Je suis tres excite!

Posted on December 10, 2011 by

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Oui, I AM very excited to finally start my French class. Its a relief, because atleast now I know after 10 lessons I will be able to communicate with that lady in the cash register or ask for direction when I am lost in small villages of France much easily. Living in a country without knowing their language (in our case its plural…languageS, because in Belgium, you have to know both Dutch and French to get around) is not only hard, but its kinda irritating going to the grocery where you don’t know what you are buying 90% of the time. I still can’t find many things that I want when I go to the supermarket; sometimes it happened that I even bought wrong stuff.

Its been about 4 months now since we moved to Belgium. All this time I tried to get by with my 1 year of high school French that I took some 14/15 years ago. Few things that I still remember are Bonjour, Au revoir, Merci, Vou parlez anglais (do you speak English) and Je ne parlez pas francois (I don’t speak French). You really can’t do much with these few phrases/sentences especially when you are living amongst the French/Dutch. After all, we will be here for a while, so its wiser to just get out of the comfort zone and start getting involved with this new culture. And you can’t really enjoy a culture thoghourly unless you can interact with the locals.

I tried taking some free online courses, but it doesn’t help much with the pronounciation and doesn’t teach me any interesting facts about French culture. Whereas, my teacher (its a lady) not only corrects when I am wrong, conversates with me one-on-one, she also gives me lot of insights on this very sophisticated and rich language.

So, my plan is to first get done with this 10 lessons of French, then if I want to continue and move on to the next level, at that time may go for some more advance French classes, where hopefully I can actually read a French newspaper/magazine/understand French lyrics…WOW. Then after I am done with French, will start with Flemish (Dutch) lessons. I get too excited thinking that by the time I leave this country I will be able to speak/understand 2 more languages very well, these will be my true assets for the whole lifetime.

Ok, Au revoir (bye) for now and Bon nuit (goodnight). A bientot (see you soon)

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Best Lebanese food in France?

Posted on November 24, 2011 by

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Ok, so we still haven’t visited Lebanon yet. But I have tried shwarma, kebap, kefta kebab many times in USA. But nothing comes close to what we had tonight in a small village of France in between Grasse and Cannes, called Mougins. We came to Marseilles this afternoon, then drove about 2 hours to come to our hotel in Mougins. After checking in, we all were very hungry, since the tasteless French pizza and pasta didn’t really fill us up for lunch. The reception guy told us to go to the old village center of Mougins and try out some cafes there. So we did. The streets to go to the old town were very quiet and beautiful, also enjoyed the view of some villas while driving up the hill. The GPS told us to make a turn at one point, but the streets here are so narrow that our car kinda got stuck while trying to make that right turn. Anyway, we just parked the car and decided to walk. Then walked up the small hilly alleys to go the “old village center”, which is barely just a block or two. No tourists were seen since its not really popular spot for visitor during the winter season. But this has to be one of the coziest, and most beautiful villages I have seen so far. The town kept its 16th or 17th century (may be older) look, and it felt awesome to walk up the tiny alleys, surrounded by old buildings and villas. The best part was that you get a night view of whole city once in a while from few of the beautifully decorated alleys.

Anyways, we went to this Lebanese restaurant that looked very nice inside and out.  The waiter was even nicer and after we tasted our shwarma and kebaps….we just went WOW. My husband was joking that shwarma (“chwarma” in French) tastes better here since we are so close to Lebanon. But whatever it is, couldn’t have a better evening than this. Later we were told by a local that this was one of the best Lebanese chain restaurants in France.

Next couple days we are planning to go to Grasse (world’s perfume capital) for a day, then Monaco for a day to see Monte Carlo Casino and famous Grand Prix racing area which attracts thousands of race car fans each year, then finally Cannes to check out the beaches. Hopefully we will get to enjoy more yummy food and pretty French Riviera all at the same time. If you want to visit these places check out the pages for these cities, Monaco and French Riviera.

