Jen's International Adventures

Unexpected turn of events

2009-09-03T11:51:00.003-04:00

I am unexpectedly home early from Thailand. Family emergency on Monday, US-time had me on a plane home in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Thai-time. I hope to return to Southeast Asia again one day; it was a lovely place to visit for even a very short time.

First day at work

2009-08-31T07:48:00.004-04:00

I'm "home" from an 11 hour workday, completely exhausted, with a terrible headache. Why is it I couldn't just come to Thailand to play ... something about my company footing the bill?

Meetings with the bank today were very interesting. Anywhere from 4 to 8 Thai bank employees in the meetings at any given time, but only three people ever spoke directly to me or my colleagues. The Thai folks all understand English well, and most speak English, but they are nervous and reluctant to speak, so almost all questions and comments are channeled through one woman. There were two guys who were willing to pose their own questions, but they weren't in the room the whole time, and didn't have many questions when they were. The bankers spend quite a lot of time discussing items among themselves, which is common in these types of meetings, so much of my time is spent waiting for them to finish their discussions and then either suggest we continue or ask questions or make comments. The uncommon part is that I have no idea what they're saying, so I'm completely unable to participate unless a specific question is directed to me. In the meantime, my two Indian colleagues are on the other side of me having their own side conversations in Hindi. Strange.

Click for updated pictures.

Pictures!

2009-08-31T07:47:00.001-04:00

Try the pictures links again. I had the Picasa album set as Unlisted, which I think was the problem. Let me know if you still can't see the pix.

Chatuchak

2009-08-30T06:15:00.003-04:00

Despite the thunderstorms this morning and the perpetually overcast sky (it is the rainy season afterall... more on this in a minute), I ventured out to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. I had my choice of taking the subway or the SkyTrain to the market, so I opted for the SkyTrain, which is new, cheap, safe, and gives a great view of the city.

I wandered around this vast market for several hours and only got completely lost once! Actually, I was probably completely lost for the entire time I was there, I just didn't know it until the one time I thought I'd try to find my way home. It is probably several square miles of stalls with people selling absolutely everything you can imagine. Many of the booths contain handicrafts like woodworking, jewelry, silk clothing and household linens, others have souvenier-type items for sale. The food is everywhere, some of it smells GREAT and some smells AWFUL, and since I didn't have anyone with me to let me know if any of it was safe for a foreigner like me to try, I steered clear of all edibles. I made some purchases and spent a lovely afternoon wandering. Too bad it's only open on the weekends.

Now a note about the seasons here. According to my tourguide Pong, Thailand has three seasons: Winter, Summer, and Rainy. The date that the season changes is up to the King, and the way that he declares the season has changed is by climbing up to the Emerald Buddha and changing his (the Buddha's) clothes. Winter starts in December, but the date depends on when the King changes Buddha into his Winter robes. Summer starts in March, but again the exact date depends on the King & the Emerald Buddha. The rainy season starts in July (thus the thunderstorms and perpetually overcast skies here in the last week of August), so Buddha was dressed in his rainy wear when I saw him yesterday. I like a country where the attire determines the season and not the other way around.

Check out updated pix

Grand Palace & Thai massage

2009-08-30T00:30:00.004-04:00

I followed the advice of many friends and hired a tour guide to take me around Bangkok yesterday. For 1,700 Thai baht (about 50 USD), I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Pong, a 57yr old Thai man, born and raised in Bangkok, studied law as a student, lived in Germany for four years, taught law at the University, and now has been a tourguide for the past 20 years. He was awesome! A driver comes with the tour, so Pong could spend his time waxing eloquent about Bangkok and not worrying about the traffic or where to park. The driver stays with the van, and is available whenever we want to move.

On the way to the Grand Palace, we drove through Chinatown (does every city in the world have a Chinatown?!), and Indiatown. We drove through the biggest flower market I've ever seen ... city blocks of nothing but fresh flowers, either arranged or in bulk. My sister-in-law, Angie, would have been in heaven! Then came the vegetable market, then the fruit market, smaller than the flower market, but still very substantial! Food vendors everywhere. It took nearly an hour to get to the Grand Palace because the traffic was intense, but we finally did arrive and our driver dropped us at the front gate.

