WEEKEND REVIEW June 25, 2016

Nicole had to take Charlie to the groomer and I went with her to take some pictures. He was such a good dog I even think he enjoyed to be pampered by two young girls !



He was a real beauty once the whole procedure was finished and we took him to the Mont St. Jean farm for a drink, as the sun had suddenly came out after a whole wet day. We had a drink and everybody admired Charlie !

Sunday was again not a day to go out but we went to the cinema and saw a real funny French movie, a daughter who had lost her job and returned to her mother. When the daughter tried to explain to her mother that she needed an email, the whole audience almost rolled on the floor so much we all laughed.



After the movie we had a drink in "La Pomme" the apple, which has a lot of English clients. It's a bit like a Pub.

Of course everybody was talking about the Brexit and the big disappointment. Nobody had really thought that it would come to this disastrous result ! For those here who like the English they were sad and said that the country will go bankrupt, the others were happy because they were so stupid to leave and anyway they always asked for extras. So the opinions are devided.

I came to Belgium because of the European Union (at that time called Common Market) My father started there at the very beginning in 1958. At that time "Europe" was very small. Just France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. The official language was French and the people there were so motivated to create a united Europe. When in 1973 the UK joined, my father was not happy at all. He didn't speak any English, because in posh schools you only learned French (the diplomatic language) Latin and Greek. I remember the fear of the Belgians who thought that they would loose their job in the many American companies, because of the language. There were suddenly so many British people on the market whose mothertongue was English. Slowly slowly English became the main language for the European Union and my father was furious. I grew up to be an European, and don't know what patriotism is. I live in Belgium, my husband is Italian, our son is more Belgian, and we have a Dutch daughter in law. As he worked and lived for 10 years in London, he could have married an English girl too.



This was the title of our local Newspaper. 15 Brits of Waterloo asked for changing nationality ! And that was only the first day after !

In our rather small town Waterloo, 450  British live here. "Most of them live in Waterloo for many years and have a job and a social life. They are worried and angry, according to our Mayor. Furious because, as expatriates, they had not been entitled to vote. Worried because, if they remain British citizens, they may have to make many efforts, particularly concerning work permits, taxation and pension. Fifteen requests within 24 hours, is quite exceptional. And considering the received phone calls, that number really is likely to increase. "

I read in a local Newspaper. Scheduled weddings had to be delayed because of so many English citizen who had come to the City Hall immediately after the result of the Brexit.

For the young British generation, I hope that the old guys who still dream about the rich Commonwealth find their brain back ! 

I just booked my holidays, a roundtrip from Eastbourne where I stay with friends as each year to Edinburgh. For me the Brexit came on purpose, the pound had never been so cheap ! But honestly I would have preferred to pay like last year and keep the UK in the European Union for our youth !