part of the road. Moving right along I saw something dart into the street from the left side. It was one of the giant Belgian hares shooting out of the field. There was no way I wanted to hit this giant bunny. I applied the breaks carefully so I didn't Tokoyo Drift into the ditch and the hare did a quick stop and double take before deciding to go back the way it came from. Animal number two could live another day.
My heart was racing after that. I took our tried and true little farm cut road home since it's potholes are the most well known to the little Prius and started the second leg of my journey.
I was singing to my American Graffitti CD and driving at a respectable 70KPH when I come into the little town before mine. Thank goodness I had slowed down because there was a cyclist riding in the street. 2130 at night, a rainy night, dark, wet street and there's a cyclist with a tiny little bike light on the rear under his seat. No reflective gear on and no helmet. This is typical in what I'm becoming to realize is the Belgian live each day to the fullest attitude. Missed him, animal number three lives another day.
Good grief, just get me home. Not even the Peppermint Twist was going to get me to speed back up on the way home, it just wasn't worth it. I did make it home without maiming, injuring or killing any animals, but it felt like that kind of night when I shouldn't even get in the house and try anything remotely dangerous. Dishes stayed in the sink, I could have gotten burned by our abnormally hot water. Clothes didn't get washed, I could have slammed my hand in the door or tripped down the stairs. No shower, I could have fallen and broken something.
I managed to safely change, brush my teeth, wash my face and climb into bed with my book without incident. Safe and sound. Animal number four lives another day.
First off, we live about 9 miles away from SHAPE, not a big deal in Nebraska, but it seems to be here. The roads that we travel are considered farm roads here. They are all paved, with the exception of the Roman road, but they aren't gravel. They aren't even that bad of roads, a few pot holes, but not horrible. What they are though, is narrow. Very narrow in American standards, but if you're driving two tiny European cars, I guess they're accommodating.
After you leave the small housing area from SHAPE, the road does not have a speed limit as far as I can tell. There is not speed limit sign one way or the other. I've driven with both kinds of Belgians and Shapians on those back roads. Those that think, "Hell yeah, I'm on the autobahn!" or "There's no center line, I better drive at a escargot's pace." Both irritate me, but one more than the other. Last night was the escargot that I got behind that I was unable to pass because they were in the middle of the narrow road. Then we got stuck at the railroad crossing.
Generally, the trains come and go pretty quickly, and I'm very happy that Belgium is so diligent with their crossing bars. We haven't been on a road yet that hasn't had them. So, now I'm stuck behind the sloth car at the crossing. We waited at the crossing for much longer than usual, I don't know what the hold up was, but we were there about 10 minutes.
The slow car goes ahead and we're the only two cars at the stop. I let her go for a bit before I put the car in drive and go myself. At this point, I see a nasty rat scuttle into the road to grab some grain of something that was in the street. A rat! This is the third rat that I've seen on the road or cross the road in the rain, the second at night and I have to say, they're a bit grosser at night. My inner redneck came out suddenly and jerked the wheel to try and hit the little varmit. I missed, which is probably a good thing. I wouldn't have liked the effects of hitting it, I'm sure. Blech! Little, nasty animal number one lives.
At this point, probably at seeing my lights jerk around in their rearview mirror, the escargot driver pulled over and let me pass. Excellent, now I had the command of the road on the straightest, most well cared for part of the road. Moving right along I saw something dart into the street from the left side. It was one of the giant Belgian hares shooting out of the field. There was no way I wanted to hit this giant bunny. I applied the breaks carefully so I didn't Tokoyo Drift into the ditch and the hare did a quick stop and double take before deciding to go back the way it came from. Animal number two could live another day.
My heart was racing after that. I took our tried and true little farm cut road home since it's potholes are the most well known to the little Prius and started the second leg of my journey.
I was singing to my American Graffitti CD and driving at a respectable 70KPH when I come into the little town before mine. Thank goodness I had slowed down because there was a cyclist riding in the street. 2130 at night, a rainy night, dark, wet street and there's a cyclist with a tiny little bike light on the rear under his seat. No reflective gear on and no helmet. This is typical in what I'm becoming to realize is the Belgian live each day to the fullest attitude. Missed him, animal number three lives another day.