The Grand Palace is the old palace and Buddhist temple of the king of Thailand. All the kings are called King Rama (good king). Thailand is on Rama IX, but he is 87 years old, so Rama X shouldn't be long in coming, although a new law was passed recently that allows the daughter of the king to become Queen, so Thailand may soon have it's first Queen, head of state (as opposed to Queen, wife of the King). Pong & I wandered the grounds for a couple hours, him talking on and on about every aspect of the palace, the temple, the grounds, everything. He'd stop and let me take pictures, and then we'd continue on. It was great. I learned a lot, and since Pong kept up a running commentary, I didn't feel obligated to do much talking.

When we left the palace, we drove through the government area of town and past the current palace and House of Parliament. We had to take an obligatory stop at the Gem store. The Thai are very proud of their sapphires and rubies, and nearly every tour of the city requires a stop at a relatively high-pressure sales Gem store with a VAST display of uniquely designed, quite expensive jewelry. I knew it was coming, and I was prepared for the sales pitch. As I was walking out deliberately empty-handed, my saleslady stated that next time I needed to come back with a "good rich boyfriend." She said he needed to be both good and rich, because if he was rich but not good, he wouldn't let me spend his money, and if he was good but not rich, then why bother! Spoken like a true Thai!

After the gem store, the tour was essentially done, so Pong said he could drop me in one of three places: my apartment, the Weekend Market (HUGE outdoor market open every weekend, which we had discussed, and where I am probably going today), or at a spa for a traditional Thai massage and foot massage. I opted for the massage (also a recommendation of something I could not leave Thailand without). For the next 2.5 hours, I had the most wonderful massage, and left feeling completely relaxed and happy! I even managed to bargain a rate with the taxi driver to take me back to my apartment.

Day 1 in Bangkok, Fabulous! Here's pictures.

BKK

2009-08-29T08:44:00.003-04:00

I'm HERE! Or there, to all of you. So much to blog... where do I start??

When I found my seat on the double-decker 747 in Atlanta yesterday afternoon, I was beyond dismayed to see that a young mom with a just-turned-one-year-old (who didn't have her own seat) was sitting next to me. Thankfully the seat on the other side of the mom did not have a passenger in it (believe me, she and I were both keeping our fingers crossed on that one!), so Baby Girl did in fact get her own seat. But I quickly got over my dismay as I got to know Leila (not sure how you spell her name... phonetically it's LAY-luh); she was the sweetest little girl who did not seem at all to mind the 13.5 hour flight into Tokyo. Her mom (whose name I didn't get) and her dad are both stationed 2 hours outside Tokyo with, I believe, the US Army (but it could be another branch of the US military). When Leila slept, I also managed to catch some ZZZZs, but she was awake for most of the trip, relatively happy and very active, which means her mom & I were both awake too, since she was crawling all over all the seats, whether they had people in them or not!

I bid Leila farewell in Tokyo and spent the 1.5 hours of layover wandering the hallways of Narita Airport. I just needed to walk after having been sitting (except for a few walks up & down the aisles of the plane) for half a day. The flight to Bangkok left ontime at 7p Tokyo time (=5p Bangkok time = 5a EST) and touched down in Bangkok at 11:30p, then there was Immigration, Baggage Claim, Customs, Cab, and Check-in, and I was in my apartment just shy of 24 hours after I left Atlanta.

The corporate apartment I'm staying in is GREAT! It's huge, has a little kitchen with modern appliances (like I'd cook in Thailand... I don't even cook at home!), dining area, big bedroom area with a nice comfortable bed and a sitting area, big bathroom with a very large dressing area, and a little office nook. I even have a good sized patio off the sitting area. At my complimentary breakfast this morning, I had a choice of traditional morning eats from Thailand (curried veggies), Japan (fried rice w fish), US (omlette, cereal), and Europe (fruits, pastry), so I tried a little of everything! Since I'd only gotten another 5 hours of sleep, thankfully the coffee was very European and delicious.

