The Library Outing

My mother said she knew I was at the library because my brother told her. Whew, she wasn't mad

That's good, lol.

Only 6 books?! What the heck is that?? Here, under 18s get the card free (adults pay €9.50/yr), and under 12s can borrow up to 10 items, over 12s can borrow up to 20; 6 is just insane, that's so few!!

Yeah, I know, right??? AND WOW!! I can't believe you people in your country can borrow up to 10 OR 20 BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *u*

LOL At libraries in the US the limit is like 30 or something, people check out huge bags of books. I think it's pretty crazy how limited it is here, let alone where you are!! That's just, what the heck?! How long can they be out for? Here it's 3wks, and you can renew once for another 3wks. In the US most of them allow at least two renews, if not several more!

*Mouth hanging open* I seriously do not know what to say. :O BUT. JUST. WOW.

lol. So how long is the check-out period for?

The last time I checked the receipt, it said "10th January 2013". You do the math. :3 Mathematics ain't my strongest subject.

For the trip yesterday? That's 3 weeks then. (: Do you know about renewals, if you can, and how many times you can? I'm always curious now since discovering how different it is here than in the US lol.

Hmm...Honeybee's the expert on libraries. You should ask DreamOreoCookies. But I do know that we can have renewals 'cause she told me.

So I'm pretty glad about the promotion. ^u^

It's similar in the UK. When I was growing up, it was a max of 4 books for kids, and 6 for adults. Now I get a max of ten books. It varies from library to library. When I was in Canada, though, there was no limit - and also no charge for borrowing CDs and videos (here in the UK, you pay to borrow audiovisual items).

frog

My husband thought there was a charge for other media here, but as it turns out, there's not. The only thing is you can only check them out for the initial 3wks, no renewal. Man and here I was thinking the 10 for kids was a super crummy low amount! While I know policies vary from city to city, I'm near positive that any typical American library allows at least 20 books out, and usually you can take tons more than that. I always would see parents checking out huge stacks of picture books for little kids. I really don't understand why they'd have such a low limit, I mean, the whole point is for people to be able to utilize them! I'd be so frustrated if I could take out only so few, I'd probably hardly use it at all!

I don't mind the limit to be honest - in Canada, I was so excited by the lack of limits that I would borrow far more books than I could reasonably expect to read in three weeks, and I'd return many of them unread. It bothered me as a child though, because I would only get taken to the library once a week and I would read all four books that same day (and then I'd read my sister's library books too!) and then had nothing more to read for the rest of the week. But as an adult I've made sure I'll never run out of books! I own over a thousand books that I've bought from charity shops, my Kindle is full of books, and of course as an adult I can go to the library whenever I like. So it's not a problem. And of course fewer books are easier to carry!

frog

That's exactly it, especially for kids, you run out and then have to wait before going back! That sucks! I very rarely don't finish mine within the 6wks (3wks+3wks renewal), I think over the last year & a few months since we've been using the library there's been maaaaybe 4 times where I've not finished one, and it's only because I was slacking off.

For an adult, while irritating, I could manage a limit of 10. But for kids, who zip through picture books, it's nuts! And like for us, the library is a "big outing," we live on the opposite side of the city, so we have to walk like 8 mins to the tram stop, and then take the tram about 20 mins (30+ during high traffic times) there, so we have a minimum of an hour of travel time there & back, there's no way I'd go more often than every 2 wks at earliest! Hence, if I could only get 6 things, I'd be super annoyed and finish way too quickly and not want to even bother with it.

I actually never borrowed picture books - that seemed like a waste of a borrow! I would read the picture books in the library after I'd selected my books to borrow and was waiting for my sisters to select theirs!

Are library books the only books you read? I guess for me, because I have lots of books that I own, and because Kindle books are so easily available, library books are no longer so important, and I don't use the library a lot. I've started using it more lately, but it's only a ten minute walk away - although the opening hours are rather sporadic! But it's more a supplement to my reading material, rather than being my entire reading material. And even then, I struggle to find enough energy to read more than a book a week, so even if it was my whole reading material, it'd be fine. My main issue with the library is simply that I find it easy to forget due dates and then I end up paying fines! I actually totally quit using the library for a few years because of this.

frog

I have tons that I own, but the library still has tons more that I don't, including plenty of classics, and thrillers that I don't necessarily need to spend money on, that my personal library would be just fine without, but that I enjoy, not to mention the graphic novels & comic books, which are absurdly pricey and that I can therefore read essentially free from the library.

For kids above 6yrs old, yeah, taking out picture books is silly, but for 1.5-4yr olds, it's great. Hundreds of books available for them to look at, but if you can only pull out a couple at a time...

Once I discovered the comic section, I started getting from 1-2 novels at a time, and usually 3-6 graphic ones (where previously I was getting 2-5 novels), though occasionally I'll forgo novels and get a couple more comic books. Those I read in 1-3hrs, depending, so I get a few of those and a couple novels to space the reading. Depending on the novel, I can read it in a day or two, or a week or two, with how much it holds my interest, the pacing, etc. I'm good at remembering dates when it's important (lol), and it's printed on the receipts which I keep all together, plus the library sends a reminder email 4 days before they're due. We generally go every 3 weeks, returning what's been read while renewing a couple that haven't, and picking up the next batch. (:

Ah, we don't have a comic book section in my library - I imagine your libraries have a lot more choice than most of ours. I remember being quite awed by the utterly huge libraries in Canada. We do have classics, but then, in my experience, the classics tend to be all available for free in ebook form anyway. I tend to use the library for books that aren't available in Kindle form - and I use the Kindle for most books nowadays. If it's a book I don't want to pay for, I read it in less than 7 days and then return it and get my money back.

I think I was 5 when I first joined a library - before that I read the few Ladybird books we owned, and a couple of huge fairytale books that I got as Christmas presents from my grandparents. I don't think I ever had picture books as such, although the books had pictures in.

frog

Well, my library has books mostly in Dutch, but it has 8 double-sided rows of novels, and one of the comic book rack-things, in English (along with having some French and Spanish comics, and a few shelves of books in a number of languages). It's got a pretty good selection. If I were fluent in Dutch it would have a really awesome selection, heh.

Aha, didn't see this comment! How long have you been in Belgium? Welcome back to Bloop, BTW! I do believe I recognise my nemesis of yore! I had my sneaky suspicions!

frog

Errm..sorry if I'm interrupting something, but what do you mean (my first thought was actually, "What the heck are you talking about?" No offence, though!)?

LOL. I used to be on this site a bunch of years ago, and Stella (er, frog) and I were friends way back when, until we had a bit of a falling out, not very long before I left the site. I came back somewhat recently "anonymously," because I wanted somewhere to let some stuff out. I was wondering if she was going to realize who I was when I was truthfully discussing things about my life, lol.

Ohh! Heehee. I don't know why I find it funny. :3 Are you friends in real life or just online friends?

We only knew each other from Bloop.

lmao. I was wondering if we kept chatting if you'd realize. I've been here ~3.5yrs. (:

Haha - you know, I actually wondered when I randomly found your diary recently, when you were writing about Plurk. Your front page sounded like you - stuff about liking animals and Russian, and just the style of your first entry and your layout and stuff! But then I thought it wasn't you because of the married bit - like, I always forget most people get married! I was all 'Nah, gosh, Dreaming wouldn't want to get married! That's for the mommy diarists!' So I put it out of my mind, and then today I just looked at your comments here and totally had a flash of recognition of your style and your opinions! So I took a look at some of your diary entries, to see if there was anything about monkeys (because I knew there would have to be some mention of monkeys!) and lo and behold, you said you liked gorillas!

Do you live permanently in Belgium now? I'm guessing your husband is Belgian? (You probably say this stuff in your diary, but I was just looking for stuff about monkeys, so I haven't read it properly! )

frog

OK...I won't interrupt your happy reunion (lol). ^u^ I'll try not to, at least.

hahaha, we're on your diary, you are more than welcome to read and comment on us going off on a completely unrelated tangent!

lol. Yeah I wanted to be just a "face in the crowd" but I didn't go to any trouble to truly disguise myself. That just wouldn't be me, haha.

Yeah I got married at the same time I moved here; he's actually Dutch, but Belgium has non-illegal immigration laws (the Dutch ones actually break EU law, which states you can't keep spouses apart!) so moved here and got married (er, not to move here, haha, we could have technically moved here without that, but we wanted to get married and it'd have been a little more work anyhow ). It is indeed permanent. I love it here (we both do), and the US has so much crap going on, I'm quite glad to not be there!

