On a Quest

Well I am finally here with Keith. Bailey and I had a pretty uneventful trip, thanks to so many of you at home that helped us get here. The team of family members getting me to the airport was awesome. Bailey seemed to handle the trip well, although she was clearly exhausted so I doubt she slept much on the plane. Obviously the best part of the trip was being reunited with Keith.

Our quest began not long after I arrived, Keith explained to me that we need special trash bags for putting the garbage at the curb. So as we shopped on Saturday for various household furnishings at Carefore (grungier version of a super walmart) we searched for these special bags. Mind you, there are shelves of trash bags, but not the specific region coded bags that we need. Our land lady said you just ask for "Sac Poubelle", which we soon discovered is the name of ALL trash bags, again not the special region coded bags. So we left Carefore unable to find the elusive bags. I was beginning to believe Keith had been misled about these bags, how can they be required but not found in any store????

As Keith mentioned earlier, everything is closed on Sunday so our quest would have to wait until Monday after work. We shifted our focus to getting me prepared to drive. It's actually not nearly as scary as I would have thought, but will take some getting use to. The street we live on is pretty cute, I plan to do some exploring later today to check it out more. And you'll all be happy to hear, I was able to get the washing machine's display to change to English. Sadly it still doesn't make a lot of sense!

On with our quest. Monday evening we made a mad dash to the local grocery store (they close at 6:30) and again we faced a big wall of trash bags, none of which were the right ones. Dejected, we made our way to the register and we spotted them! BAGS! Tucked away under the check out counter..... our land lady was right, you have to ask for the bags. Duh, doesn't everyone know that bags are under the counter? Our quest for garbage bags is complete! Now lets just hope they pick them up :)

Getting Settled

Last night I moved into our new Belgian home. The first step was to get my Internet connection up and running. I went through their setup CD (thankfully it had an English version) only to realize that I forgot my password back at my coworkers apartment. On the way to his place I was stuck in accident traffic, so a 7 km drive took well over an hour. Fortunately, when I finally got back, the setup went smoothly and I now have a connection that seems even faster than my cable modem back home. It's not cheap though, almost 60 Euro / month.

By the time I was done with that, I was ready for bed. I had notice that it was getting quite cold in the house, but I turned the thermostat way up and figured that the old style radiator heat just took a little while to warm up. I was wrong. I woke up at about 1:30 in the morning and the house was 48 degrees. I spent about an hour trying to get the heat to work, but nothing seemed to happen. I put on several sweaters and my hat, and then covered my bed in all of the clothes from my suitcase. It didn't help. I was awake all night freezing to death. When it was time to get ready for work, I had a runny nose and a headache, and had barely slept all night, so I took a sick day. I hated to do it, but I just couldn't funtion on that little sleep.

After about 2 hours worth of work, I finally figured out how to get the heat to work. I had to go into the garage where there is an enormous oil tank (the whole garage reeks of oil) and a furnace of some sort. There are several buttons and knobs on it, but none of them seemed to get the heat going. Finally I started randomly turning valves in desparation and the heat kicked in. So tonight I will head to bed early and be nice and toasty.

One more anecdote from the new house...my place came with a brand new washer and dryer. They're very nice and all digital. The problem is that the screen is in French, so I have no idea what it's doing to my clothes right now. After 20 minutes of playing with the screen, I finally got it to start...hopefully I selected "clean" and not "destory".

Grand Theft Jacket

I went out to my rental car this morning to find the passenger window smashed and my Colombia jacket and Tomtom charger missing. There was glass all over the street and in the car. A kind man walking by offered to call the police for me, and explained that they wanted me to drive the car to the center of town to fill out a report. When I got there, there were three other people there in line with broken windows in their cars. Apparently this is quite common. Anyway, they couldn't speak any English and asked me to drive to the NATO base and talk with the police there. So I spent the morning giving my statement to the police, only to have them say that I "shouldn't expect to get my stuff back." I kinda figured that would be the case, but it was difficult to hear from them.

