Overflowing Ashtray / Comments

Stupid me once again posted on my own page... How do I keep doing that? You'd think that after about 5 times I would have learned not to :).

That Christian terrorists makes my blood run cold. I understand how some Christians don't believe in abortion, but the Bible clearly states that you can't kill anyone. The Ten Commandments are pretty clear about that. Just because you don't agree with something or don't believe in it, doesn't give you the right to just start killing people. That person should have known better, God doesn't want us to decide about who must die and who can live. Stories like that really give me the worst kind of goosebumps.
That story from San Bernardino was on the news here as well. I had to think of you, because it was in California, but I didn't know it was that close to where you live. I understand what you mean though. I hear stories about Muslims being approached hatefully every single day. Some of my pupils do it as well. It helps when there is a Mulsim in their class, so I can refer to that kid and it's parents who they also know. They are still the same people they've always been and they don't like what's happening now either. Yesterday, I read in the paper that 20% of the Belgian citizens think our multicultural national football team is a bad influence on children. I was utterly shocked! I use our national team to explain Apartheid to my third graders. They are astounded that only 25 years ago, black people weren't allowed to do the same things as white people. And they can't imagine our national team without let's say Kompany or Origi or Lukaku. That's the only sane reaction Apartheid. To me, it seems those 20% want to go back to an Apartheid like system. I really don't understand how people can act that way and how they can live with themselves. Don't people from every religion want basically the same things? Don't they all have almost the same values? To stay in the spirit of the season, the wrapping might be a little different, but the package is quite similar.
I read something about that no fly list, but that people on it can buy guns. That just doesn't make sense. Like you said, if they can't be trusted on a plane, they can't be trusted with guns either.
There's another similarity between our cars! They're both Toyotas. I've got an almost 16 year old Avensis. I haven't given mine a name though. It's just my sweetheart and I call him that as well. Also no one is allowed to say something bad about my sweetheart. I am the only person allowed to do that. If someone else does , I won't speak to them for at least a week.
My clothes aren't too shabby, mostly because I love shopping. I've paid for all of them myself though, except for maybe the occasional birthday present. That satisfaction you mentioned is very recognizable.
I even bundle up in a blanket during summer. Well, not when it's boiling hot outside, but when it's bellow 70 or 65°, I get my blanket out.
Ah, Christmas food, the songs, the lights, the trees, I love it all. I think we'll get our tree sometime in the next week. The 6th of December we celebrate Saint Nicholas, who is pretty much our equivalent for Santa, and after he left the country and went back to Spain, we put up our tree. It's a tradition by now to wait until Saint Nicholas left.
By American standards, I think it's safe to say my brother lives rather close. By Belgian standards it's pretty much the other side of the country. The drive over takes a little under an hour. Well, that's not exactly the other side of Belgium, because I live in the centre of it, but where my brother lives really is close to the border with the Netherlands.

Indeed, my colleague also stressed that now media are constantly talking about muslim terrorists, but never about christian or jewish terrorists, while not all crimes are commited by muslims. She now feels slightly stigmatized because of that. Yesterday, I read an article about a Muslima in England who was verbally attacked by someone on the train. That man started calling her a terrorist, that she should get back to her own country and that she had no reason to be in his country. He even told her she should get off the train because he didn't want to be in her presence. If I were there, I would have been furious, my blood would be boiling! Thank God there were also some sane people in that carriage, telling that man to stop what he was doing and that he should be the one to get off the train if he didn't want to be in that muslima's presence. At the next stop, he was the one to get off, not her. That man's actions, that's exactly what the media are creating with calling them muslim terrorists...
Every time I see Trump on tv, I can almost feel bile rising up. The things he says are just so ignorant and just plain stupid! Wow, I never even heard of teachers needing guns in class. I can't imagine carrying a gun with me, let alone use it... That is the perfect way to let kids feel unsafe at school, knowing their teachers have guns with them. Ethically, that is just so wrong on so many levels! I completely agree with your vision on weapons, with the background checks and such. But maybe that would entail many of those people like Trump would not be allowed to have guns. That must be why they don't want those legislations...
He sounds exactly like what would happen to a lazy bum with a rich dad who spoils him rotten. I do have to say, I drive a car that I got from my parents. It's my dad's old car and when I just started working he bought a new one and I got this one. I couldn't afford to buy one and my parents didn't just want to buy me a new one. But I couldn't be happier, because I love my car. It's old, almost falling apart, almost 320,000 kilometers on the mileage recorder, but I don't care. I dread the day it won't start anymore or something like that. Not because I can't buy a new one, but I've been driving that car for 7 years now and I'd just miss that car. But apart from that, I had to work for everything that I've got. I've never gotten anything without having to do something for it. Thankfully, most people have been raised like that and have not been spoiled rotten.
Today has been a dry one and I've loved it. Going outside, wearing a winter coat, and getting some fresh air, that's the most perfect reviver I can imagine. And now, I'm watching the Davis Cup final, bundled up in a blanket, although, inside it's still about 65° or even a bit warmer. Some parts about winter I do like and bundling up under a blanket is one of them.
Thank you for wishing me a happy Thanksgiving. Even though I don't celebrate it, I can still think of a number of things I am thankful for. I hope you enjoyed that ham and those tamales!

