28 July 2010
This is kinda an in between post so I aplogise in advance
Update on the return to New Zealand
This is an update mainly for people back home in NZ who may or may not be wondering when I'm returning to tend to my sheep. (I mean that in a "I'm going back to NZ" kinda way not in a "I'm Jesus" kinda way, just in case you mistake that for sheer arrogance...). The short story is that it comes down to visas. If I get my British visa within the next week or so then I'll be gone for a further 3 months and come back near the end of October. However, if I don't get my visa very soon I will be on a flight to NZ on the 7th of Aug. Which is obviously pretty soon. Bit strange I know - 2 weeks or 3 months 'til I get back, but that's the current situation. Will keep you all up-to-date on that situation. I really wish I knew which it's going to be either way, cause its really frustrating.
Emotional crap
Regardless of where I end up in the imminent future, I am coming to the end of my stay here in Belgium. This of course comes with its own mix of emotions. Sad that I'm leaving, happy that I'll be seeing family again (in Eng or NZ), happy cause I might be seeing NZ friends pretty soon, sad cause I'm leaving all my Belgian friends and Dirk and Terry... So its difficult to know what to think a lot of the time. I try to negate this by not thinking much. I know a lot of you would have some smart comments to make there so go for it :p
Thanks
Thanks for actually reading the last two posts by the way, I know they were complete bull, but I was bored. Thats more or less my only excuse. That and perhaps being a little strange but I think its fair to say I can blame/thank my family for that.
Future and stuff...
So after all of this I'm still keen to go into journalism - not sure exactly in what capacity, but I would definately like to do something writing related. So thanks to all the Stamp Media crew, it wouldn't have been the same without you guys - and I mean that in a good way :)
Back to the usual complaints
Tired.....
Public transport...........
.........people in general.
(in that order)
On the bright side... LUNCH! :D
This particular post is pretty disjointed and not very exciting - I consider it to be fairly representative of my mental state right now so deal with it.. Until the next post anyway.
Showing posts with label tired. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tired. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Short hiatus due to Rock Werchter
30 June 2010
Hello everyone.
This is just a quick update, letting you know that I won't be doing a full length blog this week. This is because tomorrow Rock Werchter starts and I only get back to work on Tuesday. Yes yes, you're all off the hook for reading this week, but when you've all stopped breathing sighs of relief, take a moment to consider I will probably have a lot to talk about next week after the festival. So you can have that to look forward to or dread. If you're dreading it then I at least admire your committment to reading all this. But it does kill me inside just a little bit. And when I die inside so do cute bunnies. But thats on your conscience not mine =D
I'll leave you with this quote from a much wiser man than me.
"Most of the time it was probably real bad being stuck down in a dungeon. But some days, when there was a bad storm outside, you'd look out your little window and think, "boy, I'm glad I'm not out in that."
This site has plenty more intellectual but amusing quotes, so for your entertainment, here's my newly discovered bevy of quotes. Make sure you're in the right mood to read them though because I'm really tired and I'm thinking they were a lot funnier yesterday when I discovered them. Have a look either way.
Farewell for now minions
Hello everyone.
This is just a quick update, letting you know that I won't be doing a full length blog this week. This is because tomorrow Rock Werchter starts and I only get back to work on Tuesday. Yes yes, you're all off the hook for reading this week, but when you've all stopped breathing sighs of relief, take a moment to consider I will probably have a lot to talk about next week after the festival. So you can have that to look forward to or dread. If you're dreading it then I at least admire your committment to reading all this. But it does kill me inside just a little bit. And when I die inside so do cute bunnies. But thats on your conscience not mine =D
I'll leave you with this quote from a much wiser man than me.
"Most of the time it was probably real bad being stuck down in a dungeon. But some days, when there was a bad storm outside, you'd look out your little window and think, "boy, I'm glad I'm not out in that."
This site has plenty more intellectual but amusing quotes, so for your entertainment, here's my newly discovered bevy of quotes. Make sure you're in the right mood to read them though because I'm really tired and I'm thinking they were a lot funnier yesterday when I discovered them. Have a look either way.
Farewell for now minions
Friday, April 16, 2010
Return of the Screaming Banshee (is there any other kind?)
16 april 2010
Hey hey hey,
The reason for my lack of blogging this past week, is because I have been in Paris. Which I think sounds a bit understated actually.
I WAS IN PARIS!
