Summer bites

 

Last Sunday was our National Holiday and as always we gor to witness some impressive and loud sounding planes flying over our house after being part of our annual military defile.  In general Belgians do not celebrate as much as for example the Americans and the French. Still, you can then for sure notice that there is a certain holiday atmosphere within our tiny nation.  We ourselves had a lovely luncheon in Antwerp at a restaurant called Hiro. And believe me in case you ever end up in front of their restaurant and you love Japanese food then this is a must go place.  Especially if you ever been to Japan and long for a specific je ne sais quoi that you have experienced while you were facing the heat, humidity and the never ending fast but at the same time mindfull paste that the nation of the eternal sun carries within.

Oh yes, I know that food preferences are very personal and what I like, you might not like. That is fine.  Through out the years I had the pleasure to walk into restaurants where you just sense something that is very hard to copy and paste.  There is something at work that is unique and at the same time makes you long for more.  Something that makes them stand out amongst the crowd.  After all is enjoying food one of the most sense involving activities that you get to enjoy. Not only with your body, but also with your mind. Therefor we all have our own very personal memory box of food that we love and depise.  There is the aspect about food that is a very deep going one that is very hard to beat. 

The restaurants that serve dishes that are linked to specific countries are not always a guarantue you will get served the food that you remembered when you for example bought street food along the road in Mexico or twirled around your pasta carbonara in Rome.  Food experiences and the memories you get to create abroad sometimes end up in your core memories and believe me it is almost impossible to beat the orginals.  They are hard core and there will always be something that will make long for it to happen again. 

Myself travelled alone to Japan and I have been in a very mindfull state when I was in that nation. A nation that still speaks to my immagination. The moment that I for the first time hailed a Japanese taxi and the doors did swing open and wondered if it was even safe to get in I will never ever forget.  My first Macha ice cream cone and believe it or not the first  croissant I ate in Tokyo still make me go in over drive.  And then there is the shaved ice cream I had in the Bleu Lounge in Tokyo in combo with those fluffy Japanese pancakes!   There were so many unforgettable food moments I had and that will never ever forget. 

Stil, there is one that stands out. The last evening of my stay I had a grilled meat skewer from a 7 eleven on my way to my hosts while the annual fireworks where lightning up the sky.  Pleqse believe me it was a taste explosion.   I still remember so vividly the heat, the fluorescent lights of the shop and the irristible smell of grilled meat of that moment that me made give into buying that street food.   In front of the store there were no seats and so I ended up eating that quick bite while I was standing and my mobile phone was running out of juice.  So there was also anxiety running through my veins in combo with a very unexplainable urge to just enjoy every singele bite. It was if that piece of meat on a stick suddenly took over and made me forget everything else and at the same time my senses were fully activated.  A memorable bite to say the least...I still rave about that one.  

Not that this will suprise those who know me well..I rave a lot about food.  P and I love going to restaurants and we have over the last two decades been to many special culinary hotspots!  Some of them are the ones that food critics have tested and reviewed.  Those are the ones that most of the time you enter with very high expectations and hope that by the time coffee and the gourmandises arrive you have experienced something similar than the food critic did.  And then there are diamonds in rogue...the ones that kind of ask you to leave your comfort zone.  In a sense you are flying a bit blind when you read their menu.  I love these above everything else because they are rather rare to come across.

Now I totaly understand that there are number of people who would never wish to give a lot of money for a seven course dinner.  Please believe me if I tell you that I also like a good steak with homemade fries, and you can always wake up in the middle of the night for a velvet cupcake.  The thing is that more and more I am becoming aware of how much hard work hospitality and cooking is.  It is not easy to keep a restaurant or food truck running smoothly and at the same time remaining finacial healthy.  Quite a few people will tell you that the culinary restaurants tend to over charge and that some of them are over hyped.  Honestly, some of them are. P will be very open when he feels that a luncheon or dinner has not lived up to his expectations.  But one thing we both keep repeating over and over again and that creating dishes and cooking food is team work and involves a lot of hard work, passion, creativity, endurance, concentration and guts.  Something we have so much respect for and do not take for granted.

It is because of all of this that I love also the Disney FX series The Bear.  A series that tells you the story about Carmy, a young promising chef who decides to return to his family owned beef sandwich restaurant.  At first glance you do wonder why in the world a young chef who is trained by some of the best chefs in the world would ever go back to a very greasy and dysfunctional kitchen.  Within that question lies everything that The Bear makes so extraordinary and an outstanding series.  Forget all the things you think you know about working in a kitchen.  Unless you are part of a cooking crew or hospitality team that day and night tries to aim for the stars.  Then you know...you do and you are surely one of those that must have been struggling to get the message across what working is like in a small and crowdy kittchen.

The Bear is showered in nominations and honestly they deserve every single one of them.  For those who have ever visited a star restaurant might know that most of them willl agree with them that the ones that stand out are the ones that make sure that not only the chef is hailed but rather the whole team.  Dissecting the dish that miracalously appears in front of you on pristine white table linnen is a collission of forces.  Nothing is a coincidence and the the moment you get to taste that collaboration you get to find out what the power within of hospitality is.  

The thing is that it takes a lof of patience to get there where many ambitious and passionate  chefs wish to end up.  And no, not all of them aim for the red Michelin guide.  Some of them just wish to cook and feed the people and let them taste their creation. All of this in the hope that they will manage to understand what they first managed to put to together.  Those Moleskine notebooks that chefs fill up with ideas, sketches and observations are their personal testemony of a very intense journey.   A journey that they not easily share.  The chefs that publish their notebooks are even more rare than the three star restaurants you find around the globe.  It are their well hidden vaults that not easily share the code of with others. They do therefor try to let the dishes speak to us and that is very risky business. 

And there you have it why I do think that we at times still forget how hard it is for chefs and hospitiality teams to get the message across.  That many struggle to survive and many will never get there where they would love to.  It is a brutal game that we as customors and foodies do not get to witnesss.  And a no, an open kitchen does not let you get closer to the core of a restaurant.  It are ratther the people moving around in there and most of the time they are silent.  From our point of view it as if they just are on an autmatic pilot and that each one of them knows their lines without a single hesitation.  

Oh yes, I do know that there are those cooking shows that try to let you see what a chef can be like...Gordon Ramsey is perhaps the most straightforward example of this.  'Yes, chef.', and 'No, chef.' are the few words that seem only the few words that sous-chefs and others are allowed to use within a kitchen. In The Bear many more words are catapulted at us viewers and if you let this series be decanted and breath then you will see so much more.  

Yes, The Bear is a very nice creative and cinamatographic series that I dare to describe as a pot pourri of images that at times feel as if they do not fit together.  I will never forget watching that first episode with P and that we felt even a bit claustrophic and even a bit struggling. 'It is as if you ar really with them in that kitchen.', P commented.  Yes, The Bear lets you witness that most of the time is covered up by a lid that stays firmy on top of the container.  That the series is considered a 'comic' one is after one is rather questionable.  Seeing Carmy going in total overdrive and all the yelling that takes place within that tiny kitchen feels as if whoever  came up with that description was a bit out of their mind.  

Then of you like food and once in a while celebrate life with a nice drink and a tasty dish then you must know what happens if you manage to give it some time to let it all sink in. You need to savour the moment...you need to open up your mind...let your senses guide you where you sometimes rather stay away from...try to loose control and the journey take you wherever the teamwork wants you to end up.  It is hard work and some of us might never find this a worthwhile trip.  That's okay but that The Bear for once decided to push over board all the glamour and bling is a very courageous thing to do. It focused on the darker side of the culinary world...Carmy is Annakin who is about to tip over to the dark side...(sorry I could not resist)

My parents have always tried hard to point out that cooking is a life skill and that there are people who even manage to let it be an art.  For years I have been dreaming to go to a three star restaurant and when my parents came back from one I just could not wait them describe to me what they experienced.  It rather seemed that this was rather challenging.  After all in the eighthies and nineties you had no smart phone with you to take pics.  There was something within what they did not say that gave away what their dinner or luncheon had been like. My painful realisation was most of the time that they had been there and I was granted an extra portion of crisps as a treat to fascilate to babysitter her job.  They had been out on very personal journey and there was no way to let me understand what they experienced.

