January 31, 2011

Still The Cheesiest

*We are currently in 2nd place in our league! There are actually 3 teams that have 10 wins and 3 losses, but we have the most points (crazy system, don't bother trying to learn it) out of the 3. We are only 3 points behind Soumagne, the leader, and if we beat them, then we are tied. If we win this division, then our club moves out of the top Southern Belgium league and up to the All-Belgium league next year. Granted, we need to win the rest of our matches as well, but things are looking good!

As if I could not be more prophetic; I opened the blinds today and, of course, it was snowing. Then when I tried to take a picture of it with my webcam, of course, it stopped. But I swear, it snowed. I also learned today I will need to be a watchdog when it comes to receiving mail because the delivery guy put the package notification in my neighbor's mailbox. Good thing I stepped out into the snow to flag him down in my pathetic French. Amen for the box, though! Thanks, Marc!

The first Kraft Mac n' Cheese fest in Belgium? SO GOOD.

Doing online classes while in a different time zone is to my advantage right now. Most of my assignments are due in the morning PST, so that 7am deadline today was really...4pm! I had plenty of time to start, edit, and finish my paper. Not so intimidating anymore, are ya?

I bought my first multi-voyage bus pass today. I almost didn't gather the courage, but something like bravery did come over me as I stepped up to the ticket window with a long line behind me and asked the man if he spoke any English. He did speak some, but I didn't really know what ticket I was buying, so that made it much more awkward than it ever needed to be. I kept saying "10" in French and holding up both hands, and he was like, "What line?" And I just kept saying 10. Finally, he somehow understood I wanted more trips than one, and said, "Oh! You want 8 voyage pass?" 8, not 10 - good to know.

Mastered MY bus stop today. It gets me to the train station directly, it's a 3 minute walk from my apartment, and now I have 7 more trips until I need another pass. It's especially helpful that the line starts where my home is, and ends at the station. So no more having to guess where to stop. I also explored the train station quite a bit more, for instance, making sure I knew where the platforms were, what time certain trains leave, and how much they cost. I do not need to know any other lines, so this is a huge step toward never having to drive my car.

I am now fully loaded with supplies, and there is some semblance of organization to my stuff. I am finally able to throw away the two practice t-shirts from college that I had to bring with me for the tour. Those shirts were so disgusting; they hadn't felt clean since after the Dominican Republic trip in 2007, and I am convinced they smell a little bit worse with every wear. I thought about hanging onto them for the rest of this spring at least, but then I looked at the new shirts Marc sent, and was like - WHY do this to yourself? 

Goodbye t-shirts, thanks for getting me this job. 
You're welcome for spreading your ashes over Europe. 
Peace.