I am very excited that our new oven has been delivered this morning! The only problem right now is that all of the instructions are either in Flemish or French. It comes with a recipe book that can be ordered in English, but not the instruction book. Guess we better start those language classes soon.
Well, I think that this needs a bit of a background story so that you can understand how exciting this new oven really is for us. Our new house here in Belgium is probably about 40 years old, we don't know for sure, but it seems that some of the items in the house are from that era. Our kitchen was probably re-done sometime in the 1980's and is a Formica mecca! The cabinets are all white Formica along with the counter tops. The walls are also white and the original microwave and oven were also white and built in to the cabinetry. Prior to us moving in the landlord promised a new microwave but said the oven was in working condition. Darn, looks bad wish it would break so we could get a new one that would look a little nicer. Oh, well, can't have it all!
We moved in and our new Miele microwave was waiting for us and it is black...woohoo color in the kitchen. Then we moved our new American refrigerator in and it is stainless steel and black....more "color"! One evening while I was playing June Cleaver and decided to make a turkey roast with potato's and carrots, I opened the oven and placed my masterpiece inside. As I close the door, the entire door goes sideways and will not close properly. It is actually crooked leaving a gap around the edges. Thankfully, Stig was already home from work and was able to twist the door back into place and shut it, but there was still a bit of a gap on the edges. Our landlord came over that evening to take care of something else and so we proceeded to show him our oven "issue". He is so sweet and nice, and does speak English, but sometimes I wonder just how much 'English' he is understanding. He smiles and nods a lot. As we are showing him the gaps on the side he smiles and nods and says, yes, my kitchen man said this is fine...it is working and does not need to be repaired. Um...no...I don't think you really understand what is happening to this door. We proceeded to try and explain to him what had happened to the door and he just kept smiling, nodding and said, "when he comes to look at the cabinets, show him again to see what he thinks". (The "kitchen" guy.) Oh, brother.
About a week later dear sweet landlord was back and came in the kitchen and was reminding me that his "kitchen" guy would come to take a look at the cabinets and oven. AGAIN, he told me that "this is no problem, it is working". Um, NO...it is a problem for me! I try again to explain what happens. He starts opening and shutting the door and surprise, surprise it is working just fine. OF COURSE! I start silently praying for it to break again and repeat what it did to me. Voila! (as they say here in French!) The door went crooked!!!! Thank you Jesus! My dear sweet landlord says, "Oh, this will not do, we will get you a new one"! Ahhhh, thank you.
Dear sweet landlord leaves to go buy a light bulb for our under the cabinet lighting. He is gone for quite some time and then my phone rings. It is a lady from an appliance store (speaking perfect English) telling me that Mr. Butaye is there and has ordered my new oven...will I be available on Monday, August 10 at 8 am for delivery? YES, yes I will!
It is Monday, August 10 and our new oven arrived at 8 a.m.! It is a Siemens stainless steel with black trim. Our dear sweet landlord chose a beautiful oven that even matches our American refrigerator. We are so excited. Now if we can just figure out how to use it without English instructions. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment