Well, today has been a good combo of good things.
Good thing 1: It's the weekend. I'm done my first week of class. Yay!
Good thing 2: It looks like I have to do less work then I thought for my MA. Double Yay!
Good thing 3: I hung out with someone and it was, like, having a normal person for a friend. Triple Yay!
Yeah, it's looking a lot less lonely...well, not totally, but a little less, for sure. I'm just still not understanding the cultural weirdness around here...how people seem not to do so much around here. It's totally weird. A lot of people in the program are either out at a party or not part of anything at all, which is TRES weird. But, perhaps nothing more than the normal life of a university student, waiting for someone to invite you to do something fun and worthwhile. In reality, everyone is just waiting for an invitation to do stuff. Yeah, seems that way.
Also, I had a Duvel beer tonight, and I actually really enjoyed it. (Well, about as much as I could, which is a really big step for me, since I don't drink, really.) I still wouldn't order any sort of alcohol over anything cheaper, but it was ok. I am trying to really be a part of Belgian culture, and get into it, so I will try and do that. Here's to being university student 'normal'. LOL.
Which is weird, because there was a big party, and this one guy thought I was being a big party pooper because I wasn't drinking, but I just didn't want to drink right then. I guess I am ok with having a drink when it is around friends in a very quiet atmosphere, but definitely not a big fan when it is in a party atmosphere. Besides, peer pressure shouldn't be part of a good time. And the first big bash of the year was really lame for me. You could tell people were catching up after the summer, and really getting into the swing of things, but for me, I was just getting to know people, so I didn't really feel like I belonged in such an atmosphere...but it was really fun to go watch everyone get really excited about all the Europop that was playing in the Oude Market. *Grin* I saw guys dancing and girls singing along to North American music like nobody's business, and it was really amusing to watch. Anyhow, today was a good day, and here's to every day getting a little better, and a little less by myself, and a little more in the world of Leuven.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Further Evidence that Spiders are trying to kill me
For those of you who didn't believe me. These things are babykillers. I'm SO not joking.
In other news, I had my MA orientation meeting this afternoon...and I have officially decided that I'm in a lot of crap. LOL. Thoughts are constantly rushing through my head right now...such as, "Why haven't I picked out my thesis topic, written seven drafts of it, and handed those into my sponsoring professor who doesn't even know he's my sponsor yet?" Yeah, I dunno, I just kept thinking about the extremely large amount of work I have to do for the next month in terms of personal projects...it's not very pretty. I basically need to be spending at least two hours a night, I'd say, working on my own personal research. Along with a thesis, MA's need to do a mini research paper for the first year of about 25 pages...on top of taking 5 classes and 1 seminar class per semester.
I love it. Isn't KU Leuven cool?
Once I pick a topic...because I'm wavering a little between several, and it will REALLY depend on my thesis advisor person I pick, I plan to go at it like the black death in an English public square filled with girls singing 'Pocket full of Posies'. However, until then, I'm a little scared of the unknown...mainly because I have several interests, and I am not totally sure which ones would benefit me more...augh, if only I knew the future! LOL. A problem for a philosophy student, for sure. ;) Otherwise, things here are good. I did about an hour and a half of dutch tonight, and I'm totally Dutch-fried. As the Flemish would say of me, I'm sure, "Hijs Deutsch is slecht, ERG slecht." (His Dutch is bad, VERY bad.)
Lastly, this is a big Happy Birthday to my little brother Martin, who is now thirteen, which is possibly the most awkward age of any living human being alive. We're proud of you Martin! Way to survive thirteen years without killing yourself by jumping off of bike ramps, rolling down hills, taunting people larger than you, and throwing snowballs at police cars! (Well, we're not proud about the police cars part, but we think he learned his lesson.) Happy Birthday Martin, and sorry I couldn't be there because I have to eventually get a stupid job. Sorry.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Velkim to Vrennan's Leetel Shop of 'Orrors!
In boot noomber vonne, the evil pig remains!
