belgianwaffle

Archives for May 2004

Accents


Posted in: Princess

I remember the first time I realised that people had different accents: I was about 8 or 9 and on a family holiday in England. I had to get a new pair of shoes.  The lady in the shop was very nice and as we completed our purchase she said “Now, I hope that you will enjoy wearing those at home in Ireland”.  I was astonished and said “how did you know I was Irish?”. There was general laughter.  I was baffled. What was so funny about that?

This thought occurs as it struck me this morning that when she grows up the Princess will have a Dublin accent. I suppose it could be worse.

Anyway, tomorrow we’re off to Dublin for the week to work on her accent so there will probably be no blogging until June 6 when we get back.

Have a good week.

Comments
jackdalton

on 29 May 2004 at 17:22

Enjoy Dublin – Icon of the New Ireland 🙂

Locotes

on 29 May 2004 at 19:46

Have a nice break – though I really hope you can fight off the Dublin accent – send her to your parents every summer or something. Poor kid.

Thierrry

(Homepage)

on 31 May 2004 at 16:49

Enjoy your stay.
Take care !

Minkleberry

on 02 June 2004 at 15:17

I’ve got a real ‘thing’ about this. I do not want Ezra to speak with a south london accent. I am a yorkshire lass and I think Ez should get himself a good strong yorkie brogue.
Have a great time in Dublin x

princessfairytoes

on 03 June 2004 at 14:39

have a wonderful time

belgianwaffle

on 07 June 2004 at 16:07

Thank you, thank you. Had a lovely time. A rather boring account has been posted. Have you noticed the way that the more fun you have the less interesting it is to write about.

LRB personals


Posted in: Reading etc.

They just keep coming.  Fortnightly.  This fortnight’s offering:

“Had an accident at work that wasn’t your fault?  My god I love you.  Junior lawyer (M, 62) seeks winnable case/easy sex.  Box no. 10/13”

Comments
belgianwaffle

on 29 May 2004 at 09:04

Hard to know. I tried to look at your site but it’s too hard to read in that blue on that backgrd (moan, groan, grizzle, whinge). Do something for the elderly, change your colour scheme. V. much liked your “if you can read this, it must be downloading v. slowly” thing.

The sea, the sea


Posted in: Belgium, Princess

We went to Knokke yesterday with the Glam Potter and baby L.  Though it was overcast in Brussels, it was relatively fine on the coast.  The Princess doesn’t “think much of the ocean, the waves they was fiddly and small” and also rather cold.  However, she did consent to dip a small toe very briefly in the North Sea.  The beach was another matter and she played happily with baby L’s bucket and spade while L made a run for the main road nearby.

Knokke is a funny place.  The Belgian coast is rather unbeautiful. High rise towers gazing out on a chilly grey sea.  But they love it.  And the coast is really expensive.  A flat in one of those towers could set you back the same amount as a flat in Dublin.  In Ranelagh.  And Knokke is full of very rich Belgians. I heard a news item on the radio that the local council in Knokke has banned helicopters from the area.  Apparently, so many residents had helipads the area was becoming very noisy and it was losing its cachet.  Odd.

Still, it was lovely to be by the sea.  Maybe, when I win the lottery, we will be able to put a deposit on a small flat near Ostend.

Comments
belgianwaffle

on 28 May 2004 at 12:17

Nah, couldn’t afford that really..

Questions I never thought I’d ask


Posted in: Miscellaneous

We’re going to IKEA this afternoon, is there anything we need other than a nailbrush?

Comments

jackdaltonon 26 May 2004 at 23:59

So go on, tell us what you bought….
🙂

belgianwaffleon 27 May 2004 at 08:53

Bought nothing essentially (note the cunning use of the word essentially). And no am too tired to be a loofah person. And even though they have featured in my past, I have always felt that they were kind of useless. I mean, it’s not like your back gets particularly grubby.

Locoteson 27 May 2004 at 12:27

So ‘essentially’ is probably 6 different pieces of furniture – you’re well on your way to being the latest to turn their house into an IKEA shrine.
Can’t say I see the point in loofah’s myself – I’ve actually found them highly uncomfortable any time I’ve experimented – I like the skin on my back where it is thanks very much! Needless to say my back is highly ungrubby anyway…

belgianwaffleon 27 May 2004 at 20:06

Not 6 pieces of furniture, no…

jackdaltonon 27 May 2004 at 21:30

Not 6, no…. See, a natural cutehoor answer!!! Politicin’ is totally in the blood, even when you take the Corkonian out of her natural surroundings and implement an IKEA programme and hide the car keys… 😉
[Do you go much to central brussels by the way?]

belgianwaffleon 28 May 2004 at 08:22

No am staying out of the centre of town, it’s clearly dangerous and inimical to my key retaining strategy.

jackdaltonon 28 May 2004 at 10:27

Shame… wanter to offer to buy you a coffee next week. 🙁

belgianwaffleon 28 May 2004 at 12:17

Are you really in Bxls next week? Mild shame as I am in Dublin!

Locoteson 28 May 2004 at 17:45

Indeed a cagey answer. I’d be proud if it wasn’t being used to fob off a fellow Corkonian!I note as well that Mr. D is offering drinks to Mr. Waffle’s better half now – so even the bonds of marriage aren’t sacred to him!

jackdaltonon 28 May 2004 at 20:54

It would seem so… Wednesday over till Thursday afternoon / evening. Ah well, such is the way of the world…. maybe someother time.
And just for the record, Locotes, the coffee offer extends equally to MrW – blogsub extraordinaire. But the pink bear goes back into hibernation until some other opportunity presents…

belgianwaffleon 29 May 2004 at 14:53

Locotes, in the matter of rash extravagance, I have to fend off queries from all quarters. Jack, have conveyed news of the pink bear to the Princess and she is gutted. Alas, maybe next time?

