Spain wins

Well we've just finished enjoying our first Euro football (soccer) tournament - it came down to Germany and Spain in the end, but much to the sadness of our German friends, Spain managed to win the Final. It was fun to get involved and get caught up in the excitement - and believe me, despite the fact that all the matches were held in Austria and Switzerland there was plenty of excitement here! This tournament only happens once every four years, staggered vs. the World Cup so that Europe has a major international football tournament every two years.

This was also the first time I've worn another country's flag on my face - we joined our German friends at the pub to watch two of the games, and both times I ended up with the German flag painted on my cheeks! I figured what the heck, I like Germany, and Belgium didn't qualify so why not support Deutschland? There is photographic evidence but it's not on my camera, so I'll have to see if I can get a copy to post here later.

Happy (slightly belated) Solstice!

We've never lived this far north before, so the extremely pronounced differences in daylight between summer and winter have been very noticeable here! We're at approximately 50°50' N, which is about the same latitude as Calgary, Alberta. So when the summer solstice came around yesterday, we marveled at the over 17 hours (!) between sunrise and sunset.

Unfortunately yesterday was overcast so I couldn't get a good picture of the sunset, but tonight I got a pretty decent photo of it from our bedroom window. I couldn't figure out how to get the time to display on the photo so you'll just have to trust me when I say that I took it at exactly 9:55 PM, about five minutes BEFORE sunset! You can't see the sun because it had already passed behind the church down the street, but from the color of the sky you can definitely tell that the sun is still around! It's 10:27 PM as I write this, and there's still light enough to see. It's really nice in summertime, but after experiencing the flip side in winter I can tell you that that end of the pendulum isn't nearly as pleasant!

Anyway, we're very much enjoying summertime here in northwestern Europe, and we hope all of you are having a great summer as well! Happy barbecuing!

Working for a living

Recently I met the wife of one of the PhD students at Carl's school, and she asked me if I would be interested in helping her out with some of her English students. She's taught English for years and has a thriving "practice" of teaching to individuals here in Brussels, generally on a one-on-one basis. I think she's getting a little burned out and wanted to reduce her schedule for the Summer, and since it pays €25 per hour I am happy to help!

I met the first student yesterday afternoon, a six-year-old Japanese boy who does quite well with English considering how young he is. I'm taking over a half-dozen or so students of hers, but only a couple of them are kids - ALL of them are Japanese however! I guess she started out with a couple of Japanese students in the beginning, and her name quickly circulated through the Japanese community here, to the point where she had all the students she could handle!

Anyway, she's going with me the first time I visit each of the students, to make the introductions and fill me in with regards to where they are in terms of ability, what materials they're using, etc. They all have their own books and other materials, so basically all I'm there to do is to make sure they understand the concepts being introduced in their books and help them conversationally - basically just talk to them, ask questions, stuff like that. I was a little nervous at first at the idea of doing this because I don't have a teaching background, but I think one-on-one instruction is a great way to start out, and I'm definitely excited at the prospect of having a little money coming in! I start teaching in earnest in early July, so I'll let you know how it goes!

The fun and fabulous pub quiz!

I've been meaning to mention this for a long time, but somehow I keep forgetting! Since late last Fall we've been taking part in a weekly pub quiz, every Monday night. It's mainly a British phenomenon and has been around for some time, but while I'm told it's catching on in the U.S., I don't recall seeing it there before we left last year.

So for those of you who aren't familiar with the concept, here's a quick overview: it's a team game, with teams of up to five permitted. There are eight rounds in total. The first is a "picture" round, with photos, drawings or cartoons that must be identified. In this category we've seen everything from celebrity mugshots to album covers to serial killers to cartoon ducks! Rounds 2-6 and round 8 are standard trivia questions (general knowledge), while round 7 is music. Generally this means that a short clip of a song is played, and teams must identify the artist and song title (though there are sometimes variations on this, such as identifying movie theme songs or guitar soloists). Each participant pays €2.50 to play, and the top three teams win prizes. In the case of our venue (De Valera's Irish Pub) that means free dinner for the winners, a bottle of champagne for 2nd place, and a free drink for 3rd. I am proud to say that we have assembled a formidable team, and in addition to a number of 2nd and 3rd place finishes, we have also won 3 times!

