10 march 2010
Just got to work. Really feeling the lack of sleep but got to try and survive the day. Here until 12 then off to Dutch. Ok that just changed. Going to get a book which has information on my current article so will leave a bit earlier for that - it's nearish Antwerpen Centraal Station so I'll just do a little detour before going to Brussels. Then I should do my Dutch homework on the train. Cause predictably that didn't happen last night. My eyes ache. Oh the oppression of life.
Can't wait for this weekend, should be good. The party I'm going to is held by ERASMUS students. If that makes any sense to you. If not then from from what I can gather they're a collection of students from elsewhere in Europe. So naturally they're having a massive party. Which is cool because its an open party so the other volunteers and myself can just turn up.
If I've mentioned this before then I apologise, but take the greatest hits of Radiohead (Many thanks to Fergus for getting me this), and Momuments and Melodies by Incubus and put them on a playlist. Randomise songs. So good. Listen to it almost everyday on my train trips. Then I've got a much shorter playlist for variation, with a few of my favourite Simon and Garfunkel, Oasis, The Sick Puppies, Supertramp, Daughtry and The Living End. Oh and Cat Stevens But just a few songs from each. Kind've a strange mix but its good.
I was listening to the new Wolfmother album as well -Cosmic Egg-. I've been trying but I'm not really convinced eh. I mean its good, but no where near as good as their self titled album. In their defence that was an awesome album and hard to follow up. There are plenty of good songs on Cosmic Egg, overall it just doesn't have the same impact - it seems a bit repetitive. But maybe it'll grow on me. It's the kind of music that has a way of doing that so maybe I'll listen to it again in a bit and fall in love with it. But for now I'm not holding my breathe (I mean its dangerous - I could die or pass out or something. I for one don't really aspire to do either of those).
I just drew a crude map of where I'm meant to get this book later on. Ah, speaking of books, I finally went and bought one yesterday - they have a good English fantasy section in a nearby bookstore. Thank god. It's called the Diamond Throne I think (Yes Matt, I've finally started David Eddings :) ) Maybe if I do my homework fast I can read a bit on the train. For some reason don't get motion sick when I read on the train. Unusual but convenient. So I'm not going to complain - for a change.
The article I was meant to write for AFS NZ, which was due 'sometime this week' suddenly became due yesterday. (tues - even in NZ it would still only be wed) Soooo... guess I'll be doing it for next month then. Which is a little annoying because I'd written half of it and now I'll have to start over as the info all relates to now. Or rather the very recent past. Guess I'll just have to modify it a little.
Today has a weird feel to it. Not sure what it is. I'll attribute it to lack of sleep until further notice.
Alright, since yesterdays post was so long I'll stop now.
Bye for now people.
P.S. Aurora, who are you? lol
Showing posts with label Sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sleep. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Portugal in Summary
9 march 2010
I'm back! (The exclamation mark gives the wonderful illusion of relentless energy doesn't it?)
Are you guys ready for this? Because I don't think I am. Here it goes...
We arrived back at Brussels airport around 11 last night, which meant we made really good time actually. However. They did something wrong with our luggage, so long story short we only left the airport around 12. We then caught a taxi part of the way home - to Dirks car, then drove ourselves from there. Eventually we got home at 1.20ish. I then had to unpack most of my clothes because a lot of them were wet (will explain further in a bit). Basically what I'm trying to complain about is the fact that I got to bed at 2 last night. Needless to say the morning has been a tad blurry. COFFEE. Although I'm not sure even that will save me now . But hey, I'll give it a go.
Right, back to Portugal. I really enjoyed it overall. We stuck to Lisbon - loads to see there. We did some pretty solid walking, like, over 3 hours a day of fast paced, helter skelter, unrestrained, uncensored, casual meandering... See what I did there? Really threw you off with that last one didn't I? Oh the small joys. The thing about the amount of walking we did, in Lisbon, on the particular days we were there, put simply, is rain. Lots of it. Unrestricted, constant, bone soaking (hehe), sock wetting bloody rain. Having said that, was still really good seeing the sights there. Went to some castle or other. That was really cool. The only thing it lacked was a full armoury... and maybe some dragons (although they'd need to be more around the castle rather than in it - unless they had one tamed/trained which would also be cool). We also saw one of th biggest aquariums in the world. That was awesome. My god. Sun fish. So massive. So ugly. Looked kind of like the the face of the main orc commander in Lord of the Rings:Return of the King. (you know, the one that looks like a mashed potato). Jabba the Hutt also springs to mind. The Sun fish strikes me as the moa of the seaworld; big, slow and probably not all that intelligent. I'm amazed there are any left. Although with a face like that, I'm not sure I'd go hunting it either.
