Back to Canada

Well, here I sit in Canada writing my last post.  Coming back felt a lot like when I came back from my year in Korea.  I slept a bit on the plane, but I still had the feeling that it all happened in one day and quite quickly.  Now that I'm back, my bags are unpacked and everything looks just as it did before I left, it's hard to imagine I even went anywhere at all!

Then I think of the great memories and all of the things I did and saw when I was in Belgium and I remember that I had a great year.

Like I said, everything is pretty much back to normal, except my nephew Logan is bigger!

Once again, thank you everyone in Belgium for a really great year - those memories will last a life time :)

The other thing I think of when I think of the past year is trips.  I went on so many trips with so many different people, it was really something.  I was certainly a very fortunate guy to be able to see as much as I did.

Well that's that.  The end of yet another blog.  I think I will make another blog for my life in Canada - I must warn you - I won't update it as often as I updated the Korea/Belgium blogs, but I will keep everyone informed of important things.  Oh, and of course, I'll put up pictures on there!  The address will be iankivellcanada.blogspot.com !  Check it out!

Thank you all for a year of reading and enjoyment!!  I had lots of fun writing this blog and I'm happy you read it!

All the best!!  See you soon!

Ian

Oostende, Mamma Mia & goodbyes

A few weekends back, I went to Oostende.  It's a coastal city in Belgium, more south than Knokke, which is where I went in October.  I liked the city - the air felt fresh and sea-like.  Anyway, we saw Mamma Mia!!  The last time I saw it I was about 15 or something and I went to Toronto for it.  This time it was just as fun!  We also visited a museum - it was the house of the first King & Queen of Belgium.  They weren't terribly rich, so it was interesting to see that they lived in (almost) a normal house!  In fact, the Irish pub (where we ate dinner) was much more lavish than the King's house!  Here are the pictures from Oostende!

That was that!  It was fun!

Tomorrow's the big day.  I've got my bags packed and I'm trying as much as I can to say goodbye to everyone.  Last night we had one last shindig, and lots of people came.  It was really nice to see all of those people one more time before I leave. 

My trip home will probably be fairly regular.  I have to stop in London for 3 hours, but I've done that 3 times now so I know the airport and won't get lost!  Luckily, my roommate Fabian has a car for now and he's going to be able to take me to the airport so I won't have to lug that massive piece of luggage to the airport on the bus.  Good news!

The last time I flew with British Airways, I was upgraded to first class.  It was spectacular.  I don't think that will happen a second time!  I think it was very lucky that it even happened once!  Therefore, I'll have to settle with flying with the commoners again.  sigh.

I might make one more blog post when I get back to Canada, but this will be my last one that I make from Belgium.  It has been a great year - lots of traveling and exploring, learning and discovering.  Thank you to everyone who has made it so special.  Thank you to the Belgians for welcoming me and keeping brightness in my life even though it was almost always raining outside!!  lol

I will be in Canada soon enough and I will be able to see all of those people again who I haven't seen since Christmas, and some of you I haven't seen since last September!

That's that I suppose.  I've had a great year.  Oh!  Thank you to my visitors also!  My parents, my sister and Tamara.  Also my university peeps who didn't quite make it to Brussels, but at least we met in Amsterdam!

Ok, now that's that!  It's been great.  Thanks for reading yet another blog of mine!  As I sign off from Belgium, I wonder - will there be a blog #3??

Farewell Amsterdam

I just read some of my old blog about Korea, and I realized that I really struggled there with my professional life.  I had a blast in Korea, but the job was really wearing me out even before the 6 month mark!  Here I am at the end of my stay in Belgium and I think it's going to be much harder for me to leave here.  My jobs were all great (except when I worked at Café Belga for 10 hours a day with no breaks... but at least then I was working and happy to be getting money), I taught English which I liked, the juice bar was really easy but paid a decent amount, and the job I had taking pictures of hotels, well that was just sketchy.

Belgium, a country I knew almost nothing about before I got here, has wiggled its way into my heart.  Even though it's been without a government for 425 days, it seems to be functioning just fine. 

Here are things I like about Belgium:

The beer!!  It is 1000% times more delicious than beer at home.  I used to think Canada had good beer, but that was just because I was comparing it with American beer, which tastes like fizzy water.  Sorry Canada, but Belgium definitely trumps you for beer.  Once again, my favourite is Bush.

