Long time no post :-)

It's been over a week, almost two weeks, since my last post. As you can imagine, we're quite busy. Bringing the girls to school and picking them up, going over to our house to look at the progress (and mistakes ... ), cooking and cleaning, but most of all deciding what kind of kitchen, bathrooms, floor and wall colour we want, are all things that are taking up a lot of time. We've come up with four different designs for the kitchen and three for the bathroom already. I think we now pretty much know what appliances we want in the kitchen and where we'd like them. The big thing still is the colour. Fortunately, that is one of the last things they need to know. For the bathroom, we've decided on the tiles, but not much else yet. For the living room floor, we need to decide which wood we want and in which style. Decisions, decisions ...

Sideview of the new house, with extension

Like with every project, there's surprises and set-backs. A big one this week was the info that it isn't possible to plaster the walls in a colour, only in white. So, if we want a colour on the walls, we need to have them painted after they are plastered.

Inside, starting to look good

Most things are going well though and a lot of work has been done. Now that the old walls in the living room are gone and the supporting beams are in, I'm better able to see through the mess and envision what it will be like when it's finished.

Brussels Market

Last weekend, we visited our Taiwan-friends Florence and Thomas (and their two boys). We met them in Hsinchu, where they lived for almost three years. Now they live in a fantastic old house in Brussels. We had a wonderful time visiting the Atomium, walking through the old centre of Brussels, looking at antique shops, seeing Manneke Pis and eating Brussels wafles. I think both Pieter and I gained a few pounds because of the delicious food Florence prepared for us. But, it was worth it :-)

Tired little legs get some rest

The Atomium, built in 1958

On one of the escalators inside the Atomium

As for the culture shock; I don't think we have one yet. It will happen, I'm sure. At this moment everything is still new and exciting, like the first few weeks/months in Hsinchu. Once the newness wears off, reality will sink in. Today, Emma mentioned her classmates in Taiwan for the first time. 'I think the children in my school in Taiwan will miss me', she said. When I asked her if she missed them, her answer was yes. I hope it will not get worse than that and that she'll able to enjoy all the positive things that her new school and Holland are bringing her. Like not having home work, being close to nieces and nephews and to Oma and Tante Elly.