tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9424254935568409822024-03-05T12:30:44.024+01:00Being LouiseRandom thoughts of a 28 year old Belgian who's lived in Salamanca, London, Paris, and most recently CincinnatiLouisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-6774890345672474822013-05-29T04:02:00.001+02:002013-05-29T04:02:57.778+02:00Unconditional loveWhat do you think of when you hear the word "love"? For me, the first words that come to mind are: trust, relationship, happiness, respect, values, compromise, silly jokes, waking up happy because of the person next to you, protected, falling in love, butterflies... Something to be treasured, but also something to keep working on.<br />
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The moment I became a parent I was introduced to a different kind of love: the most overwhelming emotion I've ever had: the one of <strong>unconditional love</strong>. To love someone no matter what. It blew my mind, it washed over me and hasn't left me since. I don't expect it ever will.<br />
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Actually, I'm not sure who I'm writing this blogpost for as all of you parents out there know this feeling very well. And people who aren't parents (yet), well, I guess it's something you will only truly understand the moment you become one. So I'm probably just writing this for myself - to remind me, when I look back, how beautiful and overwhelming a feeling it was. Not just something that's always been there.<br />
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Unconditional love is fundamentally different from love as I knew it before. That type of love, as strong as it may be, was and is based on respect, and some guardrails. We could discuss specifics, but if the person you love cheats on you, or lies to you or ... [insert what would make you walk away] ... If the person you love doesn't treat you with the respect you deserve, you walk away. You both know that, and you treat each other with respect, because you love each other and always want to be together. But no matter how strong and deep your love, it is not unconditional. At least not in my mind.<br />
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Unconditional love feels like 100% heart and no reason. I'm guessing it's biological: what other reason could there be for waking up at 4am and not mind because it's.your.baby? It feels bigger than anything else I've ever felt.<br />
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Did you feel the same when you became a parent? Do you agree with my "love" description versus "unconditional love" or is it too black and white because my baby is still only 3 months? Does it change over time? I'm curious, let me know!Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-31371835489294954022013-04-21T21:37:00.004+02:002013-04-21T21:37:47.627+02:00Being pregnant and giving birth in the States – what surprised meWould you consider giving birth abroad? Somewhere where people speak a different language, have different habits, procedures… It is a bit terrifying when you stop for a second and think about it. <br />
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However, another principle trumped my initial worries and that is that I didn’t want to delay having kids because of our international adventure. Nowadays so many people seem to wait and carefully plan their baby for the moment when they are properly ‘settled down’: married, good job, their own house. While we got the married and job part taken care of, we were living in another country and renting a one bedroom apartment. We decided it didn’t matter.<br />
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Being pregnant in the States was… interesting. A few things that struck me as different from what I would expect back home:<br />
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1. My gynaecologists seemed to trust ‘tests’ more than their own observations. This resulted in a few weird situations where the doctor would ask me: “do you want me to check you?” and I would always say: “of course” (how else will we know if everything is ok?). There was definitely a preference for doing one more ultrasound or one more extra test. This of course cost money.<br />
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2. Medical bills are outrageous. Even with a very good health insurance, I still paid way more than I ever would have in Belgium. This was to be expected I guess. What I wasn’t ready for was how expensive all the medication is that your doctor prescribes. And how long it takes to actually hit your deductible (once you hit it you don’t need to pay anymore). There was actually a very detailed piece on this in <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2136864,00.html" target="_blank">Time Magazine</a> a few weeks ago, in case you’re interested to learn more about this.<br />
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3. Induction. Our doctors seemed very much in favor of induction and started to talk to me about this around 34 weeks, which led to a few 'interesting' discussions. I was not ready to have that discussion that early on in pregnancy and I still don't understand why you would induce if you're body isn't ready for it (unless there is a medical emergency of course). When I checked the website of the hospital I delivered in there were remarkably more births during the week than in the weekend. Induction = king here?<br />
4. Friendliness of random strangers. This may be the same back home, no idea, but I was pleasantly surprised by how people in Cincinnati would smile at me when they noticed I was pregnant. I never got more compliments than during this period (thank you baby :))<br />
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5. People being surprised that I still walked to work right up to the birth of my baby. Walking for 30 minutes is looked upon as a weird thing anyway but the fact that I continued walking to work (sometimes taking the bus) was beyond comprehension for some of my colleagues. As well as the fact that we got a car 2 days before our baby’s birth :) In Belgium, women will walk a lot in the final weeks, to make sure the baby ‘drops’, so it’s not a weird sight<br />
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In terms of delivering the baby, I have no idea how it is in Belgium so it’s hard to compare, but here is what I will remember most:<br />
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1. Extremely helpful nurses. Very hands-on, they supported me when they had to but never pushed me for any decisions. This was a welcome surprise as I thought they would push for an epidural. But because I had been clear about my preference for a natural birth, they gave me nurses who had experience with that. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it that long without medication. And the moment I decided I wanted it anyway, they were very quick to give it to me.<br />
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2. Discharged 48 hours after delivery. C-R-A-Z-Y. While my husband was glad that we could go home, I felt barely human at the moment that I was discharged. The very short stay at the hospital also meant that every 30 minutes there was someone else dropping in (nurses, doctors, admins…). Exhausting (and that was without family dropping by - as they were still back home at this point!)<br />
