Back from Switzerland...
I'm back from Switzerland now, in Lille :( I had a great time there. It was great to visit my friend, and to see some mountains, and water, and green grass, and the sun in a blue sky! I actually got a bit of a tan. I fed the Swiss cows up in the mountains, drank water from little Swiss villages, rode the tram in Zurich, chilled out by the Lake of Geneva (Lac Leman), ate a lot of Swiss chocolate, and all in all had a great time.
I'm going to Ieper (Ypres) in Belgium tomorrow, then to Gent (Ghent, Gand) the next day. I really don't want to spend more time in Lille than I have to. And on top of that, it may be a while before I'm so close to Belgium for a while. Ypres should be interesting because there is a Flanders Field museum there (stuff about the Great War from 1914-1918). I'm sure that you've heard the poem 'In Flanders Fields' by McRae. I've heard that Gent is really nice- it's supposed to be as nice as Brugge, but with a lot less tourists (and it's closer to me, meaning that the train ticket is less).
Then I'm off to Stockholm on Friday. I'll be there for a day or two, then I'm going to visit Terry, a friend who was working as an English assistant in Lille, for a few days.
Showing posts with label belgium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label belgium. Show all posts
April 27, 2004
January 19, 2004
Un Grand Weekend a Bruxelles...
This past Wednesday evening, I decided to go to Brussels on Friday morning. So I went to Brussels this weekend.
My train on Friday was 55 minutes late (another not-on-time high speed train). At passport control in Brussels, the guy gave me a hard time. He asked me what I was doing in Belgium, if I knew that I was in Belgium (yes I said, I'm here to visit a friend in Brussels), then asked if I knew that I had left French territory, then again asked if I knew I was in Belgium, before asking to see my return ticket. Maybe he was mad because he was Flemish and I addressed him in French (he would only speak English to me).
Anyway, I met Sophia at the station, and we went to the Grand'Place, and I had an amazing Belgian waffle (with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, mmmmm...). Then we saw the Manekin Pis (the famous statue of a boy peeing), before going to the Courthouse, a church or two, and finally the Royal Palace.
On Friday evening we went to The Fuse, the largest club in Brussels. Some of the stagieres working for the European Commission from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales put on the party (called the "Celtic Connection"). Early in the evening, before the DJ's started, they had an Irish band playing. Some Greek people started dancing Greek style (ooo-pah) to Irish music. Quite amusing. We left around 4h30.
Sunday was relatively quite. I watched two football (not American football) matches between stagieres, then had another Belgian waffle and a coffee before discussing Northern Cypriot politics and economics.
I had to come back to Lille on Sunday, because I'm working today.
But hey, at least I escaped France for a weekend and made it back safely!
A+
This past Wednesday evening, I decided to go to Brussels on Friday morning. So I went to Brussels this weekend.
My train on Friday was 55 minutes late (another not-on-time high speed train). At passport control in Brussels, the guy gave me a hard time. He asked me what I was doing in Belgium, if I knew that I was in Belgium (yes I said, I'm here to visit a friend in Brussels), then asked if I knew that I had left French territory, then again asked if I knew I was in Belgium, before asking to see my return ticket. Maybe he was mad because he was Flemish and I addressed him in French (he would only speak English to me).
Anyway, I met Sophia at the station, and we went to the Grand'Place, and I had an amazing Belgian waffle (with whipped cream and chocolate sauce, mmmmm...). Then we saw the Manekin Pis (the famous statue of a boy peeing), before going to the Courthouse, a church or two, and finally the Royal Palace.
On Friday evening we went to The Fuse, the largest club in Brussels. Some of the stagieres working for the European Commission from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales put on the party (called the "Celtic Connection"). Early in the evening, before the DJ's started, they had an Irish band playing. Some Greek people started dancing Greek style (ooo-pah) to Irish music. Quite amusing. We left around 4h30.
Sunday was relatively quite. I watched two football (not American football) matches between stagieres, then had another Belgian waffle and a coffee before discussing Northern Cypriot politics and economics.
I had to come back to Lille on Sunday, because I'm working today.
But hey, at least I escaped France for a weekend and made it back safely!
A+
December 08, 2003
Wunderbar in Germany...