The thing is that my mother is an excellent cook and that she also dares to push her boundaries. The Bocuse cook book in my mothers kitchen cupboard was a very visible. Still, I am pretty sure that it is the notebook that she rather keeps behind kitchen cabinets doors that withholds her cooking journey.  And then there are the recipes that she was thaught by her mother.  Those stand the test of time and are the ones that seem to still make me marvel and make me travel to the core of it all.  A very intense sensation that you can not fake, not immitate or vein, that  hits you right between the eyes will fill you up with all the feels.  No, there are no right words to decribe what these dishes do me.  The one thing that I do very clearly remember when mother or grandmother cooked or baked together is that they did this in silence.

My mother does not boost about this...she 'just' does the groceries, does her mise en place, puts on her cooking appron and starts then in silence...and the only thing she might then ask us to set the table.  In my family the Sunday roast was a special thing but it also involved my dad entering my mothers kingdom.  He was the onely one who was allowed to do the cutting and it mattered to my mother.  Since my dad died I can not remember her cooking a Sunday roast.  The dish died so to speak and that in total silence...(I admit that I am now in tears while letting my fingers slide over my keyboard)

Now that I am older it is if I can seen more clearly what my mother and all those chefs always are trying to tell me.  Every single one of them that creates and cooks, pushes out their love and courage in the hope that you will connect.  That food critics can make or break a chef and that the proof of the pudding is in eating it ourselves we then tend to forget.  Personal taste is a very strong emotion and I will never get into an argument when it comes down to this.  My food journey is a very personal one but I will always try to be open minded.  Never ever will I force my taste on someone else.  It does not work like that...especially when it comes down to cooking and eating.

Not that I will not share my observations....for example that tiny restaurant Hiro in Antwerp I mentioned at the beginning of this rather lengthy entry located in the shadow of the impressive MAS-building is exactly what I am after when it comes down to the impact of hospitality. Chances are very likely that you will walk passed it if you not first have checked it out.  Never ever would I have entered that rather dark spot. It does not exactly communicates and it is not filled up with crystal glasses and pristine white napkins.  It took a bit of courage to enter and then let go all my prejudice that seems takes hold of my culinary part of my brain.  One thing that I noticed straight away was the silence within the place and how the staff seemed to rather float and the moment I had managed to take a closer look at the their beverage list I embarked for that one journey that I so grave for....the one that will let me have taste explosions and let me connect with happiness. 

Oh yes, I could now describe in detail what I had and how excellent the service was.  But hey, I am not going to...you were not there with me when I was sipping of that broth in which an excellent piece of sea barse was swimming and when I sipped of the tasty cocktail filled up with a great mixture of spirits and ice cubes that slowly melted. Outside there was a delightful breeze and was my tiny nation recovering from the heat and all I could think is that I am so lucky to be granted a glimpse of what the people behind the counter try to create without boosting and making a lot of noise.  Not only did some very tasty dishes ended up in front of me but also I got to witness that well synched kitchen ballet.    By the time we walked back to our car I was content and in total balance...I did not needed more.  Nope,  believe me I was not full...that is not what food should do...dietary advice even will tell you that a filled up stomach is not what you should experience when enjoying a meal.

That team of four people in that tiny restaurant nailed to make me travel back to that night in Tokyo when there were fireworks in the sky and my taste buds were fired up. I was all by myself but at the same time totally grounded and fully alive and kicking. The character of Carmy in The Bear is struggling to get his message across and he is in total turmoil when he is in his kitchen.  He is trying very hard and he has got many people around him that believe in him but he still not masters the silence...silence is a very essential ingredient of a dish...even the turmoil he has experienced while becoming who is he has to let breath and come alive in his dishes.  Is it daring and not risk free because after all as in most professions he has come across toxic people and passive agresssiveness that can easily make your cooking end up in the bin. 

No..you do not need to book a table at a three star chef to let people connect within and feel happy and content.  It is not the crystal long stemmed wine glasses, the cryspy slices of whole grain bread with pumpkin seeds served with farm produced butter, the starched white and nicely folded napkins, the Japanese gin out of wooden barrels served with dehydraded slices of lemon, the pink himmalyan salt in hand made creamic colorful pots with tiny golden spoons,  the fragile but at the same time utterful beautiful white plates, the oysters that are covered with tiny tasteful ingredients, the grilled to perfection piece of Waygu, the utterly expensive bottle of Barolo you pour in the glass to toast to your husbands fifthy's birthday, the dessert showstopper that is topped up with stirred to perfection whipped cream,....no that is not what it is about.  It is about the silence hidden within all of those delicous dishes or snacks and more.  And before it managed to do so this it did involve a lot of hit and miss on all levels.

The makers of The Bear will tell you the rather messy story that goes on behind the closed doors and behind the silence ...and believe they nail it...they have been eating and observing in silence and managed to connect with what hospitality wants us to understand and they believe most of those who are a bit of a foodie who not need a parade or a star review.  After all it is the brother of Carmy who already knew long time before anyone else what his brother masters...the Italian beef sandwich of the Berzatto family contains all the ingredients to master silence but Carmy still needs to figure that out while the ones around have already figured it out....in silence...within...deep within.  After all..'Everything that grows together goes together.', a food produce market seller tells one of Carmy his sous chefs Tina.  The journey from produce to the plate is one that is so essential and Tina suddenly saw the light and this in total silence! 

I wish you all a very lovely summer and that you have yourself plenty of those foodie experiences, no matter where and what.  That croissant you migth nibble while heading for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, the Parmessan cheese that you sprinkle over the home made spaghetti after visiting the Ufizzi, the bottle of bubbles you have chilled to drink with friends in the shadow of the oak tree in your garden to celebrate friendship , the sweet and sugary taste of the wedding cake your groom feeds you, the cut to perfection cucumber sandwich served with your Eerl Grey tea at Fortnum&Mason in London, the sushi cut up by a very focused sushi chef in Kyoto, the smoaked salmon you picked out yourself in a fish shop in Sweden for a picnic on the beach to watch the sun set,  the greasy hot dog that you bought from a smiley street vendor on the streets of NYC, the feta and melon you cut up for a fresh salad to go along with that one barbecue you longed for during the long and dark winter, the scoops of gelato of your local ice cream vendor that cool you down, the bucket of popcorn salted to perfection you take along the aircontioned cinema venue to watch the Minions in back in action,  the crispy Belgian waffle covered in sweet tasting whipped cream while wandering over the Grand Place of Brussels,  the juicy and sweet pieces of pineapple cut up for you to enjoy after a very hot day on a African safari, the Starbucks coffee that you sip on next to your car heading for your summer destination, the tasty and spice street food you devour after hiking with a heavy back pack through Mexico, the all you can eat buffet you get to enjoy as part of your all inclusive trip to Greece, the cold but perfectly brewed glass of beer you jump around with during a summer festival,  the hot apple tea you get served after a visit to a Turkish bath in Bursa, the delicous dim sum served by Thai waitress with a contagious smile, a cuban rum that enhances your beach coctktail next to the swimpool...have your self a tasty summer filled up with 'silence'...Carmy envies you...the anti hero who still needs  to shake off the toxic and let go when he cooks up his star worthy 'silence'.   He longs for that silence in order to manage to speak to us...the ones who are openminded and are grateful, the ones that are essential puzzle pieces to let food speak while we are totally silent...I wish you all a very delighful summer filled up with lots of memorable moments and meaningul times and bites that will make you travel within...in silence or with a lot of noise...Enjoy your meal...

