East of the Atlantic

[AnneTanne]

... and from the country that is said to have the most boring city in the world for capital.

I'm transitioning to barefoot running, and happened to discover this community by reading a few threads 'somewhere else'.
I'm not exactly a youngster, and only discovered running 5 years ago, at age 44.

When I was studying at Louvain University, I 'shocked' the folks in the street by running my errands barefoot. The vendor in the grocery store near where I lived was convinced that I was bringing 'all the dirt from the street' in her shop that way. (I still wonder if her other customers were wearing some kind of dirtrepelling shoes?)

After not having ran for months because of having ran too fast too much last summer, I'm back into running since January, and I secretly dream of 'celebrating' my 50th birthday by running 'something real' next fall (allthough I'm running 5 years now, I have never ran a race... it doesn't have much appeal to me, except for trail running... I really hope to run a trailrace once... Maybe the 'Mini-trail des Hautes Fagnes'? But probably this year it's too early...)

 

[dutchie53]

Welcome to our hangout. Here nobody will notice if you show up here barefooted.

 

[AnneTanne]

Thank you! Does your screenname mean, that you live in the country where I'm working? ;-)

 

[Barefoot TJ]

And so we continue to fight the ignorance. Oh to have been present in that grocery store for that conversation...

And welcome!

 

[dutchie53]

Used too, I am living in Canada now. Where abouts in Holland are you working?

 

[Chaserwilliams]

Welcome!

 

[Blind Boy]

Welcome! Always good to have more people on the right side of the Atlantic.

 

[AnneTanne]

@Dutchie53: I work in Eindhoven, which is about 50k from my hometown in Belgium.
@Blind Boy: beautiful pics of that swan on your blog!

 

[Blind Boy]

AnneTanne: Thank you. I can hardly wait for the birds to return here. It's still a month out but when they do I'll be there to harass them with my camera.

 

[AnneTanne]

For me, winter is the time to photograph birds (at the birdfeeder), for the rest of the year, I'm mostly into plants and insects... (much easier than birds to make nice pictures...)

 

[Blind Boy]

That's cheating. The reason I prefer spring for photographing birds is because they're easier to find, at least the water dwelling species. I hang around the spots where the ice clears first and since the birds don't have that many spots to choose from they usually accept my presence after a while.

 

[Paleo]

Welcome Anne.
Just to let you know, we have a few members of the Germany Chapter who are not too far away from Eindhoven. I am in Bonn and we have a few more in the Rheinland. So, keep an eye out on the Germany calender for meet-ups. We'd be glad to have you!

Cheers
Paleo

 

[AnneTanne]

Danke Paleo...
Ich hatte mich im Deutschland Chapter schon mal rundgeschaut, denn Belgier gibt's hier nicht so viele glaube ich...
Ich brauche nur 45 min von zuhause nach Aachen... Köln und Bonn sind ein bisschen weiter, aber noch immer gut zu erreichen...
Und mein Deutsch... jedenfalls verstehe ich (fast) alles, aber ich fürchte das ich mindestens dreiviertel des Deutschen Grammatiks vergessen habe...

 

[Paleo]

Hi Anne,
Dein Deutsch scheint sehr gut zu sein. Ich bin selber Amerikaner, der seit 11 Jahren hier wohnt. Weiter auf Englisch für die andern...

There is an active group of Barefooters in Brussels (French speaking mostly), but I have never run with them. In Germany, we are quite spread out. Joohneschuh is the Chapter President, and he lives in Dresden, I am co-president, and live in Bonn. The others who are active are in Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Kulmbach. So we are pretty spread out. But, we have had some nice events in Dresden, Bonn and Munich. As soon as we get the pages working again, you will see that the BRS holds an "International Barefoot Running Day" each year. This year's event will be on 6 May. You could think about organizing an event in B or NL or joining us in D. But, I don't know yet where the event will be.

Feel free to join the Germany Chapter if you like.

Cheers
Paleo

 

[Phil Hart]

Gruss Gott und Wilkommen! I lived in Stuttgart for several years and loved it. Holland? Maybe just a little boring. Like Minnesota but in Europe. Glad to have you with us, and I hope you're able to meet up with some of our other Dutch/Northern German members.

 

[AnneTanne]

@Phil: Thank you...
Why do you think that after all those years of working in the Netherlands, I still wouldn't consider moving to that country? ;-)

In the first year I was working in Eindhoven, I and a colleague of mine (also from Belgium - and still living in Belgium) where interviewed for the company's magazine.
Talking about working in Holland and living in Belgium, the article finally got the title: 'On weekdays, off from work at 5.00 PM, and on Sunday fresh breadrolls from the local bakery'... And that summarizes the advantages of 'organized' Holland and more chaotic little Belgium...

 

[dutchie53]

One of the things I miss about living there is that I found the weekends especially Sundays were a lot less chaotic, and a lot more reaxing. I used to live just south of Rotterdam in a little burg of Kralingse Veer. Maybe things have changed since I left. Also if your family is still in Belgium than the weekends back at home is where I would be going too.

 

[AnneTanne]

I still do live in Belgium, from Eindhoven it's only a 50 min. drive... And apart from fresh rolls on Sunday, I prefer Belgian schools for my kid...

 

[JosephTree]

Welcome! I think any country that counts HERRING as a critical cultural resource can't be all that bad. I used to work for a little Dutch company called Philips, I think. Have you heard of them? I don't know what's available in that part of the world, but a trail race can be a life altering experience. I strongly recommend you try one when you feel ready. What would you do for hill workouts? They don't let you run up the polders or dykes or whatever they call them, do they?

 

[AnneTanne]

It's hardly possible to work in Eindhoven and not knowing Philips I guess...
I even think it's hardly possible to work in Eindhoven and not to work in a building that belongs to or has belonged to Philips. (I'm working in a mental health care institution, but, indeed, the building were my policlinic is located is still a property of Philips....)

Hills? I have a bridge nearby... and there is the 'terril' of Beringen at some 10k from here, a remains of the coalmines...