My panic attacks for the morning all centered around electronic connections:
1. My voltage converter won't work with my hair dryer or straightener
2. My voltage converter wouldn't work with my cell charger
3. I forgot that I will need a voltage converter for my laptop, on which I have to work all week
4. I couldn't dial the cell numbers that I have for my two Indian colleagues

The resolution to the panics, which occured over the course of the day:
1. I can shower at night and my hair will dry by morning, and it's so humid here, straightening it is probably not how I need to waste my time anyway.
2. I found a plug where my cell charger will work!!! This was my greatest concern - I can't be without contact with home for a week!
3. I talked to my colleagues (see resolution #4), and we decided we had little choice but to just take it as it comes. But later when I looked more closely at the laptop's power cord, I may not need a converter. I just need someone more electrically-savvy than me to confirm it before I plug the $8000 laptop into a wall and blow it up!
4. I got the receptionist at the front desk to help me dial the cell numbers properly, so they did finally connect, and I met the guys I'll be working with this week.

OK, that gets us through noon today. Next post will be about my adventure with my hired interpreter in Bangkok this afternoon.

Leavin' on a jet plane

2009-08-26T23:01:00.003-04:00

I love that song. Always have. Maybe it's because I knew I was destined to travel one day when I was all grown up. :-)

My plane leaves ATL at 2:20p EST tomorrow, and I'm very excited! I'm all but packed, just a few last minute things to do in the morning and a quick stop at the office on the way to the airport to photocopy my passport... just in case. I even remembered to locate my voltage changer and plug adapters and to pack all those pesky chargers for every little piece of electronics equipment that I would not survive without... the phone, the camera, the laptop ... Kids are nearly packed for the weekend at their dad's, and the doggies are ready for the weekend home alone with the dog-sitter. Mom comes in on Sunday to take care of EVERYTHING for the week, and that makes me very happy. Nothing to worry about when Mom's here!

I'll be 11 hours ahead of you folks on Eastern Standard time, but I'm hoping that time difference will make chatting with the kids and Mom not too challenging. By the time I'm out of work for the day, they should be up-and-at-em for the morning, and before I leave for work in the morning, they'll be home from soccer practice and other evening events. I don't see my kids much more than that these days anyway... they'll hardly know I'm gone!!

Next update from Thailand!

Friends of friends and Facebook

2009-08-23T20:38:00.004-04:00

Friends of friends are a wonderful thing; combine that with Facebook, and all of a sudden, the world is significantly smaller than it was!

When my co-workers began hearing that I was traveling to Bangkok, no less than three of them said, "You HAVE to look up Mac. He lives there, you know." My immediate response to all three was, "But I don't know Mac." I have known of this person Mac through various stories over the years from co-workers. He is a former employee of my company, and apparently a very well-liked guy, but he was gone before I started at S1. Now thanks to the prompting of my co-workers and Facebook, Mac & I have been in touch, and he has provided me a wealth of information about the city: where to dine, where to drink, what to see, and what to avoid! He even volunteered to accompany me on a tour of some temples and the Grand Palace - I think I'll have to accept that offer from possibly the only native English speaker I may encounter next week.

And yes, I did in fact pack today. I have all my work clothes laid out and my play clothes are in the dryer. It's the shoes that are killing me. I love shoes, and I have just about one pair of shoes for every outfit I own, but I'm forcing myself to be realistic. I cannot take seven pair of shoes to Thailand. For my work clothes, I'm only taking 2 pair... one black and one brown... boring! But for play shoes, I'm going to need at least another 2 pair. Maybe three, but one will be on my feet on the plane, so they don't count, right?? 5 pair for 7 days on the ground. That seems silly. Sigh. Clearly, more thought needed on the shoes situation.

Experienced traveler?

2009-08-22T20:31:00.004-04:00

Before I left for India 2.5 years ago, on my first trip overseas, I was very nervous. I didn't know what to expect about India, about the long flight, about the food, about the water, about jet-lag, about anything. But in hindsight I think what caused me the most stress wasn't all those unknowns but one other big unknown. I didn't know how I would react to any of those unknowns. What if I became so stir-crazy on the plane that I was desperate to get off? What if I got a blood clot in my leg (Thanks, fear-mongering pharmaceutical commercials) on the flight? What if I was hungry all the time because there was nothing I could eat? What if I mistakenly drank the water and became desperately ill (Thanks, co-workers who have traveled to India and done just that)? My fear of the unknown was really a lack of trust in my own ability to handle and effectively react to different circumstances. I'm not worried about those things anymore.