Much better. It was a really awesome trip. I went with 2 of my work people, Vincent and Laura. I won't go on too much about the trip but lets just say it was great, with lots of sightseeing. (Of course I can't resist rambling about something so fear not, you'll hear a little about Paris) The nightlife there is very different to the nightlife in Belgium. The bars close at 2am and there are no night shops that stay open past about 11. At least none that we found anyway. Admittedly we were there during the week, so I'm sure it must be at least slightly different on the weekends. Nevertheless, in Belgium the night shops are pretty much open all night, everynight, and the bars seem to have a nap between 6am and midday. So there's always something going on in Belgium. Or at least there is the potential for something to always be happening.
Surprise surprise, I'm very tired this morning. So if this doesn't make too much sense, I plead for your forgiveness. Maybe not plead. Ask in a semi-polite way. Without really listening to hear the response.
Oh, one other thing that was pretty cool. You know the movie Amelie? If you don't, then go watch it, its awesome. In a quirky French way. Well, we kinda semi-accidentally found some of the places where it was filmed. Will try put the pics up on facebook. `
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?ref=profile&id=717053065
Thats my profile if you want to check out the pics, but bare in mind that if you are reading this within the first few days after me writing it, the chances of me having uploaded them are fairly slim. So maybe check again in a few days or something.
I feel I should ramble about something then make an obscure link and start rambling about something else. However, I'm struggling to make the right connections in my brain right now. Sometimes I find this is an advantage with rambling as it means everything you think is at least a little messed up. The problem at this moment is that the connections have kinda stopped altogether. Which is interesting. In a sense.
Ok I'm pretty boring today so I'm going to cut my losses and shut up.
Cheers
Hey hey hey,
The reason for my lack of blogging this past week, is because I have been in Paris. Which I think sounds a bit understated actually.
I WAS IN PARIS!
Much better. It was a really awesome trip. I went with 2 of my work people, Vincent and Laura. I won't go on too much about the trip but lets just say it was great, with lots of sightseeing. (Of course I can't resist rambling about something so fear not, you'll hear a little about Paris) The nightlife there is very different to the nightlife in Belgium. The bars close at 2am and there are no night shops that stay open past about 11. At least none that we found anyway. Admittedly we were there during the week, so I'm sure it must be at least slightly different on the weekends. Nevertheless, in Belgium the night shops are pretty much open all night, everynight, and the bars seem to have a nap between 6am and midday. So there's always something going on in Belgium. Or at least there is the potential for something to always be happening.
Surprise surprise, I'm very tired this morning. So if this doesn't make too much sense, I plead for your forgiveness. Maybe not plead. Ask in a semi-polite way. Without really listening to hear the response.
Oh, one other thing that was pretty cool. You know the movie Amelie? If you don't, then go watch it, its awesome. In a quirky French way. Well, we kinda semi-accidentally found some of the places where it was filmed. Will try put the pics up on facebook. `
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?ref=profile&id=717053065
Thats my profile if you want to check out the pics, but bare in mind that if you are reading this within the first few days after me writing it, the chances of me having uploaded them are fairly slim. So maybe check again in a few days or something.
I feel I should ramble about something then make an obscure link and start rambling about something else. However, I'm struggling to make the right connections in my brain right now. Sometimes I find this is an advantage with rambling as it means everything you think is at least a little messed up. The problem at this moment is that the connections have kinda stopped altogether. Which is interesting. In a sense.
Ok I'm pretty boring today so I'm going to cut my losses and shut up.
Cheers
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Birthday weekend, Ghent, Tuesday and the monster that never was.
7 april 2010
The rest of the day/night on fri was awesome. Lots of cool people, live band at the pub, elaborate air drum solos from me (drinking may have been involved) and just generally an awesome night. Had to get to Ghent later on though so I left Berts couch relatively early, all things considered, and made my way home to make preparations. Arrived in Ghent early evening and met Monica, Valerie and Aayran there. That night we stayed at Aayran's counselors house which was cool. He took us to this Latina dancing place. Which to be fair had a good atmostphere etc, and I really enjoyed it. Needless to say, my hips didn't feel like partially dislocating themselves every two seconds so I refrained from dancing. (Yeah thats the reason, I was worried about the health of my body...). I mean, my normal dancing is bad enough without bringing actual dance moves into the equation. But I did take lots of pictures of creepy old guys dancing with the girls... hehe.