Yes, I found this in a can of food I ate today. This was in my generic can of beans and weiners. Exciting, no? I-nearly-barfed. At first, I was like, "Oh yeah, one of the weiners in here looks like it was quite processed right." That's putting it pretty mildly. I think I recieved an interesting combo between a pig hoof and an intenstine. I mean, it's not like I have any problems with hot dog weiners...I'm quite aware of what they are. When finely processed, it's ok. When it looked like a cross between a chicken wing and a knotty tree stump, I have major issues. Like, major issues to the maximo. However, I was really hungry, and I ate it anyways.
Just kidding.
In boot nomber doo, The sccccary web of doom!!!
OK, this one requires a little bit of explanation. In the middle of the night, I returned home from some sort of Orientation event with the university, and I put away my bike, like any other day. However, I never noticed the spider web in my face until it was all over my face. Yes, my friends, My bike rack area is inhabited by people-catching spiders. I'm not even joking with you. The spider webs are constructed in various devious places...usually where one would put one's head when one would go to crouch to unlock his or her bike. Other fun locations include: Right above the door leading outside the apartment building, right besides the door leading into the back garage area, and the list goes on and on. No, these are no ordinary spiders...these are spider masterminds, ala Pinky and the Brain style. I say that because there are now two spiders who are exibiting this distrubing habit of putting webs (And, I mean, big webs...like, slightly larger than baskeball hoop sized webs.) right above the bike racks...these spiders are no dummies. They want to cash in the big prize, and they sit in the middle of their webs ALL day. If I didn't value my blood flow so much, I would say they are amazing creatures of nature. Currently, however, my mild yet disabling arachnaphobia is ruining my life by giving me extreme heebeejeebees...and preventing me from getting my bike.
Well, other than that, today has been a fun day of first classes. It looks like a good semester, and I am excited for tomorrow, and the days after. Hopefully the awesome feeling of actually liking what I'm doing does not wear off until at least thesis time next year. *Grin*
Sunday, September 25, 2005
The story of why sandwiches not ought to contain salmon, mayonaisse, lettuce and salad dressing and be let to sit in one's backpack for 10 hours.
Oh, my stomach. LOL.
I suppose I was asking for it. However, in my defense, I didn't PLAN to leave them in there for so long. Also in my defense, when I tried the night before, it tasted good, if a little weird. (We are what we eat, I suppose.) However, being left in my backpack on a relatively warmish day leaves one with relatively warmish salmon. Not entirely pleasant...but not entirely unpleasant until one has a dessert composed entirely of several handfuls of candy to make up for the lack of sleep one has had for the day. Mmm, candy. I'm eating some more right now. =D I have santicmoniously decided that getting the taste out of my mouth/system is more important than whether or not I feel on the brink of naseous for the rest of the day.
Today was my trip to Bruge! What an AWESOME city! I'm SO GLAD I WENT. Especially when I was feeling like being stingy and not going would be a better option. I had so much fun. The whole day was a blast, and everyone I was with was really nice. I met some really cool people. On top of that, Bruge has SO much to see. They have an 82m tall brick tower. BRICK. Seriously, amazing, and also dizzyifying to look at. My eyes hurt when I did for too long. That and there is ivy that grows everywhere and all over stuff, that makes you feel like you really ARE in a really old place. I also saw lots of swans! And, CANADIAN GEESE! SO AWESOME! The best part about it has to be that I got to feed the ducks by the pond...they were so friendly! I fed them parts of my apple. By the time I had fed a particularly ambitious one about half of my apple core, the rest of the ducks showed up, and I eventually had enough to start my own baseball team. It's too bad/a good thing that I didn't feed them my sandwiches. Although they might have liked them, they might have caused spontaneous growths of a third eye in the fowl population, and I wouldn't want to be personally repsonsible for that. Well, not without being able to blame it on someone else: "It was Godfried! He KNEW the ducks liked warmish salmon! HE'S the evil mastermind behind this all, I swear! I'm only doing my master in philosophy, he's doing his in engineering! It's all an eloborate framing! I'm being framed!" I'm sure I could get off on a plea for insanity if I started discussing possibilities for my master's thesis.