Before I gave birth to my second child, Sam, I remember talking to friends and relatives and saying things like, "I'm not so nervous about this baby because I've experienced so much with the first baby, Mia. I know I haven't experienced everything, but I think I'll be able to handle the differences with this baby all right." When Sam finally made his appearance, I was shocked to find that there was nothing different about this baby than the first one. Thankfully both my babies were healthy and had no serious problems, so there was literally nothing new for me to learn. Not only had I experienced a lot with Mia, but in fact, I'd experienced everything. The new baby didn't bring any surprises, even though I thought he might, and I felt like I was prepared to handle them if he did.

That's kind of how I feel with this trip. I've traveled to Asia before (OK, not to Thailand, so obviously there will be differences). But I've dealt with the long flight, the food issue, the water issue, and the jet-lag. I don't know what to expect about Thailand in particular, but I have the confidence that I can successfully travel to foreign countries, and I feel prepared to handle the differences.

Tomorrow I start packing.
Monday I confirm that the corporate apartments I'm staying in can book an interpreter/driver to take me around on some sight-seeing adventures on Saturday and Sunday.
Tuesday evening, I want to be completely finished packing. Someone told me to try to be done packing 24 hours before your flight. I think that's great advice. It's never ever happened for me, but I'm optimistic. There's a first time for everything.
Wednesday is for the last-minute "Oh man! I forgot!" moments
And Thursday at 220p EST (= Friday 120a in Bangkok), wheels up.

Another adventure in Asia

2009-08-17T14:16:00.003-04:00

I haven't ventured out of the US for two years (except for a 24hour jaunt over the northern border to Toronto last December), but soon I'm off again on my longest plane trip yet. And unless I ever go to New Zealand, it may be my longest ever.

Last Wednesday evening my boss emailed me from his vacation to ask if I'd be available to travel to Bangkok for a week's worth of meetings with a Thai bank, which I probably cannot legally name, so I won't. I immediately started sending emails to see if I could get kid-coverage for a week and checking airlines for fares. With less than 2 weeks notice, Delta was charging an outrageous $6000.00 for the privilege of sitting in the cattle-car known as Coach-class for 22 hours. So we pushed the dates of the meeting by a week, kept $4000.00 in the S1 coffers and away from Delta Airlines, and my boss told me to "Fire up the blog!" Since I ALWAYS do what I'm told, here we go...

I'll be in Bangkok for a weekend before the meetings start, so I should be able to see some of the city. I've been advised to hire an interpreter and a driver to take me around on a sight-seeing tour on Saturday at least. And I've been advised to not, under any circumstances, allow a tuk-tuk driver to take me on the highways. Local roads only!

The current adventure involves getting a visa (which is not required for travel from Europe) in time to get on an airplane next week. International travel always seems to involve some time-critical piece of missing data... in this case a Letter of Invitation from the requesting company in Thailand. I'm hoping to have that Letter sitting on my fax machine in the morning, so I can package up all my vital documents and overnight them to the visa folks, who promise (but don't guarantee) I'll have my passport back in my hands by next Thursday morning. We shall see.

In the meantime, I need to start making a list...

FINALLY! PICTURES!!

2007-09-02T11:50:00.000-04:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/jend1623/JensBrusselsTrip

Pictures...

2007-08-26T20:57:00.003-04:00

Oh yea... pictures! I have them, I promise! But I need the cable to connect the camera to the laptop. I'll get them loaded this week, I promise.

Home again, home again

2007-08-26T20:31:00.000-04:00

I arrived home safe and sound yesterday afternoon. The jetlag has hit me harder coming home from Europe than it did coming home from Asia... not sure why. I've been in lazy mode all day... which isn't a bad place to be on a rainy Sunday.

The end of the story in Brussels consisted of a trip to the Royal Palace, business home of the King of Belgium, who opens the palace to the public from Belgium Independence Day (July 21) through the first part of September. The royal family's impressive art collection was on display, including some very interesting modern art pieces. I agree with my tourguide (and co-worker) Gert, who stated, as we walked through the hall with the modern art displayed, "Any one of these would look good in my house." The palace is amazing, but what completely enthralled me was the short side trip we took to the archeological dig currently occurring immediately next to the Royal Palace, under the current BELvue Museum... the old palace at Coudenberg. I literally got to walk on the same cobblestones as the Emperor, Charles V! Very cool!

After a short drive around the Woluwe / Kraainem area looking for a grocery store where I could buy beer (found it - Delhaize, known as Food Lion in the States), I headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head home.

