The Good, Bad and the Ugly volume 1

I just wanted to comment on a few culture shock items; some good, some not so good.

First the good. If you ask for help, Belgians 99% of the time will practically take you by the hand and show you what, where or how depending on the question. It is really, really great. The funny thing is when you pass someone walking you get no smile or acknowlegement of your existance. But ask for help and they come to life.

Next the bad. At intersections of roads about the same size, the car to the right has the right away. This can be an actual crossing of roads or a T. So picture driving down a road that another road Ts into and all of a sudden a car flies out in front of you turning right from the road that would T into your road. The exception to this rule and all other driving rules is if you hesitate for even a split second all bets are off as to who has the right away. I'll be shocked if we don't get into a fender bender.

Lastly the ugly and this is the most disgusting thing ever - the city bin. This is where you put all your food scraps. It is a plastic bin with a cover and is picked up once a week. Imagine food sitting out rotting for a week. It smells awful and is a breeding ground for little tiny flying bugs among other things. Which, by the way, doesn't make a bit of difference to Megan and Alyssa how small the bug is, it is still a bug and worth screaming about. Week two the city did not empty our bin (not sure why). By the next week it was worse than disgusting! It was eventually emptied and we stopped using it after we cleaned out the maggots that remained in the bottom. I'm really for the environment and recyling and all but there definitely has got to be a better way.