Mass in Spanish

Christmas morning is rather a dull affair in Spain. The morning of the 25th is usually reserved for recovering in bed from the eating frenzy that occurred the night before. There is actually quite a practical reason for this, as the eating frenzy starts again 15 hours later for Christmas Lunch. As for me, I love Christmas mornings, so leaving my poor boyfriend to recover alone in bed I decided to join his parents for Christmas Mass at the village church (partly to stave off boredom and partly to please my mother thousands of kilometers away….yes I’m an adult and I am still afraid of her).

15 minutes into the Church service and after enduring the curious glances of everyone in the room (I was the only foreigner), I recalled a conversation I once had with an Australian boyfriend of my aunt in Church, who happened to be in Manila for the holidays. As the Mass was in Filipino I assured him that the process was pretty much the same as the English version. You get up, you sit down, you kneel once, you get up, you kneel again, get the bread, do the sign of the cross and leave. Yes the process is the same regardless of the language.

So even though the mass was in Spanish and I did not understand one word uttered by the priest, I pretty much could follow the whole process; when to say the amens and when to perform the sign of the crosses etc. It was strangely comforting to be in that church that morning, to know that even though I am away from my family this year that some traditions bind me to them, regardless of the continent, the country and the language.

2008 Christmas Charity Lunch

So its been more than a month since my last post. So much for my resolve to update my blog every week:) Oh well one can always keep trying. I forgive myself (no use crucifying myself over my lack of discipline).

As Christmas is round the corner I have just completed my annual Christmas gathering. This time it was a lunch and my chosen charity (instead of the traditional gift giving) was a school feeding program in the Philippines organized by the guy behind the famous Market Manila blog.

We raised quite of bit of money for the charity, so thanks to all those who came and contributed (much appreciated). While the money we raised will not feed every deserving kid, it will definitely go a long way.

Merry Christmas everyone and a wonderful New Year!!!

When Politeness has a Motive

So I'm walking home from the gym with my pain quotidien coffee, happy that I had managed to wake up early for class, when a lady approaches me and starts speaking to me. I was a bit startled, because in Europe no one is that friendly. She had an American accent and she was genuinely quite pleasant. After a minute or two of chatting she asks if I'm Buddhist…I’m Asian so of course it was an easy assumption. I told her no, I'm Roman Catholic...then I knew it...as soon as I said I was Roman Catholic she started to inform me that there was a Jehovah's center near by and that if I was interested I should go over there and they would teach me about the bible.

I kept on smiling and thinking in my head that I have had 10 years of catholic school teaching and I roughly knew what the bible looked like. Why do people do this...why is it so necessary to try to convert others? Religion is a private matter.

This is the third time this has happened to me. I'm usually an easy target of the Mormon Utah boys who walk around Merode trying to catch unsuspecting shoppers. My European boyfriend thinks it’s my fault for smiling too much and generally being way too approachable.

While this lady continues to talk about my need to be enlightened, I continue drinking my coffee, nodding and smiling politely at her…and thinking…that I still have not learnt my lesson.

The 4 year itch

I know the title is weird…but it reflects how I feel.

It has just dawned on me recently that I have been in Brussels for almost four years (not necessarily in the same apartment, but that is a different story). I can no longer be classified as foreign to this place, and that’s when the panic started. Four weeks ago I started to feel this sense of being trapped, roughly the same feeling I had just before I left Manila.

So after looking at the map of Europe rather obsessively, looking for another city to flee to, I just realized, that compared to the other cities in Europe…Brussels definitely has it strong points. Nothing is perfect, but if put on spectrum, Brussels would definitely rank better than most cities in the EU.

Some random plus points of Brussels:

Eating and drinking out
You can get a great meal here without having to break the bank. I have friends based in the Nordics and when they tell me how much a meal + drinks can cost (and not even a great meal) I now understand why people are depressed over there.

Meeting people
I’m not talking about meeting EU institution people…that’s a given, they are everywhere (a lot of people liken them to some sort of college secret society). Aside from that, there are quite a few multinationals, NGOs and small consulting firms based here. Meeting people in Brussels is definitely not hard.

Parks & Sports Facilities
I currently live in an area where I have access to two large public sports complexes. One of them even has an Olympic sized pool. So on Saturday mornings I can literally roll out of my bed and into the pool in less than 5 minutes (okay you have to walk faster in Europe).

The parks over here are not just meant for great picnics, or for ardent dog lovers, all major parks here are great for the social/semi obsessive runners. The views are amazing and the trails (depending on which one you take) are quite challenging (I’m not saying I do any of this…but I have the option (LOL).

Transportation
The metros in Brussels are not necessarily the largest but compared to other undergrounds they are definitely better. Perhaps my standards are low, but when I enter the Brussel's underground I do not feel that the walls are going to cave in (I always feel that when I'm in the London underground).

Languages
Okay I’m going to get shot here, but at least in Brussels, while foreigners are encouraged to learn one of the three official languages, you are not going to be crucified if your language skills are less than perfect. Of course, I’m speaking from a social perspective, some companies here use it as their first filter for job applicants, which can be a pain at times (but then again is their country…I’m going to be first person to complain though when I get rejected based on language skills).

So after compiling this list of plus points for Brussels, I feel, that at least for now, that my marriage to Brussels will continue.