I just got back from working on a project with the Dutch sand sculpting company Inaxi and here as promised is the feet report, fully illustrated of course! Some of the photos are thumbnails and you can see them big by clicking on them...

(If you want to skip the silly stuff and go right to the sculpture photos, jump to page 5.)

Belgium: tall skinny red brick houses with steep roofs, storm blinds and gingerbread architectural flourishes. Chocolate. Pretty money decorated by MaGritte. Beer. Very goot biere, served in unique logo-embossed glasses. Other houses that look amazingly like most of the other houses. Chocolate.

Hanging out with Dutch people you get to hear a lot of Dutch spoken. Sometimes you get the drift of the conversation but mostly you just sit there with a stupid half-smile on your face wondering when is someone going to switch to English. Most of the crew members use it only when they need to address a stupid American specifically. I do not blame them for this but I miss being able to understand and participate in casual sandpile conversation and when one of the Dutch sculptors takes the time to translate a particularly funny joke for me or tell me the gist of the conversation, or just talk to me for no reason in particular I am ever so grateful.

"Palm" is the name of my favorite Belgian beer - pretty straight-forward, easy to order, right? but you must not pronounce it "palm" -- if you don't want to sound stupid, you must say "pollum."

No wonder I spent so much of this trip is a state of confusion...

Discos with no dancefloor - just pick a spot close to your table and start moving. Don't expect to hear one song all the way through. Sometimes this is a good thing. Drink lots of beer or you will fall behind. Bart goes there looking for his princess... his search proves fruitless.

"Wrong bar" he mutters thickly as we trudge back to the bus.