P.S.: I did pick music that I have come across while I was enjoying food or when I was sipping from a drink. And the Triavata one I came across when watching an episode of The Bear. The picture I picked out is linked to The Bear as well and only for this one you should watch that series... 

PS: For those that wish to check out Hiro...lunch and dinner are both great.  In case you love rather prefer silence then book a table for lunch rather than for dinner.  Still dinner at Hiro is also great fun and the sound bites that are served are also standing out in positive ways.  It surely is culinary hot spot that if you love Japanese food and a nice drink deserves to be checked out.  

 

Educational Transfer

 

It is been rough and tough and it is been a great adventure and also lots of fun…I have had that one school year that many of us once in a while you have…the one that comes along every few years…the one that you just hope will not pop up unexpected…the one that just makes you wonder why in the world you did sign up for education…yip…I had the dreaded one year at work.  Now before you are jumping to conclusions do not get any ideas that this is anything to with having to deal with little monsters and helicopter dads and/or tiger mums. Nope nothing of that kind.

Rather picture Stallie having to just let go all her plans she made and live from a day to day basis. Expect the worse, hope for the best wa my mantra at most days.  Believe me that it has been quite an eventful year in which I just did imagine things a bit different.  And although I am a Capricorn and can not always deal that well with change I do consider myself rather experienced enough to deal with the ins&outs of an academic year.  Still…there are the exceptional years that kind push me to the limits…and so I have been trying to summarise it in a nice way what I have been facing and all I can come up with is the word ‘an eventful year with many challenges’.

That one TO DO-list I made at the beginning of the year with all my aspirations and hopes and wishes that I had for my department I mentally binned within three weeks in.  Oh yes, I had hoped that perhaps things would end up going smoother once Oktober would show up on the calendar but it turned out that I just had to go with the flow.  The thing is that due to this that all the other things that happened within this year I not fully got to enjoy.

Work high jacked me and it made me go a bit in overdrive mentally. Yes, I was fully aware that the first year without U would be tough.  Still I had no idea that it would force me to end up doing things that made me feel a bit out of control.  Plus that I seemed to have the impression that many around me just expected me to just get on with it. What I did but it took a lot of energy from me and even made me wonder if I was doing things wrong.

This school year I have been dealing with hormones that make me rather feel like an out of control teenager in combination with having to mentor.  I felt a bit as if I was walking on thin ice on a daily  basis and with climate change you do know that falling through is always a possibility.  Stallie tried very hard to keep her mood going strong but I have lost it more than once and nope I am not proud of that. What surprised me the most was that I had imagined that I could deal with this but ended up having more than once a kind of ‘crash and burn’- sensation rather than walking on top of the world.  

Privately I therefor ended up just filling up my weekends with the things that needed to get done and trying to reload my batteries before  going back in.  That some teachers give up and suddenly decide that they need to quit I totally get. The thing is that I am also proud of myself that I did get through it in one piece.  I might have some tears and feel as if every drop of energy got squeezed out of my system but …I am still standing.

That I love my job and especially the young minds is what keeps me going strong.  Yes, I had this year some challenging kids but looking over my shoulders I can even state that I did manage to connect with each one in a positive manner. Yes, these moments are energy boosts and this year I had a lot of successes inside of the classroom that I am very proud of. That I did manage to get some children do get on with their work even when they first were very reluctant. Oh yes, I had to express once in a while that I was disappointed or even felt a bit less hopeful.  That is the nature of the beast that I am.  

Oh yes, those moments have kept me going and never ever forsake why I still think that teaching and education are what makes me fully committed to the one shot I get at being alive. Yes, I have been saying this over and over again but it are school years as this that will make me extremely happy that I did that one day in July after failing many exams during my first year at uni decided to change majors and even colleges.

It is one of the first impactful decisions I ever made and I had to wait for a very long time that my dad understood why I did refuse to go back.  It is been the path that I had chosen to walk on all by myself and hoping that it would bring me happiness, joy and also lots of hope. Hope that could make the difference on a rainy day or even stormy week or month.
There have been many joyful teaching moments but honestly it is are mostly the ones that are also  take you by total surprise.  After all these years that I have been spending on the teaching grounds I still underestimate what the impact of a teacher can be.  Oh yes, I even have one of these rather cliché teaching quotes illustrated by Mary Engelbreit in my office standing on a filing cabinet. Still..these quotes make me sometimes wonder if they have just been created for the sake of them.  There is so much that makes my job very challenging and not that straight forward that questioning them is not that hard.

The thing is that there are these very extra ordinary times that your students just take your off guard when they share with you that one thing that makes your heart beat faster.  This year it was the moment that one of my Year 4 learners came to see me while I was get packed for the next lesson:’C, do you know what…I went to a ice cream place this weekend.’ Me:’Oh really, did you have fun.’  There was a part of me who was rather thinking about my so needed coffee/toilet break and was heading for the door but then this happened. ‘C, I ordered my ice cream in Dutch.’ When I looked up in was staring in the face of a child with the biggest smile you can imagine. ‘Oh wow…well done!’, I replied and within me there was a very intense  and warm feeling brewing.  ‘My parents were not able to do so but I was.’, the student added.  ‘How did that make you feel?’, I asked the student. ‘Happy…’,was the reply.  ‘Hey..give me a high five I added.’, and we touched hands and before I knew the student skipped with a happy step.

While heading for my coffee I felt so alive and connected with what I always wanted to be and hoped to be for the ones I have under buy educational wings. That it after more than 25 years still happens and that I do seem to get students to use what they learn inside a classroom in a different setting and without me being around makes me feel rather proud but foremost very happy. The transfer of skills is a very important step in the learning process and that students share this moment with me makes me feel very connected with them and at the same time I feel grounded.

No…it has not been the school year I had planned for and and I had to deal with a lot of big and even some rather unexpected change.  I am very tired and and I need this break even more than I needed it the last few years and yes I look very much forward to being nobody’s teacher for a few weeks. I am very much looking forward to my summer read stack and I can’t wait to try out a few new cocktail recipes.  And at the same time I already look forward to the next academic school year…The best way to describe it is that I am about to the throw off the warm and cozy blanket that I got used to having wrapped around me while being out there in class rooms and being on campus and looking forward to trying a new one that withholds many surprises.

I wish all my fellow colleagues and teaches around the globe who have their summer break heading their way a great a rejuvenating break.  You all deserved..there is no doubt about that!  After all now it is your turn to do some transfer of skills out side the classroom. Have fun…and please wear sun screen! 