Later on that night me and Monica went to forage for food. Which proved to be very fruitful. It was a little Kebab place near the dance place. The fact that I used a capitol k for the Kebab should tell you a lot about my feelings for it. It was love at first site. For the first and second Kebab. And the chips. *gazes off into the distance in a reminiscing kind of way* Seriously it was awesome. If you're ever in Ghent centre, find a place called "Thats Kebab" and eat there. Admittedly, it was also the most expensive Kebab I've come across here - €5 for a normal Kebab. Still. Totally worth it. The remainder of the night mostly pales in comparison to the Kebab, although there was an interesting incident of Aaryan jumping inside some guys egg suite that he had made for Easter. While the guy was still in it. Crazy woman. But then hey, is there any other kind????? I can feel the look you females are giving me right now. Its the kind of fear that goes along with knowing that no matter how hard you try, you'll never quite be able to effectively return that look (or even have a manly equivalent other than laughing mischieveously/nervously)
The next day we all had Turkish pizzas. Wow. Very impressed. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the place we got them from so as much as I would like to there'll be no free advertising (to my pulsing hordes of readers) for them. Just go to Ghent and try a bunch of Turkish places and if you like it then you just give me the credit. If you don't like it... then you've obviously just gone to the wrong place and it's entirely your fault.
And then there were three....
That is, Monica, Valerie and myself. The others went off to give the fairies a good talking to. We went and checked into out hotel, which was pretty cool. The usual knobs and goblins etc. We went out and searched for food, possibly traversing every side road in all of bloody Ghent. However, we did eventually find a really nice place that wasn't too pricey. The name of the place, wait for it.... was... Twilight. But to the credit of the staff they didn't try and drink my blood, they were actually good, and most importantly they didn't act like a bunch of stupid hysterical school girls with the intellectual capacity of a limp banana. Which I felt was nice. I had an awesome 300g steak. Easily the best meal I've had at a restaurant here. Nice and bloody...hmmm... (insert twilight reference here). Pancakes for dessert. Need I say more? Probably not. Will that stop me? Unlikely. They gave us these bowls of different sugars to distribute as we saw fit, which is nice because so often people skimp on the sugar and don't give you any extra to lather your pancake in. And boy do I like a good lathering.
The next day we did some touristy meandering (Easter Monday). Things were open; which was good. We went to a castle near the centre. It was like a dream come true. They had a room full of really old weaponary with descriptions of their origins, how they were used etc. Plus suits of armour. I want that stuff so badly. Honestly, if I suddenly had massive amounts of money that armoury would be one of the first things on my agenda. They had some of the old torture devices in another room. It made me strangely happy. They had the thumbscrews and all that kind of stuff (read, James can't remember the names).
Eventually we went home.
Yesterday it was back to work. The day was fairly uneventful - there's a media camp here at the moment so me and most of the interns had to shift over to Stefans room to escape the masses. After work we grabbed some drinks and went down to the river Schelde. Was a really good day - clear skies and 17 degrees C. I was in my T- shirt most of the time. Crazy stuff eh. Anyway so, Stefan invited a few of us to stay the night at his so the night could continue. Which it duly did. We all went and got dinner - also a Turkish place, really good. Most of us made our way to the couch when we got to his place and we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Liked it even more the second time as I vaguely knew what was happening this time. Most people went to bed or fell asleep on the couch. Gladiator was eventually put on, and it was hard to sleep when a pat of me wanted to rewatch it so much. Made it fairly far into the movie though.
This morning we all staggered into work. The camp is still on today and tomorrow so we are still displaced. So tired. I mean there's a good reason I shower in the mornings. That waking up thing people keep talking about. Even with a shower I'm not sure I ever really accomplish being entirely wakeful. But feeeling particularly dead now. Don't know how I'm going to make it through the 3 hours of Dutch today. Have to leave in 20 mins actually.
No random wonderings today, for better or for worse. My brain simply cannot function well enough. Off to Dutch. See you
The rest of the day/night on fri was awesome. Lots of cool people, live band at the pub, elaborate air drum solos from me (drinking may have been involved) and just generally an awesome night. Had to get to Ghent later on though so I left Berts couch relatively early, all things considered, and made my way home to make preparations. Arrived in Ghent early evening and met Monica, Valerie and Aayran there. That night we stayed at Aayran's counselors house which was cool. He took us to this Latina dancing place. Which to be fair had a good atmostphere etc, and I really enjoyed it. Needless to say, my hips didn't feel like partially dislocating themselves every two seconds so I refrained from dancing. (Yeah thats the reason, I was worried about the health of my body...). I mean, my normal dancing is bad enough without bringing actual dance moves into the equation. But I did take lots of pictures of creepy old guys dancing with the girls... hehe.