That is certainly a smart move. So much food warrants freedom from pants. haha.

It has been ages! I'm great and you? Also happy thanksgiving!

I don't think that flying us out to the US would really help, but I wouldn't mind making the trip :). No, we just wanted to let the kids talk about their feelings and make sure they are informed correctly. It's easy to be misguided by everything they hear in the media. We asked them what terrorists look like and they gave a description of a lot of Muslims. Like all bearded man with a slightly more tan complexion are in fact terrorists. While someone said they all have beards, some other kid said his dad also had a beard. Thank you very much, that's exactly what we wanted to teach them. And, to be fair, they don't all have beards, that one guy they are still looking for here in Belgium, doesn't have a beard.
I've seen one of the Republican debates and Donald Trump, among others, really sickens me. Hearing him say that if people at Le Bataclan had guns, nothing would have had happened, really angered me. Like the terrorists wouldn't have killed people whether the concert goers had guns or not. Answering violence with even more violence isn't the answer and will never be the answer. But that's just my opinion.
Now I know what happened to the awful one. Somehow I always forgot to ask and eventually even forgot about it alltogether, until last week. I'm really happu for you that you don't have to deal with him anymore and that there's someone you can actually count on.
Now temperatures here have dropped to around 35°, with bouts of rain and I'm not liking that. I can handle the cold on it's own, I'm just really not fond of rain.
In case I don't talk to you anymore before Thursday, I already want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving! I hope you'll have great time.

This morning, my colleagues from Islam and humanism and I put all our kids from one class together to talk about what happened. One of my colleagues said that people now once again look at Muslims differently. This one kid sitting next to me was really upset about that, because those kids from his class were still the same and they're not terrorists. That was exactly what we hoped to achieve after that class. Not all Muslims are terrorists, on the contrary. The Islam teacher even said that according to her, they aren't even Muslims, because killing people is not encouraged by the Koran and that they will never arrive in paradise. Having her there to help the kids understand a bit more about the Islam was certainly a huge advantage.
They might have captured him during a raid in Saint-Denis near Paris yesterday, but I'm not entirely sure about it. No names of people captured or killed have yet been released. We'll see what they say when they release any names.
I feel a little less paranoid than I did yesterday. That was mostly due to being alone all day.
And yes, that kid hiding under his desk broke my heart a bit, but I can't really blame him. He's seen nothing but Paris for half a week and he just didn't know what else to do because of it. I really do hope he'll go back to his usual "let's play football together during recess" self.
Finally you have a good fellow assistant! I remember how little one of your previous fellow assistants did, I'm happy this is a good one.
Haha, low to mid sixties isn't t-shirt weather in my book, but it's also definitely not winter gear weather either. That's the kind of temperature where we have to convince the kids at school they have to wear a light jacket during recess. If we let them, they would just go outside wearing just shorts and a t-shirt.
I'd laugh at that man wrapped in a blanket to get the mail. Just the thought of it already makes me smile :).