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3. Total obsession with breastfeeding. In Belgium, parents choose to breastfeed or to give formula and it is their own choice. Other people will respect that choice and not think twice about it. In the US, it feels like you don’t really have a choice. I had to supplement my daughter for a day because my milk hadn’t come in and had to sign a piece of paper that I understood that this was just a temporary solution (!). While I don’t give my baby formula right now, switching to formula won't be a big thing when that time comes. I guess we just don’t make that big of a deal out of breastfeeding in Europe.<br />
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Finally, what I will always remember is the fantastic support I got from colleagues and friends during pregnancy and after delivery. Uncountable gifts, tips, borrowed baby furniture and clothes… Really amazing! Thank you all :) <br />
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All things considered, while it’s probably always easier in your own country, it was also a good experience here. And as a bonus, I now know all of the English “pregnancy/childbirth” vocabulary :) <br />
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Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-37454776102052337932012-05-11T23:32:00.003+02:002012-05-11T23:32:53.695+02:00Final thoughts on my live below the line challengeIt's 5h30 on Friday afternoon and I'm close to finishing the challenge.<br /><br />My final thoughts:<br />- surviving on $7.50 a week is tough, tougher than I thought it would be<br />- i had underestimated the impact on my emotional health - you need more food than this to feel good<br />- it was a great way to raise money, almost 2000 dollar so far!<br />- i'm so grateful for being able to go back to "normal" and will keep those in mind who don't have that luxury<br />- we had a great team in Cincinnati, it was so powerful to come together to do this<br /><br />See you next year...!Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-8894736794150076982012-05-10T00:04:00.001+02:002012-05-10T00:05:07.960+02:00Live below the line - Day 3 painDay 3 is definitely the worst day so far...<br />
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- hard to get up <br />
- feeling weak <br />
- somehow have this idea that I can't eat anything so even when I'm eating my carrot at 4pm for a second I think I'm cheating and am not supposed to eat... (yeah...)<br />
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but on the positive side: <br />
- ramen noodles are surprisingly delicious after 2 days of beans and rice <br />
- I'm still going strong, haven't cheated! <br />
- having lunch with the below the line colleagues is encouraging: other people are as grumpy as I feel :)<br />
<br />Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-77446165192445164102012-05-09T03:21:00.001+02:002012-05-09T03:21:27.402+02:00Live below the line - day 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's 9pm on day 2 and here are my observations for the past 2 days<br /><br />- tap water in Covington tastes really really bad<br />- people are surprised to see that I can get a full plate of rice, beans and 4 taco shells for less than 1.50 a day<br />- i'm not really hungry, but more bored with what to eat. very excited about switching to ramen noodles tomorrow for lunch!!<br />- having a snack was a good idea, i get excited about eating my carrot around 4 pm :)<br />- my stomach doesn't really hurt but feels like it's shrinking<br />- your social life pretty much disappears when you don't have money to eat (wanna go for dinner? errrm, no...)<br />- best idea is to have lunch at your office with other people doing the challenge to encourage each other. today i had a lunch meeting with pizza and it was pretty hard sitting there on my own eating my beans and rice<br />- i'm glad i don't usually drink coffee, it seems tough for the caffeine-lovers out there!<br /><br />
My dinner tonight was exactly the same as yesterday... but tomorrow I get ramen for lunch and carrots with the rice and tacos for dinner....!Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-81049488089104835832012-05-08T02:59:00.003+02:002012-05-08T02:59:25.956+02:00Living below the line this weekSo this week I'm living below the line: surviving on $1.50 a day for food and drinks for 5 days... Right now I'm at the end of day one...<br />
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You can follow my adventures on my live below the line blog and also support me and my team there: <a href="https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/louisedejager%20" target="_blank">https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/louisedejager </a><br />
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Thank you!<br />
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LouiseLouisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-58913021097787064082012-04-11T05:47:00.002+02:002012-04-11T05:52:10.790+02:00Day 2 in AlabamaBeen in training from 8-5, then dinner from 5h30 to 8 and then 2 more hours of discussions.<br /><br />Fair to say haven't seen anything new.<br /><br />2 good places for dinner I can recommend though:<br /><a href="http://www.cypressinnrestaurant.com/">http://www.cypressinnrestaurant.com/</a> Beautiful riverfront views combined with quality southern cuisine and friendly service - all with fresh ingredients. Truly amazing views!<br /><br /><a href="http://epiphanycafe.vpweb.com/Home.html">http://epiphanycafe.vpweb.com/Home.html</a> New American farm-to-table cuisine. Try the scallops as a starter, the duck as a main and the carrot cake as a dessert. I promise you won't regret it! No view here, but amazing food! Good cava too :)<br /><br />Tomorrow same schedule...Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-76865716064104123472012-04-10T04:32:00.014+02:002012-04-10T05:15:08.235+02:00To be walking in chieftain Tuskaloosa's footstepsWhen I was living in Europe, "the South" of the US didn't really mean anything. Sure, I knew that's where the plantations and the slaves were, but other than that? Not a lot of facts come to mind.
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<br /><div>And then suddenly, I am travelling to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for 4 days! So I got a chance to experience the South by myself, pretty cool, right! I'm here for a training with work. It should be all about innovation and 'fail fast, fail cheap'. I'm very excited for our first day of training tomorrow. Today was half a day at work in Cincinnati and then half a day of travelling to get here (Cincy - Atlanta - Birmingham - then 1h drive from Birmingham to Tuscaloosa, in the state of Alabama).</div>
<br />For those who don't know where Alabama and Tuscaloosa are, see below. This city got hit badly by a huge tornado in April 2011 (2.4k wide...), leaving 47 dead. We still saw some of the impact when we drove into this town.
