Easter Bunny or Easter Bell?

In Belgium, church bells ring joyfully during the year. But the bells stop on the Thursday before Good Friday, silent for a few days while people remember the death of Jesus. On Easter Sunday morning, the bells ring out again.

In the US, it's the Easter Bunny that brings eggs to all the children and hides them around the garden. As if santa wasn't tough enough to swallow, we brain wash our kids to believe that a large 'bunny' hops from house to house (without even the aid of a sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer) . Maybe that's where the term 'quick as a bunny' came from ?

Here in Beglium, children wake up on Easter Sunday and find eggs scattered about their rooms. They look in the nests they have placed in their yards or gardens and find Easter eggs in them.

These eggs are said to have been bought back from Rome where the bells from all the churches had gone on Thursday (hence the lack of ringing) to see the Pope.

I don't know, I think I buy the bunny more than this 'dingy; story.

At any rate, Happy Easter everyone.

You Know You're An Expat When/If... part quatre

Thanks to Melinda for these.

Thanks to all who have contributed. This will be the last post of You know you're an expat when...but please feel free to send them to me anyway for amusement sake.

You know you're an Expat when -
...you just buy things without the exchange rate racing through your brain, and asking yourself "How much does this cost in "real" money?"

...when you return to the states and go grocery shopping/out for a meal/retail shopping after 4pm on a Sunday just because you can

You Know You're An Expat When/If... part trois

Thanks to Tricia for these classic additions! I added the foul language. Tricia is much too nice for that. I'm not.

You know you're an expat when...


...your German friend in French class casually mentions (in English) that this will be her 6th language. ( Bitch!)

...your 6-year-old asks,"Do we still count as Americans?"

You Know You're An Expat When/If... part deux

Thanks to Tamara for contributing these Belgian delights:

You are an xpat in Belgium when:

after 6 months you're still waiting for the police officer to come by your house and check that You are really You, and that You actually live there...

...one of your favorite hobbies is betting on how many hours you'll spend at the commune before being asked to leave and return because they are closed

...you arrived in Brussels and you went to Place Flagey and it was under construction...and 5 years later it is still under construction.

You Know You're An Expat When/If:

Thanks to everyone who bombarded me with laugh out loud commentary. No one can relate to life as an expat better than fellow expats. The responses came from the US, France, Belgium and the UK, but we would love to hear more. A special shout out to my fellow Belgian (current and past) broads--Suki, Laura, Tricia, Jenn, Janice---who sent some doozies. Enjoy, and feel free to send more! Here goes:

You know you are an Expat when/if:


...you start finding men in Irish bars attractive despite the fact they have breasts

...you consider ‘edible’ Mexican food a luxury (if you can even find it)

…you find yourself admiring the ‘incomparable’ customer service of the postal workers, DMV employees, and car wash attendants ‘back home’

….you spend more money downloading current tv programs than going to the cinema

….you have no idea what’s even playing at the cinema

….you call ‘the movies’, the cinema

..when you meet someone new you ask them how long they are planning to live here

…your “future” is planned in blocks of 3 years

…you have a new appreciation for carwashes

...when you refer to your posting like a prison record:
"we did 3 years in Argentina, now we're doing 3 to 5 here in Belgium

...when each of your children hold passports from different countries...

...when a ladies night out refers to a Book Club meeting

…you don’t mind spending half your Sunday sipping coffee in a café or restaurant

...when you finally feel like you've settled, it is time to go

…you panic if you don’t have email access for more than 1 hour for fear of being cut off from the rest of the world

…you know by heart the Brussels Airlines, Easy Jet and Ryan Air flight schedules

…fast food has a whole new meaning (like under 2 hours is fast!)

...You prefer the BBC "office" to the NBC "office"

…. You can't simply answer the question, "Where are you from?”

….your children, or friend’s children, are frequent flyer members (platinum status) on at least 3 different airlines

…when you ask your parents/friends to mail you specialties from home for your birthday or christmas

… You have a passport, but no driver's license.

…you write down how to say something in the local language, and practice it a few times, before you get on the phone to make the call to the repair man,
the landlord or the plumber

… You often run into someone you know at the airport.

… Conversations with friends take place at 6:00 in the morning or 10:00 at night, or on Skype, iChat or msn messenger
.
… You go home for vacation.

…”I didn’t vote for him” is the 1st disclaimer after declaring your nationality (americans of course).

…On more than one occasion you have had to explain the rules of “baseball” (american).

… You now know the difference between "football", “American football”, and “rugby”.

…The local sports bar shows cricket on the big screen. (does anyone outside of England and India even understand the rules?)

…you know Waterloo isn’t just a famous battleground (Belgium expats)

… You know that it really is a small world.

…Picking food particles out of your sink drain no longer grosses you out.
(well maybe it still does but you do it anyway since there are no
garbage disposals)

…your European friends have no idea what a garbage disposal is

… You are used to being stared at as soon as you open your mouth

… You think VISA is a document stamped in your passport, and not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.

….You've woken up in the middle of the night to watch the Superbowl.

… Your best friends are from 3 different countries.

…you used to care about being fluent, now you care about being understood

...you hire cat/dog/house sitters more than baby-sitters

…you’ve met people from countries you had never heard of before you moved abroad

…you can’t pronounce it but you sure do like to eat it!

…you expect unfriendly waiters, and are nearly knocked over if one smiles at you. You have never had a conversation with one.

…when you’d rather travel by train than car

…paying 12 euros for a paperback book, and 8 euros for the new issue of Vanity Fair doesn’t seem so bad

…your list of places to visit never gets any shorter

…when saying good bye means you will possibly never see someone again. Ever.