Summer Sundays for kids at Antwerp's Photo Museum | Zomerse Zondagen

My four-year-old, my four-month-old, and I did Zomerse Zondagen ("Summer Sundays") several times at the Antwerpen Fotomuseum and each time we spent about four engaged and relatively quiet hours in the museum.

The museum provides children's yoga at 10 am each Sunday morning (10 euros) and then after that, you have a nice, calm kid with whom you can explore the many Sunday-only activities for the preschool age that the museum offers.

Whoever designed these activities knows children very well.

You can start on the first floor and paint, marker, or crayon a picture. 

Proceed to the second floor to put together simple puzzles of the more famous photos of the museum using velcro. The velcro is key - the kid can easily stick the pieces together and see some interesting artwork.

Then to the kapla section, where you and the kids can use some other famous photographs to build crazy, multicolored kapla creations. Or, if the kid is teething, he can chew on a piece of wood for a half hour.

On to the art film area, where the museum has some smooth rocks with grafted facial features on each rock and a bunch of empty picture frames. While the barely crawling baby watches the featured film and rolls around on the carpet, the pre-schooler builds faces using a variety of diverse features.

Upwards again to a carpet full of photo books that have been re-created using fabric and 3D art so the kids can feel their way through the photos.

Then into a room full of art supplies and a maze that includes a hula hoop, a tricycle, a tunnel and three levels of wooden boards to climb on. Antwerp is of the opinion, spare the sport, spoil the child.  For the parents, there is a documentary on cameras playing on a loop.

How to recycle your German flag this World Cup

The Germans are not bringing the "Sturm und Drang" (rousing enthusiasm and action) that they have brought to World Cup soccer (football) in the past. 

But those Belgians are bringing it!

Belgian communities or gemeenschap | Flanders - Wallonia - and the German bit...

Belgium has several official communities or "gemeenschap" in Flemish:

• Flanders, or the Dutch-speaking community (Vlaanderen)
• capital: Brussels
• largest city: Antwerp (naturally or natuurlijk) 
• flag: black lion on a yellow background
• Wallonia, or the French-speaking community
• capital: Namur
• largest city: Charleroi (has an airport for cheap flights around Europe...)
• flag: a rooster (a la Francaise...) 
• the German-speaking community in Eastern Belgium (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens)
• capital: Eupen
• Annual day of celebration: 15 November
• flag: red lion surrounded by blue flowers

Each community has its own language, prime minister or leader of some sort (not all follow the same form of government), legislature, and flag. Each also has a not-always-quiet history of animosity between its community members and the members of the other communities, not to mention inter-city rivalries. Just suggest moving to Ghent to someone in Antwerp and watch them shiver. Worse, propose moving to Brussels! Even Antwerpians (Antwerpens?) who work in Brussels every day refuse to spend more time than absolutely necessary in that substandard city...

The rivalry with the most well-known acrimony is between the Flemish, the Dutch-speaking community, and the Walloons, the French-speaking community. It was nice to see this irritation dissipate in the wake of the Belgians doing so well in the 2018 World Cup. 

Historically this rivalry comes from Wallonia's linguistic domination of the rest of the country. Apparently 100 years or so ago, Belgian French speakers were less than kind to their Flemish-speaking fellow citizens. At the time, the French-speaking part of Belgium was richer than the Dutch-speaking part because Wallonia hosted all the valuable mines. 

Now, tables have turned. 

The Dutch-speaking part of Belgium hosts a richer and more richly educated portion of the country, and more than a little of this wealth stems from the fact the Dutch-speaking Belgians are more likely than French-speaking Belgians to speak additional languages. The Flemish speak Dutch (well, Flemish, which is essentially a softer Dutch), at least some French, and fluent English in addition to one or two other languages that any one individual Flemish may have just decided to learn. 

Flemish TV plays a lot of foreign (predominantly American and British) TV and they do so without dubbing, so the Flemish get used to listening to other languages and tend to easily pick up these languages. That, combined with a stellar and well-funded public education system starting in pre-school and going up through (very inexpensive and) prestigious universities means that Flanders now boasts a very capable and in-demand source of human capital for industries from pharmaceuticals to tech to urban planning and museum studies.  

Parks in Antwerp

What I adore most about Antwerp is the city's recognition that a community is only as strong and sustainable as the quality of the human networks that underpin it.