Unfortunately since absolutely nothing is open on Sundays out here, I have to wait until tomorrow morning to get the car back to the rental office. I'm not sure how the insurance works, but hopefully this doesn't come out of my pocket. The worst part is that now I'm without transportation again. I could drive a short distance, but there is so much glass in the car that I can't take anyone or anything with me. I guess I'll just sit in my coworkers place and watch more movies....

Shady Deals

So, I finally decided to rent a car so I can explore the area a little more. There is a Hertz shop right across the street from my office, so I decided to book online and pick it up during my lunch hour. I found a wagon so I could pick up Elizabeth and Bailey next weekend, it was 350 Euro for two weeks. A little expensive, but I figured I could rent something smaller after that.

On Tuesday I walked over to what appeared to be an abandoned building with a handwritten "Hertz Car Rental" sign on the door. There was no walkway, I just walked through the mud. When I get in there, it's a completely empty warehouse with two guys sitting silently at their computers, cables all over the floor. After a few minutes of typing, he finds my reservation. After a few more minutes, he asks for my credit card and says it will be 975 Euro! After a good bit of discussion I finally figured out that the online price doesn't include the European VAT, or insurance. Insurance alone was almost 500 Euro! Needless to say, I cancelled the reservation and got a small car for a whole month for 500 Euro total. I'm going to have to rent the big one for a day to pick up Elizabeth, but now I have some transportation to get to work and around town.

The really shady part of this Hertz came as I was walking outside with one of the guys to inspect the car. My coworker came with me to find out how much it would be to rent a small automatic for a month...they quoted him 800 Euro, 300 more than my manual. Anyway, as I headed outside, the other guy motioned for my coworker to come over and told him that he could get him an automatic for a month for 500. The guy admitted that he didn't work for Hertz...but we couldn't figure out who he was or why he was sitting in the Hertz dealership. He said to meet him at the Hertz store between 1:00 and 2:00 because the other guy "can't know about this". Arek is still debating whether or not to take the "deal", but it just seems scary...but funny!

Driving out here is pretty scary. There is a rule that people from the right almost always have the right-of-way, and they take it. You can be cruising along and someone from a sidestreet will just drive in front of you, assuming you will stop. You have to be paying very close attention. If that weren't bad enough, many of the streets in town are cobblestone and narrow, some are only for bikes, some are only for buses, some are one way, and some "roads" look like sidewalks. There are cement barriers that pop out of the sidewalk, but lower for busses to drive up on them. I've almost been run over several times.

Just another day in Belgium!

Sundays in Belgium

After an already busy weekend, I decided to take it easy today. A fellow American expat who has been out here for almost a year showed me around town a little more. We walked down to the weekly open market, where hundreds of vendors pulled up their trucks to sell everything you could imagine....from food to furniture to DVDs. The whole town was empty except for these four or five streets where thousands of people gathered to shop. There were musicians and even a little old guy with a 100 year old music box to entertain the crowd. We dropped a Euro in his cup, and he gave us a huge yellow toothless smile.

After that, I came back to the hotel and have spent the rest of the day filling out more paperwork. I won't go into all the details, but the amount of hoops I have to jump through is incredible. There are tons of forms to fill out, and they all have to be done in a certain order. The worst part is that if you ask 5 people what the procedure is, you will get 5 different answers. I'm going to write a book on this when I'm done...I would have paid a fortune for something like that when I came out here.

Brussels

Today my coworker and I caught the train to Brussels. It was a short walk across town to the train station, then a short 45 minute train ride up there. On the weekends the train runs every hour and costs 9 Euro for a roundtrip ticket. It's so convenient and inexpensive I could go up there just for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night. We left at 9:00 in the morning and returned around 5:00. We didn't hit any museums or anything, it was really just a day to get out and see a little bit of the city. It was almost 60 degrees and sunny, just a perfect day to be walking around.

