urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout Life in Stick-Shift Erica 2007-05-18T15:56:49Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:63419 2007-05-10T21:30:16Z 2007-05-18T15:56:49Z I saw the Dalai Lama!!!<br /><br /><lj-embed id="1" /> urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:63153 2007-05-01T04:52:47Z 2007-05-01T04:52:47Z GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH<br /><br />On a more positive note, in pretty much every other country in the world except for the one where we happen to live, today is a holiday. Happy May Day/Labor Day/Worker's Day/whatever to all those lucky enough to celebrate it, though we can't. And no, I'm not bitter. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:61968 2007-04-08T15:42:25Z 2007-04-08T15:42:25Z Happy Easter Everybody!<br /><br />Joyeuses Fetes de Paques a Tous! urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:61916 2007-03-28T21:17:38Z 2007-03-28T21:17:38Z Okay, now when you see this, what do you think?<br /><br />"NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF TURBULENT FLOWS AROUND MOVING BODIES"<br /><br />Yeah...I have my mind in the gutter too. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:60967 2006-08-15T13:24:45Z 2006-08-15T13:24:45Z last entry from belgium. meeeerrrr. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:60760 2006-08-11T21:58:14Z 2006-08-11T21:58:14Z it's stinking 10 degrees here (i suppose around 50 F). and raining. so what else is new?<br /><br />only four more days in brussels. i'm sick to my stomach from anxiety. not about stuff when i get home, but about leaving and not seeing anyone or anything for a really long time. mer. of course, said goodbye to most everyone now, as they are almost all gone off to their respective countries on vacation, but i've grown so stinking fond of just this house, and the city, and the brusselian culture in general. mer mer mer. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:60448 2006-08-10T08:30:06Z 2006-08-10T08:30:06Z i'm coming back to the states tomorrow...that is sad...venice was the most amazing place i have ever been (you just had to avoid the main streets and the crowds) and i met some amazing people all over the place. I managed to keep up a conversation with two guys who only spoke italian on the night train to venice when we were stuck sitting on the floor next to the bathroom together. I figured out i don't like big cities, sightseeing or speed visiting. <br /><br />Ciao -Alyson urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:60183 2006-08-02T19:08:08Z 2006-08-02T19:08:08Z in italia. going for pizza. how cheesy. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:59920 2006-07-22T18:57:43Z 2006-07-22T18:57:43Z it's alyson again, upset about the lack of postings. :( <br /><br />erica hangs out with the weirdest/still wicked cool foreigners. like jan, who looks like Mr. Bean to me and who reminds erica of grover. especially his laugh. grew up in east berlin, so he probably wouldn't get the reference. <br /><br />erica is breaking a thousand foreign hearts as we speak. shocking. they can kiss their green cards goodbye. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:59756 2006-07-22T18:52:01Z 2006-07-22T18:52:01Z hello all, it's alyson! yay! um...went to antwerp today and i saw dozens of pregnant women, but that's about all. but it was uber fun. yesterday was a belgian national holiday, the fireworks were smaller than those at Wheaton Plaza, but I was dressed in the Belgian colors and being all Belgian (except for the fact that I don't live here and I don't speak either Flemish or French very well). leaving for london tomorrow night!!!!! *spazzzzzz* urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:59436 2006-07-21T14:09:11Z 2006-07-21T14:09:11Z guys+uniforms+french accent+scruffy cheeks for 'la bise'=HOT HOT HOT<br /><br />and yes, the parisien gendarmes were TOTALLY checking us out. unfortunately for all, they were on duty. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:59391 2006-07-20T10:40:10Z 2006-07-20T10:40:10Z ALYSON: "don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?"<br /><br />ERICA: *silence* urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:58887 2006-07-07T21:17:00Z 2006-07-07T21:17:00Z said goodnight for the last time ever to my kids. i REALLY didn't want to cry, because it was hard enough for them already today to say goodbye to their friends. but i couldn't help myself. god i love them so much. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:58861 2006-07-04T14:48:53Z 2006-07-04T14:48:53Z happy 4th of july everyone! urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:58417 2006-06-21T19:34:31Z 2006-06-21T19:34:31Z i'm really tired. got two hours of sleep last night and a full day today. i can't believe it's summer. at the beginning of the year, i thought i would be leaving the 20th june--yesterday. whoa.