So this week. I've got Dutch tomorrow, or probably more importantly, I have Dutch homework due tomorrow. So I need to do some of that before I collapse into bed tonight. Brought it along to work in case I get inspired on the train ride home (hey, it could happen). Man my brain is clouded right now. More than usual I mean. Just got an email from Winston (AFS NZ) saying I should write something for the newsletter over there by the end of the week. So I guess I need to find time to do that as well. Would be good if I could just do a rough summary of my blog so far but as you probably know by now, I'm not exactly the best at summarising. I'll have to try for some kind of highlights package. Been here about 3 weeks now. In some ways it seems like I've been here much longer and in others it seems like I only just arrived. Tis a strange feeling.
The azerty keyboard is coming much more naturally now, although I guess I'll have to re-adapt upon my return to NZ. Think I've got that compulsive yawning thing. Hopefully I don't have an impending stroke waiting for me. If that makes no sense to you at all, check out my previous posts. Or not. It's your life afterall. Or so one would like to think.... *eerie music with steadily increasing tempo*
Something I figured out is that, if my train is on time in the mornings, then I get to work at like 8.40. Which really isn't that great, but its not really a problem because my train usually runs late. I could seriously do with something to eat. And maybe some more coffee... perhaps a bit later.
I just composed a rhyme. Thought it was a bit random to put it up here though... Just thought I'd let you know. Just in case you were sitting there wondering if I had composed a rhyme or something. I did. Good, glad thats clear. Onto more pressing matters then. Party in Antwerp this weekend? Sounds good to me. Hopefully I can stay at Onurs host brothers place, which will make travelling etc a lot easier, as its in the city itself.
Of course the question you're all asking yourself is, "What did James buy on his trip to Lisbon?" Well, fear not my friends, your desire for knowledge shall be sated. I bought some schoenen. Which are shoes in Dutch. Interesingly enough, if you remove the word 'shoe' from schoenen, you are left with 'cenn' (rearranged of course). Cenn Buie is a character from my favourite books -Robert Jordans Wheel of Time- obviously some kind of a sign. (Not a very nice character actually, so perhaps this isn't the good kind of sign). Yes, like I said, interestingly enough...
I realise I'm writing quite a lot today but I've got to make up for lost time so bear with me - won't be too much more.
Should be hanging with the other volunteers again after Dutch which I'm looking forward to. With any luck I'll even be awake for it. High hopes James, high hopes... but a man can dream. (Actually thats sort of the point, in my state I'm likely to be dreaming pretty soon)
I feel pretty sorry for Dirk, he's got a meeting tonight so it looks like he'll only get home after 10, and he's only had slightly more sleep than me. That's got to suck. Terry is working from home today. So lucky. As for myself I suspect I'll get home around the usual time (7-8ish), have dinner and collapse into bed. With the Dutch homework somewhere in there. Brain is definately deteriorating as the day goes by. Eventually there'll be nothing left but the bits that keep me breathing and my heart pumping. If I'm lucky.
Ok, I'm going to be tired while doing something else now, if you've gotten this far then congratulations! 5 gold stars, and 2 bottlenosed dolphins.
Until tomorrow,
cheers.
P.S avoid puddles at all costs, walking around all day in wet shoes and socks - not cool.
I'm back! (The exclamation mark gives the wonderful illusion of relentless energy doesn't it?)
Are you guys ready for this? Because I don't think I am. Here it goes...
We arrived back at Brussels airport around 11 last night, which meant we made really good time actually. However. They did something wrong with our luggage, so long story short we only left the airport around 12. We then caught a taxi part of the way home - to Dirks car, then drove ourselves from there. Eventually we got home at 1.20ish. I then had to unpack most of my clothes because a lot of them were wet (will explain further in a bit). Basically what I'm trying to complain about is the fact that I got to bed at 2 last night. Needless to say the morning has been a tad blurry. COFFEE. Although I'm not sure even that will save me now . But hey, I'll give it a go.