What's really cool, is I met someone from the U.S. who's doing HIS MA in Philosophy. What's quite funny, is that his name is Rocky, short for Rockwell, and he has the most American-esque broadcaster voice you've ever heard. What's REALLY funny, is that he's from Fordham university, where I applied for my master's. What's absolutely HILARIOUS, is that he's a very fun person to know, and he seems to have a head on his shoulders which does not bobble when he talks about philosophy, and he can elaborate on concepts to make them intelligible. Amazing. I also razzed him a bit, because he's from the U.S., and he is VERY unfamiliar with the Analytic tradition in philosophy, even more so than I, so he was kind enough to let me have a laugh about that. He's a very cool guy. We trashed analytical philosophy for a while. It was fun. It was absolutely AMAZING to talk shop in terms of philosophy. I loved it. It was like a breath of what home smells like after a long journey away. I loved being with Air Cadets for the summer, but discussing metaphysics, meaning, and ethics in political sphere was like, wow. All I could think was, "I LOVE TALKING NERDY. GIMMIE MORE." I love it, I love it, I love it I do. It's just so, ahh, wow. Philosophy rules. I love it.
Bruge had some really cool stuff. Sadly, I never had a chance to grab any tourist-y stuff. So, no postcards from this trip. However, I certainly met a lot more friends, and went for the experience of meeting people, and I had a really great time with meeting people. That made me happy. Met some insta-friends, that's for sure. Especially German people. They seem to be very friendly and easy to get to know. I can see why the German are one of the bigger minorities that gets on with the Dutch; they both seem to be very friendly people, and both seem to have a history in their countries of being under oppression of other people, and of having an uncertain national picture. Although, of course, Germany has had a strong picture of its nation in the past, but I would say, maybe on a whim, that it has had many upheavals, and maybe this has caused some national fragmentation? I'm not sure. A guess, and a bad one, I'm betting.
One tidbit that is quite funny, is that "The Lake of Love" is a misnomer in Dutch that an old Count or someone used, and the common word actually stands for 'water devil.' So, if you ever visit Bruge, remember to visit the lovely "Lake fo the Water Devil." A little less romantic title, but an absolutely beautiful waterway that is present in Bruge. Ah, to have such history.
It seems Canadians fail to have such a history...maybe they have not been around long enough. And, is it just me, or is it that any piece of really good European art began with its beginnings in the Medieval Era? This one goes out to Prof. Still. The Middle Ages rule.
Well, I should probably get on to doing other things...like eventually sleeping. I have my international philosophy student meeting tomorrow. =D I'm pretty excited for that. I hope I will get to meet everyone in my program. Maybe we'll have a party? Yeah, that'd be cool.
I suppose I was asking for it. However, in my defense, I didn't PLAN to leave them in there for so long. Also in my defense, when I tried the night before, it tasted good, if a little weird. (We are what we eat, I suppose.) However, being left in my backpack on a relatively warmish day leaves one with relatively warmish salmon. Not entirely pleasant...but not entirely unpleasant until one has a dessert composed entirely of several handfuls of candy to make up for the lack of sleep one has had for the day. Mmm, candy. I'm eating some more right now. =D I have santicmoniously decided that getting the taste out of my mouth/system is more important than whether or not I feel on the brink of naseous for the rest of the day.
Today was my trip to Bruge! What an AWESOME city! I'm SO GLAD I WENT. Especially when I was feeling like being stingy and not going would be a better option. I had so much fun. The whole day was a blast, and everyone I was with was really nice. I met some really cool people. On top of that, Bruge has SO much to see. They have an 82m tall brick tower. BRICK. Seriously, amazing, and also dizzyifying to look at. My eyes hurt when I did for too long. That and there is ivy that grows everywhere and all over stuff, that makes you feel like you really ARE in a really old place. I also saw lots of swans! And, CANADIAN GEESE! SO AWESOME! The best part about it has to be that I got to feed the ducks by the pond...they were so friendly! I fed them parts of my apple. By the time I had fed a particularly ambitious one about half of my apple core, the rest of the ducks showed up, and I eventually had enough to start my own baseball team. It's too bad/a good thing that I didn't feed them my sandwiches. Although they might have liked them, they might have caused spontaneous growths of a third eye in the fowl population, and I wouldn't want to be personally repsonsible for that. Well, not without being able to blame it on someone else: "It was Godfried! He KNEW the ducks liked warmish salmon! HE'S the evil mastermind behind this all, I swear! I'm only doing my master in philosophy, he's doing his in engineering! It's all an eloborate framing! I'm being framed!" I'm sure I could get off on a plea for insanity if I started discussing possibilities for my master's thesis.