The first week after the break didn't really end well. That is to say, the Belgian Red Devils defeated Italy, I went for dinner with some colleagues, which was a lot of fun. But as soon as I checked social media, that happy feeling was gone. I really don't understand how anyone can say they act like this in name of Islam, while, as far as I know, Islam is a peacefull religion.
As far as I know, one of the main suspects still hasn't been found, he's who they have been looking for in Brussels and Molenbeek. None of the people I know were actually affected by what happened and we don't live close to where he is said to be in hiding, but still, every unexpected sound scares me senseless. Yesterday, an F16 jet (or something like that) flew over and one of my pupils literally hid under his table in class. I have to tell them (the kids) that stuff like what happened in Paris only happens sometimes and the chances of it happening again so soon and so close to where we live are small, but honestly, I'm a bit scared myself. Stupid me is letting them win by being scared. At the moment I'm home alone and usually, that's no problem, but with that one guy still on the loose, I'm not feeling too comfortable on my own. I've really 'bunkered up', all the doors are locked, the drapes are still closed, ... I'm being completely paranoid and I'm fully aware of that fact, but at the moment, I just can't help it.
On Monday, we held a minute of silence at school at noon, with all of our kids and the silence was just deafening. I've never known them to all be quiet and on Monday they were. That was a weird feeling honestly, it kind of teared me up how they all seemed to understand that what happened was really bad. Now that I think of it, I've been on the verge of tears since Saturday, when it all really settled in what actually happened.
Rereading what I've already typed makes me realise there's a lot of feelings I really needed to get out. Sorry for the rambling though, but I'm kind of glad I got it out.

On to more positive things now. You still had a week to spare to get settle that big case. Seems like you all put in a great effort there :). You should get down to your craft beer store and get yourself some goodies to celebrate settling that case with. You deserve it!
Over here, we still have higher than usual for this time a year temperatures. Not that I'm complaining about that though, I love not freezing at the mere thought of having to go outside.

We are all okay, although I must say we are all (a little) shaken up about it. This one really hit close to home, more than the raid at Charlie Hebdo at the beginning of the year.

Yes there is, it's one of my favourites really. It's called Desperados and it's yummy. There's also rum flavoured beer that's pretty good called Cubanisto.
Low seventies is pretty much T-shirt weather here. I went to an amusement park yesterday, it was around 65° and I walked around wearing only a light jumper. We even did all the water attraction and got quite wet and it was all good, not too cold. I do have to admit I'm now sitting on the couch bundled up in a blanket as well, but I always get cold feet (literally), so that's why.
I've been great, thanks. Enjoying the last few hours of fall break. This week has really flown by, even though I didn't really do that much. I even found the time to plan some lessons for the coming week.
How have you been?

I’m so impatient now! You definitely have a devoted reader here. I’ll stick with Paulina till the end, her story is way too interesting for me to abandon it. Ah, I’m excited for what’ll happen.

I totally get that you’re excited for Halloween. Every good excuse to dress up is good. I love it. I hope the party was good, because there’s nothing better than having a reason to get dolled up.

There’s nothing wrong with being fickle. Take it from someone who went to uni, graduated, went back, graduated again and then decided to go back again, and who doesn’t even work in the field she chose first. You have to do the things you want to do, because as cliché as it may sound, life’s too short to not do it. So if you have the opportunity to do something that you want to do, do it. I completely understand you, and it’s better to stop when you realize that you don’t want to do it anymore than to continue it and be unhappy.

And yes, one of the best things about Spain is totally the ham. I don’t even like ham that much, or I didn’t, but it’s only because in Belgium it turns out that it’s not that good. I never knew it before I tasted some here, and was like ‘what? What’s this? Is this ham? Is this how ham is supposed to taste? I think I’m in love!’ I could eat it every day. Near my apartment, there’s a place where they do toastas with ham and pimiento that I would kill for. I’m living in La Rioja, so I suppose their wine is pretty good too, but as I don’t drink, I couldn’t certify it.

I’m here with a program that sends native people to help language teachers in Spain, so I’m working as an assistant to French teachers in two different schools. It’s a bit hectic, but I kind of like it. Schools in Spain are much more relaxed than in Belgium. They call their teachers by their name, for example, which I love since I kind of dislike my surname. I also only work 12 hours a week, so even with the classes that I have to prepare, I have plenty of time to explore. Sadly, I haven’t had much time to do so, since the first month involved a lot of paperwork, two trips to the local foreign office, having to find a place to stay (I arrived here with only two nights booked in a pilgrim’s hostel and no idea what I was going to do after that. I’ll let you imagine how stressful that was). Hopefully it’s all sorted now, and I can start to enjoy living abroad a bit more.

