Weeeeee're Baaaaa-aaack!

We are back, but what an adventure... our itinerary proved to differ greatly from the original plan.

Prior to leaving, I had made three contacts with KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) and Air France to confirm the details of our trip back to Canada, including a telephone call the morning of our departure, and all three customer service persons were of the same opinion: show up at Gare Midi in Brussels before 14:30 and get on the train that leaves about then for Amsterdam; arrive around 16:10, catch your flight to Toronto around 18:30 and "Bob's your uncle". I even printed off a e-ticket with that information, we arranged for a leisurely drive courtesy of our friend Jonathan, and arrived 45 minutes early, expecting to pick up our tickets, get on the train and be off.

Well, too bad, so sad; that's not what happened. Turns out that the Thalys highspeed train was already leaving as we were we walking up to the ticket counter. The time in the online schedule and on our e-ticket was in fact not correct, and so we had missed our train. Not good. We bought tickets for a later train, and when it arrived at Schipol we ran like mad to get our bags checked in, but to no avail; they wouldn't take our baggage as the loading was finished.

We recounted our woes to the ticket agent, who refunded us a large rebooking fee ($800 CAD) but we had to find a hotel at our own expense and occupy ourselves until 14:00 the next day. We had a brief exploration of the centre of Amsterdam before returning to the hotel for a long sleep.

Lest you think the excitement of having an extra night to explore Amsterdam wasn't dampened sufficiently by the presence of children, I had terrible chills, fever and stomach flu for the evening and all night, followed by intense fatique and muscle and joint pain the next day. Maggie experienced the same symptoms but 18 hours later, so hers peaked during the flight, by the end of which I was feeling better. (She's taken until today, two days later, to start to feel better). A great time to get the flu it wasn't.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the flight itself was delayed because the original plane broke down, and they had to wait for another plane to equip and clean? We also had to switch boarding gates, and walked most of the back through the airport to make it to our new gate. Gadzooks!

To our relief, when we got on the plane, things went much more smoothly. The boys were both very good, and when arrived in Toronto, we were greeted by my sister and her family who had brought our car up to the airport to meet us; we carried on to Belleville that same evening.

Maggie and I turned around and went back to Toronto the next morning, leaving the boys with my parents, so that I could prepare for and sing an audition (this morning) and she could attend a staff party with her colleagues from her Toronto job. We stayed over with Bruce, and after the audition this morning, headed back to Belleville.

So now the boys are asleep, I can have a nice cold beer and maybe (who knows) smoke a quiet cigar on the back porch... vacation starts now.

the longest day

Well today is the longest day of the year, and here in Brussels we are in a considerably higher latitude than Toronto. In fact one of the hardest parts about living here isn't the damp climate, or the dark winter, but the long days: today dawn began at 04:43 and dusk at 22:46. Toronto's started at 05:00 and 21:39 respectively, which doesn't seem like a big difference but it is. I feel right now at 19:00 that it's around five o'clock, which does mix up the schedule a bit.

It's good that we had a long day because it's been a busy one. Bryan and Kiana lent us their car, and David and Louise lent us their car, as well as a ton of stuff to help furnish the apartment, and by 10:00 this morning we were packing cars and driving over to unload them at the new place. Four car loads handled a surprising amount of stuff, and then the delivery man arrived from Waterloo with the washer and dryer as well as a few other articles.

I don't think I've ever lifted something as heavy as that washer up two flights of stairs, it was pretty intense! The delivery man certainly earned his money as he was working just as hard. I won't move those things down those stairs again if I can help it.

We had time for a bite of lunch before the next delivery, this time from Mons. Two beds (one of them a huge American-made captain's bed), three chest-of-drawers, and the mattresses, carpets, dining room table, chairs, etc... we had help fortunately from the friends and colleagues who were selling them.

A cold beer and conversation in the garden followed, and I'm about to swim to cool off. Tomorrow should be a quiet day; Maggie has already cleaned most of the house and polished the floors, and we've cut the grass, so we have another couple rooms to finish off and get the bikes over to J and K's garage, and we're done. They're cooking dinner for us tomorrow, and driving us to the airport on Monday, so we have a lot to be thankful for, with all these good friends helping out; they've made a big big difference. We hope to entertain them all to a big curry cookout when we return in late August.