<br /><br />laurence was in nottingham the past couple days and coincidentally, arthur's favorite movie this past week has been robin hood. laurence's dad is here working on some things for the house (though they're leaving, the landlord has insisted that somethings be fixed up). turning in my essay on friday, but it's essentially done so i'm pretty much free french-wise. i've come pretty darn far, but i think i need a couple more years to really get it down. on that note, i have figured that in order to stay, i will have to win the lottery, so that i don't have to go to college or get a job (at least not right away...) so we all put together some $ in class and guessed ourselves some numbers, haha. no, really, these things are horrible. you know you won't win, but you still can't help thinking, 'what if...?' and then it grows on you more and more and you end up being disappointed and frustrated. hmm...<br /><br />went to leuven on sunday with stavroula. biggest University in belgium, flemish and catholic. it was nice (something the greeks say a lot, "it was nice, it was nice" apparently it is translated from something they say a lot in greece, which sounds roughly like "aurea". second greek word i know. first being "nay" which means "yes," a fact that has completely rocked my world). anywho, made plans to see matches in the future. which means yesterday got together for england/sweden. katerina was for sweden, and as much as i love england it is always nice to see a successful underdog, so i was pretty impartial. some crazy brits in the pub though. really, they really can't hold alcohol. well, not as the belgians do in any case. it was a crazy good game though. football is really quite fun to watch. then met up with the italians. gosh they're funny. the perfect stereotypes, you know. had a crazy wild time at an ice cream parlor (oh yeah). and i have been feeling sick all day. friday i'm off to katerina's, as she has planned to introduce me to greek food (of which i remain totally ignorant). omg. i just learned that italians eat horses. how upsetting is that?!? and marco has eaten cat, but that was more an accident...<br /><br />turns out there is a farm, with sheep and donkeys, about 10 minutes walk from the house. how random is that? one of the donkeys started eating my pants--it was really embarrassing. <br /><br />maybe more later. gotta go. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:58272 2006-06-14T19:35:08Z 2006-06-14T19:35:08Z hehe. kind of cute story. i got some pics of my brother's graduation today and i had left them laying around downstairs. there was one of my brother and alyson posing, but pierre when he saw it, exclaimed: "hey erica, who's the chinese dude you're standing with? oo la la!" haha. i got a kick out of that. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:58098 2006-06-08T07:25:20Z 2006-06-12T21:07:09Z <a href="http://www.larueenfete.be/galerie/category.php?cat=17">http://www.larueenfete.be/galerie/category.php?cat=17</a><br /><br />check out the 4th pic--who IS that hottie??!?! haha.<br /><br />well, because i know everyone is really lazy and has no time to open links...i can't resist but to put this one up:<br /><br /><a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a189/brussels_sprout/IMG_7941.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting"></a><br /><br />hehe. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:57698 2006-06-04T20:29:58Z 2006-06-04T20:29:58Z nom d'une pipe! it has been forever and a day since i wrote a decent-length entry. oh my! how lax i have been. well, i have been particularly busy, so i will most probably eventually forgive myself, but it is still a shock to me that it has been that long! and to think i will be with the kids only a month after this! ahhhh!!!<br /><br />okay, well before anything else: i am still in belgium. i am working until the 8th (July), so you will not see me after that. BUT you will most probably not see me right after then either. probably middle/end august. have yet to work out the details. at that time, i will hurriedly do everything on my "to do this summer" list (which gets longer everyday that i decide to shorten the number of days to do it in...), before sweeping off to good ol' smith. hehe, i will be a froshie. alyson can haze me with all her cool sophomore friends. 'twill be loverly. but i really really don't want to leave. i'm only just getting really settled in. i've even met some belgians (a rarity), coolness struddle!! gahhh!!! so much to do!! tomorrow i am acquinting myself with western belgium (and going to the beach--though i don't think my travelling companions were planning to do any swimming...), and hopefully next weekend or the one afterwards i will spend more than 10 minutes in luxembourg.