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Waiting in the waiting room – A visit to doctor’s office

Posted on October 26, 2011 by

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My daughters and I had our first visit to the doctor’s office in Tervuren, Belgium yesterday. Good thing the doctor is within walking distance, very close to my daughter’s school. Here (or at least with this doctor) you don’t need any appointment. Just show up at his door whenever you are sick and need some treatment. Ofcourse it has to be within his working hours…very convenient I thought.
When we got inside his office, I thought I would at least see a receptionist/clark/cashier…something. But here the doctor does everything all by himself. No need to carry your insurance card all the time. You just pay a small amount of cash (23 euros in our case), get a receipt and that’s it. Ofcourse we will file all the claims every few months to our insurance company for reimbusement.
Back in the states I always thought going to a doc’s office is a big deal. First you have to find a doctor within your network (depending on your insurance benefit), then you have to show up 5/10 minutes early, depending on the paperworks, bunch of forms that you have to fill out before you get the treatments, then stand in the line with your insurance card, pay the co-payment, sometimes doctor’s office will bill you if any portion of the claim wasn’t paid by the insurance company. Not to mention, you are never call inside the office right when you have the appointment time (never understood, why do they give us appoinments if they can’t keep it). But I thought in Belgium (or may be all over Europe) going to a docter is very hassel free and rather an easy process. Even though there is no appointment system, usually you will get to see the doctor within 30 minutes (usually a lot less) of your arrival. Another good thing is that same doctor will see our whole family…yeppie. No need to find multiple docters within our network. Never enjoyed going to a doctor before… 🙂

Rome, Italy

Posted on October 12, 2011 by

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We just got back from Oslo, Norway about a week ago, please check the page for info on Oslo here. It was very different than any other cities that we have visited in Europe.
Now we are getting ready to visit Rome, Italy and Vatican City beginning of November. Still need to book a hotel and list all the places we want to visit. But I have already checked one thing, that is what to buy from Rome…obviously, Italian leather is very famous for purse, boots, jackets and etc. Plus olive oil, vinegar are also some of the items that tourists like to bring back home from Rome.
Anyways, speaking of hotel, I think Rome is more like Paris, meaning everything is very spread out and you can’t go to every place by walking, you have to take public transportation within the city for hopping. So we are still not sure where to get hotel… any suggestions?
Will let you know how the olive oil from Rome tastes 🙂 yummmm, can’t wait

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Friday Market in Tervuren, Belgium

Posted on September 16, 2011 by

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I love going to farmers’ market. When we used to live in Buffalo, NY, there was a farmers‘ market every saturday morning near an old church. I remember driving 10 minutes to go there and buying fresh vegetables, fruits, cheese, bakery, and lots of other good stuff. I didn’t get that in Portland. There were lots of farmers’ market where we lived but nothing really close-by nor their prices were cheap.

After moving to Tervuren, I finally found a market that is very cozy, diverse, full of friendly people, offers great price, and has variety of items. There is a lively, outdoor market every Friday in Tervuren village center. It’s open every Friday around the year from 9 am -12 pm. I have been there couple times and I am making a habit to go there every Friday and do my weekly grocery from there. I saw Dutch, French, English, German…people from everywhere in this market. Some of the vendors here are permanent while others come once or twice a month.

You can find fresh fish, fresh meat, cooked meat, fruits, vegetables, cheese, egg, fresh oven-baked breads (many different kinds), sweets, chocolates, candies there. On the other side, you can also find household items, clothes, jeans, socks, sleepwears, purses, wallets, and many more items here. And the price is unbelievably reasonable.

There are lots of other stores along the street selling interesting and fun items. Everytime I go to the Friday market, I make sure that I go to my favorite pastry shop, where I can pick up some waffles, pastries, chocolates, and fresh baked goods for the family. I don’t have a sweet tooth, but its hard to resist the mouth watering delights in that bakert. I look forward to go to this patisserie every week.

The thing that I mostly enjoy when I come to this Friday market is that there are lots of elder ladies who come for their groceries too. They bring their large trolley bags, do their weekly shopping/grocery. Then they stop at the nearby cafe/pastry shop with their girl friends for some coffee or treats. I hear them talking in Dutch or French, laughing there lungs outs, enjoying the weather, sipping their coffee/tea. I leave when my work is done there, may be go to couple shops on my way to the car. But these ladies may sit there for hours. Then when they are done chatting, they will just pay the bill and go to another restaurant for lunch. So beautiful … wish when I age I can have a similar environment to go to relax and sip my cup of tea with a piece of dark chocolate. You don’t need a perfect place to have good time, just need to enjoy little things in life that can give you some perfect moments.

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Business Excellence Award 2020 for The Most Entertaining Personal Travel Blog – Pacific Northwest USA
Business Excellence Award 2020 from AI Global Media for The Most Entertaining Personal Travel Blog - Pacific Northwest USA
Business Excellence Award 2020 from AI Global Media
Business Excellence Award 2020 from AI Global Media for The Most Entertaining Personal Travel Blog - Pacific Northwest USA

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