And the best part? There is no temporary license. I will not be legally able to drive the whole time they fumble around with their procedures. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

After taking months to get the car inspected and registered, I thought that I was in the clear (I will most certainly post more details on this in a future posting). I already expressed some of the challenges opening a business as a non-Dutch speaking, non-Citizen. In that case, I can simply put my ambitions on hold and start a business in about 5 years. In the case with my license — no matter how inconvenient it will be over the next 6 weeks — I have no choice.

And get this — the town told us I need to come with my US license. That’s it. We asked them directly what we needed to bring. Of course, knowing how Belgians operate, my wife did a bit more digging. It turns out that we also need to bring some passport photos, my resident card, and 16 Euro. Thanks Mrs. Town Hall Worker! I may have just been dumb enough to come with my license and a smile, only to be turned away — and likely to have to take yet another day out of work.

I should say that when the government says it takes 6 weeks, it will likely take 3 months. Here’s how they do their math: The “6 weeks” will likely start when the right person assigned to the task actually starts working on the task. As I have seen, this could take a few weeks for someone to even look at it. Then, there are vacations and holidays. These periods do not count, so figure in at least 2 or 3 weeks for that. Then, inevitably, there will be some commotion that will need some official response or document. Who knows — they’re likely to give me problems about a speeding ticket from 5 years ago. Ugh.

The painful part about this system is that it promotes breaking the law. Do you honestly believe I can go without driving for 6 weeks (i.e. 3 months)? I have 2 kids; I work in Brussels. The train workers strike all the time (another annoyance here in Belgium). So when there is a strike, am I to just take a holiday?

If they can manage to get this done within 6 weeks, not only will I be amazed, but I would also call it a Christmas Miracle and post back here just how wrong I was.

Yesterday, I took the family out to to see the steam engines. I don’t take them out much, but when I do…

We had a great time. And my son — a major Thomas & Friends fan — didn’t stop smiling all day. That was well worth the 10 euro price of admission.

The event was in Maldegem. We drove from Drongen up the E40 toward Brugges. The ride was about 30 minutes and both kids were fast asleep the entire time. Ahh… zen.

On to the steam engines: These things are much louder and smellier and dirtier than I imagined. And yes, I have spent time imagining what it would have been like taking a steam train into work very day. Now, I take the electric trains, which are reasonably quiet and clean.

At one point, my wife pointed out all the little black particles (not really sure what they were, maybe bits of coal or some byproduct from the steam) scattered on her and our daughter — sort of like steam engine dandruff you could say. I felt like a real bad dad for a bit. My poor daughter is only a few months old and here we are! Sprinkling her with coal jimmies.