Day 18

A lot happened in the last week and a few days.

On that Saturday when I last wrote, I remember going out that night. We met some friends of friends and ended up in a bar called Kafka. It was the birthday party of several people (I didn't really meet any of them) and there were djs playing some house and other stuff. Was nice.

There was supposed to be a party in an old subway station that night, so I and a couple others decided to walk there. When we got to Rogier (it was supposed to be around there), we couldn't really find the place, so we stopped and tried to decided whether we should ask a taxi driver for directions or not. In the meantime, some weird guy started walking towards us, asking in French if we could speak French and the three of us said no. Still he continued to try talking to us and following us, trying to get close, and kept asking stuff in French. After a while and us trying to walk away and not let him get too close, he decided to just say "just give me your money and everything will be ok!" (still in French). He appeared not to be carrying any weapons, so we just ignored him and kept walking. It was really awkward though, it could have gone so wrong… Not even five minutes later, we see a bunch of prostitutes (ten, thirteen?!) running after a guy, shouting and cursing. We had to laugh! Again, very awkward and weird. After this, we decided we didn't want to explore anymore, trying to look for this special subway party, so we walked back to Kafka's.

Note: don't walk in that area at night (Rogier, North Station).

On the way, I had a very nice döner at one of the places called Sultans of Kebap. Again I asked for zaziki sauce, but it appears they really don't have it here. The guy there asked me straight away if I had been living in Germany, because that's where you get the zaziki sauce and that here, well, they have garlic sauce (among others) and I have been settling for that. Nice and yummy!

On Sunday, I went to revisit one of the rooms that I had seen during the week; more or less decided that it should be the one. Was a nice visit, got to see everything one more time and it looked ok. Also, the great feature was that I could move asap. I had already settled another appointment for checking another room, so I went to see it after. The person that showed us around was extremely rude, unbelievable!! I am very happy I don't have to share a house or apartment with him. OK, he had already shown the apartment three times earlier that day, but it's not my fault if other people were rude to him or something, it was all so uncalled for. I tried to call the person for that first room straight away, but she had already left, so I would have to wait until Monday to get my keys.

Monday – first day at work, for real. It was interesting. Had a lot to read during the first week, to get myself on topic, prepare.

After work, I went to get my keys and then went back to my friend's house, where I had been happily living since I arrived. I kind of started feeling a sweet/sour feeling… I wanted to have my own room, a place to put my stuff (my clothes were still inside my bags), but I was enjoying living with them so much that I didn't really want to leave… Wish they had a third room, but no magic to make it pop up. We had dinner and then they helped me carry my bags to my new place.

Already on Wednesday I had my first visitor :) and on Thursday we had dinner at a very nice Japanese restaurant in the centre, between De Brouckere and the Bourse (Kiekenmarkt). It had a conveyer, three cute little trains, carrying the different coloured sushi plates – so cute!

Friday had dinner at my "old house" again and then we went out to have a couple drinks. Had a 7€ Mojito… I know, it might not sound too expensive, but I wish they were cheaper.

Saturday was the tourist round: had lunch right in the centre, close to the Grand Place, in one of those touristy restaurants (La Belle Epoque). The menu – paella. Managed to get a menu for 10€ including a drink (the coke, which was actually pepsi, tasted awful, really sweet, maybe one of those terrible diet versions) and had a very nice meal. Walked to the info point at the Grand Place, asked for directions to the Atomium and set our path in that direction (the person who gave me the directions didn't really tell me the fastest way, I later found out). The last few days had been a little gray and it was raining at the time. After a 15/20 minute trip on the subway, I get a glimpse of that huge piece of metal. I was completely in awe! The pictures don't really do it justice in my opinion.

The Atomium is probably…. five or more times bigger than what I had ever thought! I caught myself thinking "if it is so impressive for me in the year 2009, I wonder how it was for people who came here for the Expo in 1958". Went all the way up, but unfortunately it was cloudy and gray, so couldn't enjoy the potential of that amazing view.

 

 

 

That night was rather quiet, just a couple drinks with some friends.

On that night, the hour changed to Winter (or normal) Time. That means that it will be dark when I leave work, if not today, then very soon.

