Friday night - 5:15, 7, and 8:30

Part I - 5:15
Well, it's 5:15, I'm in my room at the hostel, and I already don't like it.  It was a nice, long walk from the train station.  Not too, too bad, but cold and windy.  I don't know what I was expecting, but definitely not this.  It's rather dingy and dark... I miss my computer.  A lot.  I miss not being in contact with people.  But in 48 hours I'll be on my way home. 

I guess I should update my train story - there was a howling baby on board.  Literally shrieking.  It got to be the worst about 15 minutes before our arrival, and people were offering chocolate and juice and lullabys to shut it up.  I made a comment to my seatmate that it wasn't a happy baby.  Then we started talking.  She was really nice, from Italy and traveling to meet her husband in Eastern Germany. 

It's amazing to me how I only traveled 2 hours and, by doing so, have entered another country with a completely different language.  Everyone here seems to speak English, but it's still weird.

I don't know what I'm doing here and I really wish someone was with me.  But I'll have fun and see what I can, and do what I want.  Off to explore, I think.

Part II - 7:00
Well, exploring consisted of going and finding dinner.  There are a ton of hotels and restaurants near the hostel I am staying at.  Everything is really pretty at night - all lit up and reflecting on the Rhine.  I ended up at a fancyish place - at least they had candles on all the tables.  I ordered Bratwurst - a true local dish.  It came with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut.  Though much better than their American counterparts, it was still horrific.  I did manage to eat most of it with the help of a cola-bier, which was interesting but good.  Very light and slightly sweet.  I returned to the hostel for the night and look forward to exploring tomorrow.  Oh, and I also came back to a roommate, but we haven't spoken yet...

Part III - 8:30
Ice cream fixes everything.  And talking to the people you love most in this world <3 You know who you are.

Anyways, traveling by yourself SUCKS.  It's scary and lonely and pretty much not fun.  But I just finished one of those itty-bitty Ben and Jerry's tubs (Chunky Monkey in honor of my bf's favorite flavor - banana pudding) and talking to the aforementioned awesome people.  Tomorrow is a new day, and I hope to go to Dusseldorf.  Then on Sunday I will take a ride down the Rhine and explore Cologne.  Of course, this may change, but we'll see.  Goodnight world.  

Two-thirty/Three on Friday

I'm sitting on the train, heart pounding, stomach coiled up in knots.  It's a smooth ride but getting here wasn't.  I left the apartment at 1:15, finally making it to the station at 2:10 - just in time for my train to leave at 2:30... And I hadn't gotten my ticket yet.  The metro was late, the tram was spooky, and I had four different languages yelled at me - French, German, Spanish and English. You would think I would at least understand Spanish or English, but I was/am so stressed, I couldn't make my mouth speak.  But I'm here now.  I feel like a dumb American. 

And so much for not bringing my laptop... there's wifi on the trains here. And of course I didn't actually bring paper, so this is on a page from my planner.  Well, I guess now I know for next time. 

The train feels slow, but I guess it's just as fast (faster?) than a car because we're next to a highway and passing them quickly.  It's smooth and quiet and relatively comfortable (compared to planes and vans and metros and other public transportation).  I felt a little awkward, as I didn't, and still don't, know train etiquette.  Also, I think people were a lot more friendly when my dad traveled or when I was younger, or something.  Mostly people just yell at me if I did something wrong or not say anything at all if I didn't.  Haven't gotten much help, either.  I guess I can't pull of that distressed and innocent child look anymore.

Anyways, boarded the train, had no clue where I had to sit/could sit, picked a spot, sat, and a lady asks me something in French and pointing at her ticket and me and the seat... Dumbfounded (some people had just told me I could sit anywhere, as long as I was in the right class), I stuttered, "English?"  and she says I'm in her seat.  Whoops.  I gape and she says it's fine, am I in 52? Luck would have it that I was, and she sat next to me without making me move.

The scenery outside is pretty and they just stamped my ticket (which I also did not know they did).  Anyways, I have a two hour trip - write more tonite.  Oh. And I hope that baby shuts up.