This will likely be my last post from Belgium before leaving, so thanks for reading along with our adventures. If you haven't already, check out Maggie's take on our experiences here, and we'll be talking with you more in late August, if not before...

... à bientôt!

last day of school

I got the boys off to school on time today, and it was a significant day for us all. Malcolm presented his teacher with a little gift of a Galler chocolate bar and a picture he drew of a unicorn, sealed with a ribbon and his illuminated "M" wax seal, with the message: Cher Nathalie, merci pour cette année que vous m'avez donné. Bonnes vacances, Malcolm. He composed it himself in pencil and then inked it in. She was pleased and they exchanged kisses, which was nice for both of them.

Speaking of kisses, I might not have mentioned that in these as in other things, the two boys are different. Malcolm hasn't exchanged bizous with his teacher before, but when I go to pick up Duncan it takes an extra twenty minutes to get out of there, as he kisses every daycare attendant (about six or seven people) and a half a dozen of his closest friends, and has to be dragged out of there under duress, still bellowing a demain in his little-boy baritone. Socially inhibited, he isn't.

The commune saga continues. Visit #5 yesterday was to have been a triumph, given that I had met up with the local policier and requested that he meet me at the commune house yesterday at 11:00. I thought I had it sewn up, but never count your chickens before they hatch: the wicket that I had been to the other times was closed (why, you may ask? Well, c'est jeudi, evidement) and it was a different person I spoke to.

I was initially hopeful, explaining that I had been there two days prior, had shown all my documents, and had been told that all I needed was the attestation of the local officer that we still lived in the commune, were still married, etc. and she would renew our cards. This new clerk demanded birth certificates, health coverage, passports... all the crap we gave them seven months ago. Amazingly she took new photocopies of all the same documents, and then told me that we had to wait for the department of etrangers to approve or deny the application to renew the identity cards. When I explained that I had heard differently two days earlier, I got a typical gallic shrug and a blank look. It looks as if I will have to reapply when we return in August.

Unbelievable. I walked out, and to my surprise found myself giggling in a high-pitched, unbelieving and slightly hysterical voice, and feeling a bit like Chevy Chase's "Griswold" character, melting down at the gates of Wally World. (That clip is an apt depiction of a traveller's frustration, but it's got some colourful language, so turn your sound down before playing it at the office or when the kids are around... here is the clip). What really drives me crazy is the lack of a clear process... I used to do process improvement and facilitation in my old job, and I bet I could find some serious efficiencies in that office if I had a whiteboard, some post-its and a box of dry erase markers, and one hour in a room with the staff.

(Gotta calm down, Matthew; it's a different country, you like it here remember?)

I'm heading over to pick up the keys from the landlord... he's come through with those, very nicely, and our friends are lending us their car tomorrow, and another set of friends will help with the carrying, which is great. I might get in a last post on the weekend before we leave...

getting packed up

So this past few days the pace of preparations has really accelerated, as we close in on our departure date of this monday June 23rd. Lots of time spent sorting and packing, deciding on what we need to take with us to Canada and what goes into a box to be moved into the new place. I understand that this way we do save a month's rent, but it sure would have been a lot easier to do the home move and the Canada trip at two different times, rather than on the same weekend.

Maggie has emptied the boys' bedrooms and the spare room, and has cleaned and polished the floors. We had a window cleaner come in today and take care of all the windows, and we've been attacking the garden with a vengeance. I'm sure we'll get it all worked out prior to departure. We've pretty much finished all the food in the freezer and are almost done with the fridge. There will definitely be lots of dry goods to move though, pasta, canned goods, spices and that sort of thing.

Other pieces of the puzzle involve coordinating the move to the new apartment. We have beds and tables and chairs arriving by one truck around 2:00pm on Saturday, and I'm arranging for the washer and drier and other items to come via a moving company around 5:00pm, and then there's the matter of all our boxes and suitcases here that need to get moved, most probably by the good grace of our neighbors with cars. I still have to verify with the landlord that we can get in on Saturday, but I suspect that should be easy as he has been very accommodating so far.