My trip to Germany really started on Thursday evening. Because there isn't any public transportation to the town where I work from Lille at 4h45 in the morning, I spent the night at one of the teachers houses who lives out here. On Thursday evening he took me and his family out for dinner in Belgium. I did the whole Belgian dinner thing and had a Leffe, a tartine, and Belgian waffles with chocolate syrup for dessert. Back at his place, I watched "l'Auberge Espagnole", which I thought was hilarious because half or more of what happens in the film has happened to me. Call it black humor. Harassed by paperwork, getting mocked in the street for speaking another language, having problems finding a reasonable place to stay, etc.
The bus ride to Aachen, Germany was about 3.5 hours long. We got a tour of the city in French, then quickly wandered through the Christmas market before hitting up McDonalds for lunch. I wasn't about to eat at McDonalds in Germany (I can do that back home), so I wandered through the market and bought myself some bratwurst, fries, and a fried potato/onion thing that was really good.
We then got onto the bus, and drove to Monschau, a really picturesque German town with a Christmas market that wasn't so crowded. I was put in charge of herding around nine 5° (= grade 9) girls. Oh what horror. I bought some small gifts for my family, before heading back to the bus.
I didn't have a problem crossing the border, even though I'm not legally allowed to re-enter France, because there was no one at the border crossing. We just drove through.
Bonne courage à tous...
My trip to Germany really started on Thursday evening. Because there isn't any public transportation to the town where I work from Lille at 4h45 in the morning, I spent the night at one of the teachers houses who lives out here. On Thursday evening he took me and his family out for dinner in Belgium. I did the whole Belgian dinner thing and had a Leffe, a tartine, and Belgian waffles with chocolate syrup for dessert. Back at his place, I watched "l'Auberge Espagnole", which I thought was hilarious because half or more of what happens in the film has happened to me. Call it black humor. Harassed by paperwork, getting mocked in the street for speaking another language, having problems finding a reasonable place to stay, etc.
The bus ride to Aachen, Germany was about 3.5 hours long. We got a tour of the city in French, then quickly wandered through the Christmas market before hitting up McDonalds for lunch. I wasn't about to eat at McDonalds in Germany (I can do that back home), so I wandered through the market and bought myself some bratwurst, fries, and a fried potato/onion thing that was really good.
We then got onto the bus, and drove to Monschau, a really picturesque German town with a Christmas market that wasn't so crowded. I was put in charge of herding around nine 5° (= grade 9) girls. Oh what horror. I bought some small gifts for my family, before heading back to the bus.
I didn't have a problem crossing the border, even though I'm not legally allowed to re-enter France, because there was no one at the border crossing. We just drove through.
Bonne courage à tous...
October 28, 2003
In other news...
Despite the whole police "incident", things have gone fairly well. I haven't holed up in my room, and I've been able to make jokes about the whole thing.
The dinner at my teachers house was great. I got to meet his wife (who is also an English teacher, and who invited the assistant from her school to dinner as well), as well as two of his daughters. We had raclette (melted cheese on potatoes with meat and veggies, mmmm), and some white wine from that region of France. He also had the piano music for some of the songs from "Amelie", so I sat down and sight-read them. That was really cool, because I haven't played piano in a while. He said that he would photocopy them for me!
On the weekend I went out to Cafe Oz with a bunch of assistants from mainly English speaking countries.
Then I spent a day in Tourcoing, and yesterday I spent wandering around Lille with some friends. Nothing too exciting.
Today I went to Bailleul with Genevieve, LaCrystal, and the American Suzanne for a hike. It ended up being more of a stroll though. The cool thing was that we went into Belgium, and there wasn't even a sign saying 'Welcome to Belgium'. We asked a guy, and he said, "I don't speak French [I think he was Flemish/Dutch], but you're in Belgium". The funny thing was that we saw a field of Brussel sprouts right on what we figure was the border between the two countries. We also stopped at a Commonwealth cemetery, and I found the grave of a young man killed in the First World War who has the same last name as me.
Tomorrow I'm heading down to Arras for a few days, which isn't too far from here. I'm planning on going to Vimy Ridge (a big memorial to Canadian soldiers who died in the First World War), and maybe a few other sites.
A+
Despite the whole police "incident", things have gone fairly well. I haven't holed up in my room, and I've been able to make jokes about the whole thing.
The dinner at my teachers house was great. I got to meet his wife (who is also an English teacher, and who invited the assistant from her school to dinner as well), as well as two of his daughters. We had raclette (melted cheese on potatoes with meat and veggies, mmmm), and some white wine from that region of France. He also had the piano music for some of the songs from "Amelie", so I sat down and sight-read them. That was really cool, because I haven't played piano in a while. He said that he would photocopy them for me!