Quick Update

Hey, everyone. 

I'm going to Cologne for the weekend and have decided not to take my computer.  It's too much of a risk, and I'm really concerned, so I'll do a huge update on Sunday when I get back.  I might update from the hostel if they have a computer I can use, but I don't know if they will.  I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and I look forward to letting you know how Cologne is with lots of pictures and stories. =]

Toodle-oo.

Kinder eggs

Ok. So I could tell you how a cop that didn't speak English came to check on our residency at about 10 this morning (like the people at town hall told us he would) and how we all had a French test today that everyone failed and how I had a typical lunch of ravioli and an orange and how my marketing class went and how I went to the grocery store (actually, that will be part of a post later on) and how I booked my trip for tomorrow to Cologne and how I found someone to go to Venice with me and how I burned my grilled cheese for dinner and watched a movie and how I've been pointlessly roaming the internet for the past couple of hours....

OR

I could unwrap a Kinder egg just to once-and-for-all explain it instead of trying to answer questions all the time.  So here is the egg I had tonite.

First please note the 7 boxes that are on the table next to my bed...

Ok. So. Grab box:

Open the box:

 

Take one out:

 

Unwrap foil from egg:

Separate egg.  If it cracks and breaks, no worries. But most of the time it's pretty even two shells:

Remove and open capsule.  Remove contents:

Inspect contents.  Included should always be warnings, a picture of the collection, and the toy:

Enjoy your chocolate and put your toy together:

The best part about a Kinder egg? You get chocolate and a toy, so you've not only spent your money on food, but also on entertainment and something you get to keep.  Now that's what I call a good deal =]

Tomorrow I'm off to Cologne.  Will hopefully update from there.  Definitely will take lots of pics.

Goodnight, world.

Similarities Abound

So today I got up, booked my trip to Zurich, waited for Kristen to wake up, took a shower and went out.

As in, I went shopping in downtown Brussels, by myself. Grand Plac was an awesome place to be today. I left about noon, or a little after, and there were people everywhere.  I have a promise to go try this awesome little pita place - with amazing, fresh gyro meat twirling inside.  I got nearly everyone's presents - it's now just a question of sending them now or carrying stuff home.  I got hit on by several shop owners, and then they gave me huge discounts, as well as a personal tour of some street - learning where the best bars were and what restaurants were good and cheap.  It was "warm" (2 Celsius) and I enjoyed walking around.  I got a little bit more oriented with the metro and learned (hopefully for the last time) that you can't go into Bourse station to get home. (Or at least I still can't figure out how.)  It was a fun day.  I saw lots of people. And I kept thinking the same thing...

"They remind me of....."

It was remarkable.  People from high school, people from Chile, people from temple, people that I've only ever seen but not ever spoken to (that guy in Marion square with the bikes - a couple of you know who I'm talking about), and people from Clemson apparently have unknown twins here.  I could have sworn Ms. Heidi's twin was on the metro with me the other day. It's incredible.  I think about Charleston, and how much diversity I've encountered there, and it's staggering to think that this is an even bigger conglomeration of different nationalities and languages.  I think I've talked about the language thing here - everyone knows at least three, more like four, five or six.  But it's not even just that.  I was walking through this mall-like store today, and I saw every possible culture represented.  Like, EVERY culture.  In Charleston, you can walk into a jewelry store and see crosses, stars, and occasionally Muslim or Hindu symbols.  Here, I didn't have to look hard for symbols for Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, tribal religions, Atheism (don't ask me - it was a sciencey looking thing and that was it's "category") and at least five or six others.  It was a board with all of these pins and pendents and earring categorized for each of the preceding religions.  I think my jaw literally dropped when I saw it.

I was warned when I came here not to wear my Star of David, so I didn't even bring it.  And I still think it's not a bright idea, but it's the fact that it's available.  In all actuality, I've had more negative comments from people participating in CUBC about being Jewish than from any local I've met that it's come up.  Granted, that's only been a couple, but I've been invited to the Chabad temple and others have been genuinely interested in talking religion, but not in a negative way.

