Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

I don't care for serious discussions on my blog.
It's not a matter of ignorance, indifference or whatever you want to call it. It's a matter of looking at the world from a colourful perspective. I want to make the world a better place: laugh with silly things, smile for stupidities, love for no reason.
No black or white, just colours.

But then there's the discussion that's starting to take universal proportions. Zwarte Piet: racist? humiliating? offensive?

I didn't want to join the debate at first. I have my opinions about it, but I didn't want to waste my time on it. And it was working out. Being happy, since my facebook-page wasn't spammed with Zwarte Piet-messages of any kind for a couples of days. Until this showed up: Black Pete exposes the Netherlands' problem with race.
It made me SAD: big S, big A, big D.

I can cry for misunderstandings.
I can thank the world for depriving me of the joy of eating chocolat figures without debating about traditions, whether racist or not.
I can accuse The Guardian of being shortsighted, telling only half of the story.
I can mediate: the Belgians and Dutch have the tradition, others have another opinion about it. But others will probably never understand our tradition nor will we understand their opinions about it. Why? Because we have another point of view. Some people might be convinced - on either side - but never all of us. There wouldn't be a discussion in the first place if we all did.
I can say that there's not one Zwarte Piet who does his/her typical make-up thinking "Hurray! I'll offend black people now! Making kids happy? Are you stupid, I only want to be offensive!" *seriously????
I can talk about pots and kettles blaming one another for being black - oh irony - or say 'let he who is without sin cast the first stone'.
I can elaborate on the fact that the core of racism doesn't reside in the use of particular words or traditional figures, let alone that it would be solved if those words or figures are never used again. Boy, would that make it easy!

Or...

I can smile for the memories I have of the excitement I felt on the night of the 5th of December.
"Tonight de Sint will come with Zwarte Piet... Have I been a good girl?"
In my shoe I had a carrot for the horse, a beer for Piet and one for de Sint.

Once my dad came running into the house: "Come quick!!!" He picked me up and carried me outside. And there on the street I saw their silhouets.
I know now it was my neighbours dressed up but that doesn't matter AT ALL.
I relived what I felt back then as a little girl while writing this and welled up.

This is the only thing that matters: making kids feel excited. The pure happiness of a tiny human being. The sparkling eyes of an innocent child.

That's all that matters...
That... and a bit of perspective.

how to drive on the left side?

June 11,
message from Than-I on facebook to me, King J. and Z.:
"Girls and boy, please take a seat! Since you haven't visited Cyprus YET, F. and I decided to give you a good opportunity. We booked a nice church yesterday for the 5th of October and you are all invited."

Hurraaaaay!! Finally I can go to Cyprus yippy!!! Why do they book a church... I was wondering... doesn't matter. Ecstatic I answered: "I'll be there!! Legend -wait for it- dary-wise I'll be there!"

Still no clue about the church though, but who cares! I'm going to Cyprus with my friends! Sun, sea, beach, warm weather and meeting Than-I again after such a long time. I LOVE it :)

A bit later: "C.! We need a bachelorette party!!!"

Wait a sec... church, invitations, bachelorette party... ... ... *my mind started working* *pieces of a puzzle* *sudden illumination*
OMG!!!! She's getting MARRIED!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Wow... this is big! And wonderful! I am SO happy for her!

And to be honest, I spent some working hours by talking on fb about the wedding, the dress, the shoes, the bachelorette party... Practically anything! Shared excitement counts as triple excitement!


July 8
message from Than-I on facebook to me and Z. (I read the whole conversation later)
-[story about the dress and the idiocracy of some wedding store ladies wanting to put 1.60m Than-I in a tent]
-[discussion about heels which I don't really understand *hey, don't blame me, I'm 1.80m... with heels I'll bump my head to a basketball hoop...]
-[communicating our travel intentions to go for one week]
-[planning a bachelorette party]

AND the following question by Than-I:
"Actually... I had an idea, for both of you. What if, you are my equivalent of the best man and the obligations are looking gorgeous beside me in the church..."

