Boarding has started and the flight is scheduled to leave in 40 minutes.
I’m in seat 3E; middle two seats, aisle, right side. The flight doesn’t
look to be very full. In this Business Class section that seats 36 there
are 9 of us. A couple more will join later in the boarding process but
nevertheless it won’t likely be more than half full.

The scheduled flying time is 9:43, which is a bit longer than normal. We
must have some serious headwinds to contend with. The woman seated next to
me has arrived and has put her stuff away. Another 5 Business Class
passengers have arrived as well. She just loaded up on pills and may have a
cold. Dang!

We’ve introduced ourselves. No cold, just some allergies. The front door is
closing. We’ve 21 people in Business class. We’re not scheduled to leave
for 20 munutes, but are going to start early. I like it!

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I’m on the bus to the airport from the Holiday Inn. That turned out to be a
bit of a trick. The bus leaves every 30 minutes. But, there are two busses!
One goes to the airport, the other takes people to various businesses in
the area. No mention of which bus is which, except that at 8 a driver came
into the lobby and said (in Dutch) “airport”. A whole crowd of people
surged out of the lobby and I followed in the middle of a group. Got on the
bus and the driver started asking for destinations: “Cicso,” “NATO,” “DHL,”
and then me, “Delta.” Big commotion. About five of us were on the wrong
bus. The driver jumped off and stopped the other bus. We five got onto the
right bus and are now safely on the way to the Brussels Airport and back to
the US.
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The weather has changed! Rain and clouds have rolled in. The day was very
grey. It is in stark contrast to the weekend — a weekend that hasn’t been
all that wonderful. Today I’m feeling much better and not as well as I will
feel tomorrow. That is definitely goodness.

I moved to a much better hotel in Gent (the Sofitel Belfort). The
difference between the two hotels is simply amazing. The price is almost
twice as much (particularly when I include the cost of parking), but the
difference in services and amenities is also more than twice. For instance,
the availability of English-language newpapers. It is good to get
re-acquainted with what is going on in the world. I think my
experimentation on hotels is coming to an end. I may look at another hotel
here in the area but the looking in Ourdenaarde is over.

This week is also a week of a couple of sad anniversaries. Traci was born
and died on the 15th of January and Trevor died on January 18th. The week
helps me remember how fragile this life is and how suddenly it can come to
an end. Perhaps that’s why a bad weekend at my age is such a waste. There
are far fewer weekends left in my life than I’ve already enjoyed. Traci, we
never knew you and have that opportunity to look forward to. Trevor, we
miss you terribly and the reunion will be sweet. We love you both!

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On June 18, 1815 Napoleon was defeated by Wellington in a day-long battle
near the Belgian city of Waterloo (just south of Brussels). I’m here at the
battle site waiting for an audio visual presentation to start. The
battlefield was not easy to find. There are no roadway markings pointing
out the way to the battlefield until you are there and can see the Lion’s
Bluff. That tall hill (pictures to follow) was hand-built by peasants
carrying pails of dirt. On top is a statue of a lion representing the Duke
of Wellington. There is a staircase up to the top of several hundred steps.
I think I’ll not do that this afternoon!

My first stop was a kind of a diorama overview of the battle. When that 10
minute piece was finished, we moved into another room for a film which
hasn’t started, yet. The diorama presentation was supposed to give an
overview of the day and I think the film should then fill in some detail.
Napoleon with 130,000 soldiers outnumbered Wellington who was being
reinforced by the Prussians under the command of Bluecher.

The film was very good. It showed parts of the battle from a child’s point
of view. The next stop was the Panorama Display which showed what the heat
of the battle would have looked like in a 360 degree painting. The final
stop was a very tired wax museum.

The whole complex closes in a few minutes. Most of the souvenier shops were
closed anyway for the season. There was very little available in English. I
picked up one post card and that was it.

I’ll now turn the car back towards Gent and go back to the hotel there.
I’ll probably have some more comments when I get on the Internet at the
hotel.

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I’m in Priesthood Meeting. This branch has the same meeting order as in our
ward in Pocatello. One of the missionaries here is from Pocatello. I’ll
find out more later. We’re talking about lesson #2 in the David O. McKay
book — right on schedule. There are 17 brothers here and one baby in a
crib. The Branch President started Priesthood Meeting by making assignments
for the opening and closing prayers in Sacrament meeting as well as who
would bless and pass the sacrament. That’s one good reason for having psthd
mtg first!

There’s quite a debate going on about something and I’ve no idea what it
is. Some fellows are quite involved in this discussion.
I’m actually quite tired. I’ll probably not take a nap, but will likely be
early to bed!

Priesthood is coming to an end. The arguement isn’t concluded as there are
still a couple of side discussions. Oops, I just got called on to say the
closing prayer! Fortunately, I understood his question.
Sunday School has started. There are about 30 people here so far. Others
are coming in so the total number will definitely increase. I’ve no idea
what the discussion is about. I’m hoping she will write on the board to
give me a clue…. The opening prayer was in English and the woman who gave
the prayer doesn’t look like she understands any more than I do.

