I'm really struggling to think of titles for these posts.

 

And photos to head them with, so if I can't think of anything relevant, it's just gonna be pictures of street art, I hope that's okay.

For some reason I've been really productive over the last couple of days, maybe it's the realisation that if someone asks me a question in French on the street I can answer them in French without them laughing in my face.  Or it might be that after my post last weekend I realised that I didn't really have a plan.

I know, I know, it's still ages until I graduate and no one really knows what they're doing, but until now (and to be honest, still now) I had nothing.

Nada.

Niente.

Rien.

And I'm never really sure if I should do anything about it. Most of the people closest to me seem to be telling me not to worry and I'll find something eventually, that I'll be fine. But there are always some people (and it tends to be the people who initiate the 'future' discussion) that can't keep the worried look from their faces when I answer with 'I literally have no idea'. I used to nip the conversation in the bud with 'I'm going on placement in my third year, so I'll decide then'. Which was fine, until third year was actually now, and I'm still no closer to having any direction.

So I started thinking about it, but then I realised it wasn't my refusal to think about it that was the problem, it's that I genuinely don't know. I've changed my mind a couple of times over the past 6/7 years about what I wanted to do, it just so happens that the last time I changed my mind I was left without a replacement idea.

But I'm okay with that, I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. The closest I got to an actual conclusion was just that after I graduate I'd really like to stop moving house. Just for a bit. Just living somewhere for longer than 9 months would be good.

This obviously wasn't the productive part of my week, that part involved deciding on my dissertation topic (sort of), doing washing, going food shopping, replying to all my emails, going running and still managing to have a social life. Unfortunately the last part involved the significantly less productive conclusion that I'd happily spend every night at Open Mic sessions in bars, and another defeat served to me by public transport.

That's now Claire - 0 Brussels transport - like, 50.

I promise I'm going to try and find more interesting things to write about than just whatever I'm thinking at the time, but I am basically excluded from the fashion/beauty realm of blogging due to a) not having any money to buy clothes and therefore wearing the same outfits to work over and over again, and b) not actually using any beauty products. In fact the no money thing prevents me from reviewing basically anything, but I'll find a way to work around it I promise.

Now to finish, a fun fact: Malta does not have a railway system, but then it is made up of 3 small islands, so as you might expect, boats are much better.

Jake Bugg's debut album is awesome, so if you haven't already, give it a listen.

Oh and Mobistar? The last 3 letters of my name are not 't-n-e', but I wanted you to stop calling me when I'm at work, so whatever you think you heard is fine.

Ciao!

xx

P.S. Unlimited thanks to the guy from Omnitherm who was just at the building I work in, not only is my office now toasty warm (and I'm no longer burning my ankles using the electric heater),  but at no other point would I have been able to drop my key down the drain outside and not just burst into tears. You are amazing. Merci beaucoup.

1 week in Brussels - 10 things.

Here are ten things I've taken from my first week in Belgium:

1. Brussels apparently put cars last on their list of priorities against other forms of transport, in fact today is even 'No car day' and public transport is free. However, it appears no one has told the cars this, and everyone drives like they've been told they've only got an hour to live, like 'even if there's a red light I'll drive anyway if it doesn't look like I'm going to hit anyone'. It will probably be a small miracle if I leave this year without a broken leg.


2. The weather is the same. For anyone who had the idea that the weather would be much nicer for much longer in Brussels, this was an error, it's freezing and it rains, just like home...


3. On a more positive note, my French is much better than I thought, at least understanding wise, and when someone asked me a question in the street I actually helped them!


4. Sunday is a ghost town day, everything is closed by 1pm apart from the restaurants, public transport is still as regular,  but buying things is off the agenda entirely.


5. They absolutely love the waffles-fame, no doubt, they know that's what people come to see, in Grand-Place there are at least 5 shops per street that sell waffles for €1, and the waffle vans are everywhere in the city.


6. There's a big difference between the outer districts and the Schuman/EU institution area, particularly in language. I barely hear English in Etterbeek, but a 15 minute walk to the institution buildings creates a very different environment.


7. People are constantly coming and going. Not just in a 'this is an international city' kind of way, but in a 'internships are usually only 5/6 months here' kind of way. So as I'm staying until the end of June, come March I'll probably have to make a whole new set of work/house friends.


8. Google Chrome struggles with having websites in 3 languages. It translates something originally only in French fine, or in Dutch fine, but as soon as a website is potentially in both languages and I would like it in English we seem to get an amalgamation of the three. In which it translates some number characters into their English word counterparts and days of the week are spread over all three languages.


9. It's pointless to register as a resident - or so I've been told. I had an appointment to go and show my documents and pay the fee to become an official resident which then means I can have a bank account. However when I mentioned this to some people they told me it was more trouble than it was worth and since international bank transfers means I don't even need a Belgian bank account to pay my rent  and I don't want a phone contract - I guess they're right.


10. The guy who created Tin Tin is from Brussels, he's even from my district, which so far is my only claim to fame.

À la prochaine

xx