<br /><br />it has been cold and rainy. today was better, being "partly sunny" and me needing only a turtleneck and a sweater. haha. it is only just getting dark now, as we are a bit futher north than DC (50 N--same latitude as kiev, fun fact of the day) and we get more sun in the summer.<br /><br />i got a "le neerlandais toute suite" book out of the library. everyone should take dutch. it is amazing. and it is essentially funny-sounding english. with some french thrown in. everyone should learn it. now. <br /><br />on that note, i think spanish should be an official language. yeah, that would suck for me, but darn it, who decided that the states would only speak english? a whole bunch of old farts a couple centuries ago.<br /><br />thinking about that...i cannot speak english. or write it. or even think it. it actually takes a conscious effort to create decent-sounding sentences. i meet people here who only speak english besides their native language, so i have to resort to english. and whoa is it bad. i feel completely uninspired when speaking. oh well. i'm getting to know people. this is good. i am also learning british vocab (as everyone learned britannic english over here). note to self: flat=apartment. it's the little things like that. hehe.<br /><br />i'm tired. well, not really. slept until noon, didn't move my butt until 2. also spent more than 2 hours sitting in a movie (Volver--everyone should see it--cruz is amazing). so i should be feeling hyper and refreshed. but no.<br /><br />hmm...what to say? ooo! i got tax forms the other day. need to ask laurence about them, don't want to screw up, especially as french legal jargon is still completely foreign to me (as in english, but we'll just look over that fact for right now...)<br /><br />WORLD CUP IS COMING!!! gahhhh!!! the boys are naturally spazzed, rooting for the french and all. zidane's name is mentionned about every 10 minutes in the house and to tell you the truth, i'm nearly as worked up about it as they are. it's this kind of fever. once it gets hold of you, there's no stopping it. the belgians aren't in contention this year, but the walloons are generally for the french and the flemish for the dutch. i'm personally for whoever looks hot running around the field (aka literally every single player--who knew that football could be this interesting?), but there is something about it that really stirs up one's feeling of patriotism. of course trying to convince anybody else here that the US has a chance is a completely futile activity, but i really wish we could prove ourselves on the pitch.<br /><br />fun fact for you all: in 1986, belgium came in 4th place in the world cup. it was followed by national celebrations, and is considered by some to be the greatest event of the century. the walloons and the flemish alike were glued to their television screens, and songs have since been written of the glory of mexico city. i just think it is a wonderful example of belgian patriotism. yeah, they're small. and, yeah, they didn't get the cup. but they still put up a fine attempt, and still remember it today.<br /><br />belgium does not equal france. belgian does not equal french. poirot says it a million times, and i will only reiterate. my grandmother (not the french one) asks me how things are in france, how the french are, and no matter how many times i tell her i'm in brussels, we always end back up on france. but it isn't just her. it's the general lack of education. being geographically neighbors doesn't mean you are the same. but in the states we learn about england, france, spain, italy, china, egypt, russia, germany, india, australia, mexico, and canada. greece is decently covered as well. the rest of the world might as well be classed as exactly that, just "the rest." while i can understand it, it really should be changed. and belgium is becoming increasingly important with the growth of the EU--we can no longer simply overlook it. (interesting fact, of my friends, about half consider themselves "european" ABOVE their respective nationalities--makes you think, doesn't it?)<br /><br />been watching the "dirty harry" series. very clint eastwood-y. but, hey, whatever floats people's boats. they're all right with me. also been spending time with another favorite "harry" (that being harry potter, what else?)