freaking out a little about moving...

[gemini]

Congratulation on your wedding!

I've heard  men are extremely handsome in Belgium, is that's right? (Just to be curious)    

[Aloe]

thanks,
ive seen a few hot guys, but ive seen some ugly ones too, seems same as anywhere

[Ronnie]

All this talk of cold weather in June is going make Al Gore very unhappy.

[Aloe]

we've been having nice weather past few days, i guess im starting to like this place, my husband's mom gave me a little tour of the nearest big city, known as a city of students, she showed me the city center where tons of outdoors cafes are, and oh my, do belgians like having a drink outside, the huge square was full of hundreds, maybe thousands of young people sitting and drinking and talking, it was 11 pm and it was the most loud from people talking place ive ever been to, and everywhere we went in the city center at the time, 99% of people on the streets were college age, that was freaky. We did manage to come across some older people in tiny streets (full of cafes, duh), it was much more quiet and cozy there, was really great atmosphere there, too bad i didnt have my camera with me, as the tour was unexpected, cuz we went shopping before that and his mom bought so much stuff for us that there was only room left for a driver in the car, so we had to walk haha

[Aloe]

on a side note, i wonder if its normal for anywhere except belgium to blow your nose in public, including at a table during dinner, its quite puzzling, everybody does it !!

[Shadow]

All this talk of cold weather in June is going make Al Gore very unhappy.

He will be happy to know its about 30C here today.
Where is that Ice Age we need

[SANDRO43]

on a side note, i wonder if its normal for anywhere except belgium to blow your nose in public, including at a table during dinner, its quite puzzling, everybody does it !!

Strange question . What do you normally do in the FSU, hide in a closet after a sudden sneeze ?

[Sculpto]

on a side note, i wonder if its normal for anywhere except belgium to blow your nose in public, including at a table during dinner, its quite puzzling, everybody does it !!

you are so funny.. when I was in the FSU I saw people on the street place one finger on one nostril and blow.. big booger right onto the ground.. well.. never saw a lady do it.. except that ragged one in the street market..

[groovlstk]

on a side note, i wonder if its normal for anywhere except belgium to blow your nose in public, including at a table during dinner, its quite puzzling, everybody does it !!

My wife was shocked to see people (Americans) grab tissues and blow their noses in public too, and claimed that in Russia such behavior is considered inappropriate.

Don't know if it's true, but I've read that in Tokyo it's not uncommon to hear someone geese one on the subway - if that happened here and the perpretrator was identified, he'd probably get tossed out a window

[GoodOlBoy]

My wife was shocked to see people (Americans) grab tissues and blow their noses in public too, and claimed that in Russia such behavior is considered inappropriate.

My wife finds it absolutely "repulsive" to hear somebody at the next table in a restaurant blowing their nose (or any other noises like: belching, farting, etc.).

She will usually look right at the person and say something like "au hospity".

She says in her neck of the woods (Omsk) it is insulting to the people around you to behave in such a way.


GOB

[Sculpto]

relative to my above comment..

it seems there is a definite "class" distinction at work here.. that is not a criticism.. purely an observation

so what about when you are driving along the freeway and look in the car next to you and see the driver "digging for gold"

[Aloe]

Strange question . What do you normally do in the FSU, hide in a closet after a sudden sneeze ?

no, you use a hanky to clean yourself and go to the bathroom to blow your nose if you need it

[Aloe]

im really hating having to wipe dishes dry after every wash! if i dont they get ugly white stains, why cant they make water like in Russia, thats safe to leave dishes to air dry
also i tried a raw inside steak for the first time, that was horrible, but everyone was saying its really good, it tasted horrible and i did not feel good for hours afterwards! how do people eat that !
and our internet keeps going down, its been down like 7 times in 1 month; and when it goes down, so does our phone and part of tv; so i cant use the phone if internet is down and its down all the time! so lame and so expensive and such tiny traffic limit its awful ! in Moscow i had unlimited traffic 4 mbps up and down internet for 13 euro a month, here it is 50 euro for 12 mbps down and 0.35 mbps up with 30 gb a month limit, thats just laughable upload and even more laughable limit for a ridiculous sum, even tho it has tv and phone included, still horrible horrible deal, considering im used to downloading movies 4-8 gb each, just awful
i feel like complaining today !

[Gator]

im really hating having to wipe dishes dry after every wash! if i dont they get ugly white stains, why cant they make water like in Russia, thats safe to leave dishes to air dry

Do not fear, the deposits are from dissolved calcium ions, mainly carbonates.  This is referred to as calcium hardness, and it may originate if the water supply is groundwater or a river that originated in an area with limestone.   It is safe, and IMO it improves the taste of the water.

