May 2011
May 2011
EXXONMOBIL SPOUSES NETWORK
BRUSSELS
If you want to receive this newsletter at home and be notified of upcoming events, please send your email address to sjvanderleeuw@gmail.com
Our Website:
One click to discover the spouses network website. All newsletters are included on the website, plus lots of extra information including the new buy and sell platform. More information below.
Special Activity:
Spring Potluck
Jos van den Berg has kindly offered to host our spring potluck on Friday June 17th. Feel free to arrive any time after 10:30am with lunch scheduled for 11:30am. Children are welcome and may bring bathing suits if the weather is good for a swim. Please bring a sweet or savoury dish to share and let Jos know which you plan to bring when you rsvp. Respond by Wed. June 15th at latest to email:
josvandenberg@telenet.be
Address: Boterstraat 61
3080 Tervuren (Vossem)
02-305 5713
Thanks Jos! Hope to see many of you there for our final event before summer vacation!
Thank you!
The spouses network would like to wish all the best to Susanne Kross and family as they move on from their stay in Brussels. We extend a big thank you to Susanne who headed up the mum’s and tot’s group for the network for several years. Leslie Bates has generously offered to take over for Susanne. Thanks Leslie! Leslie’s contact information can be found further on in the newsletter.
What’s new:
We are starting up a buy/sell/giveaway platform on our website for the network to use. So if you are moving to or from the Brussels area, please check out our website (http://esnb.over-blog.com) and use the new 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.
Relocation Group:
Contact: Paula Matarazzo
02 647 2385
The relocation group is comprised of members who live in all areas of Brussels and the surrounding region. Feel free to contact someone from 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 Paula Matarazzo.)
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
Uccle/Ixelles -Paula Matarazzo pmatarazzo@hotmail.be (Français, English, Italiano, Português, Espanol) and Anne Alloncle annealloncle@yahoo.fr (French, English)
Waterloo/Rhode St Genese -Ina Petrone ipetrone@aol.com (Italian, English) St. John's School contact
Antwerp area -Christine Lesny cdley@web.de (German, English, Dutch and French) Antwerp International School contact
Tervuren/Vossem/Moorsel -Jos van den Berg bergvier@telenet.be (Dutch, German, English)
Overijse -Joanne Vanderleeuw sjvanderleeuw@gmail.com (English- Canadian /American) ISB contact
Sterrebeek -Christiane Merhof gmerhof@aol.com (Deutsch, English, Dutch) German School contact and Sabine Decker sab.decker@gmx.de (Deutsch, English, French) German School contact
Boitsfort- Carron Lane michael.lane@skynet.be (English) and Anne Gerard nanou_gerard@hotmail.com
Hoeilaart -Kirsten Bye kirsten.bye@hotmail.com (Norwegian, English, Italian)
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 -Anne O'Brien peter.obrien@telenet.be (English) British School contact
Mechelen and area -Elena van Bouwel Salles evbsalles@skynet.be (Portuguese, English)
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
We would like to invite all interested spouses to our monthly book club meeting. We meet to discuss the pre-selected book, and other widely variable topics!! It’s a very informal session, and even if you haven’t been able to finish the book, please join us for a coffee and good conversation. The discussions are in English, but the books can be read in any language. Please don’t hesitate to contact Elena for more information.
The selections for the following months are:
Date Thurs. May 26th
Time 10:15 am
Book The Widow Clicquot by Tillar Mazzeo
Place English section of “Cook and Book” across from the Woluwe Mall
RSVP Elena (see above)
Next Books:
June book: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
no summer meetings
Sept book: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Enjoy!
Moms and Tots:
Contact: Leslie Bates
049 122 98 97
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. The present group started off in Feb. 2008 and has grown to a very international bunch of moms and tots. Please contact Leslie 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 anymore, 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.
Did You Know:
Volunteer Opportunity:
Kind & Gezin
Heb je wat tijd over en wil je leuk vrijwilligerswerk doen, denk dan eens aan Kind & Gezin. Deze consultatie-bureaus zoeken vrijwilligers om kinderen van 0 tot 30 maanden te wegen en te meten. Je kunt zelf bepalen hoe vaak je per maand beschikbaar bent. Elk kwartaal wordt samen met de andere vrijwilligers een lijst opgemaakt met de dienstregeling. Het is leuk en afwisselend werk. Mocht het iets voor jou zijn, neem dan contact op met een Kind & Gezin bureau bij jou in de buurt of bel Jos van den Berg op 02 305 57 13.
Thank you for taking the time to read the newsletter:
The Spouses Network Committee
The spouses network is a social organization open to all spouses of ExxonMobil employees in the Brussels area. It was originated for 2 main reasons: to welcome incoming families and help them with their transition to Brussels, and to provide opportunities, through our interest groups,
to socialize in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.
If you would like to arrange to get our newsletter sent to your home email, let Joanne Vanderleeuw know and we will get you on the mailing list! sjvanderleeuw@gmail.com
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.
Links to Valuable Organizations:
Women’s Clubs: for Opening Hoursplease see web sites
AWCB (American Women’s Club): www.awcb.org
BCWCB (British & Commonwealth Women’s Club of Brussels): www.bcwcb.org
Accueil Francaise: www.accueil-bruxelles.be
Other women’s clubs in Brussels :
Please refer to the contents of the EM Welcome Box for contact details and web addresses.
CHS Community Help Service: www.chsbelgium.org
CHS is a non-profit organization run by volunteers and provides mental health information and support to the English-speaking community in Belgium. Once a year they publish a calendar that contains lots of useful information and telephone numbers.
CHS Help Line: 02 658 40 14 – someone to talk to, anonymously, for Crisis, Support, General Information