Right, back to Portugal. I really enjoyed it overall. We stuck to Lisbon - loads to see there. We did some pretty solid walking, like, over 3 hours a day of fast paced, helter skelter, unrestrained, uncensored, casual meandering... See what I did there? Really threw you off with that last one didn't I? Oh the small joys. The thing about the amount of walking we did, in Lisbon, on the particular days we were there, put simply, is rain. Lots of it. Unrestricted, constant, bone soaking (hehe), sock wetting bloody rain. Having said that, was still really good seeing the sights there. Went to some castle or other. That was really cool. The only thing it lacked was a full armoury... and maybe some dragons (although they'd need to be more around the castle rather than in it - unless they had one tamed/trained which would also be cool). We also saw one of th biggest aquariums in the world. That was awesome. My god. Sun fish. So massive. So ugly. Looked kind of like the the face of the main orc commander in Lord of the Rings:Return of the King. (you know, the one that looks like a mashed potato). Jabba the Hutt also springs to mind. The Sun fish strikes me as the moa of the seaworld; big, slow and probably not all that intelligent. I'm amazed there are any left. Although with a face like that, I'm not sure I'd go hunting it either.
So this week. I've got Dutch tomorrow, or probably more importantly, I have Dutch homework due tomorrow. So I need to do some of that before I collapse into bed tonight. Brought it along to work in case I get inspired on the train ride home (hey, it could happen). Man my brain is clouded right now. More than usual I mean. Just got an email from Winston (AFS NZ) saying I should write something for the newsletter over there by the end of the week. So I guess I need to find time to do that as well. Would be good if I could just do a rough summary of my blog so far but as you probably know by now, I'm not exactly the best at summarising. I'll have to try for some kind of highlights package. Been here about 3 weeks now. In some ways it seems like I've been here much longer and in others it seems like I only just arrived. Tis a strange feeling.
The azerty keyboard is coming much more naturally now, although I guess I'll have to re-adapt upon my return to NZ. Think I've got that compulsive yawning thing. Hopefully I don't have an impending stroke waiting for me. If that makes no sense to you at all, check out my previous posts. Or not. It's your life afterall. Or so one would like to think.... *eerie music with steadily increasing tempo*
Something I figured out is that, if my train is on time in the mornings, then I get to work at like 8.40. Which really isn't that great, but its not really a problem because my train usually runs late. I could seriously do with something to eat. And maybe some more coffee... perhaps a bit later.
I just composed a rhyme. Thought it was a bit random to put it up here though... Just thought I'd let you know. Just in case you were sitting there wondering if I had composed a rhyme or something. I did. Good, glad thats clear. Onto more pressing matters then. Party in Antwerp this weekend? Sounds good to me. Hopefully I can stay at Onurs host brothers place, which will make travelling etc a lot easier, as its in the city itself.
Of course the question you're all asking yourself is, "What did James buy on his trip to Lisbon?" Well, fear not my friends, your desire for knowledge shall be sated. I bought some schoenen. Which are shoes in Dutch. Interesingly enough, if you remove the word 'shoe' from schoenen, you are left with 'cenn' (rearranged of course). Cenn Buie is a character from my favourite books -Robert Jordans Wheel of Time- obviously some kind of a sign. (Not a very nice character actually, so perhaps this isn't the good kind of sign). Yes, like I said, interestingly enough...
I realise I'm writing quite a lot today but I've got to make up for lost time so bear with me - won't be too much more.
Should be hanging with the other volunteers again after Dutch which I'm looking forward to. With any luck I'll even be awake for it. High hopes James, high hopes... but a man can dream. (Actually thats sort of the point, in my state I'm likely to be dreaming pretty soon)
I feel pretty sorry for Dirk, he's got a meeting tonight so it looks like he'll only get home after 10, and he's only had slightly more sleep than me. That's got to suck. Terry is working from home today. So lucky. As for myself I suspect I'll get home around the usual time (7-8ish), have dinner and collapse into bed. With the Dutch homework somewhere in there. Brain is definately deteriorating as the day goes by. Eventually there'll be nothing left but the bits that keep me breathing and my heart pumping. If I'm lucky.