What's really cool, is I met someone from the U.S. who's doing HIS MA in Philosophy. What's quite funny, is that his name is Rocky, short for Rockwell, and he has the most American-esque broadcaster voice you've ever heard. What's REALLY funny, is that he's from Fordham university, where I applied for my master's. What's absolutely HILARIOUS, is that he's a very fun person to know, and he seems to have a head on his shoulders which does not bobble when he talks about philosophy, and he can elaborate on concepts to make them intelligible. Amazing. I also razzed him a bit, because he's from the U.S., and he is VERY unfamiliar with the Analytic tradition in philosophy, even more so than I, so he was kind enough to let me have a laugh about that. He's a very cool guy. We trashed analytical philosophy for a while. It was fun. It was absolutely AMAZING to talk shop in terms of philosophy. I loved it. It was like a breath of what home smells like after a long journey away. I loved being with Air Cadets for the summer, but discussing metaphysics, meaning, and ethics in political sphere was like, wow. All I could think was, "I LOVE TALKING NERDY. GIMMIE MORE." I love it, I love it, I love it I do. It's just so, ahh, wow. Philosophy rules. I love it.
Bruge had some really cool stuff. Sadly, I never had a chance to grab any tourist-y stuff. So, no postcards from this trip. However, I certainly met a lot more friends, and went for the experience of meeting people, and I had a really great time with meeting people. That made me happy. Met some insta-friends, that's for sure. Especially German people. They seem to be very friendly and easy to get to know. I can see why the German are one of the bigger minorities that gets on with the Dutch; they both seem to be very friendly people, and both seem to have a history in their countries of being under oppression of other people, and of having an uncertain national picture. Although, of course, Germany has had a strong picture of its nation in the past, but I would say, maybe on a whim, that it has had many upheavals, and maybe this has caused some national fragmentation? I'm not sure. A guess, and a bad one, I'm betting.
One tidbit that is quite funny, is that "The Lake of Love" is a misnomer in Dutch that an old Count or someone used, and the common word actually stands for 'water devil.' So, if you ever visit Bruge, remember to visit the lovely "Lake fo the Water Devil." A little less romantic title, but an absolutely beautiful waterway that is present in Bruge. Ah, to have such history.
It seems Canadians fail to have such a history...maybe they have not been around long enough. And, is it just me, or is it that any piece of really good European art began with its beginnings in the Medieval Era? This one goes out to Prof. Still. The Middle Ages rule.
Well, I should probably get on to doing other things...like eventually sleeping. I have my international philosophy student meeting tomorrow. =D I'm pretty excited for that. I hope I will get to meet everyone in my program. Maybe we'll have a party? Yeah, that'd be cool.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Another day of self-orienting
Well, today was another brand of interesting...I woke up to find a letter tucked under my door, from my landlord. Apparently I forgot to pay the rent for September!!! *Wince* Yeah, I know, it's not exactly what I thought it would be...I was having those weird fantasies people always have in the movies...like, "Could this really be a letter from the other side, from my great-aunt Flo?" or, "So that Internet e-mail thing where you passed on an e-mail and got a check for 3 million dollars really WASN'T a scam." Yeah, well, I had just woken up, so give me a little credit/leeway.
