day seventy-three: leaving belgium is harder than you think...

well, at least for this traveler and her traveling companion it was. let me explain...

first off, I was wicked excited to be off to belgium: see sarah vaux de roeck (at some point the name won't seem so long), hang out with her husband kris, roost about in their flat, see a bit of antwerp, have a real, wonderful thanksgiving dinner...the list goes on and on. after waking up early on friday, a feat in itself, kate and I set off for belgium. with a minor delay on eurostar, we missed our connecting train to antwerp-centraal but hey, we're good travelers. so instead, we took a train to antwerp-berchem and then made another transfer to get us to centraal. after a bit of looking about, kate found sarah and we were set for our big weekend in antwerp. kris picked us up from our tram dropoff and, after arriving to s&k's super duper flat, kate, sarah, and I set about for five hours of talking. (and lots of snacking...) we went out to dinner, where sarah showed off her budding dutch skills for the first time, and then met kris and his friend for a drink.

saturday morning started early early, as there was lots to be done for the thanksgiving feast that sarah had laid out. her mother-in-law, lizette, came over to assist (greatly, indeed) while the rest of us did what we could to pull dinner and the thanksgiving ambiance together. after a nice nap, I woke up shortly before the guests arrived (two couples and one very cute baby) and helped put the finishing touches to the meal. the night was great. it was fun to share a tradition with the belgians, who had never really sat down and announced to their friends what they were thankful for. though I was quite sleepy towards the end of the meal, I bounced back to do some major dancing with ms. vaux de roeck. awesome.

sunday morning meant crepes with lots of nutella...mmm! after a bit of chatting and lounging, we set off to see kris's football match, only to learn that he had been injured earlier in the game. boo. nonetheless, standing about in the freezing cold hearing random bits of encouragement (or beratement) of the players in dutch was quite fun. after a dinner of chinese takeaway, kate and I packed the last bits of our belongings to go to the antwerp-centraal station and say our final goodbyes.

after locating a suitable train car, we put our bags up and got back on the platform to hug sarah and kris one last time. a bit of a movie montage ensued, in which the four of us mocked dramatic goodbye scenes in train stations. the whistle blew, we gave the couple a quick hug, turned around, and the doors shut. we all began screaming, kate started running off towards the conductor, who popped her head out of the engine. I, still holding onto the train doors trying to open them, thought that the conductor must of seen us as was going to stop, as did kris and sarah. alas, this was not the case. off went the train, with our bags in tow. kate, very wisely, had her purse with her. me: well, I saw everything pull out of sight.

the four of us sprinted to kris's car, with plans to beat the train to brussels. in the car, kris called the station to ask them to call the train conductor and ask if someone would guard our bags. unfortunately, this request had to be made in person at antwerp station, so back we went. listening to the station chief with his heavy reluctance for helping us was awful...just because I don't speak dutch doesn't mean that I couldn't read that he was in no way interested in interrupting his dinner to do his job. finally, he relented and radioed the train conducter. kris and I sprinted back to the car and we were off to brussels. after locating the station, we ran in, spoke with a man at the information desk who said that we should check the platform. I ran up to the platform and, finding no one with our bags, located another train conductor to see if he could help. after explaining the situation in english, I had to do so again in french. (definitely need to do a refresher course before the next journey across the channel.) he referred me back to the info desk, so off we went. in dutch, the man told us that our bags probably wouldn't be found, something that I didn't learn until after the incident, as well, I don't speak dutch. sarah and kate went to check the baggage area again while kris and I waited in the info center for the train conductor to be contacted. while we were there, kris's mobile rang and, moments later, the three of them returned with our bags....yippee! my tears (did I forget to mention I had been crying this entire time?) subsided as kris relayed that the conductor and station chief had rang the number on sarah's empty suitcase (which I am taking back for her to chicago). all of our bags were there and nothing was missing. awesome awesome.

by this time, we had missed all eurostar trains to london. luckily, the eurostar rep listened to our story and allowed kate and I to return to london on any monday train without having to pay any fees.

while we didn't mean to, we were able to spend another day with sarah and kris! it was quite the long, dramatic, and unpleasant experience, but we got to spend more time in antwerp, so the end result was superb.

after a nice lunch and a bit of a walk near the cathedral, kate, sarah, and I boarded a train to brussels, where kate and I made our connection to london. (sarah wasn't taking any chances on this trip!)

so, all in all, the story is fragmented and, at times, the sunday night adventures seemed a bit surreal. nevertheless, I had an excellent time in belgium and am so pumped to go back! now, I'm back in london and am forcing myself to catch up on past readings and focus on developing a paper topic for my postcolonial course. there is much to be done in the next two weeks (term ends december 10), so it's bound to be busy. but what would I do with myself if I wasn't?

hope this long, rambling story finds you all well. loves to all.

day sixty-eight: bell me for less...

all who are interested in ringing the uk,

I've been using a refillable pin (I think it is listed as bizon) from masterbell.com to call the states, as has my grammy. it's the cheapest way to call, doesn't have any maintenance fee, and is super convenient. anyway, that's for all of you who miss me so dearly but don't know how to do it without paying an arm and a leg.

as always, if you're going to ring, it's probably best to let me know timewise, so that we can connect.

day sixty-eight: happy thanksgiving!

