So it begins...

Hello. Here's the first entry, not spectacular but it's a start. I've been thinking of starting a blog since we moved from Oregon to Belgium (18 months ago!). Since we're nearing the halfway mark of our 3 year stay, it seems like now or never. After a few false starts about how to start this off, I thought I'd offer a list or two.

10 Things I Didn't know before moving here

1 - How to speak dutch (work in progress).

2 - The Flemish dialect spoken often in West Flanders is very different from dutch.

3 - Most Belgians say they speak "a little English", but they actually speak English well.

4 - Movies in Belgium can be seen in Original Version (often English) with Dutch and French subtitles  (part of reason why their English is good).

5 - When someone invites you over for dinner on a Sunday, it starts with cake and champagne at about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon.

6 - When it's your birthday, you offer chocolate or candies to others.

7 - They don't use checks, at all. And many places don't accept credit cards.

8 - Things are more expensive here; there is a very high tax rate.

9 - Wildplassen meaning "urinate in public", something many Belgian men do, regularly, anywhere, everywhere.

10 - There is little love lost between the 2 halves of Belgium, Flanders and Wallonia. It's 2 seperate entities, in a country small enough that 8 could fit into Oregon.

10 Favorite Places We've Visited So Far, in no specific order

(more about them later)

1 - Switzerland - Interlachen area, Hiking in and around mountains and valleys

2 - Brugge  it's 30 min. drive away, great city (we watched the movie In Brugge, in Brugge)

3 - Island of Crete, Greece beautiful beaches, amazing gorges,snow-capped mountain

4 - Heidelberg, Germany and surrounding small cities, amusement park

5 - Provence, France, gorgeous, sunny, lavender, stone villages to explore on every hill

6 - Mallorca, Spain - Island in Med. Beautiful, drove end to end

7 - London & Bath, England - fun to explore

8 - Paris - very manageable to see a lot in a long weekend, great to get lost in

9 - Gent, Belgium - lots to see, many events, July big city-wide, week-long party

10- Cities within 30-45 minutes: Ieper, Doornik, Brugge, Ronse and Lille, France, etc.

11 - Have to add the coastal cities, my boys love being at the beach

Okay, need to stop for now (kids are all waking up for school). More later.