With that in mind, the parks in Antwerp are truly designed to create and foster those networks from each Antwerpian's earliest age. There are, within the city and its suburbs, two the three well-designed and maintained parks within walking distance. (Seriously, someone posted a Tweet about a broken net at one park and it was repaired by the next day.)

The park games are gorgeous and usually made with environmentally-friendly materials, and the goal of each park, one of the urban planners educated at the University of Antwerp informed me, is to bring together the sometimes disparate communities found in each city quarter. If we play together from an early age, sharing the slides and swings, we tend to do a better job working and living together as adults.

To further support that goal, the city hosts, particularly during school vacations, a variety of free activities overseen by expert animators for kids within the parks. Below is a sample from one park, aptly named Harmony Park, for the summer of 2018.


For those too lazy to figure it out:

• uur is hour (so it denotes the hour the activity begins and ends.) 
• Maandag is Monday.
• Dinsdag is Tuesday.
• Woensdag is Wednesday.
• Donderdag is Thursday.
• Vrijdag is Friday.
• Zondag is Sunday. 

Omnisport included a lot of random sports equipment for kids, from coloured cones and a parachute to baseball bats and (soft) baseballs and, at one point, an inflatable bouncy castle. Kleutersport is even more (if possible) random sports equipment for the pre-school age (again with the bouncy castle.)  Judo is judo, Kung Fu is Kung Fu, Zumba is Zumba, Yoga yog, etc.

For each activity, local animators help all those that show up participate in the available games. Because this is Belgium, indeed, Europe, the animators speak an overlapping assortment of languages. 

Quick disclaimer: This is Europe, so no one has to sign a disclaimer, and this is Belgium, so there is no request for a medical certificate that states you are okay to participate. You participate at your own risk (or at the risk of your kids) and you can't sue anybody if things go south. This is to strengthen the community not inject fresh life in your bank account at the community's expense...

Some random park pictures:

Short Jacket - An Antwerp Symphony musical event for newborns

Looking for something fun, innovative and educational with a newborn or a toddler?

Try the Antwerp Symphony.

Working with a children's development through theater group called De Spiegel, the Antwerp Symphony has developed a series of "musical experiences" aimed at specific age groups.

I went to "Short Jacket," the under one year experience with my three-month old. He was attentive and quiet through the forty-five minute "concert" and slept incredibly well just after.

Kortjakje trailer from Theater De Spiegel on Vimeo.


For the experience, you and your baby (and an adult friend, if you like) show up about 15 minutes early and wait in a comfortable, baby-friendly room.

Then the leader of the experience takes your group into a room full of light and shadows and pillows and weird mobiles designed to stimulate the under-age set.

Once everyone's found a nice place to lie down with each baby, a couple of Antwerp Symphony musicians come in and play random musical chords and noises that science says intrigue baby and stimulate cognitive growth.

You and the baby can move around the room during the "concert" to get a full experience. After about 45 minutes (when science indicates the baby has probably had enough), the musicians take their leave. My baby and I stayed a bit longer - maybe 10 more minutes - to try a few more of the funny mobiles, and then we gathered up our diaper bag and left.

He fell asleep immediately.

Duck Xrossing

 Seen in downtown Antwerp, heading for one of the city's many, many parks...

Antwerp's Farm building

Something that took me too long to discover: the huge KBC bank in the centre of downtown Antwerp is what the locals call the "Farm building."

Apparently that is where, traditionally, the many farmers of the region bank.

Bit of Flemish humour in street signs

These two streets actually cross each other.

Happy Birthday in Flemish

When celebrating Vlaamse Gemeenschap, I've been told to sing the song below:

Verjaardag / verjaardagslied
Lang zal hij/ze leven!
Lang zal hij/ze leven!
Lang zal hij/ze leven in de gloria
In de gloria
In de gloria
Hiep, hiep, hiep...hoera!
Hipe, hiep, hiep...hoera!

To say "Happy Birthday," try either "Proficiat!" (easiest) or "Gelukkige Verjaardag!" (For me, the last one sounds like "He-lew-kay vair - yard-ag."

You can also try out one of the following (remember, "naam" means "name"):

• op de gezondheid van (naam) = To the health of...
• Nog vele jaren! = many years of health!
• Gezondheid! = Health

(Yes, it is in French, but my family, aside from me, is French. The cat cartoons are Belgian - from a Belgian French-speaker....)