The Fries!!  My favourite french fry wagon (what the French speaking Brusselites call a Fritkot) is at Place Flagey and I will miss them immensely.  Every visitor that I had went there.  It's a must see if anyone ever comes here.

The people!!  Of course, I will miss the people the most.  I always meet the best people.  People ask me "what do you miss most about Canada", and I always say the people.  Anyway, I can't even list all of the people I met in Belgium, but I'll miss you all very much!

Ok.  I will type a good bye message when that day comes, but today is dedicated to the trip I had in Amsterdam where I had a reunion with my University friends Paul, Trevor and Christine!

Here are some things I did this visit that I didn't do before:

Climbed the Westerkerk: It's the church right next to Anne Frank's house, and the one whose bells she mentions repeatedly in her diary.  It meant a lot to me to go up there and see her house from above - it's hard to imagine that she was there for more than 2 years, without ever going outside. 

We also visited a diamond museum which was really cool.  They had historic crowns on display and I've decided I want the British royal crown.  It's the best, let's not lie.

British Imperial State Crown

Next, we went to a newly opened optical illusion museum called Op-Art.  It was fun too! 



My favourite part of the trip, aside from meeting up with my friends and spending time with everyone, was the cheese & wine tasting we did!  I have an official certificate from Reypenaer Cheese that says I'm a certified cheese taster!!  I love it!  Here are some pictures from that

It was sooo fun and even more delicious!  You can see how thrilled I am to be learning about cheese!  Anyway, I highly recommend it to anyone who is going to Amsterdam.  The cost is about €12.50 and the location is Singel 182, Amsterdam (at one end of the widest bridge that has the Multatuli statue on it).

That's all that is coming to mind right now about what we did, so here are the rest of the pictures from that trip!  Enjoy!

Van Gogh Museum, Museumsplein

The famous I amsterdam sign (taken from behind then flipped because there were too many people in front posing!)

Heineken Brewery

Anne Frank's House from above - if you click the picture to enlarge it, you'll see I've put a yellow box around the "Annexe"

A very nice canal and beautiful sunny sky in Amsterdam

That's that folks!  Stay tuned for more updates!

Paris!

Paris, even though I was only there for a few days, was a great trip.  The streets were so clean and buildings and houses uniformly pretty.  We did lots of stuff, and I had the privilege of having a real Parisian as a tour guide.  Her name is Sophie.  I originally met her last November, maybe October and she's great!  She provided so much information and lots of facts throughout my stay!

Here are some pictures of my wonderful trip to Paris!!

Metro entrance

Notre Dame Cathedral

The Seine

Your average Parisian street :)

Eiffel Tower!

The view from the Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

Metro entrance with the Eiffel Tower in the background

At the Louvre!

Here's Mona!  After everyone telling me she was so small, she was actually bigger than I had expected her to be!

Basilique - love this picture

That, in a photographic nutshell, was my trip.  As you can see from the pictures, it's a very picturesque place!  Stay tuned for pictures from Amsterdam!

UWO meets Amsterdam.

I spent the last 5 days in Amsterdam where I met up with my friends from University.  It was soooooooo fun I can't even explain - it had been way too long since the last time we all hung out.

I have 6 days left in Brussels, and still lots of posts to make about different things, as well as lots of pictures to post.  I will start those tomorrow, but here are the topics for you to look forward to: Paris, Amsterdam with friends, my pictures that I've taken around Brussels and Oostende, and Mamma Mia.

I'm not sure if I mentioned that on here, but last weekend I saw Mamma Mia in Oostende.  It was also amazing.


Ok.  Time to go get caught up on my T.V.!

Exciting times

Well, last night I returned to Brussels from Paris.  This morning, in about 20 minutes, I leave for Amsterdam!  This will be my 3rd time going to Amsterdam and I'm quite excited because I'm going for 5 days.  It will be much more slow paced than my last few trips there and I'll be able to visit some new museums and explore more of the city!  The most exciting part this time is that my friends from University will be there!!  My roommates and our friend will be together once again!

Paris was really amazing.  The architectural uniformity was really impressive - the city is split into 20 sections, each having their own distinctive character but each blending and existing in harmony as well.  In short, it is every bit as beautiful as all the movies show it to be.  I saw Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen recently and I think he captures a lot of the beauty of the city.

I'll write more about the trip when I get back from Amsterdam, but I can't leave you without at least one picture so here's one!

Here I am with everything French - wine, a baguette and camembert cheese.  (A.k.a. the stinkiest cheese ever)

Au revoir Paris!