<br /><br />taking two french exams end of this month. the one with school is the belgian exam, but it hasn't been officially recognized to be the same as the dalf, which is the other, more international, exam. the belgian one requires much more preparation, which i really, really should get a start on, but the dalf is just a regular ol' test. i'm hoping that between the two i can place into more interesting french classes at smith, but we'll see how it goes first.<br /><br />that is all for right now. it has been almost an hour. my goodness. how did i have time for this earlier this year? gah. well, have fun with your summers people. i will eventually see you, to be sure. bisous!! urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:57431 2006-05-29T12:18:49Z 2006-05-29T12:18:49Z omg magda is pregant! and with twins!!! gahhhh!!!<br /><br />on that note, this whole thing is beginning to look like an epidemic. first celena, then anna, then magda... who next?!?!? urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:57186 2006-05-20T01:12:40Z 2006-05-20T01:12:40Z my head is buzzing. just got home (it's 3 am), escorted by a greek, two italians, and a real live belgian (believe it or not). i had gone downtown to the jazz fest, ran in katerina, who is a friend of a friend of maria jose, roberto's wife, so decided to join her group. went to THE coolest pub in town, were the first to start dancing on the tables, had a blast. was totally swing dancing with michel (the believe-it-or-not-belgian). that is all. have to wake up in less than four hours for arthur. nooooooo!!!<br /><br />and i haven't packed. darn. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:57000 2006-05-14T17:07:45Z 2006-05-14T17:07:45Z pierre's birthday party was today. marie brought a karaoke set and i was so excited that "I will survive" was on it that they let me have a go. got a score of 8. yeah, i was that bad. they managed to stop me before i did "it's raining men", but god, i was tempted...<br /><br />happy mother's day to anyone who that could possibly concern (aka my darling mom)!!<br /><br />might update later. i think laurence and philippe are going out, so only if i have time!<br /><br />gotta go play monster. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:56603 2006-05-11T10:35:03Z 2006-05-11T13:10:59Z i love how the narrator of the russian dolls trailer doesn't even try to with "l'auberge espagnol". it makes me smile. urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:56286 2006-05-09T20:24:07Z 2006-05-09T20:24:07Z i'm sick. it stinks. the end.<br /><br />well, no, that would be too easy. no, it's not the end. arthur is incredibly sick. like, not going-to-die sick, but sick enough to not go to school for the second week in a row, which is of primary concern for me. poor dude. they're not even sure what's wrong with him except that he just can't stop coughing (especially at night). mer. anyways, now i'm sick. hopefully not as much as he is... knock on wood. but the point is i'm stuck at home tomorrow and thursday with him. yay!<br /><br />saw "capote" today. first decent film like that i've seen in ages. felt completely shaken up by it. soundtrack needed work (sentimental piano is almost always a no-no), but otherwise my impression was: finally a movie with SOME subtlety! i really liked it. and usually i can't stand that actor, philip what's-his-face. <br /><br />started "private" lessons with 6 other people at school. the couldn't offer us classes subsidized by the french community here, as apparently there weren't enough of us, but it works out pretty well. Rosalinda seems nice and, more importantly, efficient. i'm peeved that i have to miss tomorrow. mer.<br /><br />a seventy-year old man was definitely flirting with me the other day. freddy. it was weird. but completely harmless. haha.<br /><br />okay, i'm tired. and tomorrow will be long. but maybe i'll exhaust myself some more with the "pilates 10 minute workouts" DVD i borrowed from laurence... work off all that blood sausage...<br /><br />bisou bisou! erica urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:55755 2006-05-06T20:37:06Z 2006-05-06T20:37:06Z whoa, it's been about a week but feels like ages. oh well. alyson is pretty much done, as is most everyone else i suppose. your's truly has 2 months left to go! oh my! gahhh!!! only two more!! nooooo!!<br /><br />today was nice. we were going to go to normandy, or holland, or somewhere, but arthur is sick (as always) so we stuck around. met up with roberto and family around 3 to go to the open house of the EU parliament here. there was a crazy celtic rock band that kept making jokes about how they leave their "fooking" marijuana in holland as they had been warned there were going to be drug sniffing dogs. it was special. a couple people had apparently sampled too much wine from germany, or vodka from poland and were doing equally special dance moves to go along with the music. lovely. but there were also folk dancers from poland and hungary and portugal, etc. who were a bit more traditional... but it was fun. more like a cultural fair than the open house in strasbourg, which was more politically focused (though also interesting).