Last weekend, Kim and Sarah gathered many of our Belgian friends together and threw threw a baby shower. This is a very unusual practice in continental Europe, and no one else had ever even been to such a party. However, these two managed to arrange a very entertaining afternoon.

The guests competed for prizes in games such as guessing the flavour of unmarked jars of baby food, by filling out quizzes to try and guess my thoughts on the baby, and by estimating my circumference. While the most extreme guess was that my girth was around two meters, I was happy to report that in reality I had not quite reached that size just yet.

Adrian served pizza and blue lemonade, and we finished off the event with cake, blueberry tarts, blue-chocolate covered strawberries, bounties, milky ways, and blue vegetable chips. It was really fantastic to be able to acknowledge this pregnancy and be spoilt with attention and celebration. We also now have a selection of very cute outfits to dress our little guy up when he arrives in August.

Last weekend our home was ready to be formally introduced to our new friends. Into our small apartment we gathered some of people who we have met through the web, French class, expat meetups, and at work. We filled our fridge full of Belgian beer and served it in the collection of specialised glasses that we have collected over the months. We ordered in sushi and Adrian baked pizza. It seemed to be a good recipe for a fun night. So many people, like ourselves, arrive in this country with limited social networks. We were glad that we were able to provide a forum for expats and locals to meet and exchange stories. We had people born in thirteen different countries, many of whom speak English as a second (or fifth) language. Hopefully this will just be the first of many shindigs that we can host in our new Belgian nest.