February

Yay, it's February!  I'm not sure why that warrants a 'yay', but alas, it did.  I have once again been looking for work, albeit not as vigorously as last time.  I have re-applied to 2 places, instead of the 11 that I went to that one day.  The 2nd place I went to is called Churchill's.  It's actually an English pub instead of Irish, but close enough.  Luckily, the manager was working so I talked to him for a bit and explained my situation.  He seemed to be interested in me so that's good.  He said that he has a bar opening up in a month and that he'll keep me in mind for that.  I seem to have caught him at a good time (I mean in terms of the new bar opening because it will have to be filled with staff!)

In the mean time, I have decided to go to Antwerp on my next entirely free day.  That will probably be on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  Today I had to go to the commune AGAIN to get my card (or so I thought) this time, I signed some papers, got some papers, and paid 17€.  Now, I have to wait... AGAIN to get an invitation in the mail... AGAIN to go get the card.  Or at least I think this will be the time I finally get it!!!!!


It has taken SO. LONG.  I remember in Korea I had my card within weeks.  Not only that, I had my bank account within days.  I have been here in Belgium for 4 MONTHS.  The whole system is ridiculously slow.  I don't understand.  Not to mention the people who work at the commune are SOOOOO crazily rude to the people who need services.  I'm not sure if you'd call them clients or what, but it's almost uncalled for.  I overheard this conversation while I was there:


Citizen - I have an appointment at 9?
Guy working - I don't have you written down here.
C - Oh.  You sent me a notice in the mail.
GW - Did you bring the notice we sent you?
C - No, I didn't think I needed it.
GW - Then what's the point of us sending it?
C - um.  I don't know, sorry.


The last line there is where I would have changed the conversation.  I would NOT have apologized.  Just the tone of that guys voice who was working is making me get worked up now, I guess what he said wasn't so bad, it's just the condescending way he said it.  All of the staff had this dreary "my job sucks" kind of attitude.  I mean it might be difficult, but suck it up.  You're not running around for 10 hours with no break sweating and being yelled at in a language that you don't understand.  Maybe you should look around and realize how fortunate you are to be sitting in a heated office with coffee and quiet, getting paid by the government.


Anyway the girl I had was nicer.  She still reminded me of Carol Beer, but she was nicer.  If you don't know Carol Beer, I highly suggest watching the video in the link there.  It's quite funny!!


There are more meetups coming up!!  I'm so excited because I just love these meetup events.  They really do give me a lot to look forward to!  Saturday there are 2 meetups and I hope I can go to both.  The first is bowling (so obviously if I can only get to one it will be that one!).  That is with the French Meetup Group.  That's the one where people who aren't necessarily French native speakers get together and practice the language in a setting where it's ok to make mistakes.  It's a really really good idea for a group.  Like I said, we're going bowling.  As of now, there are 23 people going so that will be quite the crowd, and quite fun!!!  I almost went bowling today actually... by myself... because I just had such a strong craving for it!  I guess I can wait 2 days!


The meetup after that is with the Brussels Get Together group.  They will be going to a bar which is Spanish themed so that will be fun.  That's after bowling, so if bowling goes too late, I mightn't be able to go to that one.  And yes, I just wrote mightn't.


After that, on Thursday the 10th, there is another bowling meetup with the Brussels Get Together group (the same people who are going to the Spanish bar on Saturday).  I'm so excited for the amount of bowling in my life!  The final one that is planned and that I plan to attend is with the French meetup group again, and they're just going to meet up at a cafe over a nice cup of coffee and practice French in a nice quiet setting (which will be a nice change from the Cafe Delirium we ended up at last time!  


I have taken some new pictures of my bedroom.  I cleaned up a lot, and re-arranged the furniture so that there is more space.  There are now plants too.  Bing bang boom, it looks like a new room.  Here are pictures.

 This is the new garden/sun room area.

 This doesn't look tidy, but they're book shelves and there's only a certain amount of tidy they can be.  Anyway, on the left you can see the coffee machine.  That's a key part of the room.

 New desk!

The lamp that's about 12 feet up on the ceiling in the sun room area.  I almost died trying to put that thing up.


Alright!  I think that's all the pictures and news for now!  I will go downstairs and wash some pans that I used for breakfast this morning!


I hope everyone is doing fine in Canada.  I have heard sooooo much about the storm you've been getting and it sounds pretty bad!  Anyway, I have to go now and wash dishes.  I also just got an e-mail about the Jets of Encleadus from NASA so that will be interesting.


Have a great day!  Bye everyone!