Jason's Daily Notes

Even though it was nearly 5am when I fell asleep, I was awake around 10:30 as Nike was leaving to get some work done.

It's groundhog day!

I emailed Mobile Vikings to ask about my 3G connectivity problems. I chatted with Charly about my visit to Lille on Monday. I helped myself to some coffe and toasted some bread rolls, eating them with Brugge cheese, cream cheese, speculoos, or mayo.

The sun was out! I opened the windows and let a cool, refreshing breeze fill the living room. I needed to go out and explore the city. I walked out (bringing a couple bottles with me to recycle), and it started raining. No, not raining - EVIL SNOW PELLETS had begun to fall out of the sky. No, not again! I would not be detered - I kept walking north. The weather eventually died down and the skies cleared again, thankfully.

I walked to the MAS (Museum Aan der Strom) to see the highly-recommended view from the top. With my student ID, admission to the museum was only €1. I then found out that I didn't need to pay if I just wanted to see the panorama from the roof (d'oh!); oh well. I ascended 9 escalators and walked up the final set of stairs to the roof. The view was really nice. The sun was out, and the wind was blowing, so the air was clear.

I then explored the museum, from the top down. The museum is arranged thematically, and displays mostly historical objects in its collection. Lots of Native American artifacts and ones from around the world. There was an ipod that allowed me to translate all the descriptions from Dutch into English. Cool.

I made my way downstairs and started walking back into the city centre. I walked past some kebab shops, and suddenly I noticed that there were windows with mostly naked women all around me. And lots of single men just walking around. Yep, that's right: I had inadvertently walked into Antwerp's red light district. The irony that I was also a single man walking around was not lost on me, and I was holding back laughter as I walked around.

It was around 16:30, and I was right by the university, so why not stop by and use some internet. But the library closed at 17:00 so I soon left and walked back home. I was hungry, so I bought a falafel on the way home, with spicy sauce. The sauce didn't taste very spicy but it left a burning aftertaste on the roof of my mouth. I really wanted something sweet to soothe my mouth, so when I walked past the Australian Home-Made ice cream stand, I couldn't resist: I got a scoop of speculaas, which was very creamy/buttery.

Back to the apartment; I buzzed and no answer. Again, no answer. I texted Nike and Katrien - no answer. Was something going on? I waited like 5 minutes and called Nike - she was there. I tried the buzzer 2 more times before it worked and I got in, whew! (Apparently the buzzer doesn't always work effectively.)

I wrote an email to a potential job contact, and I felt really optimistic for once! We had to go to Lieselotte's place for dinner, so Nike and I took the bus while Katrien biked. We were a bit late because the bus was not direct there, but no worries because Lieselotte is also slow to get ready.

Dinner was nice - red cabbage salad and a homemade veggie tart. Of course, a few bottles of wine too. Then, we went out to a birthday party for Nike's friend Marianne (sp?). Nike didn't want to  walk, so we hitchhiked into the city! That's right; she just held out her thumb and within 2 minutes we were picked up by two young guys - Jarn (?) and Jason. Yes, a Belgian guy (with an American father) was named Jason. What are the chances?!

We made it to the bar, which was small but cool. The DJ was really old but played everyone's requests. More drinks. Guido arrived. I met Evelyn, and we chatted. She's getting a certificate in law to practice social work sort of. A Belgian guy said to me, it's a shame that all those girls are in a circle and we couldn't break them up. I said, fuck that and used the super effective line - "I'm from California." Totally worked, haha. I ended up chatting with Joke (who works in market research and offered to help with my job search) and Lieve (aspiring social worker). Mike was texting me pickup advice; haha, what a bro. Apparently now I have the reputation of being a player, lol.

Split a taxi home with Nike and Guido. I owe him for the ride. It was only like 4am. I called home. Really.