If that wasn't enough, the Belgian fascination with administrative paper continues. Our identity cards need renewing, since they expire while we are away in Canada. First Maggie's work permit needed renewing, which the administrator at her school did, but then she forgot to give us the additional document, so that necessitated a second visit to the commune house (not counting the two other times I went and they were closed). When I went today and presented this additional document, it became clear that I would have to have another visit from the local police officer (Erik, do you remember him?) to confirm that Maggie and I are still married and living together before they will renew the identity cards. That means that I have to wait until Erik verifies this, then go to the commune AGAIN! GAAAAH! I tell you, all this running around and getting this document and that document and stamping this and validating that, multiple times, sure makes sure that lots of people are kept very busy... it must be a fiendishly clever employment strategy...

I am also preparing for a concert on July 11th, as part of the Music on the Rideau at Glenburnie series, just north of Kingston. It is shaping up to be a lot of fun, and I'll be joined for the first time in a duo recital with my mentor Bruce Kelly, and by the very talented pianist Brian Jackson. There's quite a bit of rehearsing to do on that material prior to the concert, and I hope to do some of it here before I leave.

I did get a little bit of stress relief today by exercising; today I almost doubled my previous distance record in the pool, swimming 74 laps, or almost 2.5 km. The first twenty laps or so were very frustrating due to even more sunday drivers (see last post) than usual. If they'd just get organized into fast, slow and medium lanes that would be something, but it doesn't seem to happen, and today there were so many swimmers that you couldn't safely pass either. Oh well, the frustration is probably what gave me a little extra adrenaline so that when things did open up a bit I took advantage of it and kept going.

Now it's time for some more phone calls and some more packing before Malcolm gets home.

Some catchup photos

Here are a few snaps from the last month or so that I didn't have a chance to post:

Duncan waiting patiently for people to arrive for his birthday party...

... and sizing up his cake...

Malcolm's birthday cake...

... and he and his guests goofing around...
... Duncan at the end of the "duck dance" at the school spectacle (he's right in the middle)...
... and Malcolm in "Quand la musique est bonne", in green t-shirt, stage left...
... and lastly, my delight at meeting this incomparabe gentleman, the man who has won a Stanley Cup ring for each finger, the one and only Jean Beliveau!

* * *

Today I got the kids off to school a little early, and headed straight for the pool. It's been very crowded there lately, with the beautiful warm weather, but there are lots of "sunday drivers" in the swim lanes and it's hard to find your rhythm. If I have the room to find a good pace I can swim for a long time without getting tired, but if I have to keep stopping éand starting because of crowded lanes I get very frustrated. It was very crowded at first this morning but eventually I found a lane that had only two other people in it, and managed to get in 1330 metres, which makes me feel good.

Now I'm off to the commune house; Jonathan brought home Maggie's renewed work permit from the school, so now I have to renew our Belgian identity cards before we leave for Canada, so as to make our return a little smoother. This afternoon Malcolm is off school at 12:00, so after lunch I think we'll head down to the Musées Royale des Beaux-Arts to have a look at the British Royal Collection, on loan from Queen Elizabeth II.

Visit to Canada

Well I'm back home at last, after almost three weeks in Canada. It seemed like longer, but I had very little time to myself...

I was invited back to Canada to fill in for Bruce, who was originally slated to sing at the Queen's University convocation ceremonies, but was occupied with singing Sharpless in a production of Madama Butterfly in London Ontario instead. Arriving in Toronto almost a week in advance of the convocation ceremonies, I took the opportunity to have nice visit with my sisters, brother-in-law and nine-month-old nephew, whom I hadn't seen in seven months. We enjoyed a great evening of dinner, drinks and conversation, and it was wonderful to catch up.

Next I headed down to London to meet Bruce, and do a little rehearsing prior to my first audition the next day in Toronto. That audition went quite well, and that evening I celebrated my brother-in-law Tim's birthday together with him and my sister and their close friends. On the following day I went back to London to meet the rest of the cast of Butterfly and do some more coaching. I also took the opportunity to sit in on the rehearsals, and was deeply impressed with the level of quality of the production, which was excellent in every respect.