Brussels was my first foray into Europe, but I'll be back. :)

Going home

2007-08-24T11:52:00.001-04:00

I'll have to update the blog with my noon-time adventures in the Royal Palace after I get home. I'm off now to the grocery (apparently they actually have them!) to buy beer and my laptop battery will only last an hour or so after I leave the office.

My flight is at 1030a tomorrow (Saturday) morning, and I will continue to update and upload pictures after I arrive home!

Mussels in Brussels

2007-08-24T11:36:00.000-04:00

We had dinner last night in Brussels city center, so I could get mussels. Before we got to the restaurant, we stopped at one of the oldest pubs in Brussels (established in 1686!) called Mort Subite (pronounced more sooBEET), which literally means Sudden Death, for Kriek (pronounced creek), which is beer made from CHERRIES! Who makes beer from CHERRIES?! Oh, right... the Belgians. (They also make beer from raspberries.) Kriek is delicious, and Mort Subite is an amazing place. It is a bright and airy pub with 2-story ceilings and long wooden tables down the length of it. Smaller bistro-style tables are outside (very Belgians for the pub to spill over into the street - very European, I think) where we sat to watch the passers-by. Upstairs the perimeter has tables and chairs which overlook the main goings-on at the bar below. The walls are adorned with ornate sculptures and mouldings, one entire wall (opposite the bar) is mirrored, making the place look even bigger, although it is quite large and probably seats 100 or more. The bar itself has been modernized, I think, because it is mostly glass and chrome. I don't imagine it looked quite like that in 1686.

After a short walk, we found mussels served wonderfully at a bright, casual little restaurant called Le Pre-Sale. I ordered mine with white wine, but I was completely out-ordered by Walter, who ordered his with garlic & cream. Mine were very tasty, but the ones in garlic & cream were fantastic! All varieties, regardless of what you order, are served in a large ceramic black pot with chopped onions and celery with a side of frites (Belgian fries, not to be confused with the more widely know French variety). Delicious! And now I can say I've had mussels in Brussels. And chocolate, and waffles, and frites, and beer. I'm done. Time to go home.

The Belgian Monarchy

2007-08-23T06:03:00.000-04:00

The plan for tomorrow afternoon.

http://www.monarchie.be/en/visit/palace/index.html

BELGIUM BEATS SERBIA!!

2007-08-23T05:09:00.000-04:00

The Headlines:
Rode Duivels leven nog: 3-2 winst tegen Servië
Belgium edges Serbia in Euro 2008 qualifier
Belgium beats Serbia 3-2 in Group A qualifier for Euro 2008
Dembélé double downs Serbia

It's all over the Belgian papers this morning. The Belgian National Team (the underdog) beat Serbia, 3-2 last evening in Brussles. It was a fantastic game, and it just might be enough to put Belgium back in the running towards the European Championships in Spring 2008... maybe. I'm so lucky that I was able to attend; Belgium only plays at home about once every 2 months. The Belgian team dominated the first half, and the score was 2-1 at the half. However, they slowed down dramatically as the end of the 2nd half came around, and I thought they might give the game back to the Serbians in the final minutes, but thankfully the ref blew the whistle and ended it. The stadium was only about half-full, which seems to stem from the fact that they haven't won a game in nearly 9 months and they were (and probably still are) out of the running for the Championships. But last night's match was a big boost for the Belgian morale. What fun!!

With the number of police, security and armormed trucks surrounding the stadium, it was apparent that European football has a clear reputation for getting rowdy. There was only one point during the evening that I thought might turn into something interesting. Belgium was attacking the Serbian goal, and the goalkeeper took out the Belgian forward. He was on the ground for many minutes, and the members of both teams were circling him, cursing and jabbing at each other while the paramedics attended to the injured player. The spectators were on fire!! Whistles, calls, jeers, shouts coming mainly from the Belgian side but retaliated from the Serbian side as well. Finally the police came onto the field and broke up the mob, sending them to opposite sections of the field, and that seemed to quiet down the stands too. The player (#18 - Dembélé) recovered to score Belgium's third goal!

FUN, FUN, FUN!

