Stay with a fun-loving international family in Heyd, Belgium

Infos

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  Description

  We're an easy going Flemish-American family living in a self-built wooden house on a quarter hectare of land. We have a small family business organizing scything and (green and dry) woodworking workshops. Peter works mostly from home for the business and Christina helps him and also works full-time for the Belgian Railroad.
  
  We're involved in volunteering and social and transition initiatives in our region.
  
  We try to live relatively simply: for example we usually eat mostly local-organic-non-industrial, we don't like plastic so generally avoid it and have mostly wooden and metal utensils and tools, we avoid electrical gadgets and generally try to use manual ones instead, we recuperate and fix things a lot, we try to limit the use of the car by hitchhiking and not being too persnickety if we're low on this or that, we have an all-purpose Rayburn wood stove for cooking and baking and heating water (which requires a little getting used to) in conjunction with our solar water-heater and radiators, we use only a compost toilet, we don't use a fridge (just our cool cellar), we do our dishes by hand (a lovely meditative activity for those who can appreciate it 🙂 ). At the same time, everything is relative: we have a quite comfortable and cozy (albeit it unfinished!) house with a washing machine, a shower and bathtub, as well as internet access, and a car. Oh the contrasts of neo-rurals!
  
  It's rather safe to assume there's some inspiration from all the Flintstones we both watched as children. :D
  
  We unschooled our children, who are now grown (92, 95, 99: that's when they were born of course, not their ages!) and in and out of the house.
  
  We're rather down-to-Earth, but we do enjoy discussing ethics, philosophy, social issues, psychology, as well as many other subjects, whether ideological, practical... We're also fun-loving and easy going and fair give-and-take works well with us. 🙂
  
  If you're interested, we'd love to hear from you!
  
  * Christina, from California
  * Peter, from Antwerp
  * Cole, a deep dude born in 92, who's studying philosophy at the University of Liège while living at home and who likes to question pretty much everything :D
  * Elena, our sweet, gentle and very refined Spanish greyhound who doesn't bark, bite, drool, chew, impose herself or smell bad: practically prefect in every way! :D
  
  And once in awhile (because they're studying abroad):
  * Emile, a quiet, analytical and groovy dude born in 99, who plays his guitar and writes music as much as he finds time to, and studies music in Rotterdam
  * Michelle, a wise and insightful young lady born in 95, who is very creative and loves making things and playing music, and studies theatre in London
  
  We have another Workaway project entitled "Help fix up an old house in Hotton in the lovely Province of Luxembourg!", which is a bit on hold for a while since we have too much to do here for the moment.
  
  Please note that we keep our house very quiet for Cole to concentrate on his studies. If you're very quiet and discrete, depending on what Cole is working on for his studies at that given moment, then it can work. He has classes between 2 and 4 days a week, so we organize the work around that with regard to the noisiness of the jobs to be done. ;-)
  
  During very busy periods for our family business (or other things), we cannot spend much time with Workawayers and therefore need helpers who are quite happy to be on their own outside of work hours (and also often during).
  
  We’re looking for Workawayers who would enjoy
  - Cooking nice meals for all of us, as well as the dog's meals 🙂
  - Washing dishes by hand
  - Some cleaning
  - Hanging clothes out to dry and taking them down and folding them
  - Various other jobs around the house, inside and outside, and possibly for our business
  - Some help with works on the project in Hotton when we have time
  - Etc.
  
  We have a lovely collection of board games you can borrow for fun and relaxing time in the evenings.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Opportunities to practice French, English or Dutch, and to learn a little about scything, woodworking, gardening, and various other things like making washing liquid with Marseille soap and living without lots of gadgets (which can be somewhat exotic if you're used to lots of modern conveniences!).

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  Aide

  In exchange for food and stay, we ask for approximately 25 hours a week and we are totally flexible about the distribution of the hours, as long as you are ok with either working with us if needed, or alone if we're unavailable to work with you. We can always use help keeping up with everyday household chores (cooking, tidying up, light cleaning, etc.), as well as general maintenance of the house and the garden depending on the season (tidying up, trimming, organic gardening, etc.). Between the end of October and early March, depending on the weather, it's cold here and most of the work is cooking, dishes and cleaning. We always have a running list of jobs that need to be done beyond basic daily chores and Workawayers can choose what they feel most like doing. We feel it's important that people spend their time doing things they enjoy.
  
  There is no minimum stay and we can only guarantee a stay of a few days at a time (starting with a 4-day maximum test period) depending on our current situation and activities, so it's best to have a possible alternate plan. If however we need lots of help in a given period, the stay could possibly be extended up to several weeks or more. Also, once you're here, if for whatever reason you choose to leave early, that's also fine. We like people to feel at home and relaxed with us.
  
  Please indicate you've read our entire profile in your message.
  
  We are not offended by last-minute cancellations, as long as you let us know.
  
  Also, we take the time to answer all requests (sometimes with some delay if we're very busy). Please be so kind as to follow up on our answer so we are not left in suspense and can organize ourselves accordingly.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Courant
  Hollandais: Courant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  We speak English, French and Dutch.
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  Hébergement

  Workawayers will generally stay at our other project in Hotton in a very cozy but minimalist tiny studio behind the house. Since you'll be alone there on days you're not working with us, we prefer having at least 2 Workawayers traveling together: it's less lonely, making it easier and more fun to make good use of time alone. We want you to enjoy all aspects of your stay as much as possible.
  
  If you're very quiet and discrete, then staying with us can sometimes be an option, depending on what Cole is working on for his studies at that given moment.

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  Autres infos...

  Aside from some modern houses right around us, we live in a nice region with meadows and woods and there are lots of nice hiking trails within walking distance and in the area in general.
  
  The train station is 6 km away, we have a car, and hitchhiking works. It doesn't take very long to get to cities by train (<1 hour to Liège, just over 2 hours to Brussels, a bit more to Antwerp or Ghent and around 3 hours to the North Sea coast). Tip for taking the train cheaply in Belgium if you're under 26: get a Youth ticket for only 6.60€, you have a one-way ticket anywhere in the country! If you're 26 or over, we can advise you depending on your train travel plans within the country.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  Basic wifi connection

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  Cet hôte a de la place pour les vans.

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  Check with us, as it depends on the particulars of the individual stay.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Approximately 25 hours a week (we are totally flexible about the distribution of the hours), in line with Workaway guidelines: see Information for Hosts

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