LUCK, PRIDE, PRIVILEGE…are the key words for 2022 that come to my mind.

Pride that our sons Aymar (master civil engineering TU Delft) and Gabor (bachelor Econometrics Maastricht University) have both graduated “cum lauda” and that Ulric (16) is motivated to succeed at school

Pride that Charles and his colleagues, after many months of uncertainty, were able to secure a 16 million funding for Settlemint, a Belgian company that aims to become the “wordpress of blockchain”.

Privileged that we have been little or not affected by the world crisis and that we have jobs we thoroughly enjoy (Thank you Settlemint and Agoria!)

Luck that the next generation of internet (Web3, Metaverse…) is getting closer and thus giving me excitement and fun challenges at work for the years ahead

Privileged that my mother invited us for an incredible family trip to South Africa in Dec/Jan 2022 despite the covid ban. (We met with my brother and his family on their last stretch back home on a sailing boat)

Luck that we were able to escape in unusually sunny British countryside this summer

Pride that Aymar (23) is doing an internship in Goma, Congo for Virunga Energies until December and will soon start his first job ever at TotalEnergies in Paris

Regrets that we do not see my brothers and their family enough despite their recent return back to Belgium after years abroad.

Fortunate that our close loved ones are healthy

And so… looking forward to going back to Malundu in Zambia in May and to hopefully meet as many of you as possible in 2023!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2023!

…..That’s what we sincerely wish you for the coming year. A worry-free year to enjoy freedom away from covid-stress.

Speaking of freedom, I can’t resist to share the last video (and the best one in my opinion) of my brother Oscar and his family who are doing an amazing sailing tour. They are now on their way back to Europe, but due to covid-restrictions, many countries had closed their borders or required strict quarantaine. That’s how they ended up sailing for 52 days NON-STOP from Fidji Islands (Pacific) to the Reunion Islands (close to Africa) without stepping feet on earth. ….And they did it with extraordinary morale! Have a look:

And now is the moment when we look back at 2021. Let’s do that with pictures rather than words. We are grateful to have had a fantastic year despite all that’s going on. Thanks to the US citizenship of two of our sons, we were among the few allowed to enter the US this August and enjoyed a 3 week roadtrip from Seatle through Oregon. At the end, we said goodbye to Gabor who left for Atlanta.

We are lucky to have fulfilling jobs that both Charles and I thoroughly enjoy. Also glad that the boys are doing well:

Ulric (15 years old) is still on its way to adulthood, enjoying friends and social live above all (sometimes a bit too much)!

Gabor (20 years old) is back to his birthcountry spending 5 months in Atlanta at Emory University as part of an exchange program with University of Maastricht where he should be ending his bachelor in Econometrics. We look forward to seeing him again at Christmas.

Aymar (21 years old) should be graduating in June 2022. After obtaining his bachelor UCLouvain (Belgium), he headed to TU Delft (The Netherlands) to finish his master in civil engineering. We barely see him as he is always on the road doing many things. The big is where will he spend his final 6 months?

We truly hope that many of our foreign friends will come and visit. In the meantime, we wish you the very best and a safe vaccinated year!

Charles & Julie – home@debergeyck.be

2020 started on a rollercoaster with this film done with a bunch of Ulric’s friends. The novelty is that we welcomed two female actors:) and tried to do a video clip. Check it out on minute 7:30 below!

Great to welcome you on our blog again, even if we were silent for nearly two years….oooops.

Luckily, we are all well.  Charles and I are having a blast on a professional level. Charles is still aiming to help grow a disruptive leading Belgian blockchain company, Settlemint.  I have rarely seem him happier at work than these last two years. And I, besides managing the Digital4Development program with Close the Gap and Agoria, I also coordinate the new DigitalWallonia4.ai program on behalf of Agoria, which aims to promote the adoption of Artificial Intelligence in Wallonia.  Even though it is a tiny region compared to the US, imagine how excited I am to be so fully involved in digital technologies again.  My heart lies in both projects as it is also wonderful to contributing to making an impact in Africa.  (Like this mission to Nigeria back in March)

We are so fortunate to have fulfilling jobs while our 3 boys seem to be thriving at school and elsewhere.  Aymar (20) is in 3^rd bachelor and applying to do his master elsewhere than Louvain-la-Neuve (maybe abroad).  Since the get-go, his studies fit him so well.  It seems he was born to study engineering.  At our delight, he keeps experimenting things at home.   

Gabor (18) started Econometrics at University of Maastricht.  While Maastricht is technically abroad, it’s very convenient because only 1h and a half ride from home, so he is back every weekend to see his friends.  His first exams went well…he is confident and we cross our fingers that he reconfirms that during his second exam session soon.  The uptake of a 100% English curriculum went surprisingly easy, probably thanks to his stay in his native country (the US) this summer kindly hosted by my cousin.   