Actually I haven't really gone into detail about much, just used it to vent about some stuff, and then when things went back to "normal" have been just writing boring what's been going on type posts. lol. I suppose since I've been exposed maybe I should write a proper -this is my life in a nutshell- post, haha.

Yep, you should write an update about your life! Gosh, when I think of the differences between Belgium and the US, my mind totally goes to candy and chocolate, where Belgium must surely be the best by far!

frog

bahaha, well, Godiva chocolate is pretty much the best in the US, and they're a Belgian company, so... Funny thing is, while I like chocolate, it's not something I eat so much of, and I'm not a beer drinker either (the other thing this country is totally famous for), so I am totally not utilizing my location properly. lmao. I do love the waffles, though!

Oooh, sorry for interrupting, but I LOVE <3 CHOCOLATE!! KitKat used to be my favourite, but now I like Oreo cookies. What are Godiva chocolates? Do they have nuts? Can they be found in Singapore or Malaysia? :3

Waffles...I just noticed that after I posted my comment (the one before this). My favourite waffles are the morning Waffles & Egg Meal at KFC! Yum!

Lol - you'd have to google to see if they are available in your country. If not, you'd probably be able to buy them online. However, Godiva chocolates are pretty expensive - quite a lot more expensive than KitKats! Double Decker is my fave regular chocolate bar - do you have those? They don't have them in North America, which was a great woe to me when I lived in Canada for a bit!

Lindt chocolate bars are nice too - they are a bit more expensive than regular chocolate bars, but still affordable as a nice treat. It's Swiss chocolate, which, like Belgian chocolate, tends to be good quality.

frog

o.O I don't know ANY of the chocolates you mentioned. What do they taste like? Or do they just taste like chocolate? If so, what are their textures like? Sorry for bombarding you with questions...^.^"

Lindt is alright, I prefer Côte d'Or as my "regular" non-pocket-breaking chocolate though, they have some fabulous ones, like the hazelnut filling and the Dessert 58 and such =P Though some of their new flavored ones have been quite disappointing, definitely should stick with the classics. lol.

I love KitKats too Oreos aren't bad, but for years and years I used to only eat the middle out of them and give the cookie part to my mom or throw them out, LOL. I'm not a dark chocolate fan and I just like their non-milky taste. I do enjoy the whole things now, lol, but do prefer double-stuffed! =P

Godiva is a brand, they have some with nuts, sure, but plenty without. There's ones with fruit stuff, lovely creamy mint centers, caramel, they used to make a lovely dark chocolate heart with liquid chocolate center, even not liking dark chocolate I loved those, but they stopped making the liquid center for some reason. But the besssssssst ones are the "open oysters," they're milk chocolate "shells" with chocolate hazelnut filling, the filling is soooooooooo good!! But as Stella said, they're definitely pricey (even without the added price of exporting), so I rarely eat them. Côte d'Or is my -nice but not pocket breaking- chocolate brand of choice. =)

lol regular waffles are good too, but Belgian waffles aren't the kind you get at fast food places like that. They're very thick and fluffy, and they taste fabulous! =)

Oooh, hopefully I get to taste the waffles one day.

As for the chocolate...THEY SOUND DELICIOUS. I wouldn't eat the ones with nuts, mint, or fruit stuff (unless maybe if it's blueberry or grape...my relatives that moved to Canada gave us a few packets of chocolate-coated blueberries YUM), but caramel and liquid chocolate centers sound good to me! It's too bad they stopped with the chocolate liquid centers, I bet they would've tasted fantastic!

Hmm..one day, I must really try these Belgian chocolates. Maybe when I grow up and have kids or something (at the moment, I'm against marrying, though, lolz), I can order Belgian chocolates for a special day in the year, maybe...or maybe not once a year, argh, that's too...how do you say it?...selfish? I don't know I forgot the word. It describes Scrooge's personality in "A Christmas Carol". Do you know that movie? Anyway! Maybe I can order them more than once a year...unless they're REALLY REALLY expensive! What's the average price of one box or packet or whatever they use over there?

