Oh, yeah, I live in Belgium

On the way home from the archive today I had a moment that has been fleeting recently: “Oh yea,” I thought, “I live in Belgium.” It seems that after a month and a week that I’ve become a bit acculturated to my life here. I feel less like I need to be “doing something” each day. (Don’t get me wrong, though, I do plan on taking advantage of life here, but the need to have a planned activity is less and less.)

I’m trying to read more…for fun, that is. My usual fare is news on the intertubes, books for work, and non-fiction “fun” reading. But, my internet is somewhat limited now and with no TV, the thought of reading only for work and non-fiction isn’t always appealing. Thankfully Carly has placed into my mind books that she thinks I’d like and, so far, she’s been right. There are two big English language bookstores in Brussels, but a store near me has a good English language selection and so far I’ve made my way through Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (see more below) and Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. I loved Pillars in part because I’ve fallen in love with the church of Our Lady of the Sablon. (See post below for picture.)

For those who don’t know, Pillars takes place in 12 century England and is set amidst the political and religious turmoil of “The Anarchy” in England. The central plot is the building of a cathedral in a small town. Birth, death, rape, war, building, love, humor, and sex – lots of sex – takes place and, well, it’s just a fun world to get caught up in. The descriptions of how a gothic cathedral could be built are vivid and I walk by one each day! It really made me look at the work of the church in a different way. Anyway, it’s a good read – even at over 1,000 pages.

As for R & G Are Dead, it’s one of my favorite plays. It’s absurdist – like Waiting for Godot, but takes Hamlet’s two “friends” as it’s central characters and tells us the story of them off stage during Hamlet and their thoughts and questions and, occasionally, answers. I reread it because I decided to see a production of the play here, in Brussels this past Tuesday. It was well done, very well done. I understood parts of it, but know it pretty well that it didn’t matter. It was actually a lot of fun to be immersed in French….

….which makes socializing a bit difficulty, but I like the challenge. To that end, I went out with my Belgian friend, SC, on Wednesday to see Up. It was spur of the moment and, I think, that has a lot to do with me feeling a bit more “at home.” I wasn’t planning on anything, it just happened. I met him and a couple of his friends who spoke mainly French. I got some of the conversation and they spoke a little English.

Up was great and it was nice to be out doing something “regular.” We got out tickets and then got food at Hecktor Chicken, the Belgian version of KFC. Again, not fast, but tasty. And, of course, they served beer and all the appropriate glasses.

All this fun is good, but the archive awaits.