If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium - 4/29/08

Live From Brussels, Belgium...If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium.

And it is!!

I made it.  I'm finally here.  It's raining.

Oh well, can't have everything I suppose.

My flight was uneventful.  Two flights actually.  I flew from Boston, and apparently Boston and Brussels haven't worked out a direct flight agreement yet so there are no non-stop flights.  But that's okay, because I got to stop over in Dublin, Ireland (for all of 45 minutes).

Once in Brussels I had a driver waiting for me with one of those little cards (I felt like a rock star; okay, maybe not a rock star but it was pretty cool).  On to the hotel where they barely remembered that I was supposed to stay there.  The hotel is actually a restaurant with about 5 small suites in the floors above.  So the service is not like a real hotel (though the rooms are big and comfortable).  Which became problematic at 4:45 am this morning when a fire alarm of some sort sounded in the building.  And kept on ringing at this ear piercing level while the only other customer and I tried desperately to reach anyone who could shut it off.  No fire trucks, no hotel owner at the hotel number, no one even answering the "emergency" button on the phone.  After about an hour and a migraine later I gave up and walked to the office at 6:00 am.  [By the way, it's 6 pm and I'm still here.  So much for the slower pace of European workers.]

The last two days were spent arranging banking, getting my apartment keys (woo hoo), ensuring the utilities and internet were turned on, and registering with the local commune.  More accurately, registering, part I.  Today I had the pleasure of waiting in an amorophous line (apparently straight line queues are verbotten here) for over an hour so they could look at my passport and work permit, then give me a form (in French) saying that a policeman will come to my apartment door to confirm that I live there, so I can get an appointment a couple of months from now to come in with all sorts of other paperwork and get an ID card.  Phew.

At one point the rain stopped (briefly) enough for me to snap a few photos.  Lots of sculptures around town from what I can see.  This one is made of wood and is a couple of stories high.

This bronze one is nearby.

And one for the founders of Brussels.

And of course there is the tram (see the street in case you don't believe me).

There are trams that go all over Brussels, and along with the Metro (subway) system the mass transit is pretty comprehensive.  Which is good since I'll be relying on it a lot.

Alas, I am here to work, so I guess I have to go into my office building on some days.

So here I am.  A one-day glitch in my new bank account left me cashless (and debit cardless) for 24 hours, but I'm now good to go (buy chocolate, beer, moules, frites....).

Tomorrow I actually get to see my apartment.  And my first order of business is to put my name on the mailbox so the police can see that I live there (especially since I won't actually move in until my furniture arrives, which could be weeks still).  But that's another story.

See you next week.