Another super cool thing that I found today was this shop (actually two - right next to each other) that was basically ThinkGeek in real life.  I mean, there were other things, and it wasn't specifically "geek" but it was similar.  (For those of you who don't know, ThinkGeek is where I do 33% of my online shopping.  The other 66% is eBay.  It's incredible.)  It was a ton of fun, and it's on my list of places to go back to when I know how much money I have left at the end of my trip.  (It's not the only place, either.)

Uhm. Then I had my first speech for communications, ate dinner, and am now researching places to stay while in Venice in two weeks.  =] I'm excited.  Going to join Youth Hostel Association because it saves me a whole lot, I think.

Goodnight world.

Tasty food, grocery stores and Kinder eggs

It's amazing how different the food here is, even though I'm cooking and eating very similar things.  I guess I'm going to go backwards today, just to mix things up.  I just ate dinner.  Grilled cheese (I found the American stuff! Though white...), tomato soup from a packet, the best apple sauce I have ever tasted, and a glass of milk out of an unrefrigerated box.  You really wouldn't think it was that special.  But things taste different here.  My bread is fresh, bought unsliced, and super soft on the inside with a really hard crust.  I normally eat the crust, but here I'm having a heard time. Or at least my teeth are. 

What's funny is that things taste so different here that I don't mind trying (and generally end up liking) things that I would never ever get at home.  I found this in Chile too.  There I liked fish, here I like random things like vol-au-vent (chicken and biscuits with mushroom gravy... Granted, I might like this in the states, but I never would have tried it to know).

Even basics are different.  I'd be hard pressed to say that eggs taste different, or the clementines, but for the past two mornings, I've had soft-boiled eggs, toast, and clementines.  In actuality, I probably eat 4-6 clementines a day, but it's better than snacking on those amazing waffles.  You walk through the metro here, and all you can smell are fresh-made waffles, sugar attacking your nostrils.  Of course, the little pubs in the metro also have fantastic food.  But I've talked about the food before.

The grocery store is also very different. Weird layouts (triangles) seem to be the norms.  I can't tell you how long I spend trying to find basics. Like nutella, which shouldn't be so hard to find when they have displays like this:

And there are more to the right... and to the left is speculoos. Which I think I already talked about.

Of course, there are also the random things I find, like Mickey Mouse turkey:

(Anyone who knows how to rotate - let me know how? Thanks.)

And last but definitely not least; would you like some alcoholic sparkling cider for your kids? You do? Ok:

This wasn't the only brand, either. Different cultures, I guess.

On a different note, anyone who knows anything about me knows I love chocolate.  My favorite is something called a Kinder [enter "Surprise" any given language].  They're illegal in the US because when you open them up they have little plastic capsules in them that have toys you put together and put stickers on and basically are a whole ton of fun.  (I know, I'm really just a big kid at heart. It makes me way too excited when I get them.)

Anyways, I grew up knowing them because they would be brought for me from family and friends - mostly Europe, but they're also sold in Canada and Mexico.  Since I've been here, I've bought four boxes (of three) and five or six free from candy shops...

Look at all the fun toys I've gotten! =]

Keep in mind that these toys come in hollow chocolate eggs that are no bigger than real eggs.  Two flying things, a toy tractor (with three movable parts), two smurfs, and a photo/note holder (yeah, it looks weird, but that's what it is).  Of course, I can't forget to mention that the egg itself is fantastic - milk chocolate with white chocolate on the inside. All about a millimeter thick =]

In other news, we have a French test Thursday, no one can understand the teacher; my first speech for COMM 250 is tomorrow afternoon; and marketing is turning out to be... interesting, but fun.

Tomorrow I am going in search of a post office, getting the things that I know I want to send home for (most) friends and family, and getting my tickets to Zurich.  Maybe not in that order. 

Goodnight, world.

