Hello Brussels

 April 1, 2010 Continued

So right after I got done with my blog yesterday and gave my computer over to Hilary the bus continued on it's way across the water. I wasn't sure how the bus accomplished the feat, and boy did I find out. As it turns out, the bus actually drives itself onto a train -- coolest thing ever -- and then the train goes on across the underground tube that neither Hilary nor I can figure out how they built. It takes about 35 minutes total to cross the water. I took a video of the bus exiting and entering the train. The entertainment value is probably pretty low to others watch, but I thought is was really really cool, ha.

I also forgot to mention that we had to stop at a rest area and switch buses. At the stop I didn't know we had to load our own bags onto the new bus. So when I got on and looked out the window and saw my lone back out on the pavement it took me a second to realize what the deal was. Yay blond American. I love that I can blame those incidents not only on being blond but also on being American in Europe. Hilary had her moment to. When we were leaving the indoor mall area where we waited for our new bus, she almost walked through a glass wall that she thought was a door. We make a great pair.

The rest of the trip wasn't super exciting until we got to Brussels. The bus driving had to go a different way than usual due to traffic and ended up getting lost. He had to ask locals on the bus how to get back to the station and a lot of people were freaking out because they had connections that they were going to miss since we were already behind in schedule anyways.

We pulled into the station around 7:30 and Hilary and I set off to figure out how to meet up with our CouchSurfer. He was meeting us at another station at 8:15 and we had no idea how to get there. After asking around, figuring out how to get cash (I had another blond moment here where I used the wrong card and couldn't figure out why the machine wasn't giving me money), and having a random guy come up to us asking if we spoke a list of languages and responding with "I'm sorry" when I kept saying no. We finally made it to the right station around 8:20, only 5 minutes behind schedule is pretty good for us. Our meeting spot with our host was outside of a huge park. We waited there until 9:15 and then finally gave up and went back inside the metro to warm up and find a pay phone to call him. Not having a phone has become sort of a problem especially with trying to meet up with so many people. We may need to find a solution to this soon.

Inside the station a couple of Mormon female missionaries who were our age stopped us and asked if we needed help. Apparently our amount of confusion and just plain looking lost was showing through. We used their phone and eventually found our host, Kevin. The girls were really nice, and one of them actually almost went to UW, it was a fun interaction.

It turns out Kevin waiting for us for about 10 to 15 minutes then left cause he was cold. We just missed him and then stood outside in the cold we couldn't stand for almost an hour. Oh well, we met up with him eventually and he's a really nice guy. And he has a car! I haven't been in a car in over a week and it was sort of a weird feeling. A plane, tube and the bus had been our main form of transportation so actually being in a small private area to get around was fun. They drive on the right side of the road in Belgium and abide by most of the laws here. I think I could actually manage to drive here and not die. London was insane and I would never attempt driving there.

We went straight to a bar from the pickup point with Kevin to meet up with his friends. The bar is apparently a touristy place but it had over 2,000 beers, which Hilary and I were super excited about when we heard. We kept telling Kevin that we weren't alcoholics we just liked beer, but I don't think he believed us. Not sure I really believe us either. Especially after I ordered a Cherry flavored beer (lambic/fruit beers have become my new favorite discovery) and downed it in half the time it took him to drink his. Lambic beers are dangerously delicious.

The bar was three levels, had live music and people could smoke inside. The smoke wasn't awful but I don't think I could stand it for all that long. We ended up sitting in the very upstairs where it was nonsmoking and quieter so we could actually hear each other talk. Our clothes still wreaked of smoke though, which sucks when I have like 3 shirts and 2 jackets to wear the whole trip. I'm airing them out right now and will hopefully be able to find a machine to wash them in eventually.

Kevin's friends showed up about an hour or so after we got there and three of them ended up being from Italy. They were all really nice but I talked to one girl for most of the time and really loved her. She was very expressive and kept laughing at how blunt I was about Americans being alcoholics and Europeans knowing how to drink a lot better. She kept asking questions about college partying and if the movies depict it correctly. We get this question a lot from Europeans actually. We didn't stay for that much longer but I wish we would have so I could have talked to her more. Oh well, lots more interesting people to meet out there.

Kevin has been a great host so far. He is really in to soccer (futbol) and plays and coaches a youth boys team. Hilary and him had a lot to talk about on that topic. He is 25 and works as a sports journalist which is really cool. He speaks English, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, and there was one more which I can't remember but I know he got to 7 languages. Not all of them are fluent but the first 4 are. I'm in awe of how talented he is. I'd be happy with just speaking French enough to get by. I think I'm going to make it an eventual goal to learn another language. So far it seems French would be the best one to start with if Europe is where I see myself coming back to eventually.

After the bar we went back to Kevin's. As we were walking in to his place I got a look at myself in the mirror and just had to laugh at how much I looked like I was from the PNW. My clothes for the most part were from REI and it definitely showed. Good think I'm not one who cares all that much about keeping up with the trends, cause I am less trendy than I have ever been. It was pretty late by this point and Kevin had to go to work at 6am so we just headed to bed -- otherwise known as the futon of Kevin's that Hilary and I were sleeping on. Way more comfortable than I expected it to be though.

Another successful day of traveling, drinking and meeting new and amazing people.