Bakker Bugle Blog Say it three times fast. In Luxembourgish.

6 October 2010

Oh, American Press, bless your heart

Filed under: culture,europe,expat,france,mental state,news,usa — Anita @ 14:57

The US State Department released a broad travel advisory for Europe on Sunday. It cautioned Americans who are traveling to Europe to be extra vigilant. As one would expect, some of our loved ones in the US expressed concern over our safety. Suffice it to say, I have felt safe and continue to feel safe in Luxembourg. In fact, I cannot imagine a safer place to be.

But feeling safe and actually being safe are two different things. So, in the interest of learning as much as possible, I checked my usual online newspapers on Monday. The most prominent piece was in the Wall Street Journal. The article was reasonable in its tone, but the photo and video captions made be laugh. Not a “ha-ha” laugh: I was laughing at you, American newsmedia. You amuse me.
(more…)

17 September 2010

A little late to the big protest

Filed under: culture,luxembourg,politics — Will @ 16:45

I tell you what, let’s forget the fact that you’re coming a little late to the party and embrace the fact that you showed up at all. *

I like a good protest as much as your average expat — much more, probably. Yesterday’s demonstration in Luxembourg’s center promised to be a big one. At the end of July, after Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker announced his intention to go ahead with budget reforms over the protests of unions and other groups, those disregarded organizations announced the September protest. So I noted 16 September, 5:30pm, on my calendar and started reading the politics section of the newspaper more carefully.

Protests in Dublin, while I was there, could be large or small, but they were always long. As in the US, they usually took about an hour to get warmed up. So, at about 6:15 yesterday, I walked to Place Clairefontaine to snap a few photos and to learn how to dissent publicly in the Luxembourgish style. I wanted to met Anita for the walk back home, so I thought, “Boy, this timing worked out perfectly!”

Here’s what I found on Place Clairefontaine. (more…)

1 September 2010

Your great-great-great-great-great-grandfather’s Labor Day sale

Filed under: consumer,culture,luxembourg — Will @ 17:32

“The Big One-Day Retail Sale is dead.” If someone told me that, I’d find it quite plausible. Between “Low Prices All the Time” and Amazon.com, I wouldn’t expect a frugal (American) consumer to wait for a sale to purchase something. You might wait for the next generation of a gadget, or check prices all over, but to wait for a big sale with a specific date in the future?

When I see an ad for a one-day sale, I assume it’s little more than a scam to create false urgency.

Oh, there’s Black Friday, of course. (And Woot, I guess.) But even the post-holiday sales have been lackluster for years. The upcoming Labor Day sales seem more like an excuse for lazy advertising than a real chance to score a bargain.

“Not so, in Luxembourg,” I was told, by several Luxembourgers. “You must go to the Braderie on Monday. Stuff is really cheap. All the stores will have bargains.” All the stores? You mean that they cooperate and all have sales on the same day? “Yes,” they said, “It’s always the same. Go to the Ville-Haute.” (more…)

18 August 2010

Get ready for Schueberfouer!

Filed under: culture,entertainment,luxembourg,photos — Will @ 19:37

In just two days, Luxembourg will hold the 670th annual Schueberfouer.

Try to wrap your mind around a tradition that old. More than 30 generations.

As an ex-pat, I’m interested in looking at it from the perspective of cultural integration — or how long it takes to be considered a native. (more…)

17 August 2010

You know you’ve settled into Europe when…

Filed under: culture,europe,mental state — Anita @ 10:39

…you are stunned each time that somebody thinks your Visa has expired because it is dated 04/09/2010.

Culture consists, in part, of the customs that you take for granted. So we know that we’re adapting to European culture (or Western European or French-inflected or whatever) when we’re surprised by how things are done in the good ole USA. Some more examples: You know you’ve settled into a European state of mind when…

  • You find it unspeakably rude when, at a restaurant, your server brings you the check before you ask for it.
  • “Of course it’s a topless beach. Why not?”
  • You are uncomfortable when someone takes your credit card out of your sight.
  • You get frustrated at having to sign a bill for small purchases with your credit card.
  • You are excited to find a parking space within a quarter-mile of your destination.

We think of these little differences several times a week, and we’ll post more in the future. Guests of the B&B, what seemed alien to you about daily life in Ireland and Luxembourg?

30 June 2010

Mysteries of Europe #42: Why oh why?

Filed under: culture,europe,travel — Will @ 22:23

Anita enjoys visiting Holland, in part because many television programs are subtitled in Dutch but keep their original English audio tracks. Tonight, RTL 7‘s prime-time movie is Monster Ark, written and directed by Declan O’Brien. Here is an excerpt from a review by Gorepress that both of us enthusiastically endorse:

Monster Ark is ridiculous, but not in a good way. It is shoddily made, terribly scripted, blindly dumb and tragically dull. Even for a straight-to-TV movie it lacks depth, intelligence and charm. … It basically becomes a vomiting cliché-ticking mixture of Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones, which it shamelessly and liberally plagiarizes from. The film manages to insult anyone religious, the entire U.S. Army, all archaeologists, every pioneer of CGI and its audience’s intelligence.

(By the way, the review is worth reading on its own. Take a look when you have a moment and keep it mind that it does not exaggerate, in any way, the awfulness of this program.)

As children of the USA, both of us understand how such a movie could be made and distributed on the Scyfy channel. The mystery is how it winds up in Europe. (more…)

22 June 2010

A little history of National Day

Filed under: culture,entertainment,luxembourg — Will @ 12:30

Tomorrow, June 23, is Luxembourg’s national holiday. The big party is tonight, in anticipation of the torch-parade and the fireworks display just before midnight. We had a great time last year, as we shared on this blog: Post 1, Post 2, Post 3. In preparation for National Day 2010, we offer you a bit of history, cribbed from the City of Luxembourg’s website. (more…)

18 March 2010

Sneak Peek: Comparative Timeline

Filed under: administrative,culture,europe,ireland,luxembourg,usa — Will @ 19:26

The Bugle staff have been working on an exciting new project that will give you a new way of looking at the world.

Our guests in Ireland would sometimes visit, in the same day or two, three important Irish sites: Kilmainham Gaol (1796-1923 CE), Newgrange at Brú na Bóinne (3500-3200 BCE), and the Guinness Storehouse (2000-present).

Even the most historically aware tourists had trouble grasping the time periods involved: what was going on other places, how long monuments were originally used, and how long it took civilizations to change. (more…)

12 March 2010

Luxembourg by the numbers: From news352.lu

Filed under: culture,europe,expat,luxembourg,news — Will @ 12:45

Anita and I stress the number of non-residents commuting into Luxembourg just about every time we talk about life in Luxembourg. To us, it seems to touch nearly every part of life here. Add to that the number of non-native residents, and you have part of what makes Luxembourg City a special place.

We’re often unclear on the numbers, particularly with respect to non-native residents. You can imagine my delight, then, when I found the following article, “Luxembourg: A City of 156 nationalities,” in 352 Luxembourg Magazine, the leading English-language weekly in Luxembourg. (more…)

5 March 2010

Remain calm and exit the building

Filed under: culture,luxembourg — Anita @ 11:00

I had to run an errand today at the Notary. As I was leaving the building, I found myself behaving like a student at the Midvale School for the Gifted. As I walked back to the office, it occurred to me the reason that I might have failed so spectacularly at opening a door was that the fire code in the US has building exits opening to the outside, never to the inside.

So I challenge you, Bugle Nation, to pay attention to building exits over the next few days. See if my defense of self holds true: It’s not that I’m slow, it is that I have been culturally trained to push a door open when exiting.

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