Our Family

On Saturday afternoon we went sledding with some friends at City Forest. Here are a few photos and videos:

From Elliot's Kindergarten Progress Report:

Elliot is at the top of the class. He is an outstanding student in every area. Elliot is currently reading at level 13 and can figure almost every new word he encounters. He is an excellent math student adding numbers beyond 18 and quickly catches on to new concepts. He is a great little soccer player and has many friends. Elliot is a true joy to teach. He has a wonderful personality, a positive attitude, and is self-confident.

As I mentioned before, Terneuzen wasn't much to write home about. Since I made my arrangements so late, there were no rooms available at the place people typically stay: the Golden Tulip. Instead I was in the Hampshire Inn City Terneuzen. It was fine, but not up to the highest of standards. It did have a week of wi-fi access for about 23 euros. At the Crowne Plaza in Antwerp, they wanted 30 euros for one day of access...wi-fi robbery! Friday evening I road with my colleague Tom to Ghent, Belgium. It was raining, but we walked around the city center a bit. We had dinner at a fondue restaurant called Lucifer. I stayed in a hotel downtown. The next morning I walked around a bit more and then took a taxi to the train station (Sint-Pieters railway station, which is outside Ghent). In the photos below from Ghent, the Lys is the river. In the famous view from St. Michael's bridge, the three towers are the Belfry, St. Nicholas' church, and St. Bavo's Cathedral. The taxi driver who drove me to the train station was an out-of-work industrial engineer. He searched every nook and cranny of his coat two or three times trying to find his business card in case I could help him get a job. He was wearing a different coat and couldn't find any of his cards.

the three towers, seen from St. Michael's bridge

The high density of bicycles I noticed around the Ghent train station would come in handy later that day when I was trying to find my way back to the central train station in Brussels at dusk...when I glimpsed a bunch of bikes, I knew that must be the train station. The other interesting thing about bikes in Belgium and the Netherlands is that people are riding them around these cities (often in traffic), but no one is wearing a helmet. In the US these days, it seems that any safety-minded person wears a helmet. Not so with the culture over there. It can be rationalized partly by the fact that they have many more bike paths and drivers have more experience coexisting with cyclists...but still I would buck culture and wear a helmet if I was biking over there. I took a train from Ghent to Brussels. I checked in at the Sheraton at the airport in Brussels, where I stayed because I had a flight early the next morning. I then took a train to downtown Brussels and spent the afternoon walking about.

Here's a bit of video from the main shopping street in the city center of Brussels late on Saturday afternoon. It gives you a feel for how many people were there in the rain, but I don't think it does it justice.

On the flight back to the States I watched The Queen and Grand Canyon. I've already told you about the adoption story...a good end to the trip.

Personally, I think this is great (video via Mark Elrod)...Harding U. students shaking their booties on stage with Robert Randolph & The Family Band, in violation of the school's ban on dancing. It's ridiculous to have concerts like this (funk/soul) on campus but then expect no one to dance. Reminds me of when James Lashlee and I danced on stage with Sonic Youth at the Cannery in Nashville in 1990. Lipscomb new nothing about it. It was our first mosh pit experience too. Also David Yow, lead singer for the opening band The Jesus Lizard, dropped trow on stage as was his custom.

A couple weeks ago I spent a week in Terneuzen, the Netherlands for work. There's not too much to Terneuzen. The weekends before and after were spent in more interesting cities in Belgium. I flew out of MBS on a Friday afternoon, connected in Detroit, then in Amsterdam, and then to a "City Hopper" from Amsterdam to Brussels, Belgium. It had been about seven years since I took an international flight. The entertainment has improved dramatically. There were audio/video-on-demand systems in every seat. I listed to some of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" and then watched three films: The Last Kiss, All the King's Men, and There's Something About Mary. More about those later. Europe had recently born the brunt of a major storm with very strong winds, so the landings in Amsterdam and Brussels were a bit rough. When you fly to Europe on Friday, you arrive Saturday morning. I took a bus about 30 miles from the Brussels airport to Antwerp for 8 euros. I was expecting it to drop me off at my hotel, but instead it dropped in the city center. I walked around a little bit and then took a taxi (maybe a mile) to the hotel for about 11 euros. I stayed at the Crowne Plaza. I know you're supposed to stay awake to adjust, but I was too tired and took a brief map. Then I took a bus back to the city center and walked around a bit before having pizza just off groen plaats (green square) and taking the bus back to my hotel. When I go to exotic locations like this, it's not for the food. As another example, after my senior year in high school I spent a couple weeks in France, England, Switzerland, and Italy with friends and teachers from school. Dinner was arranged for us every night, and we generally weren't too sure we would like it...so we ate lunch in Pizza Huts all over Europe to make sure we got at least one substantial meal each day. When I was in the city center on Saturday, I made a mental note of the time of the first mass on Sunday morning at the cathedral, planning to return the next morning for that. I overslept. I took a bus to the city center, hoping there would be other times of mass. There were. I had breakfast in McDonald's (for lame justification, see previous paragraph) and then attended the noon mass at the cathedral. It was in Dutch, so I didn't follow too much of it, though it was trivial to recognize Galatians 3:28 as it was read. It seemed to some kind of youth-themed service. Several kids were "baptized", several more made readings, and a big bunch of kids even sang a song. The Cathedral of Our Lady is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. It's construction began in 1352 and was completed in 1520. It was destroyed by fire in 1533, was devastated by iconoclasts in the 16th century, was deconsecrated by anti-clerical revolutionaries in 1794, but gradually came back to life after the defeat of Napoleon. To attend worship in such a place on Sunday morning was something special.

Rudy, a colleague who lives near Antwerp met me on Sunday afternoon and gave me a walking tour of the city center. The art of Rubens is a major element of Antwerp.

Rudy dropped me off at the hotel after dinner and then picked me up early Monday morning to drive to Terneuzen.