I haven’t met many attractive locals yet. Haven’t met many locals, actually, since most of the people I’ve met are part of the same program and are either French, English or American. Most of the locals I met are the teachers at my schools, and they’re… meh, not that attractive and also not that young. But yeah, if I met any that looked like that, I wouldn’t hesitate.

Also, to answer the question in your previous message, I’m not sure the driver exam in Belgium is harder than anywhere else. It’s fucking annoying, though. You first have to pass the theory exam, then there are two options. You can either learn with a family member or someone you know, and in that case you get a 36 month temporary license, but you can only drive with someone who’s had their license for 8 years or more. The other possibility is to pay for 20 hours of driving lessons, and then they give you a 18 month temporary license, and you can drive alone. The practical exam takes place anytime between 3 months after you’ve passed the theory and the expiration of your temporary license. It usually lasts 40 minutes, and you have to drive in town and do a series of maneuvers. And honestly whether you succeed or not depends on the examiner a lot. I feel like I drove a lot better the time I failed than when I succeeded.

I’ve looked at the two hotels you mentioned. Oh, dear… everything’s so pretty! It’s impossible not to want to spend some time there. I completely understand you! How funny would it be to meet in Ireland! I know it sounds completely improbable, but something similar happened to me when I was in Madrid the other day for a meeting at the Belgian Embassy: I met a girl who went to school with my sister, so weird things happen…

There are lush and green parts in Belgium, but not everywhere. I sometimes feel like I live in the middle of nowhere, in some way too small village, but it could be a lot more middle of nowhere.
Mexican beer can be good as well. I've only ever tasted the ones in the ab-Inbev portfolio, but it was good. I really thought one of my favourite beers was Mexican, turns out it's 'invented' in France. The tequila in it was what threw me off...
I like the sound of that switch! I'll have to disappoint you though, the weather is back up to a good 55°. On Monday, it's even said to go back up more to 65°, although that's just for one day. No matter what though, here it's colder than in Southern California!

First things first, sorry for the late reply. I'd managed To Forget the damn password. Again. I am also on my phone and the damn thing keeps correcting everything by replacing it with french terms. So i apologize for any weird thing that might pop up in the middle or a sentence.
Yes i'd read a whole séries about paulin in politics. Or watch it as a Tv show! And i dont care about spoilers. I want all the spoilers!!! Yes!
I think i've mixed somme things in my last comment. It made it seem like i had gone to spain for 8 months and come back. I got here 1 month ago and still have 7 To go. This phone is driving me mad. I ' ll write more when i can get near a computer.

I also want To hear more about what's been going on for you.

That's it i'm throwing this phone out the window.

We didn't complain about it really, it wouldn't have made a difference anyway. And I too expected to see animals, but there were none, except for one donkey owned by a person from one of the villages we drove through.
Enjoy all the beery goodness :).
Belgians don't really know how to drive in the rain either, including myself. Belgium is a small country, so when they say on the radio that there is 250 miles worth of traffic jams, it is sure to be raining. On a sunny day, it averages around about 100 miles, so 250 is a lot.
Here, temperatures have dropped dramatically to about 40°. I want summer back! I really don't like cold(er) weather! Not that it's going to get better anytime soon...

So as part of the monster goodie bag thing that Mibba's doing, I had to write a drabble for someone. Since you liked the Steve Rogers one-shot I made for you, I guess you can say that I kinda made a small, drabble sequel. It's short, and not all that great, but I hope you like it!

