Jun 2008

Yep, a digital spring clean was well overdue. It was not until I really started getting into it until I realised how atrocious my computer housekeeping has been. 2 days later and 52GB lighter the Mac is starting to move a little faster again. In addition to this little achievement I discovered a website called Mr Wong http://www.mister-wong.com/. This website has allowed me to bookmark all my favourite websites online, so I don't need to remember them whilst we are on the road. Bloody handy! All I have to do is log on to my Mr Wong page to find all my favourites, EASY! I can see that social bookmarking tools like this are going to become a key tool for travellers.

Outside of such boring domestics, the Syrian embassy in Brussels is not responding to our clarification requests....they need to know where we will staying before they will issue a visa. Obviously its time for some creative story telling.

I must admit to being inspired by this website http://www.seat61.com/ which provides an excellent resource for international train travel. It has also inspired Lute and it now looks like we are largely planning to take trains from Belgrade thru Istanbul to Amman.

I bought my second anvil this weekend....a 200kg sucker! I can already see the sweat of fellow Wildmen falling on its face as they follow forging courses at Dante's Hearth. Unfortunately, we are now probably going to need a reinforced shipping pallet to get all our gear back.

The winds of departure are starting to howl. Today is the last day ever for Max and Victor at Primary School. Thats big! They aren't boys anymore - they are young men and growing strong. Here they are with their Nepalese friend Kiran and his younger brother:

I have been busy trying to get everything organised well so that I can spend some quality time with them over the next six weeks. Some of this weeks highlights included:

[*] We visited our local doc and we all had blood taken to check our types. Both the boys broke out in nervous giggles during the act. The first aid kit is now almost complete and it is packed with exotic goodies that I hope we don't have to use too much. I drew greatly upon the recommendations provided by the Institute of Tropical Medicine here in Antwerp http://www.itg.be/itg/GeneralSite/Generalpage.asp and also from Stephen Bezruchkas book on trekking in Nepal http://www.amazon.com/Trekking-Nepal-Travelers-Guide/dp/0898865352. The latest edition of this book is only more inspiring and invaluable as it was twenty years ago.

[*] I dropped in and had a last dance and roar with Stef Miquel, who gives body movement and voice classes at the restored Stadsmagazijn http://www.politiquedesgrandesvilles.be/en/cities/antwerp/city-contract/ontmoetingcentrum-stadsmagazijn.aspx

[*] I bought a great 175kg anvil from Seerp, my blacksmith teacher http://users.telenet.be/smid/. My goodness its a heavy sucker and I now have to organise a plastic pallet to ship it back on. I am looking forward to entering the phase of life where this apparent unending accumulation of goods and materials reverses.

[*] Peter (our funky hairdresser neighbour) turned 39yrs old and to celebrate I forged him a spiral pendant in mild steel. He loves it.....

"We don't think this is the right school for your children! Their learning delays are too great and we don't have the resources to teach them!".

There was no talk of alternatives, our boys were essentially being shown the door just six weeks after their arrival.
Lute and I were in shock, where was the caring Steiner community and system we had rejoiced in for the last six years in Australia. A system which we thought was internationally constant and based on a philosophy that allowed children to learn at there own pace, accommodating learning delays and rejoicing in diversity. It clearly wasn't here in this school and "disgusting" were the words Lute spat out as we left our last meeting. We weren't upset at the situation, it was really just the way it was handled.

Of course, as they nearly always do, things have turned out fine. We found the Wereldreiziger (World Traveller) http://www.sbq.be/, a school dedicated to educating children from wherever they come. The boys were placed in a Grade 5 class containing kids from Nepal, Morocco, Turkey, Poland, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Russia, Thailand, Phillipines. (see below);

It wasn't easy in the beginning as the boys didn't speak any Flemish and the concrete playground was a big change. Sometimes I felt real bad when I left them in the mornings however, they settled in within 3 months. Yesterday, we received their end of year reports which show that they both have made enormous advances in their mathematics and they are now speaking conversational “Flemglish” that, gulp, will soon overtake mine! Victor was noted for his compassion and Max for his signs of leadership. I am really proud of them.

Yesterday we drove to Insel Hombroich with Lutes sister and her family. This is a place that strives to put "Kunst parallel zur Natur". If you are partial to wandering around rambling parks filled with ponds, sculptures and architecturally inspired buildings housing modern art and antiquities ripped from the four corners of the globe - then this is for you. I thought it was awesome and it reminded me of how important such excursions are for filling the cup of inspiration.

I put some more snaps at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=537281358#/album.php?aid=29831&id=537281358

The park is two hours drive from Antwerp and not far from Dusseldorf. If your German is Ok then you can get a good route description and overview at http://www.inselhombroich.de/tour.htm

Make sure you allow a full day and get the combined ticket to see the Langen Museum. We thought the tickets were a little bit pricey (20Euro adults 11Euro Kids) until we realised that there is an excellent vegetarian lunch included. This is served from the cafeteria inside Insel Hombroich, so our strategy of walking from the carpark at Insel and seeing the museum first worked out well. By coincidence we happened to meet Crystal and Gert (an architect couple and friends of Bram and Lute) whilst lunching at Insel - we are going to catch up with them in August. Below is a little sign I saw which I was told translates to, "Art is finding yourself"....nice!

Afterwards we went off in search of a place to have a drink and stumbled upon a large medieval gathering/fair which was being held in the grounds of a castle in the nearby village of Hulcrath. It was a wonderful discovery. The grounds of the castle very picturesque and were filled with dozens of medieval style tents selling medieval wares to hundreds of crazy Germans, many who were dressed in medieval costumes and drinking from buffalo horns. Of course there was a couple of schmids there for me to cast my firey gaze over and I had a good chat to one of them who was casting and making bronze objects in a fire fanned by a big leather bellow. He told me that most of the store owners don't make much money but do it out of love for the lost crafts and the atmosphere - which was certainly amazing. It seems these festivals do a circuit in Germany, starting in Spring and ending in Autumn. The relaxed vibe of the festival reminded me of Confest although it certainly wasn't the hippy trippy alternative set - these Germans are serious when they go medieval. Check out some photos Bram took at

http://cid-98f4bbaeba4d54af.spaces.live.com/photos/cns!98F4BBAEBA4D54AF!254/

It makes me think I will have to look up similar events when I get home to Oz - blacksmiths have a place at such. We all got home tired and I was thankful for Bram doing the driving.

Yesterday I had my last Thursday night blacksmithing class for the year. The image above shows me releasing my emotional turmoil by hammering a hot self forged nail into the "nagel boom". This is a tradition still carried on by Belgian blacksmiths, many who have a tree outside their forge that they have peppered with nails. Klaas taught me to hammer them in in whilst still hot - the explosion of smoke really makes the act quite a spectacle and you feel the energy release.

The translation for the title of this entry is "it was an absolute pleasure" and that's what I said last night to my teacher Patrick (he's the one holding the nagel boom). Patrick is perhaps one of Belgiums best blacksmiths and he was an amazing and inspirational teacher. I will miss him dearly. Last night he said to me, "Steve, when you started here I felt you were searching for something....I think you have found part of the answer." I reckon he hit the proverbial nail on the head there. Class photo below.