The lesson seems to be about the founding of America so that the Church
could be established. Some discussion about whether or not that could
happen in America today because the government is so bad. I think there are
some folks here with strong political feelings.

Sacrament Meeting is now well underway. The Sacrament has been passed and a
youth speaker is talking about free agency. The transmitter isn’t working
very well but we’re getting the gist. The earphone is also very
uncomfortable as the earpads are gone and only the bare plastic plugs into
the ears.

The second talk is a young lady who played the piano to accompany the
hymns. She is talking about weaknesses and the necessity of faith.

The rest hymn was True to the Faith. The closing speaker talked
about preparing for the 2nd coming. Then Church was over.
A couple of people recognized me from the last time I was here. That was
interesting. I’m not sure I would remember someone from that long ago.

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I mistakenly pushed the send button rather than the save button on that
last post. Consequently, it went out raw — mispellings, errors, and all.
This little Blacberry keyboard causes lots of fumble-fingered spelling.
I’ll correct it online whenever I get an internet connection.

Dinner was good. It was indeed shrimp fried rice. There was apparently a
large birthday party at the restaurant. While I was eating, they set up a
long table and seating for about 30 people. They started to arrive at 7:30.
The party looked like it was for an elderly lady as everyone coming in came
up and greeted her with a kiss. The Belgians greet family with either one
kiss on the cheek or three kisses (left, right, left). I think the decision
about 1 or 3 depends on how close the family relationship is.

The birthday meal was going to be a buffet. It looked pretty good. I don’t
know how they would have served everyone otherwise.

So I’m back in the hotel and drawing a bath. I’m a bit chilly so that
should feel good. Then I’ll read for a whie and head for bed. A big
sightseeing day tomorrow!

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The next restaurant on the schedule is a Chinese place. It’s well appointed
inside but there is only one patron besides me. There is some takeout that
has just come from the kitchen so that is a good sign. The proprietess
speaks Cantonese so my meager Mandarin isn’t impressing her very much. I’ve
ordered a spring roll and shrimp fried rice (or at least that’s what I
think I’ve ordered.

It’s clear and quite cold tonight. I had to scrape ice off my car this
morning and will have to do the same tomorrow, I’m sure. This weather is
forecast to hold through Monday.

Several more takeout orders have been picked up. This place seems also to
have a delivery service. A couple more patrons have come in. The spring
roll was huge. Sections of it were stuffed with different vegetables and
meat. Very different from what I’ve had in other parts of the world. It’s
still a bit early for eating out, so we’ll see what the patron count is by
the time I’m finished.

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The most difficult and interesting part for me when traveling is what to do
for dinner. At home I generally don’t have to make decisions about food let
alone where to eat. On the road, however, a diifferent story emerges. It
becomes even more interesting in a different country. There are several
restaurants in Oudenaarde and I’m working my way through them on this trip.
That actually makes part of the decision easier. When I got here, I drove
through the town noting a number of restaurants. I started at the one
furthest from my hotel and have been working my way towards the hotel one
restaurant at a time. No decisions about where to eat as I now have a plan
and a schedule!

Tonight I’m at the restaurant associated with the Cesar Hotel. It’s a
three-star restaurant, whatever that means. Since I don’t know who the
rating authority is, I can’t evaluate the rating, yet. Perhaps after
dinner…? There are quite a few patrons here which is a good sign.

The next problem is what to eat. Tonight I remembered to bring my Berlitz
language guide with me to figure out what the menu items mean in English
and then found that the restaurant had a menu in English. Maybe that’s part
of a 3-star rating? I’ve ordered a steak with a pepper sauce and am looking
forward to that. It’ll likely come with fries (most things do here in
Belgium, the inventor of French Fries). Then depending on how much food was
served and how full I am (sorry, Taco Bell, but you don’t have the
franchise on being “full”), I’ll order a Dame Blanche — vanilla ice cream
with a hot chocolate sauce. The chocolate is “to die for” in Belgium.

All restaurants are smoking allowed with no non-smoking areas. The guy at
the table next to me has lit up a pretty foul-smelling cigarette.
Fortunately, they look to be leaving soon. I’m still somewhat surprised at
how many peiple on my staff smoke. It’s a much higher percentage in
Oudenaarde than in Pocatello.

Last night I drove into Gent to meet a number of people for dinner,
including a couple of people on my staff from Pocatello who are also here
on business. We ate at a Thai restaurant and most of us ordered the “Chef’s
Buffette,” a selection of various Thai dishes which we then shared. That
place will stay on my list. It was very good, paticularly the “Thai Cake”
for dessert.

I’ve finished my dinner. It was quite good and I’d come back here again for
dinner. The pepper sauce could have been more “peppery,” but no other
critique. No Dame Blanche, however. I’m full (which is a good thing to
feel, but bad for the waistline). From here it’s back to the hotel and into
a bath. Then lights out for the end of another day here in Oudenaarde,
Belgium.

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