HODGEPODGE OCTOBER 28

1. Is Halloween a big deal in your neighborhood? Was it something you celebrated as a child? With your own children? Do you like candy corn? 

As a child I lived in Germany and Halloween was completely unknown. When I  moved with my parents to Brussels I was 14 and no Halloween in view. In Belgium too nobody celebrated Halloween. 

In 2013 a lot of Americans lived in Waterloo and introduced Halloween ! The Belgian families not used at all to the Trick and Treat and costumes and decorations, didn't understand what happened and of course had no sweets ! No decoration either ! 

But then slowly the decorations became each year a bit more and now the kids got sweets too. There was even a Halloween party for the kids and the park of Waterloo. Unfortunately the city doesn't organize it anyymore since several years. 

But every year there was a little more decoration in the shops and the schools started organizing Halloween for the children. But I couldn't say whether Halloween is celebrated in other communities in Brussels. 

This had been my one and only kid (a little American) who rang at the door. I had decorated a bit, his mother had asked me if he could come. 

A few years later I always had sweets and a decoration at our door to tell kids that here Halloween was known. The neighbors followed it was a nice use and we all had fun. But then the Americans moved away, the kids became Teenagers and then adults and we never celebrated Halloween anymore. But it is a nice use from Ireland which was taken along by the Irish immigrants to the USA. Now I live in a building and have no idea if they do something for Halloween. 

2. Are you a scaredy cat? About what?  

The only thing which scares me and makes me scream is a fat spider !

3. Last time you were somewhere that should have been busy but felt like a 'ghost town'? 

That was a yearly flea market in a hal normally very interesting. Just after the Covid lockdown and rules were a bit better,  I thought it would be like the other years but it was really  ghost town or rather hal,very few participants. and nothing else everybody left ! And we were all looking for something "normal" and usually nice, but the Covid ghost was still floating through the hal.

4. Do you like chili and if so how do you like it? Beans or no beans? Meat or no meat? Beef or chicken? Spice or no spice? Favorite toppings? 

We both like chili with beans and minced beef meat and of course a bit spicy I found the spices for a good sauce in a British shop and it tastes real good.

5. Would you describe yourself as a night owl? What time of night qualifies? What are you doing while everyone else is asleep? Do you then 'sleep in'? Define 'sleeping in'.

 

That's a difficult question, I sometimes am a night owl and only go reluctantly to bed, but then there are times I go early to bed but mostly wake up at the same time. As I live alone now I get up when I want, when I was young I could sleep until 11 am or even more, now the latest "sleeping in" is 10 am, but that doesn't happen very often. Since the nearly 2 years lockdown and Mr.G's hospitalization and then his stay in the retirement home and now living alone,  I mostly go to bed between 9 and 10 and then I read, mostly blogs which are very interesting but I have no time to really read them when I have to comment. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I think my life is like a pearl necklace. All pearls look the same just like my days.