When I read this conversation six hours later and this part in particular I literally, but really literally screamed out my joy *my landlord came up to check if I was ok ^_^*!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
So honoured I could cry! Overjoyed!
Three day later I booked my tickets to Cyprus *another day later I left for Vietnam :)


October 5
After two days of siteseeing, sunbathing - in the cold, cause according to Cypriot terms it was -, driving on the left - nothing to it, just mirror everything and you're on your way- and especially eating *thank you all deeply for the most amazing food*, it's wedding day!!!

before the wedding
the girls to Than-I for dress and make-up fun; King J. to the guy's party. And Milano the cat had a bow tie!! And the cars a giant tiara and equally big hat!

fact: Milano is the cutest cat EVER

on the way to the wedding
blowing the horn of the car for twenty minutes all the way from the houses to the church! *OMG I love this :D :D hahaha*

very very close to the wedding
reassuring the groom that his bride is on her way :)

told you she'd be there ^_^

the wedding
the ceremony - of which I didn't understand a word... it's in Greek, what did you expect - was absolutely beautiful and gorgeous and full of meaning and traditional gestures and...
*too bad I missed the last part... damn you lack of oxygen :( *

right after the wedding
my most favourite part - next to bachelorette parties - burrying the happy newlyweds in a storm of rice and rose peddles

train got a teeny bit heavier

and for the 600th time making fun of the photographer who must be in more or less EVERY picture EVERY friend/relative/colleague/invitee/... took

the usual ^_^

in between the wedding and ze parteeeeee
wedding pictures of the happy couple AND their friends in a bar - in comparison to the 95% of the Cypriots who's wedding album exists only of pictures taken in Lefkara (we saw already three brides and grooms in the half hour we visited the place later), VERY VERY VERY original

a summary of ze parteeeeee:
- cutest wedding cakes EVER
- after an hour of shaking hands and efharisto'ing for all the lazazizou's - the privilege of being maid of honour - Z. and I helped the bride with a bit of dress cleaning
- and then... fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood! let's storm that buffet!!
- live band and a bit of shaking - when they packed I had the idea the party was dying a bit but then...
- ... Cypriot DJ took over and the room exploded - I did NOT expect this :O
- the groom and one of his friends ran into the sea - h i l a r i o u s !
- the feeling that I should add 'attending a Greek wedding' to my bucket list just to take it off

wedding cakes (LOVE THEM!!)

party next to the beach (would have been AT the beach if it wasn't for the wind)

again... the usual ^_^

party on fire

King J. played with his cakes

parteeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

this was absolutely totally over the top amazingly wonderfully fantasticly LEGENDARY!

sweeties, I wish you all the happiness in the world! don't think you'll need it though, being so happy with each other already ;)

the mirror gang - part XI

This morning when I woke up, the girl on the radio reminded me of A.
"Today is Tuesday, boekskesdag!"    *I know, it's Thursday by now, but whatever
Automatically I thought of A.'s desk drowning in a new weekly batch of boekskes... and this a day after she cleaned it up, poor gal.

But let's retrospect for a second...

When I was A.'s neighbour for the politics-episode of the quiz I didn't know that much about her.
Nothing actually... except for her reputation as 'magazine gal' or boekskeswijf
In other words dreaded competition cause she knows about everything about everyone in about every corner of "celebrity world" - and no, there was no peeking for answers! (okay, there was, but that was reciprocal)
But firstly she was - and is - incredibly fun to talk to and such a sweet girl!
And of course ^_^ very open: already after 15 minutes I was updated on the entire story of her and Al., a guy she really liked - this gave us immediately a conversation opener for the next couple of weeks - with information on their mutual whereabouts, messaging, meetings etc :)
*I could detect some butterflies :D

But back to the quiz...
*Funny thing: when I watch the quiz-episodes again, I can understand my friends a little bit better in their "Where is Waldo"-quest   *or more like "Where is C.?"*   cause even though I know where I was seated, I look like a dog in front of a fish tank watching his favourite fish swim by - or whatever comparison seems appropriate...

