March 2013 Newsletter
March 2013
EXXONMOBIL SPOUSES NETWORK BRUSSELS
The spouses network is a social group open to all spouses of ExxonMobil employees in Brussels and surrounding area. We would like to welcome you to our group. If you are interested in a friendly, relaxed social group where you can meet new people, enjoy some interest groups, and start to form a safety net in your new environment, please get in touch with us. Send your name, email address and phone number to Joanne Vanderleeuw at sjvanderleeuw@gmail.com and your name will be added to the email list for the newsletter to keep you informed of upcoming events.
Si vous voulez recevoir la newsletter chez vous à votre adresse email adresse privée, faites le savoir à Joanne.
If you have met a newly arrived ExxonMobil employee or spouse, please let them know about us and how they can get on the newsletter email list.
Special Activity:
General Meeting and Potluck Lunch
Thurs. April 18th 11:00am at the home of Kathy Pagano
51 Val des Seigneurs, 4th floor
1150 Woluwe-St. Pierre
rsvp to Kathy at Kathycpagano@gmail.com
02 770 02 66
Let Kathy know if you are bringing a salad, finger food or dessert to share.
Kathy’s home is just a short walk from the Stockel metro stop. Ring the buzzer and enter when buzzed in. Push the up button on the elevator, and Kathy will send the private elevator to get you. The elevator opens directly at their apartment.
Meeting Itinerary: I will be stepping down from my position as we are returning to Canada upon my husband’s retirement at the end of April. Stan and I are very excited to return to our family and friends at home after 17 years away. I really hope to see many of you at the meeting, so I can say goodbye, and ensure the network will be in good hands for the future.
We are in need of someone to take over for me in guiding the group. The time commitment is quite minimal since there are only 3 scheduled events per year. Of course, with new leadership, there can be as many activities as desired. It would be advantageous to have a few helpers to share the responsibilities. If you enjoy writing for instance, you could help with the newsletter. The website also needs updating every couple of months, and this does not require any special computer skills! The most important job is reaching out to newcomers with a welcome email, and answering any questions they might have. Please think about how you can help in some small way.
Sorry to report that the book club has decided to fold after many, many years. Please see the very nice note from book club leader Elena Van Bouwel-Salles below. Thanks very much Elena for years of dedication. In the last few years book club numbers have declined due to retirements, job commitments etc., however, there is always the opportunity for someone to start a new club. There are several young mothers out there who may cherish an evening or morning meeting discussing a good book. This is a great way to get to know some new people, and feel free to make the book club your own. Let me know if you are interested in getting a new club going.
If you can’t attend the April general meeting, but are interested in helping out the network in some way, please let me know. All help is appreciated immensely.
Lots of News!!
If you are moving to or from the Brussels area, please check out our website (http://esnb.over-blog.com) and use the buy/sell platform to help facilitate your move. If you have articles to sell, please send details (description, cost, contact info) to sjvanderleeuw@gmail.com for posting.
Thanks very much to Sonia Anckenmann for volunteering to be our Tervuren contact. Her contact details are below.
We need a contact for Montessori Schools, if anyone has their children enrolled here and wouldn’t mind fielding questions from parents- thanks
We need a contact for Overijse to replace me- thanks.
A huge thankyou to Maru Schuller for hosting the Mexican cooking class. We had a nice group of 9 ladies and 2 delightful babies. We all enjoyed the great food and each other’s company. Does anyone else have a cooking specialty to share??
Thanks very much to Carron Lane for many years of involvement with the network, and book club. Best of luck to her as she returns to the UK with her husband who is retiring at the end of April.
Did you Know?:
Great prices at Le Creuset Outlet Store: 2 hour drive from Brussels 880 Rue Olivier Deguise, Fresnoy-le-Grand, France
Closed Sunday and Monday, open Tues to Sat. 10-12:30 and 2:15-6:30
Mexican cooking ingredients available at: La Tienda Mexigo, Rue Francois Dons 47, 1050 Ixelles 02 649 23 83 www.mexigo.be
Check out the English Language Theatre in Brussels at www.theatreinbrussels.com The next performance, “Calendar Girls” in March.
Did you know the British Womens Club support a very active international ladies golf group that play year round? For more information contact Carolyn van Doninck, email cal.vandoninck@telenet.be
Tennis anyone? Email Lynette pin_ged@yahoo.co.uk for groups available on Monday, Wed. and Thurs. mornings at the Davis Club in Kraainem. Contact Kirsten kirsten.bye@hotmail.com for Monday, Tuesday and Wed. tennis groups at Panorama Club in Overijse.
Relocation Group:
The relocation group is comprised of members, listed below, who live in all areas of Brussels, and the surrounding region. Feel free to contact someone from the list below who lives close to you, or someone who speaks your language. They will be happy to try to answer some of your questions either before or after you arrive in Brussels. They are always ready to take the time for a chat by telephone, email or over a cup of coffee.
(If you do not see your mother-tongue below, and would like to volunteer to be a member of the relocation group, please contact Joanne Vanderleeuw)
Vous êtes nouveaux en Belgique? N'hésitez pas à nous contacter. Nous serons ravies de répondre à toutes vos questions et de vous accueillir dans votre nouveau pays.
Appena arrivati? Chiamateci, saremo felici di rispondere a tutte le vostre domande e di accogliervi nel vostro nuovo paese.