 

La Dolce Vita

 
 

Sweet Italian delights…crispy layers of tingling memories that cover up your heart
‘La vita é dolce!’, Italians whisper in the sweet perfume that lingers around many majestic towers during summer.
Scopes of luscious gelato, a piece of crispy tarte della nonna, numerous bottles of vino rosso to fill up your glass
Every bite or sip turns into a voyage to something beyond
No word that can describe what it feels like and tastes within when it hits your core
It feels lighter than anything that you ever have experienced

You are mesmerised by the effect and wish it to be everlasting and never-ending
You suddenly feel hypnotised and wonder why you never noticed how deep this sense can travel
You desperately hope that this is not just a split second but rather a sensation that will last a life time
You pick up every single item delicately and keep your senses open wide
You close your eyes and produce sounds that spill it all but only can be heard when you put your ear close to mine
You look upon the sky and hope to find there the secret recipe that you have been looking for ages
You open your eyes and look around to see if anyone is around who feels exactly like you do;

But then it hits you…

It is a false pretence to say that life is ‘dolce’ when it suddenly turns out to be rather bittersweet
There is a lot to be told about those dishes that rather taste as if someone has poured sadness into them.
Salt and pepper seem to have an advantage over vanilla, rosewater, orange blossoms and violet candies.  
The sharpness of these spices open up the rough side of your pallet
The part within your life that cuts deep and leave behind salty marks
They extinguish in no time when you have tried to sugar coat so many times with cinnamon and cardamon
Without no doubt you feel out of sync and you do wonder if it al was just a delusion

All the lemons, raspberries and apricots are suddenly a life time away and you do long
to be back in the shadow of the towers of San Gimignano

It is there that you have left behind that one memory that you now long for
Deep down you do know that you have to let go and and give in to the salt and pepper aftertaste the cooking time it deserves
but not without first trying to travel back to the exact moment that life all seemed perfect bliss and that every scoop of gelato withhold that one secret flavour that you just hoped to keep closer to your heart.

More and more I wonder if this is the dish that I was only once granted to order…
The aftertaste lingers around in my beloved memories…

Tonight I guess it is time for another scoop of ‘sorbetto al limone' in the hope to get as close as I can to that city filled up with towers in Tuscany where I tasted life at the fullest.

La vita é dolce quando é la perfetta…anche se fosse solo per un secondo!

P.S.: I have posted this today after been writing but not posting anything for a long time because I kind of lost my spark to do so...for sharing my writing with other feeling that in the end it are just my thoughts and my opinions but today a 87 year old one did ask me why I still do not just keep doing what I like doing and stop worrying about others might think about what I write.  Today I said goodbye to this exceptional lady who showed me in deeds that life is something you only get one go at and that you have to make it count.  She is the one who told me one day that she loves my writing and that I need to keep on writing no matter what.  Aunt M this one is for you...after all it was a bittersweet moment having to say goodbye to you knowing it was the final time before you exchange this life for what comes after it.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done and said...it matters it still maters...

 

 

 

 

Christmas Ruined

 

So…I ruined Christmas and the thing is that I just could not prevent it doing so.  Oh, yes I have felt totally run down before at this time and I have been dealing with the cliché meltdowns that tend to come along with filled up stores and parking lots of supermarkets.  In the past I have always managed to deal with these and adding them up to my list of Christmas preparations.  There is so much that can make me loose it and make me wonder if kind and patient Stallie moved to the Nord pole for the Christmas season. No surprises and not that I never try to be ahead of the game…I do but there is only as much as you can do and this year I found out.

I had been planning ahead of time all those things that you can and yes I did once again postpone the giftshopping but it also helped me to save out money and that is then what I rather would call a win-win situation.  One other thing that I ended up doing this season was making my holiday wreath instead of having my lovely friend H designing it.  I had fun making it with lovely friends and having a lovely glass of bubbly but that almost sums it up.  A few days ago I even asked my two beloved men to throw it out.  They looked at me if as I had lost it but hey can you blame me knowing that I just don’t feel Christmas inside of me.  Of course they refused but next year it will be H again who will have her wreath decorating our home.  

Now if this would have been all I had rather regrets about, then this would have been fine but about one week before we were to break up for the Christmas Hols I started to feel a bit under the weather.  I did try to fight back and I even did spend one day on the sofa and did rest up in the hope to fool the Christmas Gringe.  For a few days I felt rather fine although I did not attend a few of the annual Christmas get togethers because of feeling still a bit less upbeat and also having to deal with something at home that just took up all my mental space.  Christmas shopping was being delayed and I did not ended up going to one of the Christmas markets.  Just to be on the safe side… and my mental sanity.

When I then finally ended up in the seat of my hairdressers for my blow out and styling for Christmas Eve and Day festivities I felt okay and all the boxes on my to do list where almost ticked.  Last minute I even decided to drive to the one of the British stores and hoping to score some crackers.  I use these as a table decoration at my family Christmas dinner. You should have seen me when I managed to get one of the last boxes and that I even got to buy a nice Christmas bookpocket for 5 euros even topped that outing up.   Also I had packed up all the things and gifts to take home two days ahead of time so that nobody would have to stress.  Stallie did stick to her list and nailed it! Hurray and I have now deserved a nice Orla Kiely bag for Christmas…internet here we come!

It was a very wet, dark and windy Christmas Eve and Peter had volunteered to go and get our dinner.  Still I decided to go along and I felt a bit less okay when we go home.  It was very hard to shake it off but I did manage to keep smiling and dove into the kitchen.  The food was lovely and none of the dishes hard to prepare and I did manage to do the dishes the night itself and not having to ignore them the morning after, what then causes the equivalent of a major hangover without having been drunk.  Still I felt suddenly cold and I even started to have chills and no appetite for dessert!   I changed into my Christmas pjs in a record time and prayed that this was not going to be what I did think it was.

In the morning I woke up and I just knew…no Christmas Day for Stallie.  I did look a bit pale, my nose was blocked, coughed a bit, had a splitting headache and my body did hurt all over and I felt so depressed and anxious.  There is no other way of describing myself then feeling horrid.  The thing was that my fellow housemates had the inclination to think that I did exaggerated.  I dragged myself to two bakeries to pick up the Christmas dinner dessert and our breakfast rolls and that in the pouring rain and wind.  Inside all my usual Christmas feels and memories seemed to have evaporated. Instead all I wanted to do was cry and feel sorry for myself.

By the time I had sat down for my cappuccino and my well deserved croissant (I have been cutting down on sweets and other delights and I had not bough one singel croissant for months) P thought it was the excellent moment to start to have rant of being the house a total mess (guess that Virgin Mary would even have declined politely to spend the night in our house) and that he just did not get it that I did not get the message that eating croissants or pain au chocolate was the worst thing I could do!  A few minutes later he managed to put the cherry on top of the cake by saying the following: ‘You are normally Christmas in this house and now you ruined it!’, he yelled at me.  

I sat there at the kitchen table and I had just no energy anymore and I started to cry.
“Why don’t you take a painkiller?’ and ‘That is when you hardly exercise..’ were a few of the other nice pieces of advice I got catapult at me.  All I could do was shrug and by the minute I felt worse.  When both of them had left the kitchen (nope not cleaned up)  I managed to sneak  upstairs and next I had to do the unthinkable cancel Christmas Day dinner at my family. The moment my mum picked up the phone the tears just poured out of me.  ‘Oh dear…you sound not okay C. You need to take of yourself.  We do need the food you prepared but when can figure that out.’  After a five minute teary conversation I went back down and called Christmas to a total stand still.  

The looks I got from my two men were priceless and that one of them had a medical degree and was still declaring painkillers the key to salvation at that point was beyond me.  Partners of medical personal you must feel my pain…we first have to drop death before we are taken serious!  I then started to write short instructions for my son and my family that went along with the food and other packed goodies.  P seemed to come a bit to his senses and after I had packed everything into his car he get in and drove with A to my family.   It was now officially: the driving home for Christmas was something that was not going to happen this year and I was going to spend mine on the sofa in the company of painkillers, tissues and a thermometer.  

The following two days I just have been trying got keep my fever under control and trying to catch some sleep. I did manage to keep my Duolingo Strike going and I also unwrapped the gifts that A  brought back from home. But Christmasy I did not feel at all…sick, ill, sad, disappointed , unloved and misunderstood…and tons of other negative sensations were rather running wild throughout my system.  My diet consisted out of water and painkillers and some toast crumbs.  I guess that I had the most low calorie Christmas Day dinner ever.  

