well its 4:30 in the morning here. everyone is asleep and im still struggling with getting a place to post my pictures for all of you. Im giving up on that for tonight so i can update you all with what has been going on, and i think it best to start from the beggining.
After more than 24 hours on planes and in airports i got no sleep, but made several new friends, one of them being from spokane, a study abroad student who is going to Prague for the next few months. The flights went much better than i expected, especially taking into consideration i have not had the best time being in small enclosed places. No worries at all though. On the flight over the atlantic i had an aisle seat with a television minitor in the chair in front of me. I watched the new indiana jones movie, a bit of harry potter and the chamber of secrets and chronicles of narnia (the second one). during the flight the food was actually pretty good and the offered me a beer, which they did not even charge me for or even card me, and later they offered me a second (which i also took). Then we landed in Amsterdam.
This was the moment of truth... foreign soil. as soon as i got off the plane i saw a lot of advertisements in english and was somewhat put back, i thought we left america? after walking around i heard the annoucements over the PA system in several different languages i didnt speak and thought it to be alright. Then came customs, i expected to have to take off my shoes and get ready for some rubber gloves and a lot of 'how do you do's' but instead the gatekeeper asked for my passport and then said 'good morning'. being 12:30 pm, i said good afternoon to which he replied
"it's already after noon? i have to get out of this shithole`', in his foreign european accent. He stamped my card, said i couldnt take the water bottle i had and sent me on my way.
so now i waited around the airport, smelling pretty funky and being pretty tired, i met a few americans, one of them being a rock band from portland named cutless, on their way to `portugal for a show. i also talked to a guy from california who was in showbizz, working with talent agencies for bands and other performers, i was thinking about introducing him to cutless but they didnt seem his type.
then i took a small plane to `brussels. the first flight that i got a window seat and would actually be able to see some of the countryside, except that this was the time that my body decided it was ready for sleep. so when i arrived in brussels i got my back in record time (about 3 minutes) and made my way to the exit (where i was again never checked for contraband). As soon as i left the checkpoint i heard virginia call my name. I was very surprised she recognized me as quickly as she did, especially being that i had not seen her since 2002 at her graduation, nor had i spoken with her on the phone (all contact was via e-mail, and instant messaging). I made my way over to her and hugged her and did the typical meet and greet with her and her two friends she had with her, shaking their hands and introducing myself. And this is where i went wrong.
In belgium whenever you are meeting friends, and their friends, you do not shake hands, you kiss them on the cheek. A custom which i am still getting used to especially when there are 8 or so people in the room. No one really seems to shake hands unless Virginia, says "this is my friend jeff from america." and people extend their arm for a "how are ya!?"
This is also one of the most shocking things about this country, the amount of people that speak english. I had planned on coming here and getting lost, both in the culture, the area, and the language, but find myself feeling more at home here than i have felt being in spokane. Everyone i have met has been extremely nice to me. Also taking the time to talk to me and greet me in english. and if they only speak a little they still make a great effort to make me feel comfortable. They tease me a little now still for not kissing them when i see them in the morning, but still do it all in good fun. And when we are in the company of people who do not speak english, while they are all speaking french, someone always takes the time to explain what the conversation is about, and i can still laugh along with them as they joke.
And that is another amazing part about this place; Virginia and all of the people in the large 4 story house, have all been very hospitable to me, letting me stay in one of their empty rooms, we spend several meals just sitting around the large table talking with one another and having some really good conversations about anything and everything. drinking tea, and beer, both of which are the best i have ever tasted, and eating some of the best food i have ever had.
the first night i got in they all asked if i was too tired, which i was, but at the same time i was excited to see this wonderful place, so i said no, lets go out on the town. so we hopped in a van and went to a theatre where they were celebrating the beggining of play season. we stayed there till 3 drinking beer and having a great time, the belgians that i have met here have learned something that i have been trying to learn, "moderation". they do not drink hard alchohol by the buckets like people i have seen (and sometimes have done myself), instead they drink and enjoy themselves without ever getting too sloppy and foolish. the next day virginia showed me around brussels, most of the historic sites and such, then we went to a french-canadian show called 'anatomie' where they dancers were wearing tighty whities and nothing else. the show lasted an hour and took place in an old 16 century cathedral that is no longer in use by the religous sect, but has been given to the community. the show itself was very different, i am glad i went, but do not need to see another show like it for some time. after the show there was a party of sorts in the old church where people were drinking beer and dancing to techno, with strobe lights and fog machines. the experience was a bit too foreign even for virginia and our friends so we went home. I stayed up taking with virginia's boyfried Alexis (best pronounced ah-lex-e) and a true frenchman named Ben. We talked about America, politics, life, and everything else you can imagine until 6:30 AM.
we woke up today in the afternoon and i went out exploring with Florence, Virginia's sister, who has studied to be a translator and speaks english, french, italian and a few other languages. She was a very fun tour guide to be walking with around the city and we stayed out all day then came back to the house where we had another good meal and more great fun conversations about music and telling jokes with everyone. we got done watching in Bruges not too long ago, a movie that just came out not too long ago with Colin Ferril. (Bruges is a town in Belgium not too far from brussels). It was a very good movie, and the scenery in it is very similar to what i see here.
`anyway. it is a little after 5 AM and i want to get ready for a new day. i am going to try to get the pictures up asap, right now i am also working with another site.
http://triptracker.net/profile/jmiller/
here you can see the path i took to get here, i will keep updating that but look here first for most stuff.
ciao
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