Fall in Her Eyes

I'll keep my fingers crossed in hopes of getting those stricter gun laws in at least California.
Our hotel was located about 10 miles outside of Alanya itself, but it was still a nice area at the beach. Well, there was no wildlife to be seen, that's one of the reasons why it was a bit dissappointing. We drove through the mountains, but still on actual roads. We went off road twice, for about 5 minutes each time and 3 of those 5 minutes were spent waiting for the 24 other jeeps to have there 30 seconds of off road experience. There were about 25 jeeps all driving in one long column, all with music blaring from the speakers. We were also told our driver/guide would speak Dutch, but he only spoke German, which is as different from Dutch as Portuguese is different from Spanish. It wasn't all stupid, but it really wasn't what we expected from it.
There was fruit as well, it's not like it was all greasy food, but that's what stays with me the most.
Kriek is honestly my favourite kind of beer. I know I've specifically mentioned the Belle Vue brand, mostly because of the fact that's the Kriek beer that's being brewed at AB Inbev, where my dad works. My favourite Kriek isn't Belle Vue though, but Kriek Lindemans. If you happen to find either at that specialty beer store, let me know what you think! Now I'm curious as to know your opinion :).
Thank you! After I sent you that last comment, I started wondering if it sounded like I was fishing for compliments, so just so you know, that wasn't my intention! I just wanted to explain why the chocolates were there.
Now the temperature is good, though, in a few weeks, it's going to be a lot colder and I don't really like the cold. I'm dreading the day I'll wake up to a fresh sheet of snow. Unless it only snows on days I don't have anywhere to be, then I'm good with snow. Otherwise, not so much.
Let's hope you'll get back to about 70° soon, so you don't have to be so hot anymore!

Also, I didn't visit any cool places. But I swear that next year I'm going back to Ireland.

I kind of want cheddar broccoli soup now. It sounds delicious.

I'm still amazed whenever I read 90's and 100's. I don't think I could survive this. We've reached 93 this summer and I was dying! And I'm not joking. I was literally lying on the ground on the tiled floor because that was the coldest place.

My summer was... challenging. A lot of things happened at the same time and I was unable to do everyhing (I mean I was whining like a baby to my mom, on the phone). I added a certificate in intagible heritage to my degree (and of course I had a 50 pages dissertation to write et procrastinated like a pro) and had to pass the exam for my driving licence because the temporary one that I was using was expiring (and I failed, twice, before I got it).

And then I moved to Spain for 8 months. That has been quite difficult, because it appears that my spanish is not as good as I thought it was.

What have you been doing this summer?

I know it's in the constitution that every American is allowed to have a gun, but just letting everyone buy semi-automatic weapons and such is just wrong. It's not easy to change constitution, but it should be possible to adapt it, so people can only buy handguns or guns meant for hunting. At least, that's how I think about it.

Paulina being a mix of those two does indeed sound like something good. I applaude you for campaigning for Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton. And as far as the primaries go, follow your heart. Crap advice, I know, but it's the best I've got :).

We went to Alanya, about 75 miles from Antalya. We pretty much spent 6 days at a poolside or at the beach and we went on a jeep safari. The safari sounds a lot cooler than it actually was though, not that it was a bad thing. The food was okay, but rather greasy. For breakfast for example, there was deepfried french toast, for desert at lunch and dinner, there were fritters, ... My brothers took a lot of pictures and they said they would upload them on facebook, but they haven't yet. Pictures are not really my thing to take, I'm no good at it.
They did appreciate it. When they first got back to school, they were absolutely in awe. That was a lot of fun to see.

I'm glad you like your new house. Too bad it's in such a hot place. It didn't bother me too much when we were in Turkey, although it was a good 20° difference to what I'm used to. Only being there for a week might have helped. Any longer and it probably would have bothered me.
I do know Duvel, but I don't drink it too often. If I've had 3 of them in my life, it would be a lot. I do like Stella Artois, Jupiler, Kriek Belle Vue (beer with cherries), Boscoli (beer with red fruits), ...
Now that you mention chocolate, today is the international teachers' day and our new principal brought Belgian chocolates for us. They were so good. And yes, I said 'were'. Me and my colleagues all have a bit of a sweet tooth, so they didn't last very long :).
Death by beer and chocolates doesn't sound too bad to be honest.

Pff, in Turkey it was about 95° and that was hot enough for me. As of today, it got a lot colder again here. I think we didn't get higher than about 55°. I'm glad I have a jacket I can wear!

Good to know I can still judge a character, fictional or not :). I have to admit I don't know enough about American politics to fully grasp the meaning of that Lyndon B. Johnson and Bobby Kennedy fusion, but I'll think of it as a good thing.
I've been quite alright. Summer was good, nice weather, fun week off in Turkey (where the weather was even better), ... I even went to school a few times to help paint the playground walls. It looks a whole lot better now, even though I'm not really a great painter whatsoever.
How have you been?

Glad you liked it
How are you doing? It's been ages!