It took me till Thursday to get back on my feet and I even canceled other social engagements because I just couldn’t face the music or Christmas cheer. Inside Christmas seemed to have moved on and had already been boxed it up for another year.  When my mother called to check up on me and told  that I had been missed it made me feel a tiny bit better but not much. ‘Take good care of yourself and you need to rest or you will be down again in a few days.’, she told me.  That is exactly what I am trying to do but this one is a sticky one and refuses to let go of me.  Yet…

At the moment I am still coughing and not 100% on the same page as most of the people around me.  I don’t feel like planning ahead due to threading to relapse.  A friend of mine told me that up to three times she was back down before she was back on the right track.  I’m now down to two and that cough that I will not easily shake off.  Sorry if you over the next weeks run into to me and ask me how our Christmas has been…it is one to rather not to remember and that I hopefully will recover soon from.  

Nope…2023 was in many ways rather challenging and at the moment my hormones also seem to have very wild plans for the year to come. In the year to come will be happy that I will get through an other school year in once piece and that my plans for my special birthday will not be intervened by a sick bug or nasty cold. Oh please don’t start me now on the Gaza and Ukraine…I am not living under a rock while I was on the sofa fighting my fever off! Believe me! Okay…let me have now a piece of the ice cream Christmas log I had ordered for Christmas Eve without having to feel that guilty…Okay…thank you.   

I do hope sincerely that you all had yourself a little merry Christmas that you were after and that 2024 will be the year that there will be many happy tidings heading your way.  Guess we will have to all bite through a sour apple now and then in the year to come but then I do hope their will be heaps of hope and empathy around as well.  Best wishes of Stallie to you all.

No-brainer

 

*A word of caution before reading this very long one: I wrote this entry after being quiet for a long time about something that I passionately care about.  In case you need something more entertaining, light hearted and fun then please skip this one.  Plus in case you read on…don’t take it personal.  This is rather written for all of those who are screaming furiously on social media about long summer breaks, lazy teachers and graphics about educational downfall. Chances are very likely that this is not about you…but still I had to get my sincere opinion out in the open because I care very deeply about my profession and I refuse to give up to the haters and the ones who seem to think that education is just a walk in the park and that they are themselves not part of the solution to make it a better system for all.  Yeah…I am that one educational gladiator still standing up right in that gigantic ancient building in Rome believing that we can turn the odds around…

Over the last few years I have rather kept silent when people started to complain or very openly express their thoughts about education.  In some cases I had to get out of the room because my body was trying to tell me exactly what I do think and it is very hard to just stay quiet.  Believe me many of you are putting my mind to the test and I have an extremely challenging time to just keep smiling and keep breathing.  Now…because I do think that it is also a no brainer to at least use my blog space to express my thoughts I decided to sit down, take a deep breath and tell you what I do exactly think when it comes down to education…and please bear with me because it is not as straightforward as you might hope.  Most of you have already expressed ‘easy peasy’ and plastered it around everywhere…I did hear and read with great interest your outspoken options.  Rest assured…but now it is my turn…and just so that you know some of things you tell me or that I read I do take in consideration, give air time and reflect about.  I do but let me know have a go at what drives my mind when I read all the educational 'fuzz'.

A few weeks ago a coworker found out how passionate I am about what I do for a living (and for much more than that monthly pay check or those long summer breaks….yes..the breaks are a nice but they don't keep you going long term, please believen me)when the person started to express his/her honest opinion about the Belgian school system and how bad  we were are doing in international rankings .  That was all it took to throw the boomerang right back at the individual because I did wonder what exact point this individual was trying to get across surrounded by educators in a school building.  I interrupted the conversation and asked the person who exactly was responsible to change things around. The individual needed a few seconds to answer and then said:’The politicians…’. Inside I was already boiling due to the fact that this is most uninspired and cliché response.  Not a totally unexpected but still…it made me suddenly go a bit in overdrive.

So no, I did not agree with this person’s opinion but due to not wishing to turn my precious lunchtime into a fierce debate I did just let this response glide down my spine and went along with it.  Not that I did not try to point out that students need many things and not just a quick fix by a minister of education who never ever in his or her entire life has been inside a classroom or teacher lounge or headmaster’s office. At a certain point I was so outspoken to point out to I was not going to be one to come up with the right solution or at least not have the power  but that I at the same time did question people their ongoing rant with education.

Oh yes, there is so much globally going ‘wrong’ with schools and the schooling of the young minds that I do wonder if it is even worthwhile to still believe that children wish to be in a school.  I am dead serious. Almost daily I do wonder what many people out there actually expect schools to do? That a school is not the same spot than most of the grown ups experienced themselves is also a no-brainer but their demands are a bit over the top.  One day many of us are calling for a less long summer break for their children and the next time there is an article that when it comes down to educating the young minds about good citizenship there is a crucial role for the schools to play within this process.  Two days later on an educational forum are the less positive percentages printed about the level of comprehensive reading skills. It is a never ending debate and more and more it starts to annoy me! (Remember that I did state a few entries ago that if I would come out to blog that I would not hold back anymore as much as I have been trying over the last three years...okay...)

Yeah…students need teachers in order to learn…or at least when it comes down to specific subjects and skills.  That is another no-brainer…simple and so that we therefore then need to hire teachers is also self evident.  Now being a teacher is not the same as being a student. That also seems a no-brainer but honestly I do think that the first statement is closer to being true than the second one.  Just one glance at the number of articles to be found in the national press about schools, the academic calendar, the profession itself, the curriculum, testing and ranking and you know what I mean.  So many find themselves spouting their personal and expert opinion on social media that you do wonder when these people get their day time job done. Deep breaths Stallie…you promised yourself that you would not turn this entry into a rant.  

The last decade it seems to go only further downhill with our education and many of us feel very opinionated about this.  As mentioned before each one of us have been at a certain point in their life inside a school, sitting at a desk and had to sit still, listen, write, read and study for exams.  Unfortunately there are still places in the world where education is still not a no-brainer.  In some spots in the world children never learn to read or write and in some countries education is considered a threat to the existence of specific regimes.  That we had to grant the Nobel prize to a teenager who put her life at risk to get to school is actually for me not a no-brainer.  


Honestly, if it would be easy peasy to turn things around, why already have we not done so?  There are plenty good and even world class examples of what we envision education to be like for our younger generations.  These individuals are after all the ones who will need to make a living and also will have to fill up the federal pension treasure…that is rather becoming a huge deficit according to the national press.  Youth is precious and if we don’t give them a sound foundation than it will be very hard to keep going strong…that is also a no-brainer. (Guess by now you have figured out there is a specific word that I will keep recycling…my sincere apologies in case you detest this word.  At the moment it also seem to be used quite often in the national press) Therefor education is crucial…we can agree on that…don’t we?  Okay…then I can proceed further.

It is not just education that needs a makeover…and here I could already rest my case. I could but then many of you would need some clarification on what I mean by that.  So let me spell it out for you…a total makeover is needed and it is going to hurt. No…it won’t be just the bandaid plaster that you are tearing off and hope that it will turn your skin red for half a day only. Nope…I am sorry this is going to be rather the pain that comes along with a root canal procedure at the dentist who makes a lot of money even if you have dental coverage. Do you get the picture? No…still not..okay let me clarify it a bit further especially for you who is getting lo

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Education is not just a school filled up with teachers, furniture and some books and modern technology. There is a whole system behind it and believe me or not, every single one if us is part of that system. Even if you don’t come close to a school anymore and don’t have children.  Each one of us has been educated and most of us are nowadays told that we are life long learners. I have already mentioned that one before and not going to spend anymore time on this part of the equation.  Nope…this entry is rather about the fact that we need to start to reevaluate what we wish that schools do for our children because honestly many of us don’t even seem to notice that anymore and just keep adding their personal wishes to the school menu and you know what?  It is not working…

Oh yes, you might now think that is because teachers just have issues with planning and reshaping the curriculum takes too long and needing to follow extra courses to keep on top of things or because they do not get enough funding to even just renovate their school building or buy up to date IT system or school platform or that we don’t attract not the ‘right’ group of people to study and train for this profession that is truly a calling if you intend to stay in there for the long run.  Yeah…that is why our educational system is going busted…oh wait it is not or only partly…believe me.