First world joys and woes


Posted in: Family, Reading etc.

On Friday, Mr Waffle recovered from his life threatening sore throat and we went to Beloeil. It was lovely. We had the place to ourselves and the Princess could crawl at will over the Aubusson carpets. She also made a spirited effort to crawl into a number of the water features in the extensive grounds. In a further burst of energy, Saturday saw us heading off to Lille. We had a lovely lunch where the Princess was surrounded by adoring waitresses who entertained her, heated her lunch and ran down the street after her with the various soft toys which she had left strewn on their restaurant floor. After this excitement she, very obligingly, fell asleep allowing her parents an opportunity to admire the glories of Lille in peace. And finally, just as we reached our car it started to rain, having been beautifully fine up to then. Two perfect days- it just couldn’t last.

Saturday night we bought tickets for a lateish cinema showing and went to dinner. The film started at 9.40 and we only arrived at 9.45. The ever punctual (except when he’s with me) Mr. Waffle was tense. “Don’t worry, we’ll only miss trailers” I said. The film had started. It was the new Almodovar flick. We knew we were in the right film because there were Spanish speaking transvestites on screen. But the reviews I had read said it was about catholic schoolboys. Confusing. It was good but hard to follow. Obviously missing the first five minutes had made all the difference. After half an hour, it ended. I whispered to Mr. Waffle “see, I was right, it hadn’t started, that was obviously a short”. “Well then why is everyone leaving?” he hissed. It appears that we had inadvertently bought tickets for the 8.20 showing and when we arrived at 9.40 the idiot usher had sent us to that rather than the later showing. Suggestions that there are other idiots involved are unhelpful at this juncture. So, here we were. I was all gung ho to go to the 9.40 version but Mr. Waffle wouldn’t go “we’ve missed the first half hour, we’ve seen the last half hour and I’m not going for the half hour in the middle.” I seethed with impotent rage but I was forced to concede that he had a point.

We arrived home and I was still seething. It was my turn to drive the babysitter home and her innocent question as to how we enjoyed the film was met with a full description of our woes. When I had finished, I drew breath and asked how things were with her.

“Not so good. I was supposed to go to the Philippines for a month in June but now two of my employers won’t give me time off”

She is a middle aged lady with a husband and two teenage children in the Philippines. She works for three different families in Brussels and has been here 18 years. She has only seen her children once or twice a year since they were small. She hasn’t been home since Christmas.

“That’s terrible” I said.

“Yes,” she said “and it’s my 50th birthday on June 6 and my 25th wedding anniversary on June 24th and we had lots of things planned. I have to ring my husband tomorrow to tell him I can’t come.”

“Could he come to visit you here?”

“No, he can’t get a visa.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“This is my life.”

I came home to a sleeping husband and baby a chastened woman. Lucky me.

Comments
mamothingson 24 May 2004 at 22:44

That happens to immigrants the world over I suppose. A recent case of nanny-abuse is hitting the headlines over here. What a life!

jackdaltonon 25 May 2004 at 01:28

Know what you mean, ‘waffle…Is trom cearc i bhfad… 😉

belgianwaffleon 25 May 2004 at 21:22

On the missed film front, I thought you might like to know that “Lost in Translation” has finally come out on video.

Illness continues to stalk my household


Posted in: Mr. Waffle

You know the way yesterday’s entry disappeared, well here’s my loving spouse’s approximation of my style, because I couldn’t face retyping:”Disaster has struck. Mr Waffle, who was perfectly able to go to work yesterday, has decided to come down with an illness. Not a macho stop-you-in-your-tracks illness but a “sore throat” if you please. This emerged last night. To be fair to him (reluctant though I am to do so) he was tossing and turning all night and does appear to be in some pain. Today we cancelled the hotel and I spent virtually all day with the Princess while Mr Waffle recuperated.

The morning was somewhat trying. Today is Ascension Thursday, as the more God-fearing of my readers will know. I decided to combine several good deeds and go to Mass with the Princess, leaving Mr Waffle to nap at home. As the Princess wakes up at 6.30 we had no problem getting up early, and 9.30 saw us in front of my favourite church, the Notre Dame au Sablon. Inconveniently, the House of God was closed. Apparently they preparing for a special Mass for the Guild of Archers (Brussels has a lot of these odd guilds. Who joins the Guild of Archers these days ?)”

He got a bit tired of it after this, so you may never know what happened next, but you may award his text marks out of ten, should you so wish.

Comments
mamothingson 24 May 2004 at 08:24Fascinating. Ascension Day is barely recognised in Pagan Britain these days. Shame.
Angela(Homepage)on 24 May 2004 at 13:53

I would award several points for his ability to write in your clever style, but I fear that awarding him too many points might make you hesitant to return.
So, zero points. Zero!
I hope this message finds you all quite healthy and relaxed.

belgianwaffleon 24 May 2004 at 14:21OK Jack, MUCH too enthusiastic. He will be pleased though. However, Angela, you’ve got the right idea – zero points is the answer I was looking for.
Brightfield, Ireland is pagan as well, which let’s face it is much more shocking. Without wanting to sound really ancient, I think that we used to get a day off when I was in school but I suspect now they just labour on… poor little things.