The headline in yesterday's paper said (translated) "Finally, Good Weather for the Festivals!". And it was that. Still cooler than last year but no rain. We had our team debriefing and lunch with the team from America before helping them get to the train station so they could go to Amsterdam. They fly out of Amsterdam today and get home this afternoon East Coast time. It was a little hectic at the station since a dad was trying to get off the train with his two small children and stroller at the same door through which we were trying to get five people with luggage. The conductor waited as long as possible but we did not have time to say goodbye.
After that we came home and got some empty cookie bags to take into town. One of the women who is a ticket agent for the tram and bus company asked about buying some for her daughter's 4th birthday which is in mid August. This is the same women that was asking about the difference between Catholicism and Evangelical belief. We took her some bags and when she tried to pay for them Lucy told her they would have to have lunch together for a payment. Lucy gave the woman her card and we are through the Korenmarkt quite often and will see her again. Her daughter is named after a Buddhist god and the woman was quite pleased that her daughter is the only on in Belgium with that first name. This conversation between the three of us was in Flemish. This will be important to remember.
Did I mention it was good weather? No surprise to the masses of people here. Until now the sense is that the attendance has been down. Certainly the weather and financial situation here has contributed to the decrease. Some of the major business sponsors have not provided funds this year. Because of that there are less big acts to see and that has also affected attendance. One event organizer tried to close their event last night because people were bringing their own drinks onto the plein and not buying them from the plein vendors. The city reminded them that their permit was for a public place and it would be a 5,000 Euro fine if they closed it. The event organizers are really struggling this year.
But the weather was good, it was Saturday and the Feesten end on Monday so people were certainly taking advantage of it.
Lucy decided she wanted a McFlurrie from the fine Scottish restaurant that has thousands of stores worldwide. No free promotion here. I decided to stay outside and be jostled by the crowd rather than have that happen in a confined space. Apparently standing by the door of this fast food giant is the information booth. People came up to ask me the location of the nearest ATM, the location of a particular bank and other info. One interesting man asked me the location of the park in Gent. He said his friends told him to meet them a the Gent Park. Obviously he was from out of town because the name of a dozen major parks in town came instantly to my mind. I asked him if they had mentioned a name of the park and he said no. I finally asked him if they were here for Gentse Feesten and he said that indeed they were. There are events in two of the major parks so I gave him directions to the one I thought most likely since he did not have children with him. At the end of our conversation he asked if I spoke Dutch. (Remember from above) I found it rather strange since we were speaking in Dutch/Flemish and he was understanding me. He was not drunk so I'm not sure what he meant by that. He wandered off in the correct direction and we waded through the crowd more before finally going home.
Today is the open-air worship service at Baudelo Park (yep one of the many). After the service people stay around and fellowship while eating picnic lunches. We will join them with one of our colleagues. This evening we have a planned Skype call with people from America.
Tomorrow it is off to the hospital, post office, shopping, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment and all the fun stuff before I leave for our annual meeting next Saturday. Lucy will stay here. Before you boo and hiss she is insisting that I go. Won't be the same without her but I have been asked to give a testimony about our Great God in Sunday. Plenty to talk about. Gotta do it in 5 minutes so certainly His care for Lucy is on the list.
Thanks for being with us in the journey.
After that we came home and got some empty cookie bags to take into town. One of the women who is a ticket agent for the tram and bus company asked about buying some for her daughter's 4th birthday which is in mid August. This is the same women that was asking about the difference between Catholicism and Evangelical belief. We took her some bags and when she tried to pay for them Lucy told her they would have to have lunch together for a payment. Lucy gave the woman her card and we are through the Korenmarkt quite often and will see her again. Her daughter is named after a Buddhist god and the woman was quite pleased that her daughter is the only on in Belgium with that first name. This conversation between the three of us was in Flemish. This will be important to remember.
Did I mention it was good weather? No surprise to the masses of people here. Until now the sense is that the attendance has been down. Certainly the weather and financial situation here has contributed to the decrease. Some of the major business sponsors have not provided funds this year. Because of that there are less big acts to see and that has also affected attendance. One event organizer tried to close their event last night because people were bringing their own drinks onto the plein and not buying them from the plein vendors. The city reminded them that their permit was for a public place and it would be a 5,000 Euro fine if they closed it. The event organizers are really struggling this year.
But the weather was good, it was Saturday and the Feesten end on Monday so people were certainly taking advantage of it.
Lucy decided she wanted a McFlurrie from the fine Scottish restaurant that has thousands of stores worldwide. No free promotion here. I decided to stay outside and be jostled by the crowd rather than have that happen in a confined space. Apparently standing by the door of this fast food giant is the information booth. People came up to ask me the location of the nearest ATM, the location of a particular bank and other info. One interesting man asked me the location of the park in Gent. He said his friends told him to meet them a the Gent Park. Obviously he was from out of town because the name of a dozen major parks in town came instantly to my mind. I asked him if they had mentioned a name of the park and he said no. I finally asked him if they were here for Gentse Feesten and he said that indeed they were. There are events in two of the major parks so I gave him directions to the one I thought most likely since he did not have children with him. At the end of our conversation he asked if I spoke Dutch. (Remember from above) I found it rather strange since we were speaking in Dutch/Flemish and he was understanding me. He was not drunk so I'm not sure what he meant by that. He wandered off in the correct direction and we waded through the crowd more before finally going home.
Today is the open-air worship service at Baudelo Park (yep one of the many). After the service people stay around and fellowship while eating picnic lunches. We will join them with one of our colleagues. This evening we have a planned Skype call with people from America.
Tomorrow it is off to the hospital, post office, shopping, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment and all the fun stuff before I leave for our annual meeting next Saturday. Lucy will stay here. Before you boo and hiss she is insisting that I go. Won't be the same without her but I have been asked to give a testimony about our Great God in Sunday. Plenty to talk about. Gotta do it in 5 minutes so certainly His care for Lucy is on the list.
Thanks for being with us in the journey.
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