Now, before you think that I have a very easy time stating this because who knows Stallie personally knows that she works in educational hotspot that has got all that many schools do not have and just dream of.  Yeah, that is so true, and after now being a bit longer in that awesome building and on that great campus I more than ever start to realise that it is not only because there is a lack of many things in an average school that our level and quality of education is going down.  No…it is simpler and not even costing any money what we are lacking and is not an opinion that some of you will wish to hear. But after the last five years I am just going to get it out….someone needs to do.

Many of us are part of the problem (and therefor also of the solution°…honestly I am not kidding you…and many are not even aware of it.  It is one thing to demand things of schools, principals, educators, university professors and teaching colleges and the government and then just hope the magic will do its work when these kids are at school. More and more I seem to have the impression that society is forgotten that children also spend time outside school and that learning is also going on out there.  The brain doesn’t stop working once students back up their books and head for home. Duh, I am not an idiot, you might now think and rightly so but honestly one glance around me and I am so sorry there are is big number of people who does behave that way.  

It is simple where we are already messing up our educational system and that is by not practising what we preaching.  We all want more…more happiness…more freedom…more wealth…more quality time..more health coverage…more rights…more space to be 100% our pure selves without having to justify ourselves.  Living in the moment and that at full speed and believe me that is becoming an issue especially if many of us are not even able to follow the traffic regulations.  And so I am going to use something as straightforward (I know..I know that some of you will challenge me on calling these regulations straightforward but please just give the me break here for once…please…thank you) in order to illustrate what I am trying to tell you.

Yes…I am talking about these well known things such as traffic lights, stop signs and tons of other rules that we teachers mention about in school and most of us have had to do an extra exam about when we wanted to get behind a steering wheel.  Remember? I bet you do and you might even have been dragged to one of these traffic parks to ride your bicycle on or even have done an public cycling exam.  You nailed all that with flying colours.  But then suddenly something happens and that is that we seem to forget some the rules that we have studied and been told that it is important to follow.  ‘Retrieval practise seems very hard to come by these day.’, I told myself in the beginning, but now I think there is something else at work:

“‘That stop sign?  I just pretend that I have not seen it?’ , ‘I just ignore that big white line on the cycling path…I am priority when it comes down to traffic users.’ , ‘I let my children cycle behind me when we go out…because I am the fastest.’, ‘A huge big line in the middle road…not surpassing that slow bus in front of that rule does not apply to me’, ‘Oh the parking lot is full but I desperately need that blue t-shirt that is on sale and so I do park here and nobody will notice it.’, ‘Parking on the cycling path is something everybody can do if you need to stand in line for your Sunday breakfast at the local bakery’, ‘Oh yeah, I know that I need to cycle on the other side of the road but for once it won’t hurt.’, ‘I know that I should look first left then to the right and once more to the right when crossing the street, but the driver of that car coming will surely have spotted me before I turn my head.’, ‘I need to call my daughter while driving to the supermarket otherwise she will be upset with me. A handsfree kit? Are you kidding me that costs a fortune.’, ‘A red light for pedestrians…why care? I still can cross the street because no car in sight.’, ‘There is a cycling path but that is not as smooth as the road.’”

Get what I try to telling you?  Nope….come on…if you fail to transfer the learning from school into the real world, then any learning is becoming worthless. And that is my very strong opinion.  The transfer of skills outside in the real world is the final step in the learning process. It is the one thing that when I was in special education most of the time my students struggled with.  It was the ultimate step towards independent living and working.  These were the group of learners who had so many learning disabilities that it was hard for them to learn job skills and getting hired was in many cases a fight of the fittest.  And believe me, they envied those that are able to do this with ease and no struggles at all.

So when I now see so many people just failing at applying the learning of something that they have covered in traffic lessons in school and have been quizzed about more than once I do wonder big time.  If we start ignoring something that is most of the time rather straightforward and just pretend that these rules don’t apply to me and you then I do wonder where those educational demands come from.  Don’t get me wrong I do still agree that traffic education is vital but I am not sure why we still bother if many of us don’t put into practise what they have been studying.  Plus don’t forget that the young learners are with you out there and that they might be a bit perplexed as well that so many around them just do not what they are expected to do.  The learning by example, does that ring a bell?

Therefor I do for the moment have a very hard time with all these opinionated people who come up with specific demands and wishes when it comes down to the schooling of their children or grandchildren.  Please do not assume that schools can fix everything for you if you decide that you will constantly take time out from the learning.  Yes, reading bed  time stories, baking cakes together, talking at the dinner table, having fierce debates about current affaires, experimenting with dough and soap, reading signs, cycling in the park, going together to the public swimming pool and getting changed in a too small cubicle, naming vegetables in the local supermarket, ordering ice cream at the ice cream van outside the park,  walking through a city and just take the time to let everything sink in, listening to music and let them imitate it with the help of cooking utensils, throwing an empty drinking can in the right recycling bin,  playing chess and other board games,  speak a foreign language while your child is around and listen when he or she tries to repeat what you said,  counting the money from their piggy bank and finding out how many ice creams they can buy with that amount, getting the paint out and messing up paper and hands and even some clothing, taking them to a football match and cheering on (and cursing as well) their favourite team, going to the movies and paying extra for the 3D glasses, reading the washing labels of their clothes and loading the washing machine, going to museums to just stare in silence at paintings and sculptures, watching a TV- game show and playing along by trying to get the answers right, travelling to far away places in the world, reading menus in restaurants, buckling up in the car, ….

I can go on for hours what learning is going on when you have a child with you.  Yes, you might consider it this a natural process but believe me less and less I have impression that parents do some of these mentioned her above.  That reading skills are skydiving and maths skills seem harder and harder is not only the responsibility of a school. Undeniable it is a crucial step forward to higher thinking when learning is done in many settings.  There are children out there who without school even manage the cruel world but believe me that they would rather spend time in a school and be surrounded by responsible adults who set the right example.

Now, don’t start me on the fact that we then need more people who check up on us applying the the rules and learning. Or that our lives have become too hectic and that most of us have a very stressful day job.  Please don’t do that…you do know very deep down that there are moments that you just consider school the easy way out.  That teachers need to fix the world and make it happen for your child.  All your hopes and dreams you that you are projecting on your  beloved  child is something that schooling will make happen or at least that is what many seem to .  The miracle can happen between 8 and 5 and when they come home they need to do their homework and then we rest assure that their future will look bright. Well…I am very sorry that is not how this works…it never did…and it never will.  That is for me the no-brainer when it comes down to education for all.  Therefor making fierce demands of what you wish to change in a school, a curriculum, school policy, educational school books and pedagogy also then means that you take raising a child seriously and will give the right example and also are open to change yourself.  Plus also be honest about the responsibility you have towards your child when it comes down to learning.  

Schools are only a temporary heaven of knowledge and they are also not a guarantee that we all are going to be future Einsteins or successful brain surgeons.  it is rather the first place where we get to find out that life is tough and that unpredictability will rather be the norm than the exception. Even the smartest valedictorians find out that high school was rather a walk in the park compared to real thing they face once they graduate. After all, isn’t the proof  in eating the pudding and not just reading the recipe and weighing the ingredients and flowing the cooking instructions?

