We have been living in Antwerp, Belgium since May of last year. Lee Ann is working at Alcatel in Belgium on a platform that will soon be modified for the U.S. market (fiber optic product). She works in English with a great group of Belgian guys.

We are in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium. We have learned a good bit of Dutch. It is close to German, so Lee Ann and I can read it pretty well. Spoken Dutch takes some getting used to because of some funny pronunciation rules and the huge variety of accents. Michelle is the best at speaking - she sounds like a native.

In Flanders (~ northern Belguim), everybody speaks English! It is very unlike our stay in Germany years ago. Here, you can shop, do business, and go to parties without knowing Dutch. It has been harder to learn Dutch because you don't absolutely need it to get by. French is the primary language in southern Belgium and German is the third official language. Most everyone in Flanders speaks Dutch, English, and French.

Lee Ann's assignment was recently extended. We will probably be here until the middle of March. Lynn is still homeschooling. We are having an absolute blast. We have a friend living in our house in Raleigh while we're gone.