<br /><br />had dinner at MCDONALDS. haha. with roberto & co. it was still like "dining," though. got to speak in english, which was equally nice. maria speaks really really well, and roberto does as well, but is so cute cause he's so self conscious. haha. gosh i love them. as i told my mom the other day, i consider roberto my best friend here, which is funny because it's a rather unlikely friendship, but oh well. oh, and i have been given another incentive to go down to espagna (well, to the asturies--which, i have been informed, is not spain) this summer--maria's younger brother is not just younger, but 20 years younger. as in 19 years old. hmmm... interesting...<br /><br />darn i have all these smith forms to fill out, about housing, and my parent's names, etc. etc. i had forgotten my social security number, haha. oh well. aly--i need your advice on housing. i promise not to put baldwin (though i am jealous about your renovation), but i want your imput.<br /><br />things done this week: went to museum of musical intruments here in brussels. cool art deco building in the center of town, and on the whole well presented, with the music of each instrument coming through the headset as you approached it. a lot of bagpipes from all over the world were particularly cool, as i had this notion that only scots played it (an idea also contradicted today with roberto, as they apparently are quite fond of bagpipes in the asturies--mario could name all the pieces of one!). also done this week: exhibit of Theo Van Rysselberghe (there's a flemish name for ya) in the palais des beaux arts. he is famous mostly for his post impressionist works, but i don't care for them nearly as much as his earlier ones. yes, there is nothing extraordinarily innovative about them, but they are pleasing, which is not something of which artists can always boast. that day i also visited a free expo of contemporary art, which was a wonderful example of how wrong people can go. frankly i see nothing even vaguely interesting with a string tied on the ceiling, or a paper bag laying on the floor, and it's just esthetically displeasing. if they are trying to tell people "come clean up the mess i have made" then their art is a success. otherwise, they should stick to their day job. but it wasn't even that particular "artist." what is it about people these days? in every expression of "art"--whether in poetry or prose, or painting, or songwriting, or whatever else--you see...nothing. people are neither reaching for "beauty", for the ideals to which we aspire, or even scraping the surface of the harsh realities which we face. i am being very impertinent saying "we." i shouldn't even. so, please, i take that back. I don't face any hardships. like alyson often says (or said, i don't know if you do anymore), we stinking don't have any challenges in our lives. it's not our fault--though we tend to feel guilty if we have nothing to say on that subject for a college essay, for example. but we simply don't know what a "harsh reality" is. it's a rather romantic idea that means absolutely nothing for those who say it, as they invariably live pampered lives in the bosom of their most happy circumstances. and what on earth am i talking about here? i am digressing most disgustingly. haha. alliteration is cool. i am in favor of it. well, in small doses.<br /><br />god i am tired. i promise to write tomorrow. well, i'll try. we might go somewhere, if arthur feels better, and in that case i will most probably wait another week to write. but i really feel awful about it, as i am losing all those interesting little details that will help me relive all this when i am living a life out of a cubicle, which is sure to be my fate in the not-so-far years to come. good stuff. okay, good night! bizzzzz, erica urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:brussels_sprout:55367 2006-04-29T18:08:28Z 2006-04-29T18:08:28Z i am in strasbourg! hurrah! i hate french keyboards nothing is in the right place! only know where exclamation point is! haha! at least i am excited! do not have much time on computer so will not write enough to please me hehehe this is great tomorrow either going to a castle european parliament here or into the black forest--to reconnect with my good old german roots!!! also can put luxembourg on list of countries visited as my train went through it! okay that is all!<br /><br />have i mentionned that the family is moving next year--to paris! i should have waited a year to be an au pair!