Yes, things need to be reformed with the aid of a serious minister of education (one who not only is thinking of the popular vote) and many schools need to be able to hire the people they need (and keeping them longer than a few semesters) and obtain the funds they need in order to grant any child in any place in this country and beyond the education it deserves. After observing all the traffic offences  I am convinced that we need more than ever children who will put their parents back on the right track.  Happy and healthy children, who are respectful and caring, have courage and are resilient and are curious to find out what there is out there for them in a world that is constantly changing.

What I really intend to say is that the cliché that it takes a village to raise a child is actually a fact.  It is team work and one that takes up a lot time and effort and in most cases you won't get paid for it. You can not just assume that there is a specific beginning and an end when it comes down to learning and that each one of us is key when it comes down to learning.  Learning you can’t expect to stick if we just keep pretending that schools will take care of that and once we graduate we can live on deserted islands…we need to keep each other’s mind sharp and expanding our horizons beyond the textbooks and the theories, grammar rules and formulas we have been learning in schools.  We have to be open minded, dare to think outside the box and dare to take a risk and give youngsters the benefit of the doubt without belittling them or assuming that we always know better…because believe when I checked last the cycling path next to our main road I can assure we still don’t master those skills.

Oh, and before I forget what we also don't aim for is a cheerful and cheeky tourist who is graving his name and the one of his beloved in one of the Colosseum walls and then states later in his sincerely heartfelt apology that he was not aware of the age of the building he just tattooed!   That is also a no-brainer or not?  Oh wait, what happened with the subject called history…downsized due the need of more time needed for something else?  Guess this whole entry is rather about no-brainers at work…

P.S.: That I did choose this specific picture to go along with this very long entry is not that straight forward but there is a message hidden in this one that is linked to the content of this entry.  I love the classics and I can still be blown away by the architecture, the art and all what these civilisations have left behind and on what we as human mankind were allowed to build further.  The mind is a very flexible thing and these fierce ladies surely demonstrate this…this building was build in 421 BC and these ladies are still going strong.  The same for the music I did pick out to go along with this one. 

One of a kind magic!

Here we are…the summer holiday of 2023 is a fact and I already managed to forget two appointments and believe me I did put them in my smart phone and reminders were send by the people who I had intended to meet up with. I guess that my body and mind are still absorbing the rather emotional and rather turbulent school year that we last Friday wrapped up. 

 Remember me saying that a school year resemblesrather a Jackson Pollock painting than a Seurat one? One look back over my shoulder and I can state that the past academic year made me end up with agigantic canvas spilled over with colourful splashes of paint. 

At the moment the major sensation is relief topped up with some bittersweetness. Yes, I am happy that the year is over but there is also a part of me that now feels a bit empty…. Lots of excitement goes on in the average school year and the educational hot spot where I teach is filled up with tons of unexpected adventures. It is one of the reasons why I do think that teaching is never dull. Plus that your students force you to keep up with lots of trends and your mind seems to age a bit less fast…or at least that it the impression that I have. 

Still…this year is one for the books and I can tell you that this lady had some very low moments in the last 10 months. Now because I refuse to be too dramatic and I also try to let go and give some of these rather intense things the place it deserves. So instead of the rather long and rather painful account of the past ten months I will try to keep it short and less painful. 

Here we go… Starting September 2023 I will have to get used to teaching and drinking coffee without my side kick U. Believe me that I am still dealing with the stages of grief that this bombshell news caused me. Last week we both hugged, cried, smiled, giggled and were reminiscing about our teaching journey. Yes, I got to opportunity to say official goodbye and thank you to her but still… I will miss U big time because after being rather forced to work together and even being a bit less enthusiastic I ended having the best coworker I could wish for. 

Oh yes, I do realise that there are quite a few unbelievable educators out there and you might even be one of them but the moment that you need to say goodbye then it only hits you that it will be rather hard to fill up the shoes that they have been wearing. Plus that in a sense that is something that is even a bit absurd. After all are we all unique people and does every single one of us come along with some quirks. The thing is that I got so much out of this work relationship that I just can’t imagine that it will happend fast again with anyone that end up working with. 

 No U is not moving abroad and she will remain my friend but still…it will be different now that she had packed up her bags and left the building. Yes, I did make a promise to her and that is that I will for sure take care of her ‘legacy’. Our Dutch curriculum has got her name written all over it and she can be so damn proud of it. The positive changes that she made to that document and the effects that they came along with them were very impactful. 

Oh yeah, I did question more than once that what she envisioned was something that would work effectively. A few years later I can state only that this fierce and very on top of things language teacher surely pushed our international students forward when coming down to learning a rather challenging language. Especially when it a one hour subject and that many students will likely forget already quite a few new words and sentences by the time we walk back into the classroom. I had alongside this lady very fascinating educational journeys inside and beyond the classroom. We taught, planned, discussed, brainstormed, created, baked and dressed up for educational purposes together. 

On top of that we bothtraveled to London for an amazing conference about Mindfulness and did we joined the Year 5 class group on their schholjourney to the Netherlands. Also she pushed me when it came down to those things that I do rather consider a bit of my least developed teaching skills such as crafts, cooking and drawing. That she now leaves due to needing more flexibly and pursuing those things she loves and adores besides teaching I totally understand. 

The thing is that I more and more realise that what we had is rare and that you can never be rest assure that it will happen. You do hope that you coworkers are people who you can get along and who won't make life harder than it already is. The thing is that life is unpredictable and even tough you do think that your lesson planning is waterproof there might still fall a skeleton out of the closet. It is a rare thing when it happens what happened between U and me. I do more than ever think that you need to be kind and caring about the people you work with and give the space to bloom. U her strength and super powers surely made my professional life also easier but honestly this individual her motivation, passion, ambition, eagerness, creativity, style and many more things she aced at I will miss for sure. 

 In case that you are blessed with a five star colleague then please take care of them. They are worth their weight in gold and before you know they leave…in my case I will struggle a while to get used to a teaching life without her and that will take some time. Fortunately she agreed to come and cover once in a while and also she still owns 50% of the coffee machine we have in our office. Guess she already got the coffee part covered…as always prepared this one of a kind teacher is! 

U, thank you once again for all you have given! Hereby I wish all these educators who retired or who left education for personal reasons the very best in their next chapter. You aced something that many have a very outspoken opinion about but many find also find out about that teaching is so much more than just cop&paste. Ask U she took teaching to a level that I rather label ‘magic’. Last time I did check U had no wand but I can assure that many magical moments were created when she was in charge of a classroom audience. 

 Please enjoy your summer break and for those who have decided to study education and becoming a teacher make sure that you take it easy the next couple of weeks because once we are back on you will wonder why Hogwarts is only a fictional school and why secret potions and spells are not a subject. Or wait perhaps that is what coffee is for…oh I now get is why U wished to still own a part of our coffee machine...pure magic...

Art…musings…memories…messages…

 

 

For almost two weeks I have not been someone’s teacher and I have savoured every single seconds of that time so far…and when I glance over my photo feed on my phone I can only state that I am having such a lovely time.   Last week I met up with K in Leuven and suddenly she wondered what the time is and normally both of us are quite good at guessing but now we seemed both to e totally disconnected and that made me even smile.   When we kissed goodbye I felt for the very first time since a very long time truly free of mind.

Over the last two weeks I have been so spoiled by so many things and people.  That the trees putting on their colourful coats and that there is a lot to be experienced while the sun is out longer makes me feel hopeful as well.  Hope is a very strong sensation it can be enough to get back into a certain modus that you need in order to deal with all the s**** .   No, the world and humanity is not perfect.  The mainstream media plays the devil’s advocate when it comes down.  It feels a lot as if newspapers and social media prefer to rain someone’s parade.  