Acaban de llegar ? No duden en llamarnos para que contestemos a sus preguntas y que les damos la bienvenida en su nuevo país .
Acabam de chegar? Contacte-nos, Ficaremos felizes de responder às suas perguntas e recebê-los em seu novo país.
Welkom in Brussel! Als je vragen hebt kun je me altijd bellen. Ik kan je dan ook over het spouses network van ExxonMobil vertellen. Misschien tot binnenkort!
Willkommen in Brüssel! Bitte rufen Sie mich an, damit Ihre Fragen beantwortet werden und ich Sie über das Spouses Network informieren kann. Ich freue mich auf Ihren Anruf.
Contacts: by region
Whether you are new or not to the Brussels area, the ladies listed by neighbourhood below are ready to help with any questions you have.
Uccle/Ixelles -Paula Matarazzo pmatarazzo@hotmail.com (Français, English, Italiano, Português, Espanol) and Anne Alloncle a.geo.all@gmail.com (French, English)
Waterloo/Rhode St. Genese- Emma Whitton elwhitton@yahoo.co.uk (English and French, some German) St. John’s International School Contact
Antwerp area – Penny Smyth pennysmyth@mac.com Antwerp International School contact
Tervuren/Vossem/Moorsel – Sonia Anckenmann anckenmann.franck@telenet.be(French, Spanish, English and Portuguese)
Overijse -Joanne Vanderleeuw sjvanderleeuw@gmail.com (English- North American) ISB contact
Sterrebeek - Sabine Decker sab.decker@gmx.de (Deutsch, English, French) German School contact
Boitsfort- Anne Gerard nanou_gerard@hotmail.com (English and French)
Hoeilaart -Kirsten Bye kirsten.bye@hotmail.com (Norwegian, English, Italian) ISB contact
Stokkel/Kraainem -Debbie Wright deborahjwright@gmail.com (English) International School of Brussels contact
Brussels Centre -Monique Cardyn mocardyn@gmail.com (French, English)
Leuven and area -Ria Bakker maria.e.bakker@gmail.com (Dutch, English)
Wezembeek-Oppem – Elena Harrauer elena.harrauer@hotmail.com (Ital., French, Eng.) British School contact
Mechelen and area -Elena van Bouwel-Salles evbsalles@skynet.be (Portuguese, English and Dutch)
Monthly Activities –before attending an event contact the event coordinator to make sure the time/date or venue has not changed.
Book Club:
Contact: Elena van Bouwel-Salles
015 62 00 16
Dear Ladies,
We have had some very nice years with the Book Club. It has given us the opportunity to read books that we otherwise would not have picked by ourselves; and it was always a nice way of meeting other ladies who also love the good company of a book.
Sometimes the choices were not unanimously appreciated, there were books that we did have to struggle to get to the end. But there were many who were a pleasure to read. For all the (good) suggestions I want to thank you all.
The last years the Book Club saw the numbers of its members dwindle; life realities change and interests and availability with it. Although there were always two or three who always showed up, it became difficult to find new members for the formula that we always used: a nice cup of coffee in a nice environment and books that the group had approved of. Unfortunately we didn’t find specialists who could ‘enrich’ the discussions. We were always that group of friends who like a good book and then came together to talk about it.
Now two of our members are going away (as all the other great ladies that went away earlier) . Christine has already left for the UK and Carron will very soon follow. So this meeting is going to be the “Swan song” of a Club that has existed even before I joined it in 93 or 94. So on April 25th we’ll meet one last time; before we change definitely into the format of meeting when opportunity presents itself and anyone who ever belonged to the club can summon a meeting!
The idea is to meet for coffee and talk about THE GARDEN OF THE EVENING MISTS by Tan Twan Eng and then move on to lunch with PRAGUE WINTER by Madeleine Albright.
Usually we meet at Cook and Book around 10 am, and maybe for old time’s sake we can do just that, and then move to Tea and Eat at the Woluwe Shopping Center for a light meal and Madeleine Albright… If you have any other ideas or suggestions, please just let us know.
Once again thank you for all you have done for the Club, and let’s try to exchange the titles of the good books that will pass through our hands in the future.
Thanks again for all these years of nice and enlightening chats,
Elena
Cook & Book ( Blok B – English Library ) 10 am
Place du Temps Libre 1
1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert
02 761 26 00
Tea and Eat
Tots Play Group:
Contact: Helen Starkie
helenstarkie@hotmail.com
04753 29853
All with young children are invited to attend our monthly get-togethers. Our playgroup meets at homes and parks at 10:00am on every second Monday of the month all year round. There is no limitation regarding the age of the children, and it’s a great way to meet some friends for you and your kids. Please contact Helen to see where the group is meeting next.
Movie Group:
Contact: Sabine Decker
sab.decker@gmx.de
02 305 0951
There is no formal movie group, but if you happen to want to see a movie and don’t have anyone to go with, or think others would enjoy it, please contact Sabine to set up an informal group outing.
Thank you for taking the time to read the newsletter:
The Spouses Network Committee
Links to Valuable Organizations:
Women’s Clubs: for Opening Hoursplease see websites
AWCB (American Women’s Club of Brussels): www.awcb.org
AWCA (American Women’s Club of Antwerp) http://www.awcantwerp.org/
BCWCB (British & Commonwealth Women’s Club of Brussels): www.bcwcb.org
Accueil Francaise: www.accueil-bruxelles.be
CHS Community Help Service: www.chsbelgium.org