Sunday, January 23rd - Exploring!

Today I woke up at 9:30 after a well slept night with earplugs – those are needed here!  I woke up happy! J No stress, nothing scheduled for today, but just my imagination to steer me. So I made myself ready for the day and went to get me a coffee in one of those breakfast-machines at the hotel, and ate a couple of sandwiches, that my dear mother had put with me for my trip here. I had a chat with my brother and his two adorable children, Emil and Linnea, on Skype, and headed off on my adventure.

the metro map

First, I decided to have a look where the office, where I will be working, is located. I had to take the metro from Rogier to Shuman with a change at Arts-Loi. The trip began well, since when I got on the metro, I noticed I took the wrong one, going in wrong direction. So I had to jump off on the next stop and take the metro back to Rogier and from there continue to Arts-Loi. After that everything went well, and I found the office (the "Baltic Sea House"), which was located about 10 minutes from Shuman-station on Avenue Palmerston in the EU-quarter.

the office

Then I decided to take the metro to Anderlecht to visit Ikea, since my landlord told me to bring a duvet with me, and obviously I wasn’t going to bring one with me from Finland to weight up my luggage more, so off to Ikea it was then! I took the metro from Shuman to Céria in Anderlecht, and when I got off the metro (the trip took quite long, 16 stops between these two), I asked a nice person where to find Ikea, since I had read on the internet that it would take about 10 minutes to walk from the station to Ikea. So I walked. And walked. Not too far, but I walked in my new shoes, which make my feet soar, I noticed, till I found it. Yes I found it, just to notice that it was closed! What the h**l was I thinking?! I read on the net yesterday, that yes, it is open on Samedi, which would be the same as in Finland. The thing is that Samedi is the same as Saturday, which I should know after many years of studying French! So Ikea was closed. Well, I didn’t mind, since I got to see more of Brussels now. Yet, my feet hurting. Off to the metro and back to Rogier via De Brouckère. And to Mc Donald’s. Again. With the same New York Crispy meal. Yummy! J Yes, I know, I should explore the local culture… Though, I’m not sure where to find any straightly ‘local’ here, since all I see is foreigners! Hahaha…

There was some kind of protests going on in the city center with loads of people marching and yelling and singing, which I noticed when I got off the metro at Rogier. I asked a person what it was and he simply said “Manifestation”. I asked: “Manifestation de quoi?”, and he said “Manifestation de Belgique”. Which didn’t say anything to me. But I got the point that it is quite common here.

the protest in city center

 There is obviously nothing open here on Sundays. Except for a small Pannini-shop and an English Bookstore. So I went to get me a pannini with brie, basilica and tomatoes for this evening at the hotel, and bought a book called “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. We’ll see what it is all about. I have taken with me a few Michael-books that I want to read, so it will be an order question of which one to read first. Or a feeling-question.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Then back to the hotel and writing this and yesterday’s blog inserts! It is now 5pm here, and I would still want to go out somewhere. I probably will. I will write to you more about that later on.

The summary for today: exploring new places and noticing that I understand quite a lot of French and that I can even speak it. Improvement! And the language will improve, I’ve noticed it already after being here for only two days. And that I am the one and only blonde blob in town! This blond, I mean! :D After being in London for one summer, I can see some similarities here and there. The weather seems to be quite the same - it is raining quite often. But the metro line system here doesn't even compare to the London-one.

For now; tataa!