Later on that night me and Monica went to forage for food. Which proved to be very fruitful. It was a little Kebab place near the dance place. The fact that I used a capitol k for the Kebab should tell you a lot about my feelings for it. It was love at first site. For the first and second Kebab. And the chips. *gazes off into the distance in a reminiscing kind of way* Seriously it was awesome. If you're ever in Ghent centre, find a place called "Thats Kebab" and eat there. Admittedly, it was also the most expensive Kebab I've come across here - €5 for a normal Kebab. Still. Totally worth it. The remainder of the night mostly pales in comparison to the Kebab, although there was an interesting incident of Aaryan jumping inside some guys egg suite that he had made for Easter. While the guy was still in it. Crazy woman. But then hey, is there any other kind????? I can feel the look you females are giving me right now. Its the kind of fear that goes along with knowing that no matter how hard you try, you'll never quite be able to effectively return that look (or even have a manly equivalent other than laughing mischieveously/nervously)
The next day we all had Turkish pizzas. Wow. Very impressed. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the place we got them from so as much as I would like to there'll be no free advertising (to my pulsing hordes of readers) for them. Just go to Ghent and try a bunch of Turkish places and if you like it then you just give me the credit. If you don't like it... then you've obviously just gone to the wrong place and it's entirely your fault.
And then there were three....
That is, Monica, Valerie and myself. The others went off to give the fairies a good talking to. We went and checked into out hotel, which was pretty cool. The usual knobs and goblins etc. We went out and searched for food, possibly traversing every side road in all of bloody Ghent. However, we did eventually find a really nice place that wasn't too pricey. The name of the place, wait for it.... was... Twilight. But to the credit of the staff they didn't try and drink my blood, they were actually good, and most importantly they didn't act like a bunch of stupid hysterical school girls with the intellectual capacity of a limp banana. Which I felt was nice. I had an awesome 300g steak. Easily the best meal I've had at a restaurant here. Nice and bloody...hmmm... (insert twilight reference here). Pancakes for dessert. Need I say more? Probably not. Will that stop me? Unlikely. They gave us these bowls of different sugars to distribute as we saw fit, which is nice because so often people skimp on the sugar and don't give you any extra to lather your pancake in. And boy do I like a good lathering.
The next day we did some touristy meandering (Easter Monday). Things were open; which was good. We went to a castle near the centre. It was like a dream come true. They had a room full of really old weaponary with descriptions of their origins, how they were used etc. Plus suits of armour. I want that stuff so badly. Honestly, if I suddenly had massive amounts of money that armoury would be one of the first things on my agenda. They had some of the old torture devices in another room. It made me strangely happy. They had the thumbscrews and all that kind of stuff (read, James can't remember the names).
Eventually we went home.
Yesterday it was back to work. The day was fairly uneventful - there's a media camp here at the moment so me and most of the interns had to shift over to Stefans room to escape the masses. After work we grabbed some drinks and went down to the river Schelde. Was a really good day - clear skies and 17 degrees C. I was in my T- shirt most of the time. Crazy stuff eh. Anyway so, Stefan invited a few of us to stay the night at his so the night could continue. Which it duly did. We all went and got dinner - also a Turkish place, really good. Most of us made our way to the couch when we got to his place and we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Liked it even more the second time as I vaguely knew what was happening this time. Most people went to bed or fell asleep on the couch. Gladiator was eventually put on, and it was hard to sleep when a pat of me wanted to rewatch it so much. Made it fairly far into the movie though.
This morning we all staggered into work. The camp is still on today and tomorrow so we are still displaced. So tired. I mean there's a good reason I shower in the mornings. That waking up thing people keep talking about. Even with a shower I'm not sure I ever really accomplish being entirely wakeful. But feeeling particularly dead now. Don't know how I'm going to make it through the 3 hours of Dutch today. Have to leave in 20 mins actually.
No random wonderings today, for better or for worse. My brain simply cannot function well enough. Off to Dutch. See you
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.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Just a regular tues...