The pronunciation app for Dutch - no, for Flemish | Learn to pronounce words in Flemish by yourself

Antwerp is here to help you learn Dutch - wait, no, to learn Flemish.

Specifically, Antwerp would like you to learn the Antwerp dialect of Flemish.  If you don't have the Antwerp accent, you aren't from Antwerp, and they will tacitly judge you for your poor luck. 

To help, the tech-savvy city has provided you with a free application.

In my required Dutch Flemish classes, the visiting speech therapist ensured that all the students downloaded the app from Google Play or the iPhone store. She then took us through a few exercises on the application. There is no excuse, she was clear, for not using this app on a pretty much daily basis until we could appropriately function in proper Flemish society.

Basically, I have no reason to mispronounce words in Flemish (save my own treacherous tongue...)

The Antwerp app is Uitsprekend: Speak Out.

Find it on Google's Play Store if you are a Google user like me. It is also available for iPhones.

Superman

The sign for the street where I take Flemish classes has changed subtly...

Hourly manners in Antwerp - a quick primer

In Flemish, keep the following in mind when making appointments:

• 's moregens is 6.00 am to 12.00 midday
• 's middags: 12-18.00
• 's avonds 18.00-midnight
• 's nachts: midnight to six am

Some rules when it comes to keeping appointments in Antwerp - not too shocking rules, as it turns out, for me coming from the Southeast of the USA:

1. Make an appointment (afspraak) before you go see a Belgian. Telephone first.
2. Take a small gift: chocolates, flowers, wine, beer...
3. Arrive on time. 
4. When invited to a birthday, an Antwerpian will let you know by when you need to RSVP. Respect the date and RSVP. 
5. If you cannot attend, respond prior to the RSVP date with a quick note explaining that you will not be attending with an "omdat" - a "because," a reason why. 

What is this blog?

After five years as a spoiled expat employee in Paris, I arrived in Antwerp as an non-EU national.

I am married to an EU national, so my position is less tenuous than when I first came to live in Europe. However, I am still not a European, so I have to follow the rules of any outsider.  This blog chronicles those rules as they relate to me.

A gift from a Chinese diamond trader to the city of Antwerp. The statue features a boy and his dog from the 19th-century publication "A Dog of Flanders." This book found fame in Japan long before the locals started reading it.

Holidays in Antwerp and Belgian Flanders

When are the Belgian holidays? 

Belgium has several public holidays - in addition to what averages out to about a month of paid leave per individual per year. (It's Belgian law!) In Belgium, if a public holiday falls on a weekend, people get the subsequent weekday off. Very nice if you enjoy your leisure time...

So the official Belgian holidays, in Flemish, are:

• Nieuwjaar = New Year = 1 Januari
• Pasen en paasmaandag = Easter and Easter Monday
• Dag van de Arbeid = Labour Day = 1 May
• Onze-lieve heer hemelvaart = Our Lord's Ascension (6th Thursday after Easter)
• Pinksteren en pinkstemaandag = Pentecost and Pentecost Monday (7th Sunday and Monday after Easter)
• Nationale feestdag = National Belgian day = 21 July
• Onze-lieve-vrouw hemelvaart = Our beloved lady's ascension = 15 augustus
• Allerheiligen = All Saint's Day = 1 November
• Wapenstilstand (1918 truce) = end of World War 1 = 11 November
• Sinterklaas - A visit from Saint Nicholas, who leave treats in the shoes of good Belgian children - 6 December
• Kerstmis = Christmas = 25 December

Note that several of these holidays are religious. Belgium hosts an international population with a variety of religions and varying degrees of dedication to these faiths. However, everyone in Belgium loves a holiday, so no amount of laïcité or any subscription to an alternative faith is going to convince a good Belgian to give up a historical, if Catholic, public holiday.

When are the Flemish holidays? 

Each community (gemeenschap) has a holiday as well. Only those in the Community get the day off, which can be confusing if you work in one community and live in another.

Communities in Belgium include

• 26 april = Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest / Brussels Capital Region
• 11 juli = Vlaamse Gemeenschap / Flemish Community
• 27 september = Franse Gemeenschap / French community
• 15 november = Duitstalige Gemeenschap / German community