Ulric is in second year of school.  He will turn 14 soon.  He studies very independently and is so happy when one of his brothers is at home.  For this birthday, we will do again a short movie with his friends like we did in Jan 2019 where we explored the « horor theme ».  The brainstorming and excitement is starting.

In April, we had the chance to visit my brother Oscar and his family in Mexico, as they are sailing the world since Sept 2019.  We are happy that they will come back for 3 weeks at Christmas from warm Polynesia.  My other brother, Thierry and his family will also come back for Christmas from Taiwan. It will be a unique Christmas reunion. 

We hope 2020 will be the year when we meet our friends from abroad.  Meeting you again would be our nicest present.  And….you all know that our house is open anytime.  So, we wait for your call +32474997116 or your email homeatdebergeyck.be.

Until then, we wish you a 2020 fully loaded with happiness, joy and success!

Charles & Julie

Here are some photos illustrating this fun year.

We just had a blast doing this film from January 2 to 5, 2018 with a bunch of talentuous and motivated friends of Ulric.  Morality: Making war is absurd!

Dear friends,

We hope these words find you well and that you enjoyed this past year.

To me, 2017 was a year of small and delightful pleasures.  Browsing through this year’s pictures, it captures many enjoying times.  One of the highlights that you’ll certainly notice, was the birth of Royy’s puppies that occupied us for a big part of this year.   From the choice of the father (a handsome good-charactered jack russel) to giving them away in July/August, and the all in-between kept us very busy.

Ulric (11 years old) spent uncountable hours playing with the five puppies.  He started his last year of primary school with lots of motivation and independence.

Gabor (16 years old) is in 5th year of secondary school and became the tallest of the family.  He discovered the joys of going out with his friends.  He is perseverent and seems to be doing his best at school.

Aymar’s transition to university brought a major and exciting change at home.  Three months later, I still can’t realize that he is now an adult (legal majority is 18 in Belgium) since a few weeks!   He still lives with us but is studying civil engineering in Louvain-la-Neuve (30 mins from Brussels).  He seems to enjoy his classes, although chances of success are theoretically 4 out of 10.  Let’s cross our fingers.

Other big changes:  I became freelance and am working as a consultant in digital communication/project mgt.  I love this feeling of freedom, of challenge and enjoying the « moment présent ».  My two missions so far are giving me tremendous satisfaction.  I have the feeling of being at the right place.

I imagine the virus got Charles because after 5 years of founding and managing his own company SBV International with my brother, he sold his shares.  He is now looking for his next challenge as a freelance in business controling and finance with larger companies, which he misses.

We are so happy to go back to Zambia in May 2018.  In the meantime, our friends at Malundu received the material that was sent to them via Abantu Zambia’s container.  (Thanks to all those who donated clothes, shoes, and school material)

We hope we will see you in 2018.  Until then, we wish you the very best wishes!

Chatel 2017

Chatel 2017

Chatel 2017

Soirac en perigord en famille

Baptême de l’air de Gabor grâce à Oscar

Maubeuge

Aymar en Allemagne

Deauville

75 ans de Bon-papa

Ce diaporama nécessite JavaScript.

Ulric et ses copains se sont amusés en Mars 2017 dans le film « Meurtre à Maubeuge », filmé et monté par ses frères Aymar et Gabor.  Que du bonheur…. bravo aux acteurs en herbe!

Dear friends, dear family,

This year, we’ll let some pictures highlight this exciting year.  

Pictures taken during family holiday at l’Ile aux Moines, family holiday in Normandy, great trip to Taiwan to visit my brother, and fun in the Ardennes.

We hope all is well for you.  We send you our sincerest wishes for this new upcoming year.  Please contact us when you plan to come to Brussels.

Cheers!

Le film est enfin sorti. Souvenir de Juillet 2015.  Merci aux talents de Tanguy car les images sont très belles et Gabor qui a monté le film.  Bravo bien sûr aussi aux acteurs.

We hope 2015 was a cheerful year for you as it was for us.  The highlight of our year was undoubtedly our 6 weeks family adventure in Zambia, see article & film below.

Our boys have been growing well: Aymar (16) is turning in an adult soon and wanting to act as one.  His centers of interests are changing too.

Gabor (14) and Ulric (9) still like to play like real boys. They all enjoy scouting , when they don’t have to study (and which they take seriously).  The two eldest enjoy playing Rugby.

Charles is still his own boss, enjoys it and works from home. I still work at ING, close to home with no travel outside Belgium.  This makes our life easy and relatively stress-free.

Let us know when you come by Brussels!  We would be happy to welcome you.  In the meantime, we wish you the very best for 2016.  May your wildest dreams come true.

See you soon.

Charles & Julie