This, of course, made me hurry over to the bank to do some crazy money transferring. After which, my machine told me that it wouldn't transfer until Sept 26. Sept 26????? Yeah, I know. Anyways, I guess it takes a while for these things to take effect. As soon as I know that the transfer went through properly, I am going to send them a letter and officially apologize...how embarrassing. Totally not like me at all. I am still figuring everything out here...although I feel superior in many ways to people who have been here only a short while, on the other hand, I kinda feel like they might know just as much as me...not to mention that a lot of these people here are at least bilingual, if not trilingual as international students. *Sigh* SO much to learn. So much time. *Grin*
I met a couple new people today when I went to the sports centre. A girl named Mana...she's really nice. I keep wanting to making the joke, "So did you fall from heaven, too?" but I'm not sure she'd get it...not sure if she's religious...I'm thinking no. Anyways, I thought it was funny...even if it's not a joke I would tell. I think that one is about as tasteful as when I was getting to this guy in my English class named Denver, and I said, "Oh yeah! Like the sandwich!" He gave me one of those looks, laughed and said, "Yeah...I've never heard that before."
I also met a couple other people who were standing around with Mana, but I don't know them very well. Mana and I walked downtown and then went our separate ways. I was supposed to meet up with a bunch of people at an international party and see those people there, but I didn't find it...I had a good walk, which was nice. And, you know, you never realize how tired you are until you go for walk later in the evening, and you are falling asleep even when walking. That's only happened to me a couple times, but I guess I am just so sleepy today...mostly because I am very relaxed. It's nice. I've been reading a lot and really enjoying it. I've moved on from my survey book on ethics that Emer gave me a LONG time ago, and I am now reading a intro book on Continental phil. Although, it's more of an exposition on the historical rift between analytical and continental philosophy, which is still really good. I'm really enjoying, and in a lot of ways, agreeing with the author, even. After that book, I get to read Susan Neiman's book on evil! That'll be mega cool! GO EVIL! Um...the study of it...I mean. Yeah. That's it.
The one thing about the walk that I signed up to go on around the Heverlee campus, is that Mana and I were the only ones left there, and our guide had ditched, so this guy who wasn't very familiar with the sports centre gave the walk, and all Mana and I really wanted to see was the sports centre area and where the pool and gym was. LOL. So, it was a very short walk...which was ok, becuase I walked for a while after that, and that was good...but it was just to go home.
Overall, today was a very good day. The only thing today that was rotten was a loaf of bread that I bought from the market last week. (Which is really weird...I have a bunch of bread, and the raisin bread that I bought at the start of the month is still going strong, but the bread I bought LAST WEEK just keeled over. How sucky. *Grin*) I also have a bunch of soft tortillas....maybe I should make some tacos? That'd be pretty cool. Maybe I'll do that.
This, of course, made me hurry over to the bank to do some crazy money transferring. After which, my machine told me that it wouldn't transfer until Sept 26. Sept 26????? Yeah, I know. Anyways, I guess it takes a while for these things to take effect. As soon as I know that the transfer went through properly, I am going to send them a letter and officially apologize...how embarrassing. Totally not like me at all. I am still figuring everything out here...although I feel superior in many ways to people who have been here only a short while, on the other hand, I kinda feel like they might know just as much as me...not to mention that a lot of these people here are at least bilingual, if not trilingual as international students. *Sigh* SO much to learn. So much time. *Grin*
I met a couple new people today when I went to the sports centre. A girl named Mana...she's really nice. I keep wanting to making the joke, "So did you fall from heaven, too?" but I'm not sure she'd get it...not sure if she's religious...I'm thinking no. Anyways, I thought it was funny...even if it's not a joke I would tell. I think that one is about as tasteful as when I was getting to this guy in my English class named Denver, and I said, "Oh yeah! Like the sandwich!" He gave me one of those looks, laughed and said, "Yeah...I've never heard that before."
I also met a couple other people who were standing around with Mana, but I don't know them very well. Mana and I walked downtown and then went our separate ways. I was supposed to meet up with a bunch of people at an international party and see those people there, but I didn't find it...I had a good walk, which was nice. And, you know, you never realize how tired you are until you go for walk later in the evening, and you are falling asleep even when walking. That's only happened to me a couple times, but I guess I am just so sleepy today...mostly because I am very relaxed. It's nice. I've been reading a lot and really enjoying it. I've moved on from my survey book on ethics that Emer gave me a LONG time ago, and I am now reading a intro book on Continental phil. Although, it's more of an exposition on the historical rift between analytical and continental philosophy, which is still really good. I'm really enjoying, and in a lot of ways, agreeing with the author, even. After that book, I get to read Susan Neiman's book on evil! That'll be mega cool! GO EVIL! Um...the study of it...I mean. Yeah. That's it.