The reason I finally remembered to write about pub quiz is because we've been missing it lately - with the Euro 2008 football (soccer) tournament in full swing, the pub is packed every night with football fans. As a result the pub quiz was cancelled last week, and will be cancelled again tomorrow. Strangely enough though, we will be at the same pub tomorrow night, watching the Germany-Austria match with our German friends - Geh Deutschland!!

Protests at the Commission

Carl spent a good part of this past week at the European Commission, working an exhibit booth for his employer at the "Green Week" event. It was a good experience for him as he got to meet a number of interesting people, but there was some unanticipated excitement when on Wednesday a protest outside the Commission building (a number of European fishermen were protesting high fuel prices that threaten to put many of them out of business) turned a bit violent. You may have even seen news coverage of the protests - I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the US or not, but our CNN International edition here covered it quite a bit.

He and the other event attendees were safe inside so there was never any danger, but as you can see from the photos he was very close to the "action" and could see everything. Fortunately he arrived before the bulk of the protests began and didn't need to leave until after things calmed down. Even if he had been planning to leave he couldn't have, because they had the building secured and the transit routes in and out of the area were shut down completely! Brussels definitely has its share of demonstrations; we're on the US Embassy's e-mail list so we get a message from them alerting us whenever a protest is planned, and there's usually one every week or so, particularly now that we're getting into the Summer months. We usually steer clear of them for safety reasons, so this was something unusual that we thought we'd share with you. Democracy at work!

Sidenote: the first picture is of Carl and his boss at their Green Week booth. Also, the banner being held up in one of the pictures translates to: "0.40 at the pump and nothing else" - referring to the maximum price the fishermen are willing to pay

Origins of the French/Belgian? fried potato

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned the famous "pomme frites" of Belgium, and how despite the English using the word "french" to describe them, they were actually invented here. The Belgians in fact cringe whenever they hear their claim to fame food associated with the French, but as I've learned more on the subject I've discovered that there is some debate as to the origin of the famous fry. It's a pretty interesting story actually, so I thought I'd share a bit of the history of the potato and the famous fry.

The potato was originally discovered growing wild by the Incas of South America, and they have eaten them for centuries. The Spanish Conquistadors were the first Europeans to come into contact with the spud, and they brought some back to Spain with them in the 1500's. The Spaniards didn't take to them however (they called them "edible stones"), and neither did successive groups of English colonialists, who also brought back samples on their ships. In fact, only the Irish, who were going through a difficult period of famine and discovered that the potato grew beautifully in their climate, were actually willing to eat them. Others thought they were suitable only for livestock and prisoners, and some even thought they were poisonous.

It wasn't until Frenchman Antoine August Parmentier came along that the potato began to gain some acceptance in Europe. He was held prisoner in Germany during the Seven Years War, and during that time was fed only potatoes. Upon his return to France he evidently hadn't had enough spuds, and so made it his mission to convince the French of the potato's usefuleness. Through some rather sly tactics he finally convinced the French that he was right, and by 1813 the potato had been accepted as edible, even appealing by many Europeans.

Soon after this acceptance, someone who to this day remains unknown decided to slice up a potato and drop the pieces into a boiling pot of fat, and the fry was born. The French and the Belgians both strongly insist it was one of their countrymen, and historians who have studied the subject remain divided as well. Whoever it was, the creation became wildly popular in both countries as early as the 1830's, but it took another hundred years before Ray Kroc perfected his own version for McDonalds and made it a staple of American fast food. That means that while the Americans perhaps get some credit for helping the fry gain worldwide popularity and acceptance, we don't get any credit at all for its existence.

So there you have it! As for me, I'm inclined to give credit to the Belgians for the creation of the frite, because the French already get credit for so much in the culinary world, and the fry seems just, well, a little too un-refined to be theirs! So Belgium it is - that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!! :-)

In case you haven't had enough of the frites story, click here to read more. This article served as my source, but I definitely ommitted some interesting stories involving Thomas Jefferson's love of the potato and Marie Antoinette's love of potato flowers (yes, really).