First round: inquiry - or how does the Fleming think *aka pain-in-the-ass-round*
One of the questions involved a more 'naughty' question: which of the following female politicians would you like to see naked? With resolute determination I pressed B   *not joking... I have it on tape - or DVD actually - me in close-up excessively decisively pressing the button
The next question involved a slightly repulsive equivalent of the previous: which of the following male politicians would you like to see naked?  
A) A. De Croo   *ieuw... no way... never... not for a million box... God no... no no... message to my visual mind: STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!
B) K. Peeters   *Flemish Prime Minister, aka George Clooney of the Wetstraat... possibly... probably...
C) B. De Wever   *lost 50 kilos in six months, so blubby belly... nah ah... didn't think so...
So I pressed B...
... and it turns out the average Fleming answered A... ieuw... no no... ieuw   *don't...wanna...think...about...it
*emphatically unwanted mental picture... this would haunt me...

Second round: pictures
Q1: which of these is not a 'political' couple?
*aaaand again close-up of me
The intermezzo of co-show host Sam brought him to A.: "Where there's gossip, there's A. van de boekskes... you read them all right?" - "Yes, all of them, I've got them all on my desk!"
*and look at her smiling ^_^   (hereby message to me: close your mouth C., you look like a retard... of course on national television, since I was right next to A....)
Q6: which of these liberals is the youngest:  A) A. De Croo,  B) J.-J. De Gucht,  C) M. De Clerq
*... I don't give a damn about politics... djeez, how am I supposed to know? ... I guess... C)
In the mean time, co-show host Sam was standing in front of me for his intermezzo   *ouf... exciting ^_^
"C., did you answer correctly?"  -  "Mmm, neh," I knodded apathetically, but with my usual big smile  -  "Though, you did play the finale once, lost by a bit, but this round isn't your best?"  -  "Nope, not really..." I said frowning simultaneously with the big smile *weird sight... gotta admit*  -  "C., you're 26 and still single..."  -  "Uhu"  -  "Which one of these three is on your 'to do'-list?"  -  "Ugh! None of them"
*Dear Lord, the thought alone...  I later on received a message from S. saying: "Well said, girl ;)", so thank God... it's good to know there are still other sane women on the planet (and there were more of them in the recording room... strangely enough to the inquiry results, more or less all women Sam talked to...)

Evidently...


Oh... by the end of that episode A. and I had created a virus ^_^  ... the one of applauding synchronically with the quiz jingle aka being a pain in the ass of the sound editors

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part X

Okay, let's see... where did I leave off...
Right! I was about to storm out one government building to head for the other (aka the recording studio)
And again: the exhausting run up hill, including the pounding heart and the gasping for air at arrival
Though I was getting better already! The one-day-old goal of 15 minutes... I did it :D
Still, thank God these were the only two times I had to do that -_-
The same friendly faces welcomed me and I sat down happy as a kid in a toy store
By that time I had finished my second day as a real employee of the state, but the start of my real adult life seemed totally irrelevant back then :)

Yesterday's themes had gone quite well:
Firstly: Royalty  -  categories 'are you a royalistic, republican or neutral'
Secondly: Foooooood  ^_^  -  categories 'food preference (meat, fish, gourmand (or devil-eat-it-all), degustator (or devil-eat-it-all-as-long-as-the-dish'-name-is-inversily-proportional-to-its-size-and-quantity), veggie (or devil-don't-want-to-eat-whatever-had-a-face) or allergy (or devil-really-want-to-but-can't-eat-it-all-cause-if-I-do-I'll-pop-or-blow-up))
I was really enjoying this category thing: there's a conversation opener on every moment of the day to any person in the room
Very interesting to know who to invite for a serious BBQ for example... or better to whom I should invite myself for a BBQ ;)   (since my BBQ-skills are as developed as my cooking skills... so not...)
... And no, no I didn't put myself with the food allergy people... my craving for meat is still and will ever remain dominant to whatever current and/or future intolerances
*Btw Ian, thx a million for the spare ribs last weekend :)


Today's themes: Politics and the Seaside (capitalized, our 65 kilometers of coastline do deserve this)
Categories: newspaper preferences and travel preferences
Always curious who my next neighbour would be...

