Old Navy adventures

Today at Old Navy I saw a 1.2 yo with Utah hair. I kid you not.

Her. Hair. Was. Huge.

The thing is, I didn't even know that 1.2 yo's had much hair in the first place.

Apparently this one had enough for it to be round brushed, curled AND hair sprayed.

Seriously, isn't this the one and only time in your life when you can get away with being wild and stinky?

Sightings at Starbucks

He walks in. Baggy pants, huge white shoes. Football jersey. 2 hoop earrings dangle under his baseball cap as he walks up to the counter at Starbucks. He orders, he waits while looking around the room with his piercing blue eyes. The lady with the black artsy hair hands him his drink. He turns around and leaves with forceful walk.

Team of football jersey: BYU Cougars
Logo on baseball cap: Y

I'm back!

so after spending a rough month trying to settle in, i'm finally back to the bloggo-sphere.

I started byu! yes i did! And after a minor crisis of faith/culture/direction the first week, i'm doing quite well. A few items of notice:

1. the majority of BYU males are not quite...belgian. meaning they don't seem to be quite used to the fact a female doesn't jump from the sidewalk just to make way for him. or when a female dominates a conversation. just to name a few examples.

2. HOLY. EVERYONE. LOOKS. THE. SAME. I mean, on occasion you spot those euro/eastcoasters/large city people, but in general everyone dresses and looks the same.

3. I had to help a journalist from the daily universe SPELL. you want to know the word? It was Bias. B.I.A.S. I, ellen, the foreigner who doesn't know how to spell without the use of Spell Check.

4. I'm really enjoying it. No really. I knew the transition from belgium to provo wouldn't go as smooth, but as a hole i really enjoy byu. i really enjoy it because, on random occasions, you meet someone who thinks kind of like you. and who understands that the people who scream the loudest aren't always the ones that are right. and that makes me smile.

more later.

Hippies from Holland

Wisdom's from a hippie family on TV:

"We focus too much on our differences. People always point out differences and tell us to embrace them. Why focus so much on differences? Shouldn't we embrace our similarities? Why is it easier to notice our differences, instead of what we have in common. In the end we are all people with a heart."

I thought that was nicely put.

peace and love.

I'm now going to continue packing.

My forehead is a phenomenon

A while back my mom and I went to Brussels to do some shopping. Around 6PM she took the train back to Antwerp, and I took the train back to Namur.
While waiting for my train, I remarked that a train on the other side was filled with children, all going to Gent. I also remarked that they were waving to the people on my platform. Seeing their attempts did not bring forth any fruit, I carefully waved back to the little Gentenese. The small blond girl, who had taken the initiative, bounced off her seat and screamed something to her friends. Soon the window was filled with young girls, pressing their faces against the gloomy windows. Some bored boys wanted to see what all the commotion was about, and squeezed their faces against the window too. At this point, I was highly entertained by the fact that a few friendly smiles and waves could be such a big deal.

That probably also explained the fact that everyone standing around me had now moved a couple of feet away...

Rainy days

We've officially been summer for 14 days. It has been raining for 21 consecutive days.

I have complained about the rain 3 times so far. One of those times was when I was barely awake and thought it was December 25th.

These are my usual thoughts when another shower strikes:

"Rain! My hair might look nicer!"

"Rain! Great! It'll fill the reservoir!--wait.."

One learns not to complain about rain when one has lived in Utah for 1/3 of her life.

This is one of those 'what would you do' posts

For the past two consecutive days i've seen mothers react to their child's misbehavior rather...violently.

ya'll know what i'm talking about. a kid is misbehaving in public, and the parent responds with a very public showing of hitting and screaming.

1. I was taking the tram home on Wednesday when a young mother was standing in the handicapped section with a (approx.) 2yo girl in a stroller and a 4yo boy. 2yo is kind of kicking the bag of mom from stroller. mom starts shacking the stroller, yelling some rude things at kid in dialect. a little later boy starts to unintentionally squeeze a finger of 2yo between this thingie to keep wheelchairs from rolling (it's kind of hard to describe what it is, but just go with it). 2yo isn't in that much pain, but still screams hysterically cuz it's her older brother doing it. mom pushes the boy really hard, grabs his coat, shakes him back and forth and slaps him on the head as well. everyone on the tram is discretely staring, but boy seems to find this a daily activity.

