CARNAVAL !! (partie 1)

This year, I had the pleasure of experiencing the magic of Carnaval. Given my location in the south-east of Belgium I am also fortunate enough to have many big events within a short distance (insert Belgium scale) The festivities began in Eupen on Thursday with the Day of Women. This is a day when all of the women are free to do whatever their hearts desire. Amongst these activites is lots of drinking and cutting the ties of all men that they see. The idea of the day is to turn over the roles and is a tradition that originated in Germany. This carnaval has been celebrated since 1696, and is the oldest carnaval in Belgium. In this town, the traditions surrounding this day are not taken lightly.

At the start of the day the women meet the mayor of the town who hands over the keys of the town hall therein by sacrificing complete control. They women then leave their homes or their job and parade in the streets in various costumes. A major element of this costume are the sisccors, which are worm around their necks in order to cut the ties of every man they see. They then exhibit it as a trophy, because the tie is a phallic symbol, that represents the virility of men.

In the beginning carnaval was celebrated at teh end of winter to welcome in the springtime and the emergence of nature. Then when teh Catholic church took a reintigrated role in the lives of the populous, the celebration was turned to put them in a more favorable light. To this day, carnaval is celebrated in line with the Catholic calendar and falls just before lent. However, just because these festivities are in line with the church, does not eliminate the reversal of roles and the complete chaos of carnaval. All that is normally forbidden is permitted during this period of time, through all of the parades and the costumes and tradition. 

This was such a wonderful start to the Caranaval celebrations !!  In addition we have an entire week off of school to celebrate in our own way. Catholic school does have it's benefits !

Make Scores not War

Throughout the scholastic year in Belgium, I strive to obtain the best possible points in my classes with the limited knowlege of the language in which the courses are taught in. It was very surprising for me to find that I am able to keep up with the pace of most of my classes and maintain, more or less, the average scores of the class. That being said, by my American standards I am not doing well. The majority of my test results are scored in the 50% range, as in I am passing, not doing well in my classes. However, this is a fact that astonishes the kids in my class. Students here all receive points around that range despite the fact that they are producing intelligent and correct work. It seems as though the schooling system, though more rigorous is entrapped in a mindset which forbids for students to succeed. Perhaps it is not a benefit in State College for 90-100% to be as attainable as it is, at the same time, I feel as though the thought that such a grade is possible serves as a motivational tool for the challenge of success.

This is me with my very successful 55% History test.

There is another aspect in which has made itself increasingly present as my comprehension of French has increased. This discovery would be the great and wide divide between the students and the teachers. For the teachers their job is to give the lesson. Their expectation is that the students will copy their lecture word for word because any element may appear on a final. In addition the believe that if the students are unsuccessful it is their own fault because they have done their job. There seems to lack a discussion about how the methods of the information delivery effect the level of absorption of knowledge. On the other side of this battle lies the students. The students, I have found, are a force that moves together to support each other. This can be obviously be a good and bad thing for a teacher. If for example there are students who don't understand a lesson, their classmates are their to guide the others to a point of understanding. Although, there have been many cases where the students show resistance and band together to make a lesson impossible. For example, the other day we had a presentation that was due. We knew in advance when it was due, but when we were not allowed to work on it during the school day, the students refused to work outside of the academic hours. The next day when it was time to present, all of the students refused. When the students do not want to complete an assignment, there is nothing that the teachers can do.

I can't imagine the difficulty that the teachers have in the schools in Belgium. It seems to me that they lack a lot of respect and therefore their interactions with the students are difficult. The task of enforcing rules and regulations is near impossible making for a rather hostile and tense learning environment. Student life can be plain and simple, however once emerged in a classroom becomes all out war. It is times like these when I am so grateful that I success is not necessary in Belgium for graduation in America. Otherwise I fear it would be impossible.

Grève Générale

Something unique that I have experienced during my time in Belgium are strikes. Periodically strikes with occur throughout the country for various reasons. However, on January 30, 2011 Belgium experienced a "General Strike," which halted all public transportation, schools, and major production companies throughout the country. But why would a country choose to shut down almost completely for one entire day? Unions called the general strike, Belgium's first since 1993, over government plans to raise the retirement age along with other measures designed to save 11.3 billion euros.

"We are angry because they want to attack our pensions," said Philippe Dubois, a railway union member outside Brussels' Midi station. "We want to make some noise."

One side of the argument is saying that they should raise the taxes so that people are paying to cover up the costs in order to continue living the lives that they currently have despite the changing conditions. Like many countries currently in the European Union, Belgium is struggling to control its budget, and unions are angry over plans to cut spending and raise taxes. The battle lines are being drawn for that debate. The Socialists saying the rich should bear a greater burden, while the pro-business Liberals are arguing higher taxes would push the country into recession and it is in fact the government spending that should be taking more cuts. With the current economic crisis that has hit the European Union hard it becomes more and more evident how the countries in the EU are interdependent on each other. One of the problems that some see happening is that the wealthier countries are angered by the fact that they are being called in to come to the aid to the countries (such as Ireland, Portugal and Greece) who are struggling. They do not want to take some of the harder hits to their country because they are prospering while others are falling into great debt.

General strike in Belgium as EU leaders arrive in Brussels | euronews, world news

At the same time Belgium has it's own ideas for how the EU can escape the financial crisis, which plagues the area. The three main unions have called for efforts to reinvigorate the European economy by centering on taxing multinationals and boosting public investment instead of cutting down on public services and making a pension reform that forces people to work longer and lowering payments in certain cases.



Strikes are an interesting part of the culture and happen more frequently here than I have experienced in America. One of the strikes that comes to mind in the United States was the writers strike in 2007-2008 however that strike lasted until there were changes made to the system and a negotiation was reached. In Belgium the strikes are more frequent, generally one day, and the public is aware that they will happen before they arrive. I remember as an eighth grader not being aware that there was a writer's strike, just that I thought it was strange that there were so many reality TV shows that had appeared on the television. Meanwhile in Belgium it is more clear, and many more people know about the strikes. As a whole I find that the young people are more informed about the politics of their country and the countries surrounding their area.