On the weekend I went out to Cafe Oz with a bunch of assistants from mainly English speaking countries.
Then I spent a day in Tourcoing, and yesterday I spent wandering around Lille with some friends. Nothing too exciting.
Today I went to Bailleul with Genevieve, LaCrystal, and the American Suzanne for a hike. It ended up being more of a stroll though. The cool thing was that we went into Belgium, and there wasn't even a sign saying 'Welcome to Belgium'. We asked a guy, and he said, "I don't speak French [I think he was Flemish/Dutch], but you're in Belgium". The funny thing was that we saw a field of Brussel sprouts right on what we figure was the border between the two countries. We also stopped at a Commonwealth cemetery, and I found the grave of a young man killed in the First World War who has the same last name as me.
Tomorrow I'm heading down to Arras for a few days, which isn't too far from here. I'm planning on going to Vimy Ridge (a big memorial to Canadian soldiers who died in the First World War), and maybe a few other sites.
A+
October 04, 2003
Welkomen in Rijsel...
(Welcome to Lille in Flemish, as Lille was the capital of Flanders)
Sorry for not writing more or sooner, but things have been busy here.
I visited one of my schools on Thursday, and the prof was really nice. I met the English teachers, and one of them lives in Lille, so he'll probably be able to drive me out at least one day a week. He actually drove me into Belgium (there's not even a sign saying that you've entered another country).
The other city that I'll be working in, Armentieres, was founded in 866, and no, I'm not missing a 1 at the front). It's got some amazing architecture, but there's not a lot else to do in the towns.
Lille is quite nice; that is if you discount the fact that there is no green space, and the there is dog poo literally everywhere (I haven't stepped in any yet!)
My place is OK. It's a little small, but it's better than the youth hostel (my room there smelled like barf and cologne, uck). There are at least 10 assistants living in the same building as I am. There are 3 British girls, a few Americans, and a Spanish assistant from Columbia. I met some cool people at the hostel. I met an assistant from Portugal, two from Italy, and two from Chile, as well as several British assistants.
Yesterday was the orientation in Lille, when all of the assistants got together for an info session. It was OK, but the ''Formation'' (read teacher training) is this Thursday, in Douai, which is another city about 20 away by train.
I tried to open up a bank account at La Poste on Thursday (after setting up an appointment the previous day, so that I could see a financial advisor). Anyway, he looks at the visa in my passport and tells me that it's not the right type of visa, and that because I don't have a carte de séjour yet (I need a bank account to get the carte de séjour, because I need proof that I'm being paid) he can't help me, goodbye, better luck next time. Yah, that was helpful.
I'm going to try another bank on Monday morning. I talked with some assistants yesterday to get the names of a few places that have worked for them.
A+
(Welcome to Lille in Flemish, as Lille was the capital of Flanders)
Sorry for not writing more or sooner, but things have been busy here.
I visited one of my schools on Thursday, and the prof was really nice. I met the English teachers, and one of them lives in Lille, so he'll probably be able to drive me out at least one day a week. He actually drove me into Belgium (there's not even a sign saying that you've entered another country).
The other city that I'll be working in, Armentieres, was founded in 866, and no, I'm not missing a 1 at the front). It's got some amazing architecture, but there's not a lot else to do in the towns.
Lille is quite nice; that is if you discount the fact that there is no green space, and the there is dog poo literally everywhere (I haven't stepped in any yet!)
My place is OK. It's a little small, but it's better than the youth hostel (my room there smelled like barf and cologne, uck). There are at least 10 assistants living in the same building as I am. There are 3 British girls, a few Americans, and a Spanish assistant from Columbia. I met some cool people at the hostel. I met an assistant from Portugal, two from Italy, and two from Chile, as well as several British assistants.
Yesterday was the orientation in Lille, when all of the assistants got together for an info session. It was OK, but the ''Formation'' (read teacher training) is this Thursday, in Douai, which is another city about 20 away by train.
I tried to open up a bank account at La Poste on Thursday (after setting up an appointment the previous day, so that I could see a financial advisor). Anyway, he looks at the visa in my passport and tells me that it's not the right type of visa, and that because I don't have a carte de séjour yet (I need a bank account to get the carte de séjour, because I need proof that I'm being paid) he can't help me, goodbye, better luck next time. Yah, that was helpful.
I'm going to try another bank on Monday morning. I talked with some assistants yesterday to get the names of a few places that have worked for them.
A+
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