The one thing about the walk that I signed up to go on around the Heverlee campus, is that Mana and I were the only ones left there, and our guide had ditched, so this guy who wasn't very familiar with the sports centre gave the walk, and all Mana and I really wanted to see was the sports centre area and where the pool and gym was. LOL. So, it was a very short walk...which was ok, becuase I walked for a while after that, and that was good...but it was just to go home.
Overall, today was a very good day. The only thing today that was rotten was a loaf of bread that I bought from the market last week. (Which is really weird...I have a bunch of bread, and the raisin bread that I bought at the start of the month is still going strong, but the bread I bought LAST WEEK just keeled over. How sucky. *Grin*) I also have a bunch of soft tortillas....maybe I should make some tacos? That'd be pretty cool. Maybe I'll do that.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Starting 'It' up again
Well...I have finally sucumbed. I don't know if a lot of people are going to read this thing, but I thought I would start posting on this blog...maybe because I have a lot of free time...maybe because I could use a writing outlet so my english doesn't deteriorate...maybe because I'm only humourous when I'm writing over the Internet...I'm only mildly amusing in person, really. (Personally, I blame it on the fact that I don't have enough time to think of a joke and THEN say it. Ah, the beauty of editing your own material. Nothing like it.) Also, I know a lot of people have been e-mailing me lately, and I feel like I may not be able to respond to everyone to the same degree, and, also, there are some things which appear better in a blog than in an e-mail. My e-mails are more personal...usually. I sometimes can't help but send out that one forward that says, "If you do not send this within twenty-four hours you will be cursed in love for EVER!" I, of course, am strong for the first thirteen or so hours, but in a crushing tidal wave of anxiety during one of my frequent Brennanesque anxiety attacks, I undelete the forward from my e-mail trash can and send it to everyone I know except my grandmother. (Those sorts of things only provoke her...into...er, trying to set me up on dates, which usually makes my mom try and set me up on dates, which, well, no. Just NO, man.)
Anyways, I am going to try out the personal web log experience, and see how I feel about it. I imagine it will be pretty good, although I don't know that anyone will read this. Hm. I suppose we'll have to see what happens.
Anyways, it is late, and I should go to bed. Tomorrow is another action packed day of orientation for international students. I am currently not really sure what the sports tomorrow will be like...I signed up for badminiton and a walk around the campus. The other choices were volleyball (Not that good at it.) a card game (which no one signed up for.) some sort of Brazillian dance martial arts thingy (which no guys signed up for, so I'm curious what exactly it is.) and soccer (which NO WAY am I going to try and play against Europeans. Does it LOOK like I have a deathwish? I enjoy my teeth and ego where they are, thank you very much.)
Today I met a bunch of people...there are actually Canadians here studying in the philosophy program at KU Leuven! Cool! I also met this British girl named...Shalu? I think? Anyways, she introduced me, which was really nice of her. I am pretty sure I appeared really stupid to most everyone I met....I think the lack of social contact with people is eroding my attempts at social skills. Then again, did I have any???? Maybe I am just loud and obnoxious...is that a social skill??? Anyways, I went to a intro Dutch session, and it went ok, but that's because I sat beside a really smart girl who was German, Elise, I think, and we plotted together to beat the little sheets of work that they gave us, and considering they spoke in Dutch for the whole thing, it worked out pretty well. Me studying a little Dutch on my own is really helping.