Well…I refuse to let someone pour down the deluge on mine.  Hit me…this time I refuse to just give in easily.  Don’t get me wrong , I am stil a too big of analytic person to ignore all the shadows that circle around the fun stuff.   But if you can not be hopeful on time such as Easter then when can you be?  Yes, Stallie still prays and I do it in a very private way.  I can do it while I walk through Brussels or when I drive back from work while my son is listening to his music.  Personal I don’t need a lot to make me feel connected with something that perhaps so many of us don’t need anymore.

Last week I finally got into that one museum that I have longed to visit for such a long time.  I had walked  past a few times but never got in.  Last week I did and honestly it is a like a cathedral filled up from top to bottom with art that can take your breath away.  It is a museum that houses quite a few works that most of us know but on top of that is even more.  Rembrandt is just one of them who is hanging out there and his Night Watch will never be on its own during office hours.  The painting attracts so many admirers from all ages.  Momentarily it is being restored but even behind it’s seen though vault you can still see and foremost sense what Rembrandt managed to put down on a canvas.  The impact of that work of art is huge and it will remain surely an art lover magnet.

The thing with me is that I always look for the hidden gems in these places.  This simple provincial girl loves getting lost in museums.  Yeah…I know I get lost even without intent but in a museum I do follow my own trail and I might be found in the dark corners.  It is where I suddenly find back something that my parents taught me and is really look at what is in front of me and then just a tiny bit further.  Not just read the little plate that might be plastered next to it.   In a museum I find back a bit of the essentials that I need to function 100% my true self.  

In art there is something hidden that not necessarily everybody will spot….honestly I don’t think we can but we keep trying.  Many artists have not written down why they have created why, where and when.  Oh yes, there are the many official portraits we are blessed with.  In London there is even the National Portrait Gallery where you can take a stroll along side many famous faces.  But still I doubt that we will ever find out in what state the artists was in while they were at work or while there were trying to create something new….

Since that social media is created also visiting art museums have changed immensely and I am not sure that is has been for the better.  Oh no, please don’t think that museums should ban phones and cameras…I would not go that far but there is something on my mind when I do see certain people at work with their phone and perhaps even how they behave themselves.  Yes, I do have taken pictures of some of the major highlights that the mini brochure of the Rijksmuseum pointed out to me.  One glance of these pics and I start to smile but still…

Still…I do try very hard to disconnect in a museum or when I am surrounded by something that has been created by someone else who is so much better with their creative minds and hands.  Art speaks and carries a message and some of them will keep people wondering and be amazed.   When I saw for the first time a Van Eyck painting I wished to know exactly what type of flowers where in the painting and why he had chosen exactly those and not the ones we had in our garden at home.  

Most of my live I have spend visiting exhibitions and museums all over the world that did prohibit taking pictures.  As a student I still had to relocate an art catalogue or book in the university library  and go and stand in line in front of a photocopy machine (we art students spend a fortune on photocopies and right of reproduction) to take the perfect copy of the picture that our professors had shown us in class.  

That we are now in the possession of a build in camera on our phones opens up possibilities but I do wonder how many of us have on top the picture time been mindful enough when being close to the artwork.  Inside of me there is still a bit of scrutiny when I take a picture of art work. It is as if that picture will never ever to enough justice to the real thing.   

Last week I also wandered through the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.  That is surely a museum to visit when you are in town and they have also one of the most advanced luggage vault systems…yeah Stallie managed to forget her own created code and needed assistance to reopen hers.  Check it out…it is in this museum that I suddenly witnessed something that I had kind of forgotten about since COVID-19 and that is how humans behave when they are close to art with a phone.  It was in front of the sunflowers that I suddenly saw a girl posing next to it…and all I could do was wondering:’Why??? Why would you do this? ‘ I would have loved to have picked her brain and so many others who were moving around whole holding on to their life lines.  

The Stallie who walks through museums is probably the most to her true version you will come across.  I am then in connection with the past, the present and the future.  I don’t hide but I do go totally silent and yes I might observe others and listen into certain conversations.  Over the last decade I have travelled a lot on my own and been to some art temples that most of us have on our bucket list and it is then that I manage to fuel up. 

In most these art palaces or tiny off the trail galleries I end up I do get so much more than just a glance at art.  I make sometimes memories for a life time and most of them I don’t have pics of because or I had my phone locked up in the obligatory wardrobe/lockers or I did ran out of battery and forget to take extra juice for my phone or I just did not feel that the picture would do justice to the work itself…getting the picture here…If not let me tell you the following…
 

Over the last 20 years I also have traveled with my mother and we do then more than once end up booking time slots for art museums. We both then after a gigantic breakfast take off and check in order to meet up with art.  My mother and I did not talk to another when we visit museums…but it is my cool and awesome mother who always manages to see the things that nobody seems to notice when out there with me.  She is the one who suddenly will break the silence but not with me but with strangers or even with the artwork itself.   And believe me she is the most mindful person in the whole museum.

On a sunny day in Zurich the two of us visited an other exciting museum called the Kunsthaus.  It was there that  my mother who walked out of exposition room with oily and wet fingers.  ‘Mum, come on there was a sign that said you could not touch the stones called ‘olive stone'.’  ‘Hey, I wanted to check if that stone was really covered in olive oil.’, was her pregmatic response.  ‘And?’, I asked her.  ‘Not as good as the one I cook with.’, was her reply while she had her iconic pokerface on. ‘Do you have any tissues?’, she then asked.  'No, I don't', was my dry reply and I then pointed at a sign to the toilets and she walked passed me while not showing any remorse.  

Ladies and gentlemen everything that I know about art is something that I have been reading or did pick up while listening to others talking about the art they loved or studied.  It were my parents and some amazing passionate art historian professors who have been pumping so much info and historical facts into my mind.  It are those people who walk along my side when I am in a museum.  Any museum…and most of the time I try to keep my mind very open and my senses are fully activated because there might be gems hiding in the darker and less crowded spots of these places.  

Nope…Stallie has so far in her life never taken a selfie in a museum and is not planning to pose next to any artwork. I let the art rather speak for itself and try to push out all he other distractions and events taking place around me.  I want to suck up as much of what the artists did intend and will go back to my center where I will try to calm down and just let the beauty in…it might come in gentle waves or rather be tsunami like.

For those who think that they can catch with a phone those precious moments that they are granted access to art and creativity I have got bad news for you.  Unless you decide to create a very nice photo album with one of these amazing photo album apps and if you have taken the time to really look and use your senses.  That moment you were there standing is a unique moment…it can not even be caught on camera.  The light, the sounds, the smell and foremost the overall vibes that the art itself will try to resonate are never ever the same.  

That many of us try to capture that specific moment on is in a way a rather an attempt to cloone that unique moment.  It is already gone by the time you press on your button of your camera and all that is left of is a specific memory but if you have not taken enough time to really connect then the picture will never reflect that moment...ever...believe me. That is not how art works...any art....even  most professional photographers will agree with me.  Some of them have to wait for decades before they can capture that one picture they were aiming for and dreaming of...they live through it...they sense it...and that particular sensation you can't copy with your camera...

My mother is the living proof that art needs to be lived. Nope…this exceptional cool and unique mother of mine will never takes pictures in museums and will rather prefer to buy a postcard in the souvenir shop that she might even mail me or my sister.  And no, it might not be the hot shot of the museum she will pick out, rather the one work that everybody seems to ignore or rather has been standing towards with their back while checking if the pics they took were not blurry or have nobody other then themselves in it.   Sorry you lot out there with phones polluting the view of others…you are missing out on a lot more than that one perfect picture.  But who am I to tell you that…art speaks for itself…ask my mother she knows best and still uses the best olive oil there is in order to cook her delicious dishes.