Good grief, just get me home. Not even the Peppermint Twist was going to get me to speed back up on the way home, it just wasn't worth it. I did make it home without maiming, injuring or killing any animals, but it felt like that kind of night when I shouldn't even get in the house and try anything remotely dangerous. Dishes stayed in the sink, I could have gotten burned by our abnormally hot water. Clothes didn't get washed, I could have slammed my hand in the door or tripped down the stairs. No shower, I could have fallen and broken something.
I managed to safely change, brush my teeth, wash my face and climb into bed with my book without incident. Safe and sound. Animal number four lives another day.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Work on the House
In August 2011 we had some severe rain storms. We got inches upon inches in just a few days. That on top of the regular rain we get on a weekly basis. The paint on the lower walls of our house started to bubble and then corrode, for lack of a better word. I took pictures in September 2011 after the bubbling was getting worse and spreading along the walls.
I took the pictures into the housing office to show them and have them contact the landlord. He made an appointment with me to come see it, but never showed. Really, not an uncommon occurrence, at least, with my landlord or property manager I guess would be a better term.
In October 2011, we had some more issues that needed to be resolved, so I went back in to the housing office and had them document that he never showed in September and now had something else I needed him to take care of. We had an appointment, he did call the housing office to reschedule that, then came to the second appointment we made for October.
So, October 2011, he came out once to look at the water damage and then came out a week later with the repairman to see what they could do. We could need to do a few things. 1: The land surrounding our house on the south and west sides needed to be dug up and have a plastic barrier put in to prevent this from happening again. The room where the damage was the worst had been built about 3 years prior, so I don't know why that wasn't done at that time. But, I'm a teacher, not a building contractor. 2: The inside walls would need to be jack-hammered away, a plastic layer put up and replastered. That would take two full days. The following week, they would come back and seal it. A month after that, they would come back and finish the project by sanding and painting it.
OK, bring it on. I wasn't getting called from the school to substitute, lets knock this project out. I will hear from the housing office when the contract has been finalized so we can schedule some dates.
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012 housing office calls to schedule the dates. The last Wednesday and Thursday of the month. Low and behold, I had work scheduled for those days.
February 2012 the workmen are at the house. We had to shut off the heater so they could remove the radiators from the walls. They had to plastic up everything including the entry ways to the living room making us look like we're living on the set of E.T. The fireplace was in use, so they couldn't plastic up that hole, so we have dust all over the main floor of the house.
Now, while it has irritated me to no end that this process has been such a long time coming, and on the coldest darn week here in years, the workmen are great. They've been very kind and courteous. They've worked hard and steady. 8-12 lunch 1300-1600. They've communicated, patiently, with me via my phone and google translate. They were so nice, I even made some butterscotch brownies to share with them yesterday.
They'll be done cementing the walls today and I'll be left to clean up dust....until they come back next week. Tons of plaster dust that resists my swiffer duster like oil and water. One cool thing that we got to see was the inside of the wall in the living room. That is part of the original house and we knew it to be quite old, the landlord said about 200 years old. From the outside you can't tell how old it is because it has been renovated and looks very modern. But that wall, is OLD. It was just stones mortared together with mud, so neat to look at that history. So nice to know why my house is so stinking cold. If I would have thought about it, I would have grabbed one of the stones that fell out of the wall to keep from our Belgian house.
I took the pictures into the housing office to show them and have them contact the landlord. He made an appointment with me to come see it, but never showed. Really, not an uncommon occurrence, at least, with my landlord or property manager I guess would be a better term.
In October 2011, we had some more issues that needed to be resolved, so I went back in to the housing office and had them document that he never showed in September and now had something else I needed him to take care of. We had an appointment, he did call the housing office to reschedule that, then came to the second appointment we made for October.