Sunday was a day to say goodbye to my lovely visitor and finally organise a couple things at the place where I had moved to (I hadn't really had a lot of time yet). I eventually went to my friend's house to spend the rest of the afternoon and then, at seven we said goodbye, because they were going to see Massive Attack. I hadn't got a ticket, because it was soooo expensive (44€). So I walked to the subway stop and when I got there, there was a subway, but the doors were already closed, so I couldn't get in. I sat down, waiting for the next one that would take another five minutes, got some music on my ipod (Wolfsheim – Once in a lifetime) and then suddenly I hear my mobile. It was my friend calling, saying that one of the guys who was suppose to go was sick and that they had an extra ticket, which they wouldn't mind selling for 20€. Wow! So I ran out of the subway station and met them to go to this unexpected concert. It was rather good. I admit, I was expecting a bit more movement, but it was good. I really liked the female vocalists. The one singing Unfinished Sympathy had a very impressive performance! Lovely! I didn't know so much of their repertoire, but I enjoyed it. Because it was so unexpected, I have no photos, no videos, because I didn't have my camera on me.

Will be looking forward to see The Prodigy on that same venue (Forest National) in November.

Had a very good night's sleep and, Monday again, another week starting.

Day 10

It's already been a little over a week since I arrived in Brussels.

Now that I am writing is still the morning of the tenth day.

My main activities so far were just walking around town, trying to look for the oranges ads, checking rooms, finding new places.

I went to see a house close to Eglise Saint Antoine (Etterbeek, see above) and the people actually seemed real nice, but then it turned out there was no furniture on that room, so... no.

Have seen a couple other rooms and studios. So far the studios didn't really seem so good and it would be nice to live with other people as well. A funny thing was that, on Tuesday, I saw a room that I was kinda considering (though the fact that I would have to go up the stairs all the way to the third floor to reach my room and then all the why down to go to the kitchen and living room wasn't appealing) but still thought I should see more and have a bigger option and then yesterday I ended up meeting the person who saw the room on Wednesday and decided to take it straight away. So.... obviously you don't have time for big considerations in this town. Room hunt continues, but might be reaching a decision in the next few days.

Besides room hunting and walking around...

 

 

 

 

(The Monster looks quite massive)

...sometimes walking under almost freezing cold, I have also met quite some people, most of them very very nice. On Thursday I had dinner at the house of a friend of my "temporary housemates" and had one of the most amazing meals in months. He surely can cook! Delighted. The others said that it seemed like Christmas dinner :)

And yesterday was actually my first day. Not that I did any work already, but will start properly next week. I did, however, have time to ask for a "proper" keyboard (qwerty), seeing that I don't really get along with the French ones (I know, I could get used to it, but still).

This could be a very interesting experience. So far, the people from my unit seemed really nice and I will be sharing the office with two other trainees, so hope it all turns well. Will have a LOT to read in the next few days.

Day 5

Today I spent most of the time wondering around, trying to look for all those A louer signs. I did see quite a lot of them, but unfortunately most were for apartments or studios/room for over 600€ and that is, let's say, not acceptable. Need to find something nice, on the price range of max 450€.... Let's see how successful I will be at that.

Actually I got to see a room today, but didn't like it much.

Have about three other rooms pending, hoping to check them out in the next couple days.

Scamming alert again....  two adds from expatriates.com that turned out to be a mere waste of time.

Anyways, here's a couple of pictures:

 

(I could imagine stories in a house like that) 

(typical Belgian houses - not very wide, with the most dangerous stairs) 

(church near Madou) 

Some Dutch channel was playing the Finale of Season 5 from Lost. I found it randomly while zapping and couldn't resist. The whole Juliet scene always makes me cry... Gief Season 6 now!!

Last night

:)

 

 

Feliz Aniversário Carlos!

Força para a tua vida na Palestina ;)

Day 3

Last night was that first Welcoming Party that I mentioned.

But before going there, I had a lovely dinner with my "temporary house mates". My friend's house mate cooked the most delicious risotto.

After, we went to meet some people that were going to this party as well. I met a very nice Italian girl; a Romanian girl who speaks perfect Portuguese, I really was amazed! (had never in my life heard a foreigner speaking Portuguese like that, no accent, nothing, just perfect); and a Norwegian couple. The latter warned us that Norwegians tend to drink differently then other Europeans, for they start to drink much earlier and do it with no reason and no notion when to stop. Funny couple...

The party started at 10pm, we only arrived on the last bus after midnight (weird that there isn't transportation for the whole night through, specially seeing that it was a Friday night) and still had to wait probably over half an hour to get in. It was raining outside, so it wasn't the most comfortable situation, but it could be worse.