Spaghetti, Resumes and Grocery Stores

So I blogged early last night, before dinner, because we had Sarah, Kristin, Brindley and James over for spaghetti.  Well, tonite Sarah hosted for Kristin, Brindley and Sam.  Dinner was spaghetti with olive tomato sauce for most people and a small salad.  Don't ask me why you would put olives in spaghetti sauce, nor how it tasted, as there wasn't enough left for me.  I think enough has been said about the food, and the company, though James and I did talk for an hour or two after dinner.  He's the only other real science major (ceramics and materials engineer) and we talked about everything from interns to religion to travel to random stuff.  He told me about Idaho (his home state) and Idaho National Labs (where he's interned).  Speaking of internships...

I applied today for another 10-15 summer research programs, all at national labs.  This was a lot easier than it sounds because it meant completing two applications.  Fingers crossed that I get in somewhere nice.

I did homework and laundry until Kristen came back from class.  Laundry here is very strange.  The washer is tiny and the soap smells funny.  The water has to be turned on from the wall, and then you have to set up all this stuff for the washer to work... But I finally got it done, and have now done two loads.  Of course, we have no dryer, so all of my clothes are hanging on a drying rack and should hopefully be dry in the next three days or so.  (Sam did hers and it took that long.  It's just so cold.)

When Kristen got back, we went to the grocery store.  Somehow, we always end up at a different store even though we try for a different one.  Like today, we were trying to go to Delhaize, and we took the metro to the same stop that we did last time, but got off at the wrong escalator, got lost and ended up at a GB Carrefore, which actually turned out to be the cheapest store yet.  I got store-brand nutella for a euro a jar! And bread and cheese and stuff.  It was a nice store.  The weirdest thing was that there were people inside with their dogs with them.  We also got a pizza to share - mushroom - which we cooked when we got home and was very good.

Tomorrow I have class again, and I'm going to take a video of me leaving and taking a tour of the apartment.  Hopefully I'll be able to post it tomorrow night.  For now, I'm going to finish this episode of House (thank you MyProjectFreeTV) and then finish my outlines for marketing.

Goodnight world.

Sunshine and Spaghetti

It was sunny and warm today... If you can consider partial sun after 11AM and 8C sunny and warm...

I woke up early (8AM) because I thought we had plans to go to Ghent today.  Turns out I waited at the train station for 15 minutes for no reason other than to listen to classic rock over the loud speakers.  The other people looked at the forecast, saw rain, and decided to cancel. Without telling me.  So instead, I came back to the apartment and ended up going out to the market.  I got a cute skirt, something for dad, and an unbelievable nutella-filled croissant with chocolate sprinkles. 

It was an interesting market. (I should have taken pics - sorry!)  But basically these tractor trailer trucks had pulled up on the sidewalk and in this square and opened up the side to sell things.  There were quite a few butchers with all sorts of meets and cheese, some with just cheese and olives, several bakers, a fishmonger, and some other things, all being sold out of a truck. They looked more like the boiled peanut stands you see places in Charleston, or the really nice trailers where you can get hot dogs and drinks at the fair, but this was raw meat and cooked meat and pretty much things you only see in grocery stores - and nice ones at that - in the states.  It was pretty cool.  There were also a lot of fruit and vegetable stands, with everything from normal apples and oranges to unidentifiable veggies that looked like pink cauliflower and bright orange artichokes... Of course, they also had run-of-the-mill farmer's market things as well; tents set up with everything from clothes to jewelry to shopping carts. 

Then we walked around for a couple hours, got lost, and caught a bus.  I discovered that my rainboots can no longer be worn because the soles are cracked and don't actually keep water out (boo) and my feet turned blue.  Most people went out to lunch, but I decided to come home on account of my feet, so caught the metro and came home.  I made myself lunch, thawed out, and watched a movie.  Then did homework and read a bit.

So my dad is awesome and got me this disk with 15,000 books on it for the Kindle.  You can download a program to read the books on your computer, and it's really kindof nice.  I've read a lot of things from fairy tales to biographies and have currently settled on Pride and Prejudice.  Now I'm in want of a Kindle so I don't have to carry my computer everywhere to read... =P

People are arriving for dinner, so this is the end of this post. Maybe I'll update later tonite, and maybe I'll include tonite's stories with the post tomorrow.  We're having spaghetti and veggies and random stuff. 

Goodnight, world.