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.