My overall quick impression of the city was that it's very nice, but nothing too exciting. The architecture is beautiful, but it does look a lot like many other European cities that I've seen. It has the standard shops and cafes with chairs out in the street so you can enjoy a beer and watch the crowds. The one thing I was very excited about was the abundance of waffle shops. Unlike Mons, Brussels has a waffle shop on every corner. We did of course have one for a late breakfast....it was covered in chocolate (actually I think it's a product called Nutella, very popular out here) and whipped cream. Absolutely fantasic!

Several people told me before I left that I have to see the Manneken Pis statue. Even at my job, they have told me that this is the main tourist attraction that Brussles is know for. So, after enjoying a waffle and watching people in the Grand Place (the main square in the heart of the city), we headed out to see the famous Manneken Pis. It had to be the most anti-climatic thing I've ever seen. It's a small statue, maybe 2 feet tall, of a guy peeing into a fountain. That's it. It's exactly what the name implies...and yes, Manneken Pis is the offical name of it. The thing I found more intersting was the chocolate shop next to, named Manneken Pis Chocolate. There was absolutly no one in the shop....perhaps they should have thought through that name a little more. I understand that that wanted to be the official chocolate shop of the statue, but it just sounds disgusting.

The pictures from my trip today are up on Picasa, so feel free to let me know what you think of the weird little statue after seeing it. It was a very nice day, and I look forward to exploring Brussels more during my time here.

Turning European

I made a giant step towards fitting in the Europe last night....I did laundry in the bathtub. You haven't lived until you've done your laundry in the bathtub, then hung soaking wet clothes all over your hotel room. I looked all over town for a laundromat, but the closest one is a 15 minute walk. Maybe I'm lazy, but I just don't feel like dragging my dirty clothes all over Mons to wash them.

Also, I finally found a waffle stand!!! In the multicultural tradition of Belgium, the have Flemish waffles and French waffles. If you ever come here, make sure you get the Flemish version. They don't have powdered sugar or other toppings like Americans are used to, but they are just delicious! In case you are not aware, Belgium is officially tri-lingual, and there is a serious cultural battle between the Flemish and French areas of the country. Less than 1% of the country speaks German, but it is an official language anyway.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Brussels with my coworker to help him look for an apartment. I should have some fun pictures to share on Sunday.

Some Observations

I just wanted to write about a few interesting observations I've made so far...

If you go to the grocery store, you are expected to not only bag your own groceries, you should also bring your bags with you. No matter how much you buy, they assume you will put it in your own bags by yourself. If you don't bring your own bags, they're about 15 cents per bag. However, most people don't buy large amounts at a time. Instead, they buy dinner for the evening on their way home from work. I assume that this is due to the fact that almost no one has freezers, and most refridgerators are tiny by US standards.

People here love to yell. Every evening after about 9:00, there are groups of people standing in the main square yelling at the top of their lungs to no one in particular. I went to a bar tonight and several times people randomly erupted into loud chants. Even on the NATO base, people often great each other with bird like noises. I don't know how else to explain it, but it's very strange.

Cell phones are much better in Europe. My initial provider that gives me great access to Belgian phone calls was 1 Euro / minute to call the US. So, instead of switching providers, I purchased a new SIM card for my phone that lets me call home for .11 / minute. I just switch access cards in my phone when needed to get me the best rate for the place I'm calling. Everything is pay as you go, so you only pay for the minutes you use...very nice.

People dress very different out here. Tonight I saw three guys dressed in white pants, white shoes, and a white coat. If they're not wearing all white, it's all black. If you wear tennis shoes, you stand out like a sore thumb. Also, I would estimate that 60% of the women here wear extremely short skirts, black tights, and knee high leather boots. The other 40% wear bizzare combinations of leather, jeans, and mini skirts in patterns that would never been seen in America outside the red light districts. Everyone is generally more formal than the US, but you also see strange outfits that would never be socially acceptable back home.

Taxi cabs are incredibly expensive. The starting charge for a cab is 6 Euro and it goes up quickly. Also, if you are riding alone in the cab, usually people ride in the front with the driver. I found this very strange and frankly uncomfortable the first few times. Also, if you show any interest in the driver, they will talk your ear off in French (or poorly spoken English) for the entire ride. I usually just nod and smily politely as if I understood what they were trying to say.