ah folks, you're all sitting about your warm homes, many of you no doubt either surrounded by family members or set to do so soon. how lovely. while I recognize that today is thanksgiving (I mean, it says so in my diary), the day is more ordinary than I would have expected. the last time that I was out of the states on the holiday I was a mess...in the middle of kribi, halfway through my research project, and desperately missing my family. that only happens every so often for me, but I remember just crumbling when my grandmother told me that she had set a place for me at our dinner table. ah...

this week has gone really well and honestly, I can hardly believe that I've been here for two months already. it's quite outstanding. I've been busy with class readings (or not doing this week's readings, rather), preparing for course essays, trying to develop dissertation ideas (no holly, the dissertation will not be a performance piece on how to churn butter), going to the national gallery, seeing the bridget film (ah, l'amour), and hanging out with some gsmiths people. tonight, after a lecture by wjt mitchell (from the university of chicago), there are plans for a small tday celebration with the girls and then lots of packing. kate and I are visiting sarah and kris in antwerp over the weekend and, I have to say, I am so pumped. the fact that this is my first trip to continental europe has yet to even hit me. really, knowing that I get to spend a bit of time with one of my very favorite persons (I mean, the girl did help me get through my first year in chicago in a major way) is really exciting. yay! oh, and the thought of belgium chocolate doesn't hurt a bit either.

so, I hope that this finds my dear ones well. I'll be posting information on the pin that I spoke to some of you about, so that you might be able to ring me at an affordable cost.

loves to you all. and, again, happy thanksgiving!

ps jess, I may just eat turkey again for this one...remember our feast last year in iowa city???

day sixty-one: nothing really to say but blah blah blah.

dreary, grey london day of misting rain. go figure. while I really don't have all that much to say, as I'm in the midst of a school rut (reading, classes, reading, library, reading, thinking about dissertation, reading, reading, reading), I did want to say that, while I'm in a rut and while it's rainy and grey, london is not deranging me. so, I'm at a balanced state...maybe that's what I'm bored by. umph...

love to all.

day fifty-eight: ah, coming into my own.

over the last couple of weeks, I've been settling into a feeling that, though there are times that I still don't understand things about london, british society, or why coffee shops are not open past five pm, I am beginning to feel more and more that I have some place in this city. this process seems to be a bit more accelerated than my last transition (ie when chicago kicked my butt for a couple of months in 2002), perhaps because of being in school. whatever it is, it's nice to meet new people and enlargen my circle of friends, to be in the world of geekdom again (even if there are times when I feel like I'd rather be a crafster than persue this academic nonesense), and to feel that I can adapt and survive. mind you, I realize that I live in london, which isn't the furthest stretch from what I find familiar, but still, it's nice to make that realization, nevertheless.

hope that this finds you all stretching on some level. love to all.

day fifty-two: finally, a course on violence!!!

yes people, I am more than excited about this discovery. after my postcolonial theory course (of which, as some of you know, I've been feeling quite unenthused about...and it is the focus of my bloody program), I was chatting with one of my classmates and kablammy! she told me about this course on genocide and violence that she's taking with this brillant seminar. sounds so fascinating with a killer syllabus. after finishing my regular course reading, I'm going home to do some reading for the course and crossing my fingers that the professor will allow me to sit in. brillant! I can barely contain myself...

aside from all of that, the blue dye has throughly been washed out of my hair (crap dye), so I'm looking into more permanent alternatives. I also picked up a name of a girl who does henna, so I may be able to indulge a bit more in that. quoi d'autre? have bought tickets to belgium for the thanksgiving holiday, went to a fantastic concert in a beautiful space last night (iron & wine...could sam beam be more brillant of an artist? what a voice), and am planning on a night of dancing for the weekend (finally). well, either dancing or the orchestra. either way, it will be fun...at different ends of the spectrum, obviously.

am thinking of you all as it becomes dark at 4:00pm here...not that it's all that great of a contrast to the neverending grey of london days. hope that it isn't getting to brrr cold/drab/dark where you are.

oh, and a belated birthday wish to the sister in seminary. while they say that jesus loves you, I think that I love you more jraep. welcome to your mid20s!

off to read some theory so that I can read about violence while watching sex and the city in my flat c'est soir. (what a brillant combination, yeah?)

love to all.

day forty-six: what the f* is up with red america?

and moreover, what the f* is up with america becoming redder???

goddamn people (sorry jess), but I just don't undertand how the people of the united states can honestly support someone who has signed in such poor legislation into law, has put america amongst the unpopular/most hated kids on the playground of foreign affairs, and blatantly blatantly blatantly works to benefit his republican, money-grubbing cronies. I JUST DO NOT UNDERSTAND!

after waiting for the returns until 6:00am and a hour online checking the results of the house and senate races, I'm left feeling more uncertain about 'america' as a country than before the election. did you know that eleven states passed ballot initiatives to ban same-sex marriage in their state? eleven. the republican majority in both the house and senate increased as well. perhaps I'm delusional about what our country is about, but it seems as if people are okay with our republican president and his (or rather, delay and hastert's) republican congress digging the hole that we are now in even deeper. I just don't know if I can tell people anymore that I'm from the states while I'm here. not because I'm ashamed (though I admit today I am definitely bewildered), but because I cannot personally understand, with all of my insight into american politics, what is going on in our country's collective conscious.

while I continue to cross my fingers and toes and give myself an ulcer in tracking the results, the results of this election, regardless, leave me to wonder what 'my' country is all about.