Christmas in the USA

It was nice to be back in the US for the holidays. I really do love living here, I like the culture and am enjoying my work, but I miss my friends, family, and girlfriend a great deal. The 18 days I spent back home went fast, in part because I was traveling so much while in the US. A few days in NY and then NJ for Christmas with Carly, my uncle, brother, and cousins. Then down to Atlanta for Christmas with Carly’s family. We had a great time and it was nice to see the sun! (It was cold there, but at least the sun was out for more than an hour or two.)

Now Belgium has fantastic cuisine, but it was great to have US food again: pizza, a deli breakfast sandwich and, down in Atlanta, Chic-fil-A.

The trip back to NYC on New Year’s Eve, however, was a bit of a hassle. Our flight was cancelled, but Carly is a master traveler and got us on a flight that got us into Newark not too later than we were supposed to be…but we still cancelled on our NYE plans: I got sick. Of course I did! So, if Mark and/or Erin are reading this: again so sorry for missing!

All in all it was a nice trip back, but a whirlwind. I got to see a lot of family and friends, but not nearly everyone so, if you’re reading this and I didn’t touch base with you when I was back. Sorry!

American Airlines Sucks, but my fellow travelers were really nice

So, I flew back to the US on 21 December and wasn’t expecting a big deal. But it was. See, England and Belgium have been having a lot of weather and snow. The weekend before I left for the US Brussels got a few inches of snow. I was happily sitting in my usual morning café and watched a number of cars just slide down the road. It seems that the Belgian drivers don’t really get what to do when it snows, even though it snows a bit each year. You just kinda push through, but don’t shovel or plow. (Not that they really can. It’s hard to plow or shovel cobblestones.) Makes for wet and cold feet, but the beer helps.

Anyway, I got to the airport about 2.5 hours early and, since I wasn’t checking a bag, was just going to use the kiosk, get my boarding pass, and chill with my book. No dice. So, I went to the counter to check in. Again, nope…back of the line…of about 900 people. See flights were cancelled left and right AND the Eurostar (the high-speed train) to London was shut down because of weather. And, of course, I was flying to the US so we all had to go through like 50 layers of security.

Now to vent I call my poor girlfriend – it’s like 5am or something in the US when I do this – for no other reason to vent. And I just wait, but thankfully I met two really nice travelers: Damian (a Belgian) and Amy (a Brit). We’re all three on the same flight to London (Damian is on it to go to Boston where he’s studying and Amy is on it to go home, she was stranded because of the Eurostar problem).

We had a lovely time chatting about the insanity of travel, our thoughts on our own countries, on each others’, Christmas traditions in each country, and the like. It was just a pleasant time. Thankfully our flight was delayed to let all the passangers get through security and passport control, then we waited an hour at the gate to get a new flight plan and then got in the air.

The rest of the trip was fine-ish and I was just happy to get home and see Carly and not lug around a suitcase.

Rue Jourdan(straat) and Supersizing Belgian Style

That's the street I'm living on here in Brussels and it has two names. Because of the linguistic divide of the country -- the Flemish in the north and the Waloons (French speakers) in the south -- language is a very touchy subject here. Brussels, as I may have mentioned before, occupies a special place as its own enclave within the country. The center of the city is the City of Brussels (Ville de Bruxelles). Then, outside the old city walls or the petite ceinture (small ring), is the rest of the Brussels-Capital Region that has a total of 19 municipalities. I live in Saint-Gilles or Sint-Gillis in Flemish just outside the small ring which is a major road and the metro follows it around the city.

All streets in Brussels have the same convention Rue or Avenue (French) Jourdan (street name) straat (street in Flemish). So I live on Rue Jourdan (for the French speakers) and Jourdanstraat (for the Flemish speakers). It's even more confusing when discussion towns. I'll do that later....

So, anyway, I now have a place to live. A big room on the top floor of a house occupied by a Flemish family. I've met one roommate who is Pakistani. I'm loving the multicultural feel of this place. I still hope, though, to improve my French.

I had a wonderful time at SC's place in Ixelles. The hospitality of the Belgians is first class. It's a real nice college town. (Again, puts Storrs to shame, though SC's girlfriend was interested in the cows we have back at UConn.) This weekend is a big fair and market which I'll check out tomorrow and try my hand in a Belgian bar. On Sunday there is a beer festival at Grand Place (the big square outside of the City Hall). Should be fun.

I managed to do some touristy stuff on Thursday after I checked out what is now my home. I'm finding it easy to navigate and must thank Carly for the Streetwise Map. It's, as I said not long ago, phenomenal. I made my way over to the archive. Why is it that all archives -- at least the ones I go to -- were built during the high-era of neo-Stalinist design?! At least the walk over will make for it: past the Palais du Justice, Notre Dame du Sablon, and neat shops and such. The coblestones are killing my feet though!

I made my way over to the Palais Royale, too. Imposing building with beautiful rooms. Renovated by Leopold I who wanted to show off Belgium's power in the mid-19th century (because of the coal and steal of Wallonia (the French-speaking region) and his personal jewel, The Congo, he built lavishly). I was particularly taken with the Throne Room because it's, well, a Throne Room. No throne in it, but you can see where it was.

Eating is, of course, important and I've now had the traditional waffell or gauffre. Like NYC hot dog vendors, there are vendors all over and for 1.50 euro you can get a warm gauffre on the go. This evening I wanted something quick so I decided to try Belgian fast food. The place was called Quick...it wasn't. Like any American fast food place it was crowded and no one had any idea what was going on. I felt at home.

This gave me time to study the menu and figure out how to order in French. I'm trying very hard to use the language when I can. BUT, the main dishes at Quick are written in English only. "Fish Fillet." "Chicken Fillet." So, despite my intent to order "Un Chicken Fillet, avec frites et un Coca, s'il vous plait." The second I say, "Chicken Fillet" it's obvious I'm an American and the guy behind the counter (the manager, I think) goes right into English. Oh well...and as one would expect it tastes like generic fast food. The fries were just like McDonald's fries, but the coke was sweetened with sugar. (Oh, if you order a "Coke" here they will think you are looking for cocaine. So, it's "Coca"with a hard c.)

I think I'll end on that note....sorry for the mundane-ness of these posts. I should be doing some fun stuff this weekend -- fair and market in Ixelles and the beer festival at Grand Place on Sunday -- and I get into the archive on Tuesday. Oh, and I'll soon start dealing with Belgian officials on my residency permit. Should be fun.