They're priced by weight, and some specific kinds are a little bit more money than others. So you just pick what ones you want and then they weigh it. Looking at the variety boxes on their site, it looks like the cost is about €1/piece, with the smallest boxes being around €10 (if you go to a physical store you can simply buy by the piece, so it's a bit nicer). It looks like you'd have to have someone in Europe buy & send them to you though, it looks to be that they'll only ship to European countries. Which seems a little odd since they're located in the US as well, so maybe there's separate sites for different regions of the world? I dunno.

lol there's nothing wrong with the occasional splurging of "luxury" items as long as it can be afforded =) Yep, I know the movie. Haven't yet read the book though. heh

There's a book??? o.O

P.S. Maybe you can buy them for me. Lol, just kidding,

lol it's a classic by Charles Dickens.

haha well if you stick around and we get to know each other well and such then maybe I could see about that next xmas

:3

And Oreos! When I was young, I used to be like that too! Except that I ate the cookies before I ate the cream. Best for last, y'know? But now I eat the whole cookie. Delicious! ^u^

There was this one picture that Oreo (the Oreo company, I guess) and there was this hilarious picture of a really TAAAAAAAAAAAAALL cookie 'cause they took out the cream of other cookies and put them inside that particular cookie. XD

Yep, Belgian chocolate is also seen as the best here in the UK - we can buy boxes of 'Belgian chocolates', which are seen as a luxury type. Swiss chocolate too, is lovely. I also don't eat much chocolate, but I do like it when I do. I prefer jelly candy, like gummi bears and sour candy, and I know that the Netherlands has a great variety of that kind of candy, and figured probably Belgium would too. Oh, and liquorice - I buy liquorice from an online store that stocks Belgian liquorice and Dutch liquorice. It's harder and saltier than UK liquorice, so I like it better.

And yes, of course, Belgian beer and waffles too. I don't like either of those, so they are not the first thing that pop into my head!

frog

Hehehe. What is so terrible about the waffles? Too salty? Too sweet? Sickly-sweet? Tasteless? Makes you want to puke? Reeks of burnt bread? Also, what do liquorice taste like? I've always read about them in books. And I think I've read in an Enid Blyton book that Belgian chocolate is rich and creamy? That true? :3

These questions come from a very curious and talkative child, lolz.

Nothing is terrible about the waffles - Belgium is famous for its waffles. I just personally don't like waffles. Like, waffles in general, rather than Belgian waffles in particular.

Liquorice tastes a bit like aniseed. Have you tasted aniseed? Other than that, it's hard to describe. It's black and chewy. A lot of people hate it and find it bitter. I love it, but I don't have a very sweet tooth. You can also get red liquorice, which is sweeter, and is not really liquorice, but just has the same texture.

Yep, I guess Belgian chocolate is rich and creamy, although I'm surprised that would be in an Enid Blyton book, as Enid Blyton books seem to all display a suspicion of anything foreign! Her characters were more into sausage rolls and lashings of ginger beer!

frog

Hehe..you're right about Enid Blyton. But there was this Mystery book when the children went to the neighbour of blah blah's house (too lazy to be long-winded again :3) and the neighbours were French so they offered the children a box of Belgium chocolates. And then one of the children commented that the chocolates were so rich and creamy! So I was just wondering if it was true. :3

And no, I haven't tasted aniseed. I think it sounds bitter and tasteless lolz. But no, I haven't tried it before. :3

My husband LOVES liquorice, I think it's nasty, lol. They actually don't have so much of it here (just a couple of the big brands that are all over), but our grocery store in the ethnic aisle, about a year...maybe closer to 2yrs ago now? got a Dutch spot in it LOL and so they have a couple kinds of the Dutch liquorice there now, which makes him quite happy. hahaha. And yeah there's tons of gummy candies, nothing really special for here as far as I'm aware, just like lots of Haribo sorts and whatnot.

Oooh..."charity shops" sounds interesting. What type of books do you usually find there? I mean, I know they're second-hand, but are they like, I don't know, in variety? Or is there a particular category the charity shops stick to?