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<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 266px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729600938202697698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uPLH3Wvu46V6dZYQRXttUNAZA72OvaL6yTUWLlVDxgZukRXZQQvXibDvHKHbuZiWxcDnFXrpxXx-wQ_CI9_ye1d0ZNXfNX-PQZoQy2IZly7GXd1OA-_hAkeEFma8o5Ucg9XUBTTk-D4/s320/tuscaloosa+map.png" /> If you wonder where the name comes from, it refers to Tuskaloosa, the chieftain of a Muskogean-speaking people, who battled and was defeated by Hernando de Soto, in 1540, in the battle of Mabila.
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<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 215px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 299px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5729599162410491362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjya_3MNmAbctC8xvPHTfn97PO7jnrZ_u_AxyICTGR1tlht2F4QlSugnHPYwPJvMbhKxyIoPS2g9e9Jih5OIgt4aAOVeRfeGZeJMbqC1oBWXgMNYtv-50OdRDwQfU33G5_uylzv-K6U_YE/s320/tuskaloosa.jpg" /> Fascinating, no, to be walking where this guy walked about 5 centuries ago?
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<br />My first impressions of Tuscaloosa:
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<br />- very green area, lovely very wide river. This river is apparently called the Black Warrior River, which is what Tuskaloosa meant in Muskogean! We just had an amazing dinner, overseeing the river, very nice.
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<br />- they like to fry food over here. They have hushpuppies; they are deepfried cornbread balls that are kind of delicious. The name apparently refers to the fact it was a way to feed the dogs, to 'hush the puppies' (make them be quiet). I also tried fried pickles (mwah, not sure what the obsession with pickles in the US is about) and cheese grits (ok, but oh so heavy... couldn't even fit dessert anymore after this...)
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<br />- I think I saw a real palm tree - it's warm and sunny out here
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<br />Tomorrow full day of training (8-5 and 7-10...), we'll see how much I discover about the South then!
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<br />Night yall!
<br />Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-75115286916691310962012-03-18T19:26:00.003+01:002012-03-18T20:00:04.239+01:00My running adventure: from 0 to 15kA little less than 4 years ago I moved to London and was inspired by all my healthy and sporty colleagues to start running. Up to that point I had never loved, or even liked to run.<br /><br />As a kid I would often be the slowest runner of all of the girls and I found the school system horrible: you would get marks for how far you could run in a certain period of time. I remember giving everything and still ending up with 5 or 6 out of 10. A horrible experience for me. And then one day the sports teacher brought in heart monitors, but didn't change the system, so when it turned out that I had to run even slower in order not to force my body, I would have failed the test...<br /><br />I went through my university years without almost any running at all. Without any sports actually. Whereas up to my 18th I loved ballet, jazz dance, anything about dancing, during those university years, the combination of studying and partying seemed to be perfect. Who needs sports anyway? Luckily I walked and biked a lot, so still maintained some sort of shape...<br /><br />I did sometimes try to go running but I would be exhausted after 15 minutes, losing my breath and just being very frustrated about the whole experience.<br /><br />And then, almost 4 years ago, 3 elements came together:<br />- my Belgian colleagues gave me an ipod shuffle as leaving gift before I moved to the UK<br />- my new English colleagues all seemed to be so fit and sporty<br />- AND, most importantly, I downloaded the START TO RUN series [Dutch] http://www.start-to-run.be<br /><br />And with those 3 elements, all I needed to do was committing to going running 3 times a week. The series made me go from 0 to 5k without a lot of problems. I learned how to breathe in the right way, how to run for 2, then 5, 10, 20, and finally 30 minutes without stopping...<br /><br />I did my first run, the 6k Santa run in London. And I made it :) I felt pretty weak afterwards though and it took me 9 months until my next run: I had moved to Paris and after a long break without running, redid the 0-5k and then ran La Parisienne, a 6k female-only race along the Seine!<br /><br />So now I could run 5k, but how to keep going and progress to another level?<br />Enter 2 additional elements:<br />- my parents noticed how much I seemed to love running (much to their surprise) and bought me a heart rate monitor for Christmas. HIGHLY recommended: I noticed I still ran too quickly in order to be able to run for longer periods of time. Slow down and you'll run a lot longer, feeling better<br />- I signed up for a 10k on my 27th birthday, to make myself proud on a special day<br /><br />And off I went, now with the KEEP RUNNING series, which takes you from 5-10k with 3 training sessions a week: a short run, an interval session and a long distance run. This series is a lot harder and it took me a lot longer to get to the end of it. But, on my 27th birthday, I ran 10k, in 1h and 7 minutes. The girl who was horrible at running ran 10k and actually enjoyed the entire race. Plus it got me a very flashy yellow t-shirt, which I love.<br /><br />So then I moved to Cincinnati and it seems to be all about running here: people get up before 6 to go and do their daily run (really...) and before I knew I signed myself up for a 15k. Random factors in the sign-up process were that it was the same price as the 5k and that they didn't offer a 10k... On top of that, doing 15k would allow me to start with my husband, who would run his 4th half marathon...<br /><br />So I decided to go for it and essentially just followed the same model as the Keep Running series: 3 runs a week, with the long distance run being between 10 and 15k.<br /><br />And today, I did it, I ran 15k and enjoyed it so much. It felt so good being able to run, not having to walk, beating those hills.<br /><br />Do I run fast? No<br />Was I surrounded by walkers for most of the time? Yes<br />Did I looked very red for most of the race? Yes<br /><br />Was I smiling? Yes, all the time, because I knew how proud I could be of myself. Yes, because I ran at my own speed, checking my heartbeat. Yes, because today I ran 15k!