This party was in the middle of a wood/forest, inside a very interesting building. It was mostly composed by a big dance floor, a little room with sofas where they prepared +4€ toasts and another side with a couple bars, one of them in the middle of the room. Those rooms with the bars had the most interesting chandeliers.

 

I saw people wearing the most interesting outfits. Guys with a suit and tie, girls with huge high heels, amazingly cut dresses and then people wearing jeans (like myself) or even with more extreme looks (just one sort of punk, I think).

The music was not amazing... On the side that I spent more time, the music was more Bob Marley feeling, peace and love, and on the big dance floor, it was mostly techno, but the sound was SO loud, we didn't stand it for more than 5 minutes. Where was the rock and the 80s?!

I had one drink, one Corona (they didn't have Desperados, which I kind of felt like drinking last night) for 5€ and  that was it.

Anyways, wasn't an amazing party, but it was ok. 

Landing time: 4am.

Today the weather wasn't so nice. For a while, it kept changing from heavy rain to beams of sunlight, then rain again. When it calmed down a little, we went out and I got to see a bit of another site of town, around Porte de Namur. This city appears to be really diverse, still a lot to see :)

Turns out, the supermarket I went yesterday, GB Carrefour, is actually one of the most expensive. Need to try others.

And the Pralinés shop is called Leonidas and it's all around.

Tonight might be a quiet one, sitting around, maybe watch a movie. 

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

Day 2

First day waking up in Brussels.

Body is sore, dunno if from sleeping on a different bed or because of carrying all my stuff yesterday (or maybe both?).

After checking online for more room ads, I went for a long walk in the city.

On the way, got a Belgian SIM-Card (trying BASE/Allo RTL for the time being) and managed to get an appointment for opening a bank account (they were full until next Wednesday...).

For lunch, I decided to try something like McDonalds called Quick. It's more or less the same, I have to say...


Dessert: two strawberries and two pieces of banana covered in dark chocolate (not at Quick, at a Pralines shop called.... Leopold? not sure), couldn't resist... There's chocolate shops EVERYWHERE here.... I am doomed... lol. No, I will try not to eat a lot of chocolate, but I have to try some, right?

Apparently Belgium is also known by its beer and it seems there's a lot of different things to try.

Had time to check the Cathedral S. Michel and wondered around the centre (Bourse etc).
Found cd shops (very important!) and even found a place that sells tickets for a concert I would like to go next weekend, but the price isn't very appealing (44€ are you kidding me?!).

When my legs started to hurt, came back and went to the supermarket for the first time. Oh man, are things expensive here! It's going to be a struggle....

There's this Welcoming Party for people who are doing the same internship/traineeship/stage (whatever) as me tonight, and I should be going. Good chance to meet lots of people, maybe even find a future housemate, who knows :)

Day 1

Time to grab all the stuff that I need, get two trains and travel to the city where I will be living for the next five months: Brussels

It’s always challenging to pack when you are moving somewhere, maybe slightly more complicated when you are moving to another country. There’s so much that you know you need, but at the same time, in my case, I had to think that I would have to carry it all by myself and didn’t want to exaggerate thinking about stuff that could be sent in parcels or so (not sending any actually).

Living in Central (Western?!) Europe is good in the sense that not always you need to fly to places, you can actually use the train to travel to another country and, occasionally, get amazing prices. This was the first time I moved to another country and didn’t need to fly.

Two trains, one stop in Cologne – had never been there before. Managed to carry (at times drag) my stuff to the so famous Cathedral just by the station. The Cathedral is separated by the station by three flights of stairs… oh dread… Stairs are one of your worst enemies when you are carrying luggage. Checked it out very fast, did a couple pictures and then decided I didn’t want to carry by backpacks anymore and went to the station, sat down waiting for my train.

Travelling companion: Age of Five, book one, The Priestess of the White.

Arrived in Brussels around 16.45, dragged my stuff across town to find my friend’s place, where I am staying for the first couple days, until I find a room for myself (will be forever thankful for your hospitality A.).

Ended up “resting my eyes” on the couch for about an hour.

Met some new people, saw a little of the centre by night, even ended up at a birthday party of my friend’s friend neighbour (if that makes sense). Was good fun, delicious chocolate cake.

Tried a beer I had been recommended: Chimay. Tastes a little like Hefe Weissen (Erdinger, Paulaner, Franziskaner) but served in a 0,33l.