Various categories are there - I generally buy fiction. A lot of charity shops sell contemporary fiction in almost perfect quality - like, professional reviewers read books very quickly to review them, barely opening them at all, and then donate them. I like to buy from charity shops, because it's a lot cheaper than buying the books new, and the money goes to charity. Although nowadays I just buy Kindle books, as I don't have room in any of my bookcases for more books!

I also am a member of bookcrossing.com, and we have meetups where we swap books, or put books on a big table and take what we want.

frog

Err...what are these "Kindle books" that you mention so much?

Do you not know what a Kindle is, or are you asking which books I read on my Kindle?

A Kindle is Amazon's ereader. It holds hundreds and hundreds of books!

frog

Ohhhh..I was asking about the Kindle. For me, I much prefer paperback and hardcover books to eBooks! I don't know why, I guess I just like the feel of the back, and how I always dog-ear the page I stop at. :3 Anyway, merci for explaining! ^u^

P.S. And the free online books that you can get are always classics! So you gotta buy the kind of books that I find interesting. As a child, I don't really have that privilege. :3. Actually, that's usually the situation if I download a free eBook or an application like that in my father's phone. Do eBooks have a free variety or do you have to pay to download them?

I hate ereaders also, it's not the same, I need my real books!

Amazon is always having books on offer for free or real cheap, but usually they're newer writers trying to get some attention and such. And it depends on your location, lots of them that are free on .com and .co.uk aren't free if you're not actually in US or UK. There's other sites that also have newer writers where you can get ebooks free, and then there's places like Gutenberg(.org) where all the books out of copyright are available.

Oh Amazon...are all the products there from the UK or the US? 'Cause I'm trying to find this really really old movie called "The Mask".

LOL Oh goodness, "really old," as in from the early 1990s? bahaha I guess that makes me ancient. LOL. You're talking about the Jim Carrey movie, with the green mask? I'm not aware of any others, though it's possible. I'm sure amazon has that. But generally speaking, the site carries things sold in the country/region it's located in (.com from the US, .co.uk from UK, etc). There's plenty of foreign movies available in other countries, so that's not a problem. But you do have to make sure you order things like movies from the right amazon for your part of the world, or else they'd be the wrong region encoding and wouldn't play in your DVD player.

Oh, well, the early 1990s is old for me. But, I call it "really old" 'cause my father can't find it in Singapore or in the shop where he buys his CDs in Malaysia either. Which is pretty sad. He used to have it but he threw it away. And you are talking about the right movie. I hope to watch it one day!

I guess I'm one for old movies or music. I usually find out about sngs like "Whistle" and "Whatcha Say" only to discover that my friends have heard them all already and grown bored of them. I listen ti "I'm Blue" too. And also, Inception is pretty old too and also there's this movie that I suddenly want to watch but my father already has thrown it away. He did it like 2 days ago!! Not-so-perfect timing. The movie's about a boy that finds an old board game. There's two small rockets on it. Each time he winds it up with a key, one of the rockets will move and a card will slip out. Whatever's written on a card will come true. He has to play till the end and all the adventures will end (oh, and his brother has to co-operate too) and he'll be sucked into a black hole and they'll be back to normal (and the beginning).

Sheesh, I forgot that I was writing a comment, not an entry, and I accidentally wrote all that. ^^"

LOL It's okay, long comments are completely allowed! Yeah, I'd say to check whatever Amazon it is that sells DVDs for your region, they should have it.

I think I'll ask my father about it tomorrow. Thanks for the tip about region and region codes and stuff! ^u^

You can watch a lot of movies online, for free. Google 'watch the mask online' and see what comes up.

frog

Wow, seriously??? I've tried that but often I come up fruitless. I think maybe I clicked the wrong links. But now I'm gonna go and play some Garry's Mod. ^u^ If it works, though, thanks a lot for the tip!

THANKS!! I found the correct link, and I was able to watch The Mask (quality was bad, though, but it's better than nothin'!)! Hehe, it was hilarious!

They're not always classics - amazon regularly has free book deals for new dbooks. Also, with amazon, if you return a paid Ebook within 7 days, you get your money back. But of course you do need an amazon account with a registered credit card, which might be a bit tricky for you while you're still a kid!