<br /><br />So what's next?<br />- Rat Race 10k in April<br />- Flying Pig 10k in May<br />- and then... building up to 21k? Why not? If I have learned one thing from running it is that when you set a crazy objective and train in the right way, there's a big chance you may actually meet that objective and be prouder of yourself than you ever thought was possible!<br /><br />So just try it!Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-13718614098848624942012-03-15T01:53:00.004+01:002012-03-15T02:02:43.730+01:00Did you know that in Cincinnati...people stop for STOP signs, even when there are no cars around?<br /><br />you can bike on the sidewalks and people will smile at you and step aside?<br /><br />a car honking means that people closed off their car, that's all! People hardly ever honk when they are angry!<br /><br />all girls drink beer when they go to a bar. Asking for a wine is fancy and cider is likely to be non-alcoholic<br /><br />men wear t-shirts under their work shirts (really?)<br /><br />people cut their food and then only use their fork in their right hand to eat it up<br /><br />cats are considered to be indoor animals and are very often declawed<br /><br />German beer is "cool" because people here are often descendants from German immigrants<br /><br />Belgium is mainly known for their waffles and beer (not really for chocolate, fries or mussels)<br /><br />it's normal to drink bloody mary's and mimosa's for brunch and margaritas when you go and eat Mexican<br /><br />people get together before sport games to drink and eat barbeque and that's called "tailgaiting" (because the back of a truck that you can open is called the "tailgate")<br /><br />it's normal to have lunch at 11h30 and dinner at 6pm which means that you can have an afterparty or "after-drinks" at 8pm ;)<br /><br />people go to bed at 10pm at the latest and get up at 6am at the latest (...)<br /><br />...<br /><br />I love it here :)Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-30095954418941488752012-03-04T01:42:00.003+01:002012-03-04T01:59:40.309+01:00Dropped into an American movie...This week, I had 2 experiences that made me feel as if I was dropped into an American movie. Literally.<br /><br />The first one was a basketball game we went to see. Cincinnati bearcats UC against another college Marquette. It was a great experience - the game was sold out, UC won, the atmosphere was amazing!<br /><br />But remember those American movies about life at their universities (colleges)? Well, turns out that it's all real: we saw cheerleaders and the dance team, as well as the marching band. And of course I knew it all existed, I just didn't really realize it really did. That may not make sense but that's how I felt. I guess in my mind it was all part of a distant American world of which I would never be a part. And suddenly I was sitting there, watching the cheerleaders being thrown up in the air and the marching band playing their tunes. I loved to observe, but at the same time I was so grateful that I didn't go to an American college. I can just imagine the stress it would take to try out for the dance team and then not make it for example. Because don't be mistaken, all of those cheerleaders and dancers looked as perfect as the girls in the movies. The top of the top I guess! I'm pretty sure I would have been part of the nerdie book club :p<br /><br />The second -more serious- experience this week was the tornado alarm. This, again, is something we all know can happen in the States. Who hasn't seen "Twister" after all? But when you move to Cincinnati, no one tells you that there may be tornados there. So imagine my surprise when on Friday people started talking about tornados in Cincinnati... Around 4pm an e-mail was sent from work saying that we'd better go home. Turns out I just left with some colleagues to have a drink in a closeby pub. I asked them if we'd better go home but they were very calm and said that we were very safe in the pub because it is a concrete building. It seemed to make sense that that was safer than walking (or even driving) home. So I believed them and stayed there until the danger was over. After about an hour, a bright sun came out and the danger was over. It seemed almost stupid to have worried about it. Until I saw the damage the tornado had made and the lives it had taken.<br /><br />It's fair to say I'd never thought I'd live somewhere where tornados aren't that weird...<br /><br />But to all those who are worried about me: be sure that I'll always go to the safest place possible (even when that turns out to be the local pub ;))Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-63254465462433011382012-02-18T22:43:00.003+01:002012-02-18T23:11:28.950+01:00My blog vs. Twitter, Facebook, Yelp & PinterestThere's a war going on. A social media war... and the fight is against my blog.<br /><br />You may have noticed that my blog posts aren't as frequent as they used to be. Yet I don't spend less time online... So what do I do instead?<br /><br />I share my random, short thoughts on business and everyday life... on Twitter<br /><br />I share pictures and updates with my friends and family... on Facebook<br /><br />I review restaurants, bars and cultural outings... on Yelp<br /><br />I share pictures of things I like... on Pinterest<br /><br /><br />And I realized that often my blogposts are a combination of exactly those things: describing the restaurants I'd been to, sharing pictures, thoughts... whereas now most of those things perfectly sit within their own social media bucket.<br /><br />So is the war over? Not yet. There is one thing that none of the social media networks cater for yet and it's random thoughts like this post. Longer than 140 characters, a white piece of paper where you can just write whatever you want. That's what my blog will be and stay for.<br /><br />But in the meantime; don't hesitate to check me out on:<br />Twitter: @louisedejager<br />Yelp + Pinterest: Louise DejagerLouisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-48356093226249738162012-02-17T00:39:00.003+01:002012-02-17T00:47:33.023+01:00Biking in Cincinnati"Do people bike in Cincinnati?" I asked when I just arrived. "Yeah, sure, there is a 50 miles bike trail, it's very popular!".<br /><br />Perhaps I had to rephrase my question and actually ask: "do people use their bicycles as a mean of transport?" and the answer would definitely have been "no, especially not during the winter".