Belgium so far

So what do I think of Belgium so far? It's great. I still can't get over the number of plane trails in the sky. I still think its funny that there are so many crazy-looking bicycles all over the place, and I love riding mine. I'm still suspicious of crows, due to the fact that there are very few children around. I'm still laughing at the chickens outside my window who run around with the rabbits on the lawn. I'm still learning a lot.

Some things I just have to learn the hard way. Like how you are not supposed to take bags into the law library (I only found out after getting told off by the librarian because I had failed to see the sign written in Dutch - no bags allowed inside). I also discovered that in many places they have ticket systems for service. For example, I went to the rectorate to talk to someone about my courses. I saw a queue of people so I sat down. And waited. And when people behind me were just randomly getting up and going, I started to wonder. So I went and asked. Apparently you have to get a ticket from a little machine, and wait for your number to come up on a screen before you can be seen by someone. Same goes at the post office. I was trying to buy some postcards and stationery and went up to the counter to pay for it. The lady at the counter ignored me, which confused me a bit, so I asked a guy where I go to pay for stuff. He didn't know either, but eventually we discovered that you also have to get a ticket there too, before you can be served. So there we go, I have learnt to look for ticket machines!

Other things I am getting used to are people's reactions to meeting a New Zealander. Most people assume that I am french because of my name (which apparently sounds very french), which caused me to look it up on the internet. I previously thought it meant the same as Irene, which is goddess of peace, but now I see that it does in fact have its own meaning, which is latin for 'rebirth'. Kinda kool I thought. People are still mega-excited to meet a real live New Zealander, because NZ is 'so exotic'. Hehe! Word gets around amongst exchange students as to who is here at UGent and what they're studying, so I have had a couple of people seek me out who are studying law and wanted to meet 'the New Zealand girl'. I think I'm a bit of a novelty around here.

Yesterday I found a shopping centre which is fabulous. It has shops I couldnt find before like retail clothing stores and health shops. Also it has a bigger-sized supermarket that has a better range of stuff, because the smaller ones I had found were about the size of a 4-square back in NZ. So I finally bought a bunch of meat and food stuff that I had put off buying until I found a better shop. I bought a good stock of simple food, but splashed out and bought strawberries because they were calling to me! And a nice stick of grainy bread for a good ol' Belgian sandwich. I almost died when I saw the price of meat (at least $30NZ per kg) but I managed to find some small meal-sized packs that were $4-5 each. It was a bit of a mystery what I was buying too. Some stuff is obvious, like chicken. But the mince was a strange lighter colour and I think it said calf so I didnt buy that. I found some affordably priced chops that looked like pork, but I didnt understand the name on them. However I then saw some pork hocks with the same word as the chops, so I concluded that the chops must be pork. This is how I am currently learning Dutch! hehe. Getting all my shopping home is a bit of a hassle but I manage to balance a bag on each handle-bar. I must investigate getting a carrier-bag or something for the back of the bike.

I also visited the law school today, to figure out where my classes would be held. The law school is right in the middle of the city, where space is at a premium so it is crammed in between 2 streets, a maze of coridoors and many floors! It will be fun to learn to get around a different law school, but it was also a crazy mass of dutch-speakers! Tomorrow I have my first class, so I will know more after that!

Hope NZ gets some rain and a reprieve from the heat soon.

xxx Renelle