You may notice that your towels after many launderings will not feel as soft as new ones.  This is due to the buildup of calcium encrustations in the fibers.

also i tried a raw inside steak for the first time, that was horrible, but everyone was saying its really good, it tasted horrible and i did not feel good for hours afterwards! how do people eat that !

Steak tartar.  delicious IMO if prepared correctly.  The tartars would put raw beef under their horse saddles and eat it later flavored by horse salt.  Did the tartars not come through Russia?

[ECOCKS]

on a side note, i wonder if its normal for anywhere except belgium to blow your nose in public, including at a table during dinner, its quite puzzling, everybody does it !!

While most people would be expected to turn their heads (away from food and other diners) when blowing their nose at the table, it's pretty normal to remain at the table as long as you have a handkerchief, napkin or tissue to use. As for me, there are days I would never complete my meal if I had to keep running to the bathroom all the time.

Folks seem far more concerned over what you did rather than why you did it. Another example of form over substance in this culture.

[OlgaH]

Steak tartar.  delicious IMO if prepared correctly.  The tartars would put raw beef under their horse saddles and eat it later flavored by horse salt.  Did the tartars not come through Russia?

The dish came to Russia from Tatars   but to Europe it was brought by a French officer, engineer and cartographer Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan who was in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth service in Ukraine. In Russian we call it beefshteks(beef steak) po-Tatarski . Originally it was horse meat flavored by horse salt and it was not cooked, it was dried  

I think Aloe is talking about usual medium cooked steak  

[groovlstk]

also i tried a raw inside steak for the first time, that was horrible, but everyone was saying its really good, it tasted horrible and i did not feel good for hours afterwards! how do people eat that !

Aloe, it's an acquired taste, like sushi. My wife had the same reaction the first time she tried a steak prepared medium rare She's since progressed to liking her steak a little pink inside (medium) but at first everything had to be overcooked (well done - there are a few famous steak houses in Manhattan that will refuse to prepare their beef past medium) 

[Gator]

I think Aloe is talking about usual medium cooked steak  

My error.  Steak Tartar would send our Aloe into a state of shock.

IMO medium is too done.  My Moscow wife has always liked medium rare beef as do her kids.  Where we disagree is the cut (ribeye or filet).

[OlgaH]

She's since progressed to liking her steak a little pink inside (medium) but at first everything had to be overcooked (well done - there are a few famous steak houses in Manhattan that will refuse to prepare their beef past medium) 

First time I also was too suspicious towards a steak prepared medium rare.    In Russia it is very easy to be infected with helminths if meat is not well cooked.

[SANDRO43]

im really hating having to wipe dishes dry after every wash! if i dont they get ugly white stains, why cant they make water like in Russia, thats safe to leave dishes to air dry

As Gator said (except for his confusion about calcium ions and salts ), it's due to 'hard' water, we have the same problem here in Milan, the plus is that they don't have to add chlorine to it and it is VERY good to drink .

An empirical test of water hardness can be made very simply with a small piece of soap: 'hard water' will lather/froth much less than 'soft' water when thoroughly stirred.

Aloe, get a dish detergent that has lemon juice (or vinegar) in it, it's slighly acidic and will dissolve most of the calcium carbonate (we call it calcare here). Glassware is harder to clean, you should wipe it dry after washing it to remove small residual grain deposits.

BTW, with that type of water you should also add a limescale remover tablet to your washing machine with every laundry load, or install a filter on its water feed, to avoid it clogging up and eventually failing to work properly .

[SANDRO43]

Originally it was horse meat flavored by horse salt

Horse salt ? What's that?

[OlgaH]

Horse salt ? What's that?

Horse sweat 

[Gator]

well done - there are a few famous steak houses in Manhattan that will refuse to prepare their beef past medium

In certain parts of Texas if one wants a welldone steak, one tells the waiter that he wants it "cooked."    Such a Texan and Aloe share similar tastes.

[Gator]

Horse sweat 

Sandro,
You have done a lot in your life; however, i don't think you have ever taken a saddle off a horse that has been ridden hard.

[SANDRO43]

Sandro, You have done a lot in your life; however, i don't think you have ever taken a saddle off a horse that has been ridden hard.

...and put away wet, as JB used to say ?

No, usually I wiped it down with straw after unsaddling it, but never thought of collecting its sweat for cooking .