Ok, I'm going to be tired while doing something else now, if you've gotten this far then congratulations! 5 gold stars, and 2 bottlenosed dolphins.
Until tomorrow,
cheers.
P.S avoid puddles at all costs, walking around all day in wet shoes and socks - not cool.
Friday, February 26, 2010
First friday and tired as hell
26 Feb 2010
Right, so I didn't do anything majorly wrong with the train yesterday. Which was a pleasant surprise I felt. I left Antwerp a little later than usual because I went for a few drinks with the people from work and played a it of pool. Which was really good, a good way to to end the day. Also met a few other members of the crew which was nice, all cool people. When I got back I had a late dinner, checked my emails, then read longer than I meant to, resulting in me going to sleep at 12.30. Which is all good and well, but when you have to get up at 6 the next morning it can be a bit of a strain...
I got to work on time, 9.00, but then Stefan, Bert and myself went out for a cup of coffee. Now this may just be me, but I think that's a much better way to start the day than getting straight into work, so all in all, it's been a good day so far. Bert said I should go along with him to a party tonight but as sad as this sounds I think I might just go home and sleep - I'm so tired. Hmm sleeping in tomorrow sounds good... This is what my daily fantasies have bee reduced to.
I'm really enjoying Antwerp. Would be great to live here I think. Stefan just started playing the Racontuers on his laptop. So awesome. He also has Elbow. Such a good start to the day I'm starting to get nervous, I mean I'm waiting for something bad to happen to balance things out a bit. Oh well. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Right. Back to talking about Antwerp. The cobbled streets give it a lot of character. Gives it a semi-medieval feeling. Every now and then the bells or organs from the Cathedral chime in - in fact as I'm writing this they're going at it. I think it's every half hour.
Dirk and Terry are going into Antwerp tomorrow for massages or something, so I may tag along just to hang in the city. Maybe I'll meet up with someone. We shall see.
God I'm so tired my eyes are watering. I'm not being emotional I promise. I mean me, emotional? Let's not be ridiculous here.... *cough cough*
I should really start making my own lunch and bringing it to work. I'll try start that next week. Just from a cost perspective. Although it is nice to go out for lunch to get outside for a bit, even if it is raining most of the time.
I'm going to try find a topic to write an article about now. Until next time minions.
Cheers
Right, so I didn't do anything majorly wrong with the train yesterday. Which was a pleasant surprise I felt. I left Antwerp a little later than usual because I went for a few drinks with the people from work and played a it of pool. Which was really good, a good way to to end the day. Also met a few other members of the crew which was nice, all cool people. When I got back I had a late dinner, checked my emails, then read longer than I meant to, resulting in me going to sleep at 12.30. Which is all good and well, but when you have to get up at 6 the next morning it can be a bit of a strain...
I got to work on time, 9.00, but then Stefan, Bert and myself went out for a cup of coffee. Now this may just be me, but I think that's a much better way to start the day than getting straight into work, so all in all, it's been a good day so far. Bert said I should go along with him to a party tonight but as sad as this sounds I think I might just go home and sleep - I'm so tired. Hmm sleeping in tomorrow sounds good... This is what my daily fantasies have bee reduced to.
I'm really enjoying Antwerp. Would be great to live here I think. Stefan just started playing the Racontuers on his laptop. So awesome. He also has Elbow. Such a good start to the day I'm starting to get nervous, I mean I'm waiting for something bad to happen to balance things out a bit. Oh well. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Right. Back to talking about Antwerp. The cobbled streets give it a lot of character. Gives it a semi-medieval feeling. Every now and then the bells or organs from the Cathedral chime in - in fact as I'm writing this they're going at it. I think it's every half hour.
Dirk and Terry are going into Antwerp tomorrow for massages or something, so I may tag along just to hang in the city. Maybe I'll meet up with someone. We shall see.
God I'm so tired my eyes are watering. I'm not being emotional I promise. I mean me, emotional? Let's not be ridiculous here.... *cough cough*
I should really start making my own lunch and bringing it to work. I'll try start that next week. Just from a cost perspective. Although it is nice to go out for lunch to get outside for a bit, even if it is raining most of the time.
I'm going to try find a topic to write an article about now. Until next time minions.
Cheers
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