So, October 2011, he came out once to look at the water damage and then came out a week later with the repairman to see what they could do. We could need to do a few things. 1: The land surrounding our house on the south and west sides needed to be dug up and have a plastic barrier put in to prevent this from happening again. The room where the damage was the worst had been built about 3 years prior, so I don't know why that wasn't done at that time. But, I'm a teacher, not a building contractor. 2: The inside walls would need to be jack-hammered away, a plastic layer put up and replastered. That would take two full days. The following week, they would come back and seal it. A month after that, they would come back and finish the project by sanding and painting it.
OK, bring it on. I wasn't getting called from the school to substitute, lets knock this project out. I will hear from the housing office when the contract has been finalized so we can schedule some dates.
November 2011
December 2011
January 2012 housing office calls to schedule the dates. The last Wednesday and Thursday of the month. Low and behold, I had work scheduled for those days.
February 2012 the workmen are at the house. We had to shut off the heater so they could remove the radiators from the walls. They had to plastic up everything including the entry ways to the living room making us look like we're living on the set of E.T. The fireplace was in use, so they couldn't plastic up that hole, so we have dust all over the main floor of the house.
Now, while it has irritated me to no end that this process has been such a long time coming, and on the coldest darn week here in years, the workmen are great. They've been very kind and courteous. They've worked hard and steady. 8-12 lunch 1300-1600. They've communicated, patiently, with me via my phone and google translate. They were so nice, I even made some butterscotch brownies to share with them yesterday.
They'll be done cementing the walls today and I'll be left to clean up dust....until they come back next week. Tons of plaster dust that resists my swiffer duster like oil and water. One cool thing that we got to see was the inside of the wall in the living room. That is part of the original house and we knew it to be quite old, the landlord said about 200 years old. From the outside you can't tell how old it is because it has been renovated and looks very modern. But that wall, is OLD. It was just stones mortared together with mud, so neat to look at that history. So nice to know why my house is so stinking cold. If I would have thought about it, I would have grabbed one of the stones that fell out of the wall to keep from our Belgian house.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Artisan Day
Yesterday was Artisan Day in Wallonia, I'm not sure about the rest of the country. It was a day for artisans to open up their shops for people to come and see what the do and how they do it. There are so many talented artists in the area, and it was a big hit among Belgians and Shapians alike.
My family is lucky enough to be just about 2 miles away from one artisan that we've been meaning to meet since July! The Cheese Lady, Thea Oostendorp, has her farm and shop in the town behind our woods. She and her husband opened up their dairy farm and cheese shop for all to come and see how her wonderful cheeses are made. fromagesdethoricourt.be/
The family is originally from Holland, then moved to Wales and has settled on this beautiful dairy farm in Thoricourt. Many Dutch people speak Dutch, French, German and English, (amazing). This was a great talent with the huge number of Shapians coming to visit.
A friend of mine was with my son and me and was able to help explain the whole process to my toddler, time and time again, because her grandparents had a dairy that used very similar equipment. We were able to see all the cows eating before they came in to get milked. We got to see six cows at a time getting milked, I think my son and friend watched the milking of 3 different groups of cows. We watched as the milk was pumped into a cooler and then into to the huge vat where is begins it's life at cheese. Mr. Oostendorp answered many of his questions as well.
My son was so excited to see the milk come pouring out of the hose into that hot tub sized vat. He waited quite awhile to see the mixers move the milk around, but never got to see that. The vat wasn't full enough yet. He was so enthralled, that he never once complained about the noise of the milking equipment. That's saying something for him. Unless it's his own yelling or listening to his favorite songs, he does not like noise and it was quite noisy.
While I was waiting in the long, jumbled mass to taste some cheese to purchase, my son and friend took another tour through the cow barn. We came home with 3 local beers and 2 good sized wedges of cheese. One was beer cheese, delightful and the other I bought because I was completely intrigued. Nettle cheese, made with the same stinging nettles that we have in Nebraska. I asked about using the nettles, and was told that you get them when they're young in the spring and then dry them. Nettles are used in soups, cheeses and whatever you'd like. They are good for your health, particularly arthritis. I've heard of people eating dandelions, but never nettles. Hmm, you learn something new every day. http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/natural-health/edible-weeds-101-health-benefits-of-stinging-nettles.aspx
My family will gladly give this wonderful farm more business in the next few years as we continue to live and learn in Belgium.
