If it's Thanksgiving, this Must be Belgium

So these last two years, I've had a 2-day offsite leadership meeting on Thanksgiving and the day after. That means spending both days in a conference room with 20 or so colleagues from around Europe. And actually, it kind of works for me. Over the years Thanksgiving became my favorite holiday in the U.S. -- just low key hanging out with friends and family. And it lacks the pressure and hype of of Christmas. And so if I can't be home with y'all, then it's good to be busy and ... well ... nobody enjoys strategic planning more than me. It also helps that this year's session was in such a beautiful setting: a château in Jodoigne outside Brussels (to the right).

And then I had the bright idea of staying another night in the Brussels city center after the meeting broke up. This wasn't a great plan. La Grande Place is lovely and all but it was cold, rainy, and a little lonely - especially after the full days beforehand. Still, it's cool to see how different cities celebrate. In Brussels, they wire up L'Hôtel de Ville with high-tech lights, play Christmas music through a large P.A. system, and do a synchronized sort of a thingy. Sort of like laser-Floyd except with Enya-esque Christmas music. It was pretty cool and hundreds of people turned out - even in the bad weather.

And of course, on the Rumsfeldian map this is Old Europe. So that means politically incorrect Christmas displays are still in-bounds. Hence, the traditional nativity scene. Is it just me (and the aforementioned loneliness) or does Mary look a Victoria's Secret mannequin?