We wrote a prelude to our own fairytale...

I’ll be out of my mind, and you’ll be out of ideas pretty soon, so lets spend the afternoon in a cold hot air balloon… (or on the beach...)
Anyways. Owl City always puts a silly grin on my face.


As I write this we are sitting on the train on the way to Oostende. There were no places left to stay in Amsterdam, so those of us who wanted to be back in Belgium by Saturday night decided to just go on day trips around Belgium. For such a small country you’d be surprised how much there is to see and do! Oostende is a city on the coast with a casino. Some people of this small group are going there, while the rest of us are going to the beach!


This last week has been quite busy! Tuesday, we found out that the two days we are in class will be brutal – 2 homework assignments due the next day, and a seminar report due if we had one. So Tuesday and Wednesday night were both pretty late with homework (also, if you’re a grader, like me, then you get to do that as well!), but Thursday we had our field trip. We went to Aquafin, the wastewater treatment plant that Flanders (the Flemish region of Belgium, where we are) uses. (Obviously there are multiple locations). And then we got waffles.
YES. I have now experienced true Belgian waffles. (We went after class on Wednesday for the first time.) They are fabulous - You have no idea. There’s a little shop that sells them off the street, but they’re only open from 10am to 7pm. ANYWAYS. After lunch (which did consist of more than waffles) we went to EcoWerf, the waste composting facility of Leuven. After that we got to tour the Stella Artois brewery which was a lot of fun (kind of like a really clean ethanol plant LOL). The only downside of the day was that it was cold and rainy and generally nasty, especially since these places are way on the edge of town and our only transportation is biking or walking. And then we went for waffles again. DON’T HATE. I live on the 3rd (4th) floor. And bike and walk everywhere. I’ll be ok. Right?

This morning I went to H&M, which is past the waffle shop, and it took all my willpower not to stop there on the way back. Siiiigh.

So I finally got fed up with the financial aid office and emailed them about my loan that was sitting as “estimated financial aid” asking when it would be posted to my account. Apparently they were just hoping I would forget about it, because I got an email back saying they had taken care of it. YAAY.


LATER (Train home from Oostende)

So today, I used my sarong/scarf that I got in Brugge. I used it as a shawl when in the shade, I used it as a changing tent to go from clothes to swimsuit, I used it as a towel to lay on the bench, I used it as a cover-up (halter-ish dress) to wear over my swimsuit when walking around, and finally as a scarf when the sun went down to stay warm. YES. I didn’t wear it as a skirt or as a strapless dress, though. Anyone got any other uses for it? Anyways, we got to Oostende about 4 but it was nice enough that we could wander around (and lay on the beach!!!) without getting cold. It was great tanning weather – sunny to partly cloudy with a cool sea breeze to keep you from getting too hot. :D In other words, today was a GREAT day. Apparently the casino wasn’t that great, but it was a really nice beach town. I also got two new scarves that are layered fabrics and really pretty.

So the smell of the sea and looking at pretty boats and getting to wear my new sarong/scarf a bazillion ways and walking on the beach and soaking up sun… siiiigh. I could just stay here :)



As a side note... My typical train experience: Italia sandwich from Panos (pesto, mozzarella, and tomatoes, mmmm!), my Go Pass (anywhere in Belgium for 5 euros/one way trip), my sarong - which I use as a blanket (make note of yet another use for this item of clothing), and my notebook that contains everything I will ever need to know about a particular trip in it (Thank you, Dianne!!) - It actually also houses the Go Pass so I don't lose it...


A couple random photos from Oostende - A beautiful gothic church standing amidst this century's architecture, and a boat, on the sea... I want a boat. There are two pictures near the top of flowers - one is of the weekend market in Leuven, and the other is of wildflowers that surround the wastewater treatment plant... I thought it was a nice touch.