People's gardens

2007-08-22T10:56:00.001-04:00

There's a word in Dutch that means "people's gardens." It's a great concept especially for folks who live in apartment buildings in cities and don't have access to areas for gardening. In Brussels, there are tracts of land (maybe as large as a soccer field, or larger) sub-divided into small (10'x10', or so) parcels with narrow paths in between. People pay a small fee to use the small parcels as their personal gardens. They plant what they want and bring all their own tools, and they've got an opportunity to garden in the midst of the city. I like it... you know, for all those gardeners out there. Not that I would ever dirty my hands in such a way, but it's a great concept.

Very productive day today

2007-08-21T15:04:00.000-04:00

At the office, we (David, Michel & I) made great strides towards analyzing what a "world-class" international corporate banking application looks like. Now all that remains is defining it, scoping it, designing it, developing it, debugging it, selling it, deploying it, and supporting it. That's all. At least the only part of the problem that belongs to me is the defining it part (and a little in the scoping and designing...). The rest is left to folks smarter than me. I'm glad I work with a whole bunch of them!

After work, I made more great strides... this time around Brussels. I made my way (much more swiftly and straightforwardly) back to Brussels Center where I managed to buy batteries for my (ok Robert's!) camera, more chocolates for some of my favorite people, a waffle with chocolate (aka dinner!) for myself, and some gifts. I then tried to retrace some of the strides I took with Michel & Alexis on Sunday since I am once again in possession of a fully-functioning camera. I managed to get to some of the same locations and I found a few I hadn't seen yet.

Brussels on a beautifully cool early Tuesday evening is a much different place than it is on a warm bustling Sunday afternoon. It is truly a beautiful city, both clean and safe, ancient and modern, planned and haphazard. Police are in abundance, and even the small alleyways are not to be feared. People are very friendly. Two girls hurried up to me on a small street as I was walking away from the Grand Place (where I sat and ate my waffle & chocolate) and began babbling to me in French. I don't know if they assumed everyone in Brussels speaks French or maybe I just looked like I might, but when I said "no francais. english." they looked at me with disgust and walked away. Oh well.

Maybe the greatest stride of my day was first thing this morning when I talked David into accompanying me to the Belgium vs. Serbia soccer match tomorrow evening! I'm very excited! If I could blog from my phone (I could if I had a Blackberry or a superphone (just for you Molly!)), I'd give you the play-by-play, but alas, I cannot.

I've reached the 1/2 mark. 3 more days in Brussels.

A day at the office

2007-08-20T13:58:00.000-04:00

Interesting, a day at the office in Brussels is eerily similar to a day at the office in Pune, which is eerily similar to a day in the office in Atlanta. Hmmmm... maybe the world isn't as big as we all think it is.

Things I've learned about Brussels so far:

All signs are written in both French and Dutch
It rains a LOT here
16C with a light drizzle is considered pretty comfortable weather
It's hard to find English on TV (BBC World is one, but I'm tired of the news)
French and Dutch sound very different from each other
Only eat mussels (even in Brussels) in a month that ends with R (I actually already knew this one, thank you Molly, but I heard it again today when I mentioned that I wanted mussels on Wednesday, when several of us from the office are to go to dinner together)
A smorrebrod is a baugette, and it's good with pesto, mozzerella, tomato & onion
Various mayonaise-based spreads are common on smorrebrod, as is smoked salmon and soft spreadable brie-like cheeses
Brussels is an expensive city... and about 50% moreso because the dollar against the euro is really pitiful
Belgium is currently ranked 5th in the European Football (soccer for us Americans) Association, with a finals qualifier to be played on Wednesday in Brussels at King Baudouinstadium (hmmmm... maybe we can go THERE for dinner...)

If you're looking for pictures, you'll have to wait until I get home. I forgot the cable that plugs the camera into the laptop.

What a first day!

2007-08-19T12:18:00.000-04:00

WoW! What an amazing first day in Europe! I had an uneventful flight from Atlanta to Brussels (well, except for the woman puking all over the galley mere moments after I stepped out of the lavatory... ick! The flight attendants were less than thrilled!) Arrived safely in Brussels at 8a local time. Navigating the Brussels airport was a piece of cake (all airports are simple after Atlanta, aren't they?!??), and I caught a taxi to my hotel, arriving just about 9a. My room wasn't quite ready yet, so the concierge suggested I take breakfast in the restaurant, which I did. About an hour later my room was ready, I took my stuff up, quickly freshened up and was back out the door headed to The Grand Place. My lovely friend Kathleen had given me a book on Brussels that I read on the plane, so I had a basic idea of where I wanted to go, and the concierge was nice enough to direct me to the closest Metro stop (which I now know is only a 5 minute walk, but it took me 30 minutes to get there this morning, since I turned right when I should have turned left and ended up meandering through a beautiful - but empty, seeing as it's Sunday in the summer - college campus!)