As I go to more shops, I've found that many people speak a little English, and all of them are willing to teach you French if you show some interest. In general, the people here are extremely friendly. I go to the little grocery store next to my hotel most evenings, and the clerk there teaches me a new French phrase each night. He's eager to hear about life in America and in exchange for stories, he helps me with my pronunciation.

Anyway, that's just a few of the many cultural differences I've noticed so far. I'm sure I will have more as time goes on...

Work: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

First just a quick update to the house hunt post. I have uploaded pictures of a few of the places I looked at. You can view them on the picture site that I sent out earlier. Pictures 10-21 are of the house I picked. Now...on to work.

The Good: The people at SHAPE are extremely friendly. I'm the first American on the team, so they're all interested in hearing about how things work in the US. Everyone speaks English well, but it can be very difficult to understand the accents. By boss is from Turkey, and believe it or not, his son is a fellow CS grad from Virginia Tech, class of '04! What a small world! My temporary mentor is a very nice guy from Hungary. My future mentor is from Slovania...I will meet him next week. We also have a Bulgarian, a German, and two Danish guys. It's a very intersting bunch. We take two official coffee breaks per day, plus a 1 hour 15 minute lunch. We play a high-low game based on the serial number of a Euro bill to see who will pay, and so far I've received quite a few free coffees. The building is a true military base and not very welcoming, but I feel important as my office is in the Supreme Headquarters Allied Command Europe. Sounds cool, doesn't it?

The Bad: Due to lost paperwork, I have to go to the security building each morning and wait in line for my temporary ID card. They said I should have one by the end of the week, but it's pretty annoying. Then, due to some issues with my clearance transfer, I can't get into the secure area where my office is without an escort. I can't even go to the bathroom without a Hungarian guy following me. Both issues should be corrected soon, so it's not too bad.

The Ugly: The job is not at all what I signed up for. Basically I will be documenting someone else's code, and improving the build process. As my fellow developers know, that's about as boring as it gets! I can't believe they shipped me all the way from the US to do this type of work.

To sum it all up, the location and people are great, the job is awful. I spoke to my boss today and he's going to try to get some development work for me, but he can't promise anything. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

House Hunting

I woke up in the middle of the night last night and couldn't get back to sleep, so I turned on the TV assuming that 5 minutes of Belgian TV would put me right out. Instead, I found that the Superbowl was being televised. It was quite strange though, the announcers spoke German and they didn't take a single ad break. Usually the ad-free game would be great, but I generally enjoy the Superbowl ads, so I was a little disappointed. It was nice to see the game though, it made me feel a little more at home. I stayed up to watch the whole game, which ended around 4:00am, so I was pretty exhausted for my home search today.

Today was apparently the typical Belgian day, 47 degrees and raining. A pleasant lady named Ms. Vreedenburgh (no, I don't know how to pronounce it) picked me up at my hotel this morning and drove me around to 3 houses and 3 apartments in the Mons area. During our 6 hour tour, I discovered that she was born in Germany, grew up in the Netherlands, lives in Belgium, and has lived in Brazil, USA, Colombia, and Uruguay. She speaks 5 languages fluently and can speak enough German to get around. Overall a pretty amazing resume.

The first house that we went to scared me to death. It was built in 1825 and looked like it was straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. The paint was peeling off the exterior and it even had an old creaky metal gate in front. However, once we went inside it was just amazing. It was completely redone, and had all new appliances and hardwood floors. Despite the renovation, much of the original marble and antique fixtures were still in good shape. I don't remember the exact number, but I would guess it was over 2000 square feet. As much as I would have liked to stay there as a bed and breakfast, it was just too old fashioned for my taste.