2. I was standing guard by our car in namur when a woman walked past me. clinging to her was a 6yo girl who was just 'crying' for the sake of crying. obviously she had been punished before for doing something wrong and was sorry and frustrated at the fact that she made her mom angry (or so i think. i'm not sure if you should trust my child psychology). right when they had passed me, the woman GRABS the girl's HAIR, pulls it back really hard, yells a few things in french at her (ta gueule) and then throws her head back forward by means of her hair. the girl, now feels even worse than before, but her attempts to give her mom a hug are answered by some more 'ta gueule's'.

Of course parents can have a bad day, get frustrated...i totally understand that.
Obviously we should cut parents some slack. i'm not a parent, or far from becoming one.
Everyone has their own way of punishing kids. some parents are the talking kind, others tend to be more physical, and others parents take away rights and privileges. i'm fine with all that. every kid is different, and good parents probably know best.

But the two cases i'm describing to you here are extremes. clearly all the outsiders in the 2 stories were a little shocked by the way these people punished their kids.

so what would you do? Let's say you're...old and experienced? would you go up to the parents (personally i think it's a very bad idea to approach a parent in times of rage) and tell them that they are wrong? or would you stare at them, and give them the worst evil glare you have in store? or just walk by and try not to think about their situation at home?

I hate situations like this.

Satellite dishes

An observation:

People who actively practice a religion are more likely to invest in a satellite dish.
Seriously, drive through some neighborhoods of Antwerp or Brussels, and dishes seem to be the dominant thing on the 28-story apartments.

says the girl who bumbed her head against a dish when she was trying to get the garden hose to work :-)

Public Transportation Pondrings

Sometimes thoughts come to me as I ride the bus/train/tram/bike/back seat of the Volvo.
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Today I bought some poetry.
Yes, I BOUGHT it.
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Question: Ellen, what country do you identify the most with?
Answer: Well, I consider myself to be like a cameleon. I seem to adapt everywhere I go, and I don't like to label my actions and behavior to one specific area.
Responding Question: But how can you have a concrete personality then?
Responding Answer: Well, a cameleon will always remain a 'cameleon,' no matter what color it takes.
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Why are pregnant women who smoke not charged with child abuse?

By the way: I added a whole bunch of new stuff to my Deviant Art.

It's the final countdown

So it's Spring. And I'm very happy. I don't leave the house anymore without my camera. I'm so excited to wear shoes without socks again, and have bleeding feet for the next 6 months.
But really. I love nature.
So General Conference starts in 15 minutes. I have windows for KSL and BYU TV open, and I'm ready to hit the 'Download Live' button as soon as my computer clock turns to 6:00PM. GC till midnight! Gotta love time differences With a 2 hour break in between, no worries people.
I remember as a kid in Belgium my parents would actually dust off the satellite dish for conference, and after much cussing (dang, fetch...) we'd finally get the familiar message: "This is the English Language Channel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If you are having technical difficulties, please call the number listed in your operator instructions."
I think I must have been about 7 or 8 years old when I had remembered this whole thing by heart. My English was prefect back then.

My parents would tape these conferences, and I'd listen with a half an ear in the kitchen, painting. Aaaaah...memories.

and now we are back in Antwerp, watching GC on my big screen laptop. aaah...i'm feeling all pioneer-y.

let's just hope my Internet is not going to explode.

I wish there was a way to photograph smell

this morning, i left my studio bright and early, to get some school supplies. my Ins-and-Outs syllabus exploded yesterday, and since there is not way to fix it, i decided that it was time to add yet another binder to the collection.

so i was walking through the old streets of namur, to the Club store, when it occurred to me. The streets smelled like burned toast and coffee.

i nearly died and went to heaven.