<br /><br />Most people seem to own bikes, but they keep them for the summer, to do bike rides with friends in a sunny weekend. The simple idea of me buying a bike to actually ride to work with seemed crazy in my colleagues' mind...<br /><br />Now if it would be snowing here and be freezing all the time, then I would understand it. But it is surprisingly mild in Cincinnati this winter, a lot warmer than in Belgium :).<br /><br />So we bought bikes and now bike to work. The speed, the freedom, the fresh air, I love it! I just use the sidewalks and nobody cares :D So it was all great for the first week. I put my bike in the bike rack our company has (3 spots, of which 1 is taken by the "company bike", which always seems to be there). I admit it felt good to be the ONLY one out of 500 employees coming to work by bike :D<br /><br />And then I got a flat tire, because there is quite a bit of glass lying around on the bridge I cycle over :( so this weekend it's operation "fix the tire" time...<br /><br />The proof: my bike<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 180px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 180px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5709884086518289554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-LR0RtkQpp7nz8mTSzzRb4nxmIvfpNvihMCUSMjfBFbq0in-nkLJaLKcsQWxXHDVkTSCkKBEMmDtCRJtvr0uZsNw5pJ6e_yU9WI5QgF7sMHQv0g6gHeSDbGk8x931jerBlNuUBGkd5g/s400/bike.jpg" />Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-22952170871925980002012-01-29T16:06:00.006+01:002012-01-29T16:33:14.591+01:00Socializing in CincinnatiWeek 6 and I wanted to get to know some people in Cincinnati... Result: a very very busy week, with not a lot of gym classes but a packed social agenda...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tuesday: Spanish lunch + French meetup</span><br /><br />I have recently started to count in English, which really is the last step to the total domination of that language for me... I want to make sure I don't lose my French and Spanish, so Tuesday was "foreign language day" :) I went for lunch with 2 other Spanish speaking colleagues, one of them a native speaker and after a few minutes we were all happily chatting away in Spanish. Such a good feeling!<br /><br />In the evening, I went to my first French meetup with a French colleague of mine, in the Barnes and Noble in Newport on the Levee. It's a monthly "conversation class" organized by the "Alliance française de Cincinnati". The first 10 minutes it became clear that my colleague was the only native speaker and that the level of most attendees was below the standard Belgian 18 year old just out of school level, which is saying something... Luckily a few latecomers turned out to be real francophiles who spoke French very well.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Wednesday: Yelp bookclub<br /><br /></span>I don't know if Yelp is very known in Belgium and the UK. It's a website for reviews from normal people and in Cincinnati Yelp is big, in terms of number of reviews and events they organize. I decided to join their book club and the first book I read was "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern. I recommend it to everybody, it really was a very good read! The book club was held in the York Street Café in Newport and 12 people showed up - it was a very interesting discussion led by one of the Yelp members, with well thought questions for us to answer. I just love getting other people's view of a book I loved (btw, everybody adored this book :)). And of course, it was a good way to start getting to know a few more people. Since, I have started to write some Yelp reviews myself, because it is a nice way to document my experiences in Cincinnati and it may help some other people who are new to Cincinnati too! Check it out here: http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=dgLWRL88AB37-EAn0mBwvQ. You can also click on the Yelp picture on the right hand side of my blog now!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thursday: EACC Happy Hour<br /><br /></span>The European American Chamber of Commerce organizes monthly happy hours for young professionals who are interested (or from) Europe. So although I started to get a bit tired after such a busy start of the week, I decided to check it out. Thanks to twitter, I found another dunnhumbian who was going too and we took off around 5h30 to Japp's, a very cool cocktail bar in Over the Rhine. It was a young (20 and 30'ers) mingling crowd that we found there, very open to talk to. In the meantime, Maarten had arrived as well, so we moved around different groups of people and handed out our business cards to future contacts (friends?). At the end of the evening, we even met a guy from Holland. So even when our search for other Belgians in Cincinnati continues (we've found 1 so far, the owner of Taste of Belgium), we were pretty close!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Friday: Lang Lang plays Liszt<br /><br /></span>On Friday we went back to the Music Hall to see Cincinnati's Symphonic Orchestra perform with Lang Lang. I love the Music Hall and have been impressed by the symphonic orchestra. Lang Lang is a very popular pianist and he even played an encore, but if truth be told, we preferred the Brahms piece at the end of the evening, without the piano in it...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday: Findlay market<br /><br /></span>A really nice couple we met at the EACC event invited us to come to Findlay market with them on Saturda<span>y morning. It was really worth it, from the nice little coloured houses around it to the fresh meat, vegetables, bread, I loved every second of it. I'm sure we'll be back once we have our bikes, or a car!</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><br />Oh and I did go to one gym class on Tuesday before the French meetup and went running for 42 minutes yesterday so I would say it was a good social and less sporty (but still a bit) week! <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-52021019854876310972012-01-20T03:52:00.005+01:002012-01-20T03:58:14.221+01:00A random postIt's almost 10pm, I'm tired, my first meeting tomorrow is at 7h30am...<br /><br />I've got a new company picture, what do you think?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2JGOKKtDJGGF4waKqtgWTrr8IuwALfhP4BOHT_R0h2oPBPQc8CH9U4rjPeRVxXqCHhDB0r9OxXGC3kAG8dvmOVOCUnjzqEXChsW_HzsjPcc8rHanPBvqq-HpNYIjIHeir9tTczjpA_s/s1600/pic.