Not what you usually hear scouts say...

Jordan and Nathan are in a scouts group (part of a larger organization) that meets at the Catholic Middle/High School where Andrew and Cameron go to school. Yesterday Jordan was telling me about the game they played where his age group (10-11 year olds) was split into 2 groups. One group went out on the grounds to "hide" while the other group waited inside. Then the "seekers" went out to find the other group, while the hiding group tried to sneak back to the building without being seen. If the seeking group saw the other group before they could sneak back to the building, then they were to yell "What the F***" and both groups would race back to the building - the first group with all it's members back wins that round. Can't believe they used that for calling out the other team! And they played this game a bunch of times.

It's always surprised us how much the "F-word" and "S-word" are used here, especially when they're used by younger kids. My kids hear these words on the playground all the time, even by kindergarden-aged kids! I know when I was a kid we'd say "caca" for the s-word, it wasn't as bad as the s-word and was used more regularly. But we didn't use it all the time. The words don't have as much meaning to the kids here, but I know most teachers at the school dole out punishments if they hear a kid using one of the English swear words.

So, Jordan thought it was pretty funny they got to yell what they got to yell for the game, though he told me he didn't say it - he nudged whoever he was with if he saw the other group and the other kid would yell "WTF". From what I know of Jordan, I believe him. I even told him he can use the phrase everyone else if using if that's the game, but he needs to know it's not license to use the word anywhere else since the words have a different meaning for us English speakers. Of course, as the boys grow up they'll all have their time experimenting with certain words. It's natural. But, hopefully our years here won't create a bunch of "potty mouths"!

Krant Artikel

Below is an English version of an article which ran in the sports section of a regional newspaper, Krant van West-Vlaanderen.

In the Clarke family, which will return to Oregon next year, Andrew, Cameron and Jordan play with Olbak-Bissigem

"We will miss Belgium"

Kortrijk - Kevin Clarke works for Barco and came to Belgium 2 years ago for a 3 year period with his wife Stephanie and four children Andrew, Cameron, Jordan and Nathan. Adapting in Europe was a big challenge because no one spoke dutch. Athletics, skateboarding, snowboarding, skiing, soccer with FC Marke and, most of all, basketball with Olbak-Bissigem fill most weekends of this sports-oriented American family.

"I was offered the chance to come for 3 years to work in Belgian Research and Development of the Medical Imaging Division of Barco," Kevin starts the story. "We work hard on the optimalization of the displays of computers in the medical area. With cancer diagnosis, for example, it's very important to see the smallest details."

"We saw Europe as a great opportunity for the children to learn other languages and to better learn about the world. They'll develop skills for learning, face challenges and have opportunities to travel," says mama Stephanie. "We've visited not only neighboring countries around Belgium, but we've also visited Italy, Greece and more."

Just Like Chinese

"Andrew (15), Cameron (13), Jordan (11) and Nathan (8) had it tough at first. The 2 oldest took longer to learn the language because their fellow students could speak to them in English. The younger two only heard dutch and learned the language more quickly, " mama Stephanie.

Andrew found learning dutch "pretty hard", mostly because he started in the first year of junior high. "I had to start with 3rd year french and I learned it through dutch. A tutor helped me get through the first months, but it took a year before I started to be comfortable with it," says Andrew.

"With help from my teacher I understood most things by the Christmas vacation and I could help myself," remembers Cameron, who attends Don Boscocollege with his older brother Andrew.

The youngest two go to the elementary school.

Jordan: "After 3 months the dutch was easier, it's <<> Chinese. It took a while before I could say the "eu" and "uu" vowel sounds. I couldn't hear the difference.

Nathan: "Dutch wasn't too difficult. Before the February vacation I got used to it, thanks to my teacher. After a year and a half I was pretty fluent."

One or more sports

In the US the four boys enjoyed doing a lot of sports.

Andrew: "I wasn't used to playing basketball through the whole year. And, in the US we would make plays, here it's mostly cut and run. In America I also played baseball."

Cameron: "2 years before we came to Belgium I didn't play basketball. I did gymnastics and played lacrosse, a sport that is popular in the US. Basketball is a cool sport, but it's hard work. I like playing only one sport through the year instead of two or three. You can get better faster. I also like to run, like my dad. I might join the sports club in Marke. The 400 and 800 meters are good lengths, I think."

Jordan: "Basketball here doesn't seem that different than in the US, but here kids play the same sport throughout the year. In the states we can play a different sport each four months. It was soccer in the fall, basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring. I miss getting to play different sports."

Nathan: I play soccer in Marke, but I want to try American football when we go back to Oregon.

Cirque du Soleil

Because of all the busy sports activities of Andrew, Cameron, nathan and Jordan, the weekends are very full.

"The weekend days often begin pretty early," nodded father Kevin, who is also athletic and took up skateboarding when he was 40. "We take the boys all over and when there are free times sometimes I go with Cameron to skateboard in the skate bowl on the Leie."