Now in the recording room I wasn't prepared for the barrage of (public) questions about my ride home by the entertainer - or actually... I was... that dude's just way too predictable
"There has got to be a budding romance here! Come on... 100 people, a quarter of which is single... give me a break here,"
*I knew this was more than just a quiz... secret dating agency alert*
"You, C.?"
*O_O  oh crap, I suck at poker faces*
"Nobody for you in this range of fine young dudes?"
*Yes maybe, but that is totally and utterly none of your business...
"No no," I said maybe a little bit too suspiciously convincing and shaking my head from left to right like a retard
"Are you sure? What about T., your chauffeur?"
*Ok, he's sweet and cute, but I just want you to move on and find someone else to pick on... why did you even pick me? I wasn't looking you way! There are other single women here...
"No no," I repeated whilst I kept on shaking my head
"Nothing happened in the car?"
*For crying out loud!!!  
"No no"
"Not your type?"
"No no"
"Ok then... Hey, did you hear that joke about..."
Pff thank God... definitely not comfortable with that kind of heat
*Btw T., you told me I broke your heart a liiiiitlle bit here, but don't worry... I do love you ^_^


After that barrage I continued babbling, chatting and gossiping with my first - and for today the only noteworthy - neighbour who turned out to be the 'magazine gal'... an 25 year old girl from the Seaside, living in Brussels, who reads magazines for a living, blogs and wears a cute little fox for a necklace
... this is when I met A.   (A for Awesome ;))

"And recordings start in 3, 2..." Wes-the-producer shushed us.
"Good evening..." the show host started and we were in place for another episode of quiz fun


TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part IX

I heard a double *whistle* (like when construction workers do when a short-skirted woman passes by their yard) – my sound for a text-message

*very funny! you should try it… it’s a real head turner

My phone made some noise again… I had turned it off during the recordings but I knew the thing would go nuts once I’d turn it on again

Cause what was already old news for me, was a big surprise for my family and friends (and A LOT of people saw that episode! even two months later I still ran into people telling me “hey, I saw you on TV a while ago,” invariably followed by “I was switching channels and by accident I got to that quiz...”

*there’s no such thing as coincidence... don’t you know by now*

So... my phone went nuts: “OMG so close!” “Humo! Humo!” (the name of the magazine I was supposed to answer) “damn you looked hot! admirers will come flying to you!” (no they didn’t and  no I di... OK, I did look good ^_^) etcetera...

I  turned on my laptop to check facebook

Still wide awake (so much for the time won by hitchhiking with T.)

I sighed... a sigh of pure happiness

By that time the length of my facebook-friends list was rising, I had Maggy, S. and D. (who has an incredibly nice and sweet profile pic but more on that later) already before New Year’s, so more and more the quiz adventures would expand to the digital realm (in the end resulting in our own group ^_^ *killer idea, S.!!!)

OKAY! Fb too had gone nuts!

“OMG that was thrilling”, “such a pity”, “you were great!” and one very sweet, though slightly giving away a – for now, but not for long, except for that one it’s all about – secret “you look as good on TV as you do in real life... and I’m thrilled my 6th sense still works ^_^” from Maggy

I replied with a “thx, and btw my 6th sense still works as well cause I knew you would ask me that” and went to bed

Then Friday after lunch I took some quality time to chat with Maggy

M.: “Good morning! Did you cell phone hold the barrage of messages? And why did you except that question from me?”

Me: “Heeeey! Well most of my friends congratulated me J … some where angry I let a guy win :D! And about your question…”

M.: “Yes?”

Me: “Well from the moment you said    say    I knew what you were gonna ask and I thought ‘damn it C.! it’s too clear!’… which is soooo not my intention!”

M.: “Ah but don’t worry, I’m really good in picking those things up”

Me: “Yeah me too, but usually I’m the only one, so I didn’t count on others with such a 6th sense J”

M.: “Haha! But you know,…”   *and here comes the turning point to opening up the door to my heart by just a teeny tiny liiiiiiiiitle bit (too much)*   “… his body language to you is also quite open”

…oh crap…   *head rush* *stomach butterfly rebellion* *instant lack of oxygen (or was it the airco at work? … no no it were the feelings)*

Me: “Nooooo sssjjjjtt! Don’t say that!”

M.: “Hahaha”

Me: “Now I’m gonna look for signals…!”