I'm using my dutch grammar books as a cookie tray

Yes, I should be doing my blasted Dutch grammar homework, but I just grabbed a couple of Prince cookies. And it seems to me, that the amount of chocolate has been doubled! hooray! Now I don't feel bad about sinning! This is an unpredictable situation! It's not my fault I'm getting fat. It's those darned people who put more chocolate in the cookies then usual!

Speaking of chocolate:

Happy V-day everyone! Or S.A.D. . whatever you're comfy with.

my V-day was fine i guess. I went to the library to study my enlgish grammar. It's a syllabus of more than 200 pages. After an hour and a half of carefully analyzing everything, I stopped at page 10. Which actually isn't too bad. I've just got an awfully long way to go.
Not to mention I have that dutch project due. And we got ANOTHER group project assigned to us in English. Max. 3 people in a group. I kind of hope I end up being the 5th wheel or something, and that I'm told I'm supposed to do the project alone.

I loath group projects.

Anyway, so everyone here in Belgium has a boyfriend/girlfriend. EVERYONE!!
Even the people of whom you'd think have no interest whatsoever in having a romantic fling, where talking about how they were having a hard time finding the 'perfect gift.'
People kept on asking me all day, if I missed my boyfriend in Les États-Unis. When I replied I didn't have one, they kind of gave me the "you're a looser" look. I guess every country has a different qualification of "looser." In America it's the way you dress and talk, here it depends on your Romantic Status. Or at least I have made this observation.

So our class has another couple! Numero 2. Not that this is much importance to me, but apparently it's a big deal. Apparently it's kind of odd to have your BF/GF in the same class as you. especially in collage. I guess, that if/when you break up with him/her, the 'seeing-them-every-day' might create a discommodious situation.
I guess Belgians try to have a professional environment on the work floor? even if the work floor is..well...covered in dictionaries and syllabi?

Ok, well I better get back to my homework. If I finish my dutch grammar right now, I can read the story for English lit tomorrow morning. Because we need to have read it by tomorrow afternoon.

I know I can't get away with these things at BYU...

Just a thought

so you know how people are always complaining that there is nothing on TV, except for re-runs?

then why do people buy the DVD box sets of TV shows?? the only difference is that you have no commercials. which means you don't get a potty/kitchen break!

people are so strange sometimes...

Librarians, the new Google

So today, as I was packing up my laptop in it's case, I was thinking: Librarians are the same everywhere. From Provo, to Namur, to Orem... It's some kind of secret code. An underground collaboration. They all seem to dress the same, they talk the same. Anyway, so while I was thinking about this, I was walking through the security machine with all my stuff, when it suddenly goes off. I think it might just have been my cell phone, so I'm in the middle of taking it out, when one of the older librarian ladies tells me I have a book. Well, I do. I checked it out a couple of days ago. So I'm trying to make this clear to her, but she DOESN'T LET ME FREAKING FINISH MY SENTANCE!!! Well, finally I'm able to tell her that I checked this book out a while ago, and that MAYBE SHE COULD CHECK HER COMPUTER??? But honestly, I was trying to explain it to her, she could tell my French is far from perfect, so at least let me finish my sentence! I mean, you're asking for an explanation, so let me give it to you! Seriously, this is such a trademark of French speakers. I swear, there is no such thing as a French, a Wallonia, a Quebequise...They are all French speakers, and that should just be a nationality of its own. They love to listen to themselves talk, and they do not give people to the time to say something. If you don't speak going 678 MPH, it's not even worth listening to you.
Anyway, back to how librarians were going to take over the world.
While interrupting me, she tells me, that when I take a checked-out book back into the library to read, and I'm going to take it out again, I need to leave the ticket in the book. After giving me an evil glare, she let's me go without too much of a fuss, while she yells at the girl behind me that she needs to leave her water bottle in the locker. That's strange...all the other librarians let us take drinks in. Actually, it is totally against the law to prohibit someone from drinking water. It's a human essential. Or at least I heard something like that.

So the conclusion of the day:
1.Librarians belong to a secret collaboration.
2. French is a uniting language.