Papa Kevin: "Cameron let us know that he would be happy to return to Europe after he's done with school. In the summer vacation we'll go back to the States. Then it will be a new adjustment for the kids. He dreams of being an acrobat in the Cirque du Soleil and has a natural talent for circus techniques, like juggling and unicycle riding. I also have a unicycle and I'm learning to ride it."

One thing is certain: the Clarke family of Rodenburg in Marke isn't bored for a moment. Surely not when the grandparents came for a visit.

"It was fun to have the grandparents here. They didn't stay long, but it was good for them to see their grandchildren doing their activities."

Naar Ice Mountain

Andrew: "The coolest things in Belgium are fries, chocolate, my friends, steak with mushroom sauce and going to see the Cirque du Soleil in Brussels last year. That was cool. The coolest time we've had was a long weekend with our grandparents, in the forests in Wallonia and going to a city with a castle."

Cameron: "Belgium is cool and there are fewer rules than back in Oregon, like at swimming pools. Here you do what you want at the pool, no one cares. The coolest thing was when my cousin Travis came for a visit and I showed him all about our life here. Just like Andrew I'm looking forward to seeing my friends in America, but I would be okay with staying in Belgium. My favorite places in Belgium are Paradisio, the coast and Ice Mountain, the indoor ski slope in Komen."

Mama Stephanie: Where we live in America there are mountains so we ski and snowboard every winter. We miss that here, which is why Ice Mountain is such a good place for them."

Jordan: "I love it in Belgim but I miss my friends in Oregon and our house and other things. Luckily there's the internt and computers to stay in contact."

Nathan: "My opinion of Belgian foods: I like taartjes. My favorite places are Planckendael and Ice Mountain, but I'm looking forward to going back to Oregon. I want to come back here sometime to come visit my friends."

Father Kevin: "We want to thank everyone for the support and especially our neighbors who are always available to help."

Visitors

One of the fun things about living in Europe is visits from friends and family. This fall we have 3 sets of visitors.

The first visitor, in late September, was my friend Renée. She and I have been friends since we were in jr high and having her here was great! It's fun to play tour guide around our town and the unique towns in our area. And having someone to show around is a great excuse to go to all my favorite cities, restaurants and cafés. Renée and I spent time in Kortrijk and Marke (where we live) and also in Brugge (2 different days, it's such a special town) and Ieper. But the HIGHLIGHT of her visit was a 4-day girls weekend in Paris! We caught the fast train to Paris (with less than 2 minutes to spare before the wheels started rolling!) and made it to Gare du Nord, checked into our hotel and were walking up to Montmartre by 11:00 Thursday morning. (First pic is us having (expensive) coffee, tea and croissants on the main corner in Montmartre.)

Between then and Sunday night at 8, we walked all over, went in a few places, had lunch at small cafés, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower, out to Verseille, and hung out. Some highlights of the weekend were our champagne toast and half hour hanging out at the top of the Eiffel Tower, going into Sacré Coeur and St. Chapel, walking the Latin Quarter, touring Montmartre at night, and finding little cafés for lunch each day. We laughed until we cried more than once, took an insane number of pictures (especially considering almost all were taken of the two of us, always in the same position, at arm's length. Our running joke was that we'd have all these pictures of us that looked the same except for the touristy thing behind us), and we enjoyed everything.

We managed to get to the Musée D'Orsay on Sunday when it was free entrance, we had an unbelievably short line when waiting to go up in the Eiffel Tower, and the day we went out to Verseille, which was supposed to be the rainiest of the weekend, ended up being the most sunny of the weekend. Everything seemed to go our way. Sunday night we headed to the train station feeling like we did all we had hoped to do and more!

Just under 2 weeks later, Kevin's parents came for a visit. They had spent a week in Provence, in the south of France, before coming north to Belgium, so they were over jet-lag and ready for 5 days with us. We had our normal busy weekend full of sports and they were able to see nearly all the boys' games. We played games and hung out between matches. Monday, when Kevin was at work and the boys were back at school, Shrimp, Tricia and I went to Antwerp for a few hour of touring. Tuesday we made sure to go to the market so they could stock up on Belgium chocolates to take back with them and Wednesday morning they took the train back to Brussels for their return flight. It was a very fun visit.

Next up my mom will be here with us for the holidays. We're very excited to have Grammy here, and to spend our first Christmas in Belgium. (We went back to Oregon for our first Christmas after moving here and were in Egypt last Christmas.) She'll be here for 2 weeks and after the boys are out of school and Kevin takes time off work we plan to go to some of the cities around here to see their Christmas lights, we'll go ice skating, and enjoy all the hoopla. On Christmas day we'll go to mass at a church in town where Jordan and Nathan's school chorus will be singing. Should sound beautiful in the stone church.

As of now, there aren't any visitors scheduled to come after the new year. Hopefully things will come together for others to visit, and we still have a few trips on our wish list to try to make before we move back next summer.