Summer in Full Effect: Part 1

 4 min. read

Image courtesy of fr.depositphotos.com

The month or so between my last trip to the UK in May and my mum’s next visit to Belgium flies by. Mercifully. Once again, I’m in need of the moral support. I welcome being able to busy myself with hosting. When I have visitors, whilst not completely suppressing my feelings, it serves as a dam to them becoming overwhelming. I’m particularly conscious around mum. She’s naturally wont to take on my burdens. She has been a rock through this season. At the same time, since it's been more protracted than any of us anticipated, I am aware that it’s also started to weigh on her.

Mum’s early summer trip coincides with an especially hectic period in my calendar. The week of her arrival I have various important activities, including an inaugural community event held at my church and an interview all on the same morning.

The interview regards a job for which I've only applied reluctantly. It's brought to my attention by my life coach, Rev. Pieter. His support has been invaluable during this wave of job hunting. He’s relentless in putting me in touch with like-minded individuals, those who know the Brussels work terrain fairly well and/or those who might be able to offer something concrete.

A couple of his Church colleagues are looking for an administrator. The good Reverend knows enough about the position to send me the advert but is not at all involved in the recruitment process. (So much so that he's not even in the loop when I’m shortlisted for an interview.) 

I drag my feet in applying. The salary is modest. I’ve also been doing my best to avoid returning to admin. Recent circumstances nevertheless mean I’ve had to be more flexible in that resolve. In the end, I figure the role can serve as a stop gap, at least for the summer. 

The interview process itself is a confidence boost. The two-man panel gush over my skills and experience, effectively telling me I’m over-qualified. There’s a French language test which seems to go well. On seeing my voluntary experience organising webinars on decolonisation, they embark on a culturally-sensitive conversation about how unrepresentative religious leadership is in Europe (predominantly white and male, when global communities of faith are not). I am pleasantly surprised and (cautiously) impressed that they’re engaging in at least this much self-reflexivity. 

The job has some other attractive components, such as possible lobbying experience. It also turns out to be part-time, which means the salary is proportionally decent for the hours. As the interview concludes, one of the panel remarks that it's been an 'inspiring' conversation. Goodness. 

I am told it could take up to a fortnight to let me know the outcome. Unlike some, in that regard they under-promise and over-deliver, getting in touch after a week to let me down gently. They have chosen a polyglot (probably a Dutch-speaker, which I am not) who also has EU citizenship. There is apparently a legal obligation to prioritise candidates who are still part of The Club. The panel deliver the news in a measured and reassuring email, with the expressed intention of keeping me on their radar. In some ways, mum finds the news more difficult to take than I do. She and sis hoped it would be a good transition role. I am more disappointed in the immediate term. If successful, I’d have been in the rare position of choosing a start date before September. Very few organisations recruit during July and August because of the socially-reinforced lull. That puts paid to my summer job plans, at least for now. 

It helps that mum’s in town. It might have hit me harder otherwise.

Elsewhere I busy myself with the aforementioned community outreach church event. It goes well, in spite of a slow start. I am in and out of the kitchen during proceedings so have to rely on the little I glean directly and the appraisal of other participants. 

Mum’s stay also overlaps with the annual Fête de la Musique in late June. I find a local performance to attend, assuming it’ll be easier to convince mum to tag along. To her credit, she’s game. The concert line-up is less diverse than the previous year. We land upon a showcase for young Brussels-based Hip-Hop artists. After hearing a few acts indistinguishable from the last, it’s difficult to pay attention. We have a good time nonetheless. It’s sunny and warm and the show allows me the opportunity to introduce mum to a part of my locale with which she was not previously familiar.

Mini Europe
(image courtesy of Visit Brussels)

During mum's stay, we also pass by the Mini-Europe theme park in Heysel for the first time. In the shadow of the landmark Atomium edifice, the attraction should really be called Mini-EU – if that. It still features the UK, despite the acrimonious break-up. Under the guise of family fun, it's a most political display.  It is telling that their vision of Europe excludes anybody who is or has not been part of The Club. 

The day is so hot and languid that we spot another guest lying horizontal in the shade of what looks like a small gazebo on the grounds. 

Mum and I take the exhibition seriously, studying our booklets to avoid missing any of the miniature monuments or skipping over the relevant info. After a good few hours and sore feet, on exiting we splash out on the customised photo we took at the entrance with an employee dressed as a tortoise; the attraction’s mascot. Le Pauvre ! I exclaim. That get-up must be punishing in this heat.

Part 2

Soundtrack: Samba em Kigali by Tapioca + Sim, Sim, Sim by Bala Desejo