I drove to Kingston a few days later, stopping in at my parents' house for dinner and a nice visit, and continuing to my friend Don's place, where I was to stay for most of my time in Kingston. His hospitality was as ever very generous, and Aubrey, his golden retriever, was in excellent form, and greeted me enthusiastically.

The next morning I put on my dark suit and Queen's school tie, and drove into town to sing the first of two weeks of convocation ceremonies...

Maintaining my enthusiasm through eighteen performances of "God Save the Queen" and "O Canada", eighteen convocation addresses, and eighteen halls full of graduates getting their degrees seemed a daunting task at first, but in reality I found them highly energizing. For one thing, unlike the longer, rather spartan ceremony that had happened at my own convocation ten years ago in the Jock Harty hockey arena, these ceremonies were of a much shorter length (about 1 hour 20 minutes each) and carried out with more pomp, held as they were in the historic and beautiful Grant Hall. Of course the smaller venue meant that a greater number of ceremonies were required to accomodate all the students, which was harder on the organization staff and the officials such as the Chancellor, Principal, etc., but the more human scale meant a more enjoyable and memorable experience for the graduands and their families.

I sat on the stage with the rest of the officals, and so had an excellent view of the faces of the graduands as they filed up and onto the stage. Their deer-in-the-headlights blankness soon turned to grateful relief as they were hooded by a faculty member and shook hands with the Chancellor before returning to their seats amid the cheers of their parents.

Likewise I found the speeches envigorating. Despite coming from many different backgrounds and professions, there were remarkable similarities in the advice given by these speakers, although each had their own unique perspectives to offer. A common thread running through virtually all the speeches was the exhortation to avoid too narrow a focus; to instead live broadly and richly, and to pursue one's dreams and ambitions without reservation and in whatever direction life offered them.

Having completely forgotten the speech and even the identity of the speaker at my own convocation, I wonder if the graduands - most of them surely fixated on specific career goals - will remember those ideas, but I hope they will. I certainly found in them a reaffirmation of my pursuit of my dream, and welcomed the chance to meet and talk with the speakers before or after each ceremony.

Halfway through my two weeks in Kingston I went down to London for the weekend, and had a great dinner with the cast (Bruce made four pies, and the company director prepared a 16-pound sirloin tip beef roast, baked yams with sour cream and green onions, and marinated roasted vegetables). Bruce and I worked some more on the audition arias, and then I attended the matinee of Butterfly on Sunday, and was extremely moved by the performance. I sang another audition Sunday evening, and then headed back to Toronto for the night, and proceeded from there to Kingston for the second week of ceremonies.

I also had a chance to visit with a number of other people dear to me, most frequently through being treated to a meal! Let's just say that, in addition to the other people already mentioned above, I greatly enjoyed the generosity and/or good company of:

• my cousin David, and his wife and kids
• my parents and my grandmother Rita
  
• my in-laws Hugh and Sheila Rose
• our Kingston friends TJ and Erica and their kids
• Eric and Kareena and their kids
  

as well as being a guest at a delicious luncheon and a dinner at Summerhill at Queen's.

I regret not having the time to see everybody that I wanted to, but in fact the list of people I did manage to see is rather long. What with singing two convocation ceremonies and working my arias for several hours daily, doing two auditions, swimming a kilometer in the Queen's pool every other day at lunchtime, driving back and forth to London a couple of times and visiting with loved ones, I was vocally and physically pretty tired by the end of the trip. This wasn't a vacation!

I must say I did sleep on the plane. I got home without incident, and was very happy to find Maggie, Malcolm and Duncan waiting for me patiently, and they greeted me enthusiastically. The weather warmed up quickly after I arrived, and so we had a great weekend in and out of the pool, barbequeing, relaxing and enjoying each others' company. Good thing too, as Maggie left early this morning for a week-long trip to Holland with her class. I guess the kids will have to get used to having tag-team parents...

Speaking of the kids, now that I've got them off to school, and have finished this blog entry, I'm going to do some banking, mail a parcel, return some sheet music, start something for dinner, telephone some opera companies, and maybe even go swimming...

à bientôt!