M.: “OK! Didn’t say a word”

*baaaaam! too late*

Me: “It’s just… I’m not ready for those kind of feelings… Last time my heart got broken, it wasn’t just broken, it was scattered… So it totally freaks me out!”

M.: “I understand… but that’s normal! BUT!!! No one ever died from looking ;)”

Me: “Hahaha! True :D  But I gotta go, the government calls me”

This was 1.45PM... in the next two hours there was of course only one thing on my mind...

Two hours later, 5 minutes before I had to storm out again for the 30 minutes run up hill, I quickly said goodbye to Maggy

Me: “Hup! Here we go again! I’m leaving work for something muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch more fun ^_^   But it’s a real pity you can’t join us today! We’re gonna miss you!”

M.: “Good luck to you all!!! It sucks I can’t be there, but I have got to study for my exams! And ehm… enjoy the view!”

:D

I certainly did    ^_^

goddamn...  too cute *ouf* 


TO BE CONTINUED

what about easter eggs

it's Easter!  well... almost

so the first thing to pop into your mind has got to be: easter eggs and chocolat :D
so what do you do when the egg you crushed on your bread is only one piece too small to cover the entire surface?

you crush another one for that one piece... and eat the rest as a side dish ^_^

no way you can put the pieces back into the bag now is there?

PS: it's OK to eat a piece of chocolat with your triple chocolat muffin ;)

the mirror gang - part VIII

“Ian, do you by any chance have a vacant place in your car?”

Finding a ride home would turn out to be quite a difficult task: full cars, cars that were too small – no, not exactly too small, just inappropriate for passengers’ transportation...

But that quest did lead me to meeting new awesome people.

I had heard the week before carpool initiatives were being taken, to (and from) Brussels from (and to) every corner of the handkerchief we Belgians call 'country'.

Equally from THE city (everything else is parking lot is being said)...

... Antwerp city ...  

... my city ...

* mm, no not really my city, I just moved there...  – I think I have to say Leuven is still my city... do miss that place... loved living there... I’m wandering off... – but my moving to Antwerp did make the city automatically even cooler*

“Aaaah no, the car is full. Damn, we actually did consider to take two cars but since we all fit into one...”

That’s when I met Ian: a teacher from Antwerp, with the habit to talk about pita whenever spotting a celebrity *the word pita would later on cause some confusion, but I’ll get to that*, he turns blood red when he laughs, doesn’t mince his words, and when it comes to noise pollution he was a nightmare for the editors of the quiz episodes (talks a lot... talks aloud ;) 
*D. did roll his eyes more than a couple of times when he was sitting near him – was actually funny to see*

“Maybe ask T.? He has a sportscar.”

I actually wondered why the term ‘sportscar’ was relevant to my quest home. He lives in Antwerp too would obviously come in handy, or He carpools as well or even He always appreciates the company of a pretty girl *;)*

But it was the ‘sportscar’ that was of importance... And believe me... that car would become the topic of some of our most hilarious conversations :D

“Where is he? I saw him already today.”

There’s no getting a word in edgeways... which actually came in handy for a shy girl like me ^_^

“Ah there! T.! Do you have an extra seat available for C.?”

He turned around and I looked into the puppy eyes of that guy with the glasses.

That’s when I met T.   ^_^

“Ah no, I have only one passenger seat and that’s taken. I’m sorry,” T. said

“Pity, but that’s ok, I’ll keep on looking.”

The recordings were again lots of fun... *more details will follow*

God! Again, one of the best decisions of the year to participate this quiz... Really!

In the mean time I was very curious for reactions of my friends and family on my personal 45 minutes of fame. My episode was aired when the new ones were recorded, so I expected a full inbox of ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’ at the end of the day

“C.!” T. said after the recordings – when I had already made my peace with taking a train home – “It turns out I can take you home! My passenger found another ride home.”

“Oh,” I was a bit taken by surprise, “Great! Thanks!”

And in 22 minutes I was home, instead of 40 with a normal car or 90 by train 
*convenient, such a sportscar, must keep that in mind*
Reason #1 why sportscar was relevant

Thx T.!! 

TO BE CONTINUED