About me: Carol De Belder

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
carol about me (photo credit: )
carol about me
(photo credit: )
TRY ONE YOURSELF>>> Age: 35 Residence: Antwerp, Belgium Married? With children? Yes, 2 teenage boys Occupation: Secretary, currently taking a sabbatical year (or maybe even longer...) Education: Only college AND LIFE! (I never stopped learning) Religious affiliation / observance: Raised as a non observant catholic Last person / party I voted for: Liberal Next person / party I will vote for: Is there a point? Today, 5 months after last elections the new government still has to be formed! My history (100 words max): I wasn't raised in a happy family at all but I'd like to think that it didn't brake me. Got married at 19, was blessed with 2 boys soon after and finally found myself the happy family I was longing for. Besides working very hard (currently not), travelling the world, raising two boys (and acting as a taxi-mom!), I still keep on learning. I speak 6 languages, have a hunger for knowledge and devour books and news magazines. I like being creative, listening to music (even play the piano a bit myself), a brisk walk in the nature, going to the movie and working out on a regular basis Family history (100 words max): Nothing special. All of my relatives come from and still reside in Belgium. Grandparents on mom's side were hard working self-employed people. I was 16 when I looked for and found my natural father My connection with Israel: Where shall I begin? At a very young age I was fascinated by our Jewish next-door neighbours. As I got older, I started reading a lot on the Holocaust. First time to Jerusalem (+/- 10 years ago) felt strangely enough like coming home to me. That completely surprised me since I did not have any connection with Israel at that time whatsoever. I started reading more and more about Judaism and have been studying Hebrew for the last 5 years. We took our two boys for a tour of the entire country last July. In one word: I love Israel. What I would take with me to a deserted island: My husband, my kids, a few soulmates, my I-pod and a library to last a lifetime If I could have dinner with any person in the world it would be: Paul the Apostle in order to prevent him from starting off on his mission Which feminine/masculine trait would I like to have: Being able to focus on one thing and go for it entirely, I think that is masculine trait rather than a feminine and I wouldn't mind having that quality a bit more, but then again, only once in a while... What angers you: People who happen to have an opinion on everything, ventilating it on every occasion, without having a decent knowledge and background on the subject of their opinion and without the ability to listen to others' opinion What makes you happy: My kids being happy, a beautifull piano concerto, singing along with a happy song, birds nestling in the bird house in the garden, the sunshine on my skin... Last book I read was: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - it brought me to tears! Comfort food: Chocolate! I do live in Belgium after all... My life five years from now: Who knows? But I'll make the best of it! You may not like it but I have something controversial to say: Without touching the big themes: Although I am madly in love with Israel, I strongly feel a lot of Israelis could use a higher dose of courtesy in daily life Happiness: 1-10 (10 being the happiest) 8 Click here to leave a message for Carol TRY ONE YOURSELF>>> Meet all 'About Me' participants