2 march 2010
Right. So as if to confirm what I said yesterday about not knowing much about my travel plans to Portugal turns out I leave on thurs but get back on mon... Ahhh that was a weight off my chest. Going to bed at 1 and getting up at 6 is a bad idea for anyone who's interested. But then most people could tell you that... It just takes someone like me a little longer to cotton on. Been in a zombified state all morning. Really keen on falling asleep on my desk right now. Probably won't make the best impression, you know, being at work and all.
The last 2 days have been a little colder - Dirk said it was about -3 degrees C at night. I mean it's been a lot worse here and elsewhere in Europe but it's still pretty cold for my sensitive NZ skin. I'm sure that after a certain point the actual amount of degrees below 0 become inconsequencial - surely you just become freezing and kinda numbed??
Last night Dirk starting putting post-it notes on everything. He wrote the Dutch words for the objects on them in the hope that I'll take something in. Hopefully I will. Which reminds me. Dutch tomorrow. *groan* (and not the good kind)
On the upside I'll hopefully be able to have some drinks with the other volunteers afterwards... Just got to get through 3 hours of pain first... Optimistic I know.
Yesterday I stumbled across the idea of writing about one of the charity organisations in Cambodia. The fact that I've actually been there and worked with the company definately helps. Only problem is remaining objective I guess. Which will probably be a little tricky, but I'll see what I can do. Either way it's good because its really interesting to write about.
Computers are a little slower than usual, which is strange. Things could be worse. I could be DEAD! Or you know... have a cold or something. Either of which would be downright unpleasant.
Speaking of colds, I'm freezing. And that's inside in a heated area with 3 layers on including a jersey and jacket. Hope I'm not getting sick (Mom I can almost hear your concern from here hehe).
Cool so we're ordering pizza for lunch. Which is good because I'm starving. Apparently it could be up to an hour wait :-( Can't wait. The anticipation is killing me. Doctors would probably tell me it was actually the hunger. But I know it's the anticipation. My tombestone will read "James Anderson: He was a talkitive man .Tragically undone by Anticipation." Much better than saying I starved to death. Has a bit of mystery/raw weirdness in it.
Yup. Good good. Spiffing. Ok goodbye
Right. So as if to confirm what I said yesterday about not knowing much about my travel plans to Portugal turns out I leave on thurs but get back on mon... Ahhh that was a weight off my chest. Going to bed at 1 and getting up at 6 is a bad idea for anyone who's interested. But then most people could tell you that... It just takes someone like me a little longer to cotton on. Been in a zombified state all morning. Really keen on falling asleep on my desk right now. Probably won't make the best impression, you know, being at work and all.
The last 2 days have been a little colder - Dirk said it was about -3 degrees C at night. I mean it's been a lot worse here and elsewhere in Europe but it's still pretty cold for my sensitive NZ skin. I'm sure that after a certain point the actual amount of degrees below 0 become inconsequencial - surely you just become freezing and kinda numbed??
Last night Dirk starting putting post-it notes on everything. He wrote the Dutch words for the objects on them in the hope that I'll take something in. Hopefully I will. Which reminds me. Dutch tomorrow. *groan* (and not the good kind)
On the upside I'll hopefully be able to have some drinks with the other volunteers afterwards... Just got to get through 3 hours of pain first... Optimistic I know.
Yesterday I stumbled across the idea of writing about one of the charity organisations in Cambodia. The fact that I've actually been there and worked with the company definately helps. Only problem is remaining objective I guess. Which will probably be a little tricky, but I'll see what I can do. Either way it's good because its really interesting to write about.
Computers are a little slower than usual, which is strange. Things could be worse. I could be DEAD! Or you know... have a cold or something. Either of which would be downright unpleasant.
Speaking of colds, I'm freezing. And that's inside in a heated area with 3 layers on including a jersey and jacket. Hope I'm not getting sick (Mom I can almost hear your concern from here hehe).
Cool so we're ordering pizza for lunch. Which is good because I'm starving. Apparently it could be up to an hour wait :-( Can't wait. The anticipation is killing me. Doctors would probably tell me it was actually the hunger. But I know it's the anticipation. My tombestone will read "James Anderson: He was a talkitive man .Tragically undone by Anticipation." Much better than saying I starved to death. Has a bit of mystery/raw weirdness in it.
Yup. Good good. Spiffing. Ok goodbye
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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