Next, we went to a nice little apartment in the heart of Mons. It was very small, but everything was fairly new and it was quite cozy. The current resident was there, and he was a fun Japanese man who gave me a tour while the real estate agent just stood there. I had to take my shoes off and put on little slippers with Japanese writing on them. He told me that he was moving back to Japan and couldn't take all of his stuff, so he offered to give me quite a bit of furniture as well as a refrigerator and a washing machine. It was a very nice offer, and I really liked the apartment anyway, so that just sweetened the deal.

Next up was one apartment and one house that were nothing special and were too far from either Mons or my new job.

We went to another apartment in Mons, about a 5 minute walk from the center of town. It was brand new and beautifully furnished with items that looked straight out of a Crate and Barrel catalog. It was 4 stories and had a balcony on three of them overlooking a nice little park in the center of the complex. It was absolutely perfect....until he mentioned the price. 2500 Euros / month ($3700). Just a little out of my price range.

Finally, on the last house, I think I found a perfect fit. We met the owner of the house who was a pleasant older lady who spoke a little English. By a little I mean her English was about as good as my French. It was a completely redone home with a little yard and garden, and a two car garage. It's very small but cozy, and it's the most bizarre and interesting architecture I've ever seen. The entire downstairs is open and you can look down from the upstairs. It's all glass and so it's very bright and welcoming. It's about a 10 minute drive to Mons, but only about 5 minutes to my new office. She even offered to furnish it for us with IKEA furniture for a small monthly fee. It has a dishwasher and a washing machine, both very rare in Europe.

Hopefully I can finalize the lease in the next few days and move in as early as next week. I have some pictures, but my Internet connection isn't cooperating right now. If I can get it working I will add them to the blog.

After I got back to the hotel, I ventured out on my own to get a cell phone. There are four cell phone shops within a 2 minute walk of my hotel, but not a single one of them had a clerk that spoke any English. So, I blindly bought a phone and a "sim card" which is what gives you a phone number. Instead of service contracts, you buy this little microchip that stores all of your contacts and text messages, and has a phone number associated with it. It came loaded with 20 euros worth of phone calls, and I think I can recharge it, but the website is all in French so I'm not quite sure how to do that yet. It's a neat way of handling phone service, I just hope I can figure out the website soon.

Tomorrow is the first day of work, so I should have more fun stories after that. Wish me luck!

Day One

After an uneventful flight and cab ride, I finally arrived at the Hotel Infotel in Mons. Goal number one was to get on the Internet and let friends and family know that I had arrived safely. Unfortunately that proved a little difficult with the very poor Internet access in my hotel. After a little trial and error, I found that if I sit on the right side of the foot of the bed, I can get a decent connection. So as long as I don't move, I can stay on long enough to type an email.

I have to admit, my first thought after arrival was "what I have gotten myself into?" The town isn't much to look at, almost no one speaks English, and I couldn't even get on the Internet to email friends and family. To top it off, the only English speaking TV stations are CNN news and BBC World, which seems to only show soccer...oops, I mean football. However, I finally took a walk around town and I'm feeling much better about things now. It may not look like much at first glance, but the town is busy with people and there are many shops, restaurants, and bars. I'm can't wait to start tasting the Belgian beer and cuisine. The only real problem is that I haven't found a single waffle stand! I'm in Belgium and I can't find a waffle anywhere!

I found a very nice little grocery store next to my hotel, so I stopped in and picked up some things to make a ham sandwich, Coke Zero, some delicious little chocolate crackers, and a bottle of wine...all for the low low price of 25 Euro, roughly $36. Ouch. I wanted to try some of the local cuisine, but since I paid so much for my ham and bread, I feel like I should finish that off first.

Tomorrow the relocation company will be picking me up at my hotel to show me several apartments in the area. Hopefully I can be in my permanent home by the end of the week. I'm also going to try to get a cell phone, which could prove very difficult unless I can find a English speaking clerk. I guess that's all part of the experience of living abroad though.

Overall, so far so good. It's pretty lonely right now until Elizabeth and Bailey join me, but I brought some movies to keep myself entertained. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have some news on housing, and a phone number in case anyone wants to chat.