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2JGOKKtDJGGF4waKqtgWTrr8IuwALfhP4BOHT_R0h2oPBPQc8CH9U4rjPeRVxXqCHhDB0r9OxXGC3kAG8dvmOVOCUnjzqEXChsW_HzsjPcc8rHanPBvqq-HpNYIjIHeir9tTczjpA_s/s400/pic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699541947392857218" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Today at work we were asked to film our day so I did - I'll see what I can upload here later.<br /><br />I finished an amazing book this weekend, "The Night Circus", I recommend it to everybody. AND it was the first one I read on my Sony e-reader (THANKS again French colleagues for the leaving gift) --> it was perfect, like reading a real book.<br /><br />So on this,<br />with sleepy eyes,<br />and a head longing for deep dreams,<br />I say good night to you all:<br />"Good night"<br /><br />LouiseLouisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-42796109868839600982012-01-20T02:37:00.003+01:002012-01-20T03:02:07.440+01:00Our American Adventure - episode 5Episode 5 - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1E-oNmxY3s&context=C3b43d32ADOEgsToPDskKvm46SncrMdunxtyZeMeTd">Cincinnati Symphonic Orchestra in the Music Hall</a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-79124564107046094422012-01-10T02:33:00.006+01:002012-01-10T03:12:32.945+01:004 weeks in4 weeks. That's how long we've been in Cincinnati so far.<br /><br />After 4 weeks, we live in our apartment, with the furniture we chose and assembled (see <a href="http://www.maartenforsure.com/">here </a>for Maarten's first IKEA experience). We managed to open a bank account, I got my identity verified by a notary so I could transfer the electricity account to my name, we got internet set up and our socials sent. It's mostly boring admin stuff and I just wanted to mention that moving is not ALL fun, mainly because of that. But all in all, I'd say we've made good progress. Our apartment really starts to feel like home!<br /><br />I also wanted to share a few 'first times' from the past week:<br /><br />*first time in a Kentucky bar*<br />No one told me before we moved to Kentucky that you are still allowed to smoke here in bars - at least, in Covington, which is where we live... I was shocked. The second observation is that everybody, everybody drinks beer, yes, also the women. So being Belgian that put me in a weird position, asking for a glass of wine and being thé exception. Third thing is that it was a leaving drink for an English colleague. In the UK, those drinks would last at least until 11pm whereas here most people had left by 9pm. We managed to stay on until almost 10pm with another colleague :) But still - it's different<br /><br />*first Helping Hands activity*<br />dunnhumby is proud to give back to the community they work in. After the set up of Helping Hands in France and the amazing work we've been doing there, I was keen to get involved into Helping Hands US. Last week, I participated in my first activity, which was serving food to the people in the Drop Inn center. 4 of us served dinner. I got complimented by one young woman on my accent :). It felt good to make a (small but) tangible impact.<br /><br />Still, I was told not to walk around the building because it would be dangerous. And that is something I'm definitely not used to yet - how one block in Cincinnati can be 'dangerous' and the next one 'ok', I need to get to grips with that...<br /><br />*First night out*<br />I got invited to a girls' night out on Friday night: first Mexican food and cocktails, then to a bar called the <a href="http://www.therighteousroom.com/righteous.html">Righteous Room</a> in downtown Cincinnati. It reminded me that girls across the world have more in common than that they are different and I had a great time!<br /><br />Interestingly I also learned a bit more about the South of the States and the old traditions there of using the parents or grandparents' surnames as the middle name or even first name for the kids.<br /><br />*And do I miss France?*<br />For all my frustrated comments about Paris in my blog, I do admit that I miss some things - apart from mes copines, there is the Notre Dame seen from the back at sunset, the baguettes, my vélib and also, the nostalgy for the French language starts cropping up. Luckily there is an "Alliance française de Cincinnati" so in 2 weeks I'm going to a French conversation group :)<br /><br />So long, farewell!Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-83758512430589175212012-01-08T04:50:00.005+01:002012-01-08T05:02:22.028+01:00Our American adventure - episodes 3 & 4<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXt56wApqp8&feature=related">Episode 3</a> - an all American Christmas party<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgOW06PfhCw&feature=g-all-u&context=G216d519FAAAAAAAAAAA">Episode 4</a> - our new home<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-1916443395542906442011-12-22T03:56:00.003+01:002011-12-22T04:07:04.857+01:00A special Christmas experience in CincinnatiOne of my colleagues invited Maarten and I to a 'crossroads' Christmas show. At first I wasn't sure what this was about but after asking a few of my colleagues 2 things became clear:<br /><br />1) everybody loves that show: it's very well known and respected<br />2) crossroads is a non denominational church which means they welcome everybody, no matter if you're catholic or protestant. Some people therefore would say it's not a 'real' church, as they wouldn't focus on specific 'catholic' rules for example.<br /><br />2 colleagues also went and they were very friendly to give us a lift and to take us to a great Thai place beforehand where we found out that in the States people first cut all of their food and then they put down their knife and eat everything with their fork in their right hand! Our colleagues tried it out our way and said it was very very difficult for them to eat with knife and fork. Very funny :) also,we had dinner at 5h15. And that's not even very weird here :)<br /><br />And then we went to the show. Don't imagine a church like the ones we know in Europe. Picture a huge building, from the outside it looked more like a department store or a hypermarket... And thousands of people (really!), all there to attend this Christmasshow... I started to understand why crossroads is also known as a 'megachurch'.<br /><br />Introduced by the head priest who turned out to be a cool funny quite young guy in jeans, the show began.