Summer!

……means 2 months of school holidays and day camps for the little one. Also, it means I will hardly have time to myself. Like most parents, we have planned well in advance to keep N busy throughout her school holiday. Thank God for summer festivals here, which I love! Having come from a one season country,  living in a continent that has 4 seasons is great. I have learnt how to appreciate the summer time, although I still need to learn how to withstand the heat, I have come to love all things that summer brings besides the promised warm & dry weather ; ) - open air concerts, festivals, markets, day trips, food fairs, BBQ parties AND our trip back home to the far east.

What do you do..........

......when a threat gets too close to home?

I have always lived in a very safe country (in fact, one of the safest in the world and one of the cleanest too). When I first came here, I did not have any culture shock BUT I was shocked with seeing how filthy it is here. Not only rubbish but graffiti especially. But that’s a story for another time.

In recent years, the threat of danger (comes in different packages here – crazy guy knifed nursery teachers and her class full of children, another one started shooting people in public and then turned the gun on himself and then there’s the self exploding guy!) have become more present. When I realize how close this is to where we live, I can’t help but feel threaten and a great sense of fear, mostly for my significant other and our little one. Front page news screams with gory photos and headlines. I come from a country where the front page headlines or the entire paper itself, is made up of crimes like- snatch thief, cheating cases, fined was issued to someone or maid abused! The last months, the news have been reporting about Islamic threats caused by a group of extremist Muslims here. They have instigated many attacks against the political leaders here in Flanders. Although, their leader now sits in jail, the threat still doesn’t stop. Uneducated fools,  who do not understand anything, usually ruled by their emotions, always ends up as the victim and criminal. They go around blowing up places or themselves in public. Because of such people and organization, Islam and Muslims all over the world gets a bad reputation.

Last week, N and I were coming home from school & work. Along one of the stops, a man with a beard, Muslim praying hat, Quran in his hand and a big office bag hop in the tram. He was loud, talking to himself in Arabic or some language that sounds like it. He sat down behind us and started reading the Quran, not loudly but loud enough for us in the same tram coach to hear him. Feared crept in and I felt sick all over, my gut instincts told me to get off the tram! But I felt guilty after all, he could be some innocent guy just on his way home from the mosque. But my instincts told me otherwise, a sms from B assured me it was nothing but I got off the tram anyways. I remembered what Oprah Winfrey used to say, that your gut instincts are like whispers from God! Although nothing happened, I felt really guilty afterwards for stereotyping the guy. We are of the same faith but his understanding of what the religion is, so VERY different from mine! We practiced it differently too. I rather be safe than sorry honestly. I discussed it at length later at home with B – but it upsetted me for awhile, to know that even I don’t feel safe surrounded by people of the same faith anymore. They have truly crippled the religion and I can only feel sad for them. And it is up to people like us to mend what they have completely broken!

Paintings

I have always been ignorant to the history of paintings and painters. Whilst in school, there was no subject that thought us about famous painters or paintings. The famous ones, for example, like the Mona Lisa, I discovered that through watching documentaries or films. I never took any interest in it until I moved to Flanders. Thanks to my significant other (whom is a qualified Historian and a great and patient teacher to me) I was introduced to a world of such wonderful and historical colours. Learning and reading about the lives of Vincent Van Gogh and his “colleagues” has opened my eyes, head and how I see the world. Our recent visit to the Museum d’Orsay in Paris was such an eye opener for me. Paintings reached out to me like never before and I am so proud to be able to appreciate them even more now. Some brings me such peace and joy.

I am fortunate enough to meet a handful of local artist here in Flanders. Through my place of work, I met someone whom paintings I can appreciate and perhaps one day can afford to buy. I have only attended one exposition by him but I already like his style of painting. Below, is one of my favourites by TR. There are many more but this one stood out but it is already sold!

The Flemish Skies

Bright, sunny, blue skies and lovely moderate warm days has suddenly turned into very stormy days. This week in Flanders, we welcome non-stop rain, strong winds, dark and gloomy clouds. And according to my fellow Flemish countrymen, this is the typical Belgium weather. I didn’t think I would need my winter jacket this late in spring! No wonder my Flemish countrymen are always going on about the weather! I have been here for almost 10 years now, I do not mind the cold at all but I like it to stay dry!