What's really amusing is that two of the Canadians who are in philosophy are actually living on the same street as me! LOL. And fairly close. They're pretty cool people. Anyhow, I went back, had supper, went to go to the international party at Pangaea (the international student's cafe/building, etc.) and I ended up running into a French guy, who spoke almost no English, and I spoke almost no french and dutch and all I could think was things like, "Je'mapelle Brennan. Et tu?" or "Je comprende un petit la francias" I know I misspelled that, thank you very much. I also know that I was wishing I knew more french at the time. He was a really nice guy. He had a cold. Anyways, it was a truly international experience. We kinda hit it off, even though speaking to each other was like grinding a horse through a personal home-based food processor, but still, pretty cool. Anyways, after that little detour, I went to the party, which turned out to have already vacated to bars and cafes around the city...there were about five guys left at Pangeae playing ping-pong and speaking what I think was German...no totally sure. Anyways, that was lame, and I biked home, and read a bit, and just sort of hung out and ate popcorn...they have candied popcorn here, but no pop-it-yourself-popcorn...what's up with that??? SO weird. Anyways, I went to the corner store and the bad of popcorn cost me 2€!!! I couldn't believe it...but I was too wimpy to say I didn't want it...besides, I DID want it...I just didn't want to have to pay 2€...GEEZ.
Also, the handyman for this place came and stucco'd my walls where there were cracks in the tile...once again...knowing dutch and french would be a mega supreme asset, here. Language barriers. Darn it anyways. LOL. Well, it's coming along, so I shouldn't complain too much.
Anyways, I am going to try out the personal web log experience, and see how I feel about it. I imagine it will be pretty good, although I don't know that anyone will read this. Hm. I suppose we'll have to see what happens.
Anyways, it is late, and I should go to bed. Tomorrow is another action packed day of orientation for international students. I am currently not really sure what the sports tomorrow will be like...I signed up for badminiton and a walk around the campus. The other choices were volleyball (Not that good at it.) a card game (which no one signed up for.) some sort of Brazillian dance martial arts thingy (which no guys signed up for, so I'm curious what exactly it is.) and soccer (which NO WAY am I going to try and play against Europeans. Does it LOOK like I have a deathwish? I enjoy my teeth and ego where they are, thank you very much.)
Today I met a bunch of people...there are actually Canadians here studying in the philosophy program at KU Leuven! Cool! I also met this British girl named...Shalu? I think? Anyways, she introduced me, which was really nice of her. I am pretty sure I appeared really stupid to most everyone I met....I think the lack of social contact with people is eroding my attempts at social skills. Then again, did I have any???? Maybe I am just loud and obnoxious...is that a social skill??? Anyways, I went to a intro Dutch session, and it went ok, but that's because I sat beside a really smart girl who was German, Elise, I think, and we plotted together to beat the little sheets of work that they gave us, and considering they spoke in Dutch for the whole thing, it worked out pretty well. Me studying a little Dutch on my own is really helping.
What's really amusing is that two of the Canadians who are in philosophy are actually living on the same street as me! LOL. And fairly close. They're pretty cool people. Anyhow, I went back, had supper, went to go to the international party at Pangaea (the international student's cafe/building, etc.) and I ended up running into a French guy, who spoke almost no English, and I spoke almost no french and dutch and all I could think was things like, "Je'mapelle Brennan. Et tu?" or "Je comprende un petit la francias" I know I misspelled that, thank you very much. I also know that I was wishing I knew more french at the time. He was a really nice guy. He had a cold. Anyways, it was a truly international experience. We kinda hit it off, even though speaking to each other was like grinding a horse through a personal home-based food processor, but still, pretty cool. Anyways, after that little detour, I went to the party, which turned out to have already vacated to bars and cafes around the city...there were about five guys left at Pangeae playing ping-pong and speaking what I think was German...no totally sure. Anyways, that was lame, and I biked home, and read a bit, and just sort of hung out and ate popcorn...they have candied popcorn here, but no pop-it-yourself-popcorn...what's up with that??? SO weird. Anyways, I went to the corner store and the bad of popcorn cost me 2€!!! I couldn't believe it...but I was too wimpy to say I didn't want it...besides, I DID want it...I just didn't want to have to pay 2€...GEEZ.
Also, the handyman for this place came and stucco'd my walls where there were cracks in the tile...once again...knowing dutch and french would be a mega supreme asset, here. Language barriers. Darn it anyways. LOL. Well, it's coming along, so I shouldn't complain too much.
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