Sonja, Belgian Chocolate and Christmas!

Hi, hello ;-)

Wow... I seem to be so busy lately! I swear, school is eating my time.

Tomorrow, it will be a week since Sonja's wedding. As soon as I can I'll post some pictures, 'cause she really was beautiful on her wedding day.
It's so strange to think she has a 'husband' now.... God, I mean, time flies! It really does, no kiddin'.
I feel old and young at the same time ...*sigh*... that strange duality, it twists my mind ;-)

On a slightly larger scale then. We still don't have a government. And it's really getting time we got one. Remember that Thursday Thirteen post? Well, Leterme isn't "formateur" anymore(Don't know the English word here). He blew it yet again.
Now we're depending on our former Premier, Verhofstadt, to save us from this mess. I wonder where that's going to lead us...
And that with the Leterme-antics going on. That man keeps on making mistake after mistake.
Apparently, Leterme made a comparison between our French television station, the RTBF, and that radio station Mille Collines in Rwanda.
Of course, now everyone is mad at him. Which is very understandable.
So now our country is coping with a dilemma: A transitional government or an emergency government...
We'll see soon enough, I guess. I only hope they clean up this mess quickly!


On another note, Christmas is almost there! *Wheeeee*
Who has been Christmas shopping already? *I have - I have*
I don't have everything just yet... I still have to see if I can find some small things, but otherwise I'm done :D
In two weeks it's Christmas, so I have a little time left. Oh well...

Anyway, I wanted to share something with you guys. To bring you in the spirit of Christmas ;-)
Ever wanted to see me dance? Check it out here :P
One chance only!

Love
Andi
-X-

Thursday Thirteen # 11

Ok, let's talk politics this time. Perhaps you guys have heard something about the situation here in Belgium? Well, let's see if we can find 13 things to rant about ;-)

1. First of all, Leterme, the guy who won the elections in June 2007 (and who is now going for the position of prime minister), is a complete Moron (with a capital M).
   (Stien: but I guess you americans know about morons in politics, whehehe).
   I, Andi, said, before the elections, that I didn't want him to win. I practically prayed he wouldn't win. Not my luck, I guess, because in the news on television, everyone was soon saying he would become our new prime minister. Gah, why do they never listen to me, eh?


2. So now, Leterme had to "lead" our country, *snort*. You just cannot believe how many times he screwed up, from July 'till now.
   
3. (see map above) You have, let's say, 3 main parts in Belgium: the Flemish part (that's us), the French part, and Brussels. We, the Flemish, are the upper, red, part. Brussels is that tiny blue spot, and the french speaking people are in the light green area. The dark green area are the german speaking people. Now there's a conflict between the french and flemish. It's very complicated, and even we don't know all there is to it. But now there are some flemish guys who want to separate the two halfs.
   
4. Before the elections, we had what we called a purple government (that means: the red socialists + the blue liberals). With the elections, it showed that the people wanted it different. The flemish mainly chose for Leterme's orange party (which wants a reformation of the state very much), the french speaking people chose for their blue, liberal party (which doesn't want a reformation). That means, simply put, conflict!
   
5. It was Leterme's job to guide everything. To search for compromises. He blew it. The king called him back.
   
6. Leterme got back, after some other people tried to get the flemish and french speaking again.
   
7. The main conflict is actually BHV. Or, Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde. Halle-Vilvoorde is an area around Brussels. Basically, it's located on flemish ground. But because of the bilangual statute of Brussels, frenchspeaking politicians can also be chosen in that area. And just that fact is a pain in the ass for some flemish politicians. So, where it all comes down to, is that the Flemish want to separate Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde, and the French don't.
   
8. It was Leterme's job to search for a compromise. He blew it, again.
   
9. The Flemish politicians threatened to vote for a seperation of BHV, without the French, if the French wouldn't cooperate and/or search for a compromise. The French said: "If they are really going to vote for a separation, we pull the plug from the negotiations."
   
10. Yesterday, the Flemish politicians actually voted. Before the voting took place, all the French politicians left the room to show their protest.
    
11. That's not all of it. Now, the French can still stop the whole separation by pulling all kinds of tricks in the parliament. That means, at least for 60 days now, the separation of BHV is put aside. 60 Days, untill the whole matter is brought to parliament.
    
12. The king spoke with Leterme today. The king wants Leterme to form a government, and quick. But, let's be honest... who's he kiddin'? Leterme is a ninny.
    
13. And in the end, who was right? Yep, me. I am so glad I didn't vote for Leterme. What a freakshow!

We tried to explain everything as clear as possible. I hope we made the situation here in Belgium a bit clear ;-)

Love!
Andi & Stien

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