I finally arrived at the Central Station only to find that Brussels is not that easy to navigate! I had a couple decent (I thought!) maps, and the signage is excellent, but I was still having quite a time figuring out which way was which. I wandered about for about an hour, just happening to stumble upon some of the sights I wanted to see, until I finally found The Grand Place. After that, things started getting easier. I was able to use my maps to find Manneken-Pis, and I was having a great time taking pictures, until I almost fell off a curb trying to get a good angle at some neat architecture and met two new friends.

Alexis and Michel saw me stumble off the curb and started laughing at me, which caused us to strike up a conversation (quite slow and stilted, considering they appeared to know about as much English as I know French) about where I was from and what I was doing in Brussels and where I was headed. At that point, I didn't quite know where I was headed and managed to get that much across to them, so they volunteered to be tour-guides (of sorts), and I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in their company. What a wonderful, completely unexpected adventure with two Belgians and an American in Brussels! It turned out, between the two of them, their English was WAY better than my French, but understanding language is a lot easier than speaking it (at least for me), so I'd let them babble in French with maybe a word or two of English thrown in, and then I'd try to sort out what they had said by deciphering any Latin-sounding words that could possibly have an English counterpart coupled with the one-year's worth of French vocabulary I remember from Ms. Humphrey's high school French class, 18 years ago. And what amazed me more than anything was how we all improved as the day wore on. We got to the point where we were actually carrying on conversations - strange, giggle-laden, gesticulation-heavy conversations - but no one could mistake our ramblings for anything other than cross-cultural communication! And I got to see a TON of Brussels, including some alley-ways and back-doors and round-abouts that I never would have survived on my own.

And then there was the woman from Charleston, SC who I met in (what Alexis claims is the) BEST chocolate shop in Brussels. Turns out she is a Delta flight attendant from Birmingham, AL (the Charleston sweatshirt was just a guise, but enough to get me to say hello)! We discussed which chocolates I thought were best (why on EARTH she thought I'd have a clue about good vs. bad chocolate, I have no idea), and Alexis and Michel were cracking up that I found a "patriot" in the chocolate shop!

When it started to rain in earnest during our coffee break at the outdoor cafe, I asked my new friends to escort me back to the Metro (since I knew I'd never find it myself). They wanted me to stay and have dinner and go dancing at the Discoteque (which I would have loved to do), but my hotel is out in the suburbs, and I was nervous about being downtown after dark when I didn't know quite how I was going to get back to my hotel, so I declined with a pout, and they took me to the Metro where we bid each other au revoir. I got miserably lost again on the college campus returning from downtown (and was very thankful it wasn't dark!), but I was smart enough to ask for directions from a nice guy in a coffee shop, and he pointed me in the right (5 minute walk!) direction.

So 1 blister, 2 boxes of chocolate, 4 postcards, and an amazing adventure in Brussels later, and I'm ready for a good night's sleep and work (ewww... work??) tomorrow.

Au Revoir...

Why don't you update your blog?

2007-08-17T11:04:00.000-04:00

OK, I've gotten enough questions about why I haven't updated my blog! The biggest reason is, the blog was called Jen's India Trip... and, well... I'm not on a trip in Inida anymore. So, I've decided to create a new blog called Jen's International Adventures because I fully intend to have many, and frequently!

I got a passport when I was 20 because I knew that I would be a world traveller, jet-setting to all continents, experiencing all this big wonderful world has to offer. I renewed my never-been-stamped passport 4 years ago. And now, 15 years after optimistically applying for that first passport, I've finally managed to leave the country... three times this year! I'm no where close to my brother who took 13 international trips in 12 months last year and is only slightly behind that rate this year, but I'm coming along.

I was in Pune, India in February / March for 8 days (http://www.jensindiatrip.blogspot.com/).
I was in Ixtapa, Mexico in July for 5 days (no blog on that one).
Tomorrow, I leave for Brussels, Belgium for 7 days (check back here for more info on that trip).