My family is lucky enough to be just about 2 miles away from one artisan that we've been meaning to meet since July! The Cheese Lady, Thea Oostendorp, has her farm and shop in the town behind our woods. She and her husband opened up their dairy farm and cheese shop for all to come and see how her wonderful cheeses are made. fromagesdethoricourt.be/
The family is originally from Holland, then moved to Wales and has settled on this beautiful dairy farm in Thoricourt. Many Dutch people speak Dutch, French, German and English, (amazing). This was a great talent with the huge number of Shapians coming to visit.
A friend of mine was with my son and me and was able to help explain the whole process to my toddler, time and time again, because her grandparents had a dairy that used very similar equipment. We were able to see all the cows eating before they came in to get milked. We got to see six cows at a time getting milked, I think my son and friend watched the milking of 3 different groups of cows. We watched as the milk was pumped into a cooler and then into to the huge vat where is begins it's life at cheese. Mr. Oostendorp answered many of his questions as well.
My son was so excited to see the milk come pouring out of the hose into that hot tub sized vat. He waited quite awhile to see the mixers move the milk around, but never got to see that. The vat wasn't full enough yet. He was so enthralled, that he never once complained about the noise of the milking equipment. That's saying something for him. Unless it's his own yelling or listening to his favorite songs, he does not like noise and it was quite noisy.
While I was waiting in the long, jumbled mass to taste some cheese to purchase, my son and friend took another tour through the cow barn. We came home with 3 local beers and 2 good sized wedges of cheese. One was beer cheese, delightful and the other I bought because I was completely intrigued. Nettle cheese, made with the same stinging nettles that we have in Nebraska. I asked about using the nettles, and was told that you get them when they're young in the spring and then dry them. Nettles are used in soups, cheeses and whatever you'd like. They are good for your health, particularly arthritis. I've heard of people eating dandelions, but never nettles. Hmm, you learn something new every day. http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/natural-health/edible-weeds-101-health-benefits-of-stinging-nettles.aspx
My family will gladly give this wonderful farm more business in the next few years as we continue to live and learn in Belgium.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Shut'er Down, It's Snowing in Belgium
Murphy's Law would suggest that when you make great plans, something is bound to change them. Yesterday, my friend and I had planned to take our boys to Ramstein to watch the wrestling meet and play in the big indoor playground. The reservation system was down (2nd time out of 3 that it's been down when I've called) so we couldn't get a room. $40 is much better than 80EU, so we decided to stay close to home. We made plans to go to a movie on post then have a slumber party. The boys were looking forward to it and so were we. Nope.
This evening, at about 1700 it decided to start snowing. Now, AFN said nothing about snow, it said sun. Full sun. That was not the case. It's snowed about an inch in a hour and looks like it's going strong.
If we were in Nebraska, I wouldn't mind and we'd go about our business. That is not the case here. There aren't any snow plows, especially when you live out where I do. They do have a few trucks that sand the main road closer to Mons, but that won't help me.
Snow pretty much closes down the country here. It's not that they don't get snow, but they don't seem to be prepared for it. Honestly, I don't know if they have the funds to have that many trucks or plows. Unless it melts tomorrow, and it's only suppose to be 25degrees, I'm guessing that my son and I won't be doing too much this weekend. Looks like we might have a very white weekend at home.
This evening, at about 1700 it decided to start snowing. Now, AFN said nothing about snow, it said sun. Full sun. That was not the case. It's snowed about an inch in a hour and looks like it's going strong.
If we were in Nebraska, I wouldn't mind and we'd go about our business. That is not the case here. There aren't any snow plows, especially when you live out where I do. They do have a few trucks that sand the main road closer to Mons, but that won't help me.
Snow pretty much closes down the country here. It's not that they don't get snow, but they don't seem to be prepared for it. Honestly, I don't know if they have the funds to have that many trucks or plows. Unless it melts tomorrow, and it's only suppose to be 25degrees, I'm guessing that my son and I won't be doing too much this weekend. Looks like we might have a very white weekend at home.
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