<br /><br />75 minutes of amazing ballet, songs, theatre and acts later we were definitely in the Christmas mood, even standing up to clap and sing... I guess you had to be there to believe it!<br /><br />A few links to help you to give an idea: a <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.crossroads.net/awaited/">teaser video of the show</a> and the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8EnA1UWpLc&feature=share">opening song and animation</a>!<br /><br />Merry Christmas all!Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-33314959548510334312011-12-18T19:49:00.002+01:002011-12-18T19:54:24.389+01:00Our American adventure episodes 1 & 2A few short videos for you to enjoy! <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_xoclmaH3g">Episode 1</a> - Moving from Paris to Cincinnati<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMR8-wdUy5s&feature=youtu.be">Episode 2</a> - Finding a place to live<br /><br /></span>Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-76149847187278666782011-12-17T23:20:00.005+01:002011-12-18T00:04:52.354+01:00What will I remember from my first week in Cincinnati?<span style="font-style: italic;">The people</span><br />Are still incredibly friendly. We have received invitations to X-mas parties, a X-mas show, a dinner and a houseparty. On top of that there are the lifts to work, lifts to Kroger and so it goes on.<br /><br />People here smile. They stop for STOP signs on the road even when there isn't a car in sight. They let pedestrians cross the road. They are not in a hurry, not stressed. They breathe. I love them.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">dunnhumby USA<br /></span>I am proud to work for dunnhumby USA. They are impressive: from the amazing Holiday party to the fully prepared desk, laptop, writing pads, pens on my first day to the HR people who don't show if they are sick of me running over to their desks twice a day with random questions. I have started my induction sessions with my own team and am sure I'll learn a lot from them. In my first week I have attended an 'In the Know' session about price & promotions and a Kroger team meeting with free lunch and an interesting business update. First impressions definitely very positive!<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />The</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">music</span><br />A colleague of mine invited Maarten and I to a party at his place. He said there would be a band that would play Bluegrass music. I said "blue-what"? And so I got introduced to Bluegrass. Wikipedia says it's a form of American roots music, a sub-genre of country music, with mixed roots in Scottish, English and Welsh traditional music and inspired by the music of African-Americans through incorporation of jazz elements. 4 of the 6 members of the band were from dunnhumby and they were really really good. They were playing when we arrived a bit before 8 and were still going when we left a bit before midnight... I hope we get to see them again!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The gym classes + Tina's </span><br />dunnhumby USA does not only have a gym, they also offer gym classes, several times a day at really competitive prices. I tried out the zumba, yoga and step classes and loved all 3 of them. Zumba because it was fun and easy, yoga because it was relaxing and challenging and step because it was very hard and the first time I did some weights!<br /><br />Of course I shouldn't forget Tina's to balance off with the sports I did :-) Ealing had the North Star, Paris the Dido and Cincinnati has Tina's. Cheap prices, jugs of beer, sports on television, meeting new people from dunnhumby... What else do you need?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Maarten Verschuere<br /></span></span></span></span>The first few days can be quite stressful, because you don't know anyone and literally everything is new (the people, the office, the American accent and words...). It helps so much to know there are 2 of us and to share our disbelief at some of the things that happened to us during the first week (on average, 3 people a day asked one of us if we have kids - just to give an example, whereas this NEVER happened to us in Paris in the almost 2 years we've lived there!).<br /><br />Maarten now also joined Twitter, so if you want to follow him, follow @maartenforsure and his new blog is <a href="http://maartenforsure.blogspot.com">http://maartenforsure.blogspot.com</a>. I'm still on Twitter on @louisedejager!<br /><br />Let me know what you think of my first impressions and if you want to learn about anything else!Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-50092235295945836022011-12-14T02:22:00.004+01:002011-12-14T02:45:07.269+01:00Not at all the Americans I thought they would beWe arrived in Cincinnati on Saturday and a few hours later, we were expected at the dunnhumby USA Holiday party, the equivalent of the English and French X-mas parties. <br /><br />I admit that I had a picture in mind of how that party would be. I wasn't sure if people would drink alcohol, if there would be a lot of dancing going on, if the food would be nice...<br /><br />As soon as we walked through the door, it dawned on me that I would get rid of my prejudices very soon. The venue was amazing, and with 'dunnhumby value' specially made cocktails the tone was set. Yes, there was alcohol, and not a little bit. I hardly saw anyone not drinking to be honest! This was going to be like any other dunnhumby party :-) I admit I felt a bit relieved, although I wasn't in for a big night due to the jetlag.<br /><br />The food was special, first walking dinner with sushi, then a sit down meal with different courses of tapas. People don't agree on whether or not the food was good, but I was definitely impressed!<br /><br />By the time the dessert was on, the dance floor was filled up. Huge plastic flashy rings were given to the ladies and I just loved that small detail!<br /><br />So, my first dunnhumby USA party really showed me that any of the prejudices I had were just not true.<br /><br />And now, after 2 days at work, I realise that my American colleagues are VERY sporty (at least 2 of my female colleagues have run 5 marathons each, and that's in a team of 9 women...), so I'll have to start trying harder... I started with a great Zumba class today!<br /><br />The cliches that turned out to be true so far are:<br />- you do need a car in Cincinnati or you miss out on great restaurants, shows, French talking groups, grocery shopping...