Have you ever tried a Kindle though? I know a lot of people who say they prefer 'real books' and could never use an ereader, but then they get a Kindle and are hooked, and never look back! I know so many people who say 'I never thought I'd say this, but...' and go on to say how much they love their kindle! They're so much easier to hold than paper books, as they're light and slim, and you don't need to hold the pages open, and turning the page is so easy - much less fiddly and faster than paper books. And easier on the eyes too, if you don't get a backlit one. I do still read paper books, but I have a lot less patience with them now, since getting a Kindle, and will always get the Kindle version if I can! So you might find that one day, when you're older, you get hooked on an ereader!

frog

Hmm..I might ask my parents about it. If they don't know anything about it, maybe I'll try and research on it and see if I can find when I'm older (I'll probably forget, though LOL). But I still have my doubts, though.

Well, there's no real need for you to research it now, as you're happy with the books you have. I'm sure ereaders will be even more prominent when you're older, so you won't forget about their existence! Maybe you'll travel the world one day and you'll want to keep your backpack light, and also to take lots of reading material with you, in which case an ereader would come in handy. But then so would bookcrossing - you can leave your books in bookcrossing zones once you've read them and pick up more as you go along.

frog

Hehehe, you've got a point there. When I go on holidays, I tend to take a lot of books and it makes my bag feels heavy! Not super heavy, just heavy. But I like the feel of them, though. ^u^

I just re-read your comment for the third time and I think when I'm allowed to use the computer, I'll check www.bookcrossing.com out. Oh! A thought just occured to me. Does it have an age limit???!!

I imagine it does. Like I said before, it's pretty much an "internet rule," see here:
"Children under the age of 13

When someone under the age of 13 attempts to register with BookCrossing, we ask that he or she have a parent, teacher or librarian establish a BookCrossing Account for them. When any user registers for a BookCrossing account, we require first name, email address, birth date, city, state/province, country, and zip code. Under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, no web site operator can require, as a condition of participation in an activity, that a child under the age of 13 disclose more information than is reasonably necessary. BookCrossing abides by this requirement."

There are very young children who use BookCrossing - I know a six year old and a nine year old joined at one point - but their mother set up the account, using her email address, and all correspondence had to go through her. It is a family friendly site, you can use your real age and your profile will show it, and members of the site are keen to encourage kids in their love of reading, but I'd really recommend asking one of your parents to also make an account and to state that you're their daughter, because people otherwise won't be comfortable corresponding with you.

frog

Err..why not? What's the difference if my parents don't make an account there? But on the other hand, if I wanted a book, I'd of course ask my father since it includes shipping and I've never ordered anything online before

You don't order books from bookcrossing. As I said in another comment, it's a bunch of people who register their own books and write reviews on them, and then share them. It's based on goodwill - sharing with others - but people don't take kindly to people requesting books from them. You'd have to message the person and ask if they'd consider doing a swap with you (always checking their profile first to make sure they don't say they don't do swaps). But most people aren't comfortable doing a book swap with a child, because nowadays parents are very conscious of stranger danger, and keeping children safe online. Not giving your address to strangers, for instance. And we are all essentially strangers. You don't know us. So people would rather correspond with your mother, to make sure she was okay with it, because a lot of parents would be freaked out if their kid received something in the post from an online stranger.

frog

Yeah...you're probably right. My mom would NEVER EVER allow me to give out our address to a stranger in a million years. Well, not a million years...maybe until I get my own house lolz.

Yeah, I prefer to buy 2nd-hand if I can, and get good deals. Unfortunately it's difficult to do here, since there's limited English books available.

Where do you live?

frog

Belgium. Fortunately most people do actually speak English very well, so there's English sections most places, but it's far more limited (generally the top-list bestsellers/classics for new and "luck of the draw" for used).

Ah. Are you fluent enough in French to read French novels, or do you mostly read books in English? And gosh, is it Belgium where you borrow 30 library books at a time?

frog

LOL No, that's in the US. Here, under 12s can borrow 10 items, over 12s can borrow 20. So far we've only had to put a comic book or two back a couple times to keep to the limit (we both use my card, since it works fine that way and it'd be another €9.50/yr otherwise), so I don't mind that. But 10 is totally too low for a little kid! Ah well, when that time comes we'll still have mine, haha.

Oh no, I took French in high school, I remember several sentences and a handful more words, but I'm way better off attempting to read Dutch, lol.