<br />- Americans are really friendly. One colleague invited us to several of her X-mas evenings + New Year's Eve. Can you believe that? So on the 22nd of December we're going to a big family party of hers. Very curious and still a bit astonished that we actually got invited.<br /><br />That's all for now - I'm pretty sure this will be my first and last blog post on American cliches as not a lot of them still hold true in my point of view.Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-15635025951610127452011-12-11T20:54:00.005+01:002011-12-11T21:06:06.353+01:00Breathtakingly heartwarmingFor dunnhumby France and Aude, Aurélia, Caroline, Cécile, Chloé, Elsa, Emma and Lucia in particular.<br /><br />My last day in the office.<br />Team meeting.<br /><br />My 8 closest colleagues, friends, do a presentation on how much I will be missed.<br />I'm touched.<br /><br />Then follow tons of pictures of my time at dunnhumby France<br />All those amazing memories!<br />I'm getting emotional.<br /><br />The song "Louise" from Clouseau is launched.<br />I feel like crying.<br /><br />Time to speech.<br />Unprepared.<br />In French.<br /><br />I think I can cope and start to speak.<br />My voice breaks.<br /><br />I pull myself together and tell the team how I've made friendships for life in dunnhumby France and how they were sometimes more like a family to me.<br /><br />I briefly look at a few of those close friends who stand on the side and see one of them crying.<br /><br />But instead of harder it actually becomes easier to talk because all of a sudden I realise what a lucky girl I am to have made such friends.<br /><br />Merci pour tout, les filles. Je vous adore xLouisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-70662026799172810262011-12-07T14:34:00.000+01:002011-12-07T14:35:40.836+01:00Parisian arroganceThis weekend was my last weekend in Paris.<br /><br />In my blog I haven’t hidden the fact that sometimes over the past months I have been very annoyed with the Parisian arrogance. But this weekend, I was all zen. It was my last weekend in wonderful Paris. Because for all my complaints, I still love this city, the amazing buildings, the unique sky, the light…<br /><br />So this weekend I decided not to get annoyed or frustrated, I was just going to enjoy it. Until… 2 Parisians just couldn’t help it and gave me 2 perfect examples of exactly that what had annoyed me so much in the previous months... A bit like when you would ask to see the fish you want to order in a restaurant and they bring it to you on a platter. That kind of examples.<br /><br />The first one was on the tube. I should have known that taking the tube in my last weekend was a risk but I had become overconfident in my positive vibe. A very thin lady thought she didn’t have enough space because of the not so thin guy next to her and rather than an “excuse me sir, would you mind giving me a little bit more space” she shouted at him as if he had personally caused the hunger in Somalia. Poor guy. And poor lady, for actually being that aggressive for something that insignificant. To a simple soul like me that just means that she must be truly unhappy.<br /><br />Then I went into the Fnac. I wanted to check if they had the first book of “Game of Thrones” (loved the DVD!) series in English. 2 ladies in front of me. The second one doesn’t wait for her turn and just asks the Fnac lady a question, but really quickly (“doyouhavethisbookinpaperback?” “No”). You would think that losing 30 seconds doesn’t really matter, but apparently it does, because the first lady then spent at least 2 full minutes shouting at the other lady. I just stood there smiling, keeping calm and waiting until lady 1 would finally ask her question. It goes without saying I didn’t try to ask the Fnac lady my question during their rant ;) (and btw, when I asked later there wasn’t an English version, you need to order it – bugger).<br /><br />These 2 examples made me realise that when in a big crowd in Paris, I had started to adopt a “Paris-face”. Whenever I’d be in a public place, especially on the tube, or queuing in a shop, I’d look very serious, slightly annoyed with a pfffffffffffffff attitude – the thing I breathed was: “do not dare to shout at me”. And no one ever did. But at what cost…<br /><br />So, I’ll stop complaining (sooo Parisian…) and will just admit that I AM EXTREMELY EXCITED about moving to the country of the most friendly people ever, the United States of America. I’ll keep you posted on how “real” that friendliness is, as a big European cliché about Americans is that they are friendly but that it is very superficial (read: they don’t réally mean it). For now, I much prefer the idea of someone being “fake friendly” over “really arrogant, aggressive and angry”!<br /><br />3 more days to go and 3 more nights – with one evening with my girlfriends and 2 work X-mas parties (one of my work, one of my husband), the final days seem to be very promising! Also because my French friends and colleagues really are not at all like the people described above – just in case they read this ;)<br /><br />xoxo (Gossip girl mood – yep, it happens)<br /><br />LouiseLouisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-942425493556840982.post-40223208867124704902011-11-29T10:20:00.013+01:002011-11-29T10:31:05.628+01:00Something I will miss from Paris...I will never forget how a few weeks after I arrived in the French office, I suddenly heard a weird noise from outside. We are on the 10th floor so it was quite loud and it was a sound I couldn't identify.<br /><br />I went to have a look through the window and to my astonishment it was a group of horses who walked calmly in the street! My guess is that they are trained to get used to cars and noise for when they participate in parades.<br /><br />Yesterday we heard the noise again as we were walking towards a restaurant in our lunch break and my colleague took a picture. This is probably the last time I will see them and that makes me a bit sad! Unless there are some horses that need to be trained in Cincinnati too of course :)<br /><br />Here you go - impressive, no?<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680346303943118338" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD6y4VQ8sKbU45q1PSm86D9GMImZSe7g1IKRHcbOeUK5u7myizvi4WU-VkbWSVW-_50T1A0dbN8c371AaiqLiK8-TOVP4XRMHtEhsnZ0hHTr0WhQIBJl4qruwKWJ3Gg23XjDlI5QOQpyk/s320/chevaux.JPG" />Louisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01732153061002603157noreply@blogger.com0