Tonight for dinner I ate horse.
The end.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
To Spain I go....
Just booked my flight to go visit adam for a long weekend in Barcelona. Im pretty stoked, I got a round trip flight for just 88 Euros. I leave Thursday Feb. 28th, and come back on Sunday Mar. 2nd. Can't wait to hit up the beach!
Living on a Budget
Belgium is pretty damn expensive, so over the past few weeks, I have figured out some ways to make living a little cheaper.
1) Since I have breakfast and dinner provided to me during the week, I eat as much as possible. Im talking like, eat till you feel sick. Usually breakfast can hold me over till dinner, but on the days that I am hungry, refer to step (2)
2) Next to my school is a Colryut (a grocery store chain). Inside the Colyrut, you can obtain free samples of some things. They always have coffee, fruit slices, and nuts. Each day between classes, I make my way up there, drink some coffee while I "shop", sample some fruits, and grab some nuts (yes I know that sounds funny). Voila, there is my lunch.
3) If 1 and 2 fail, you can always buy a one dollar loaf of bread, which is usually good to feed you for three days. If I am really going all out, I may invest in a few slices of salami. But that is just for a treat.
4) Sleep late on the weekends. This way, you can cut down on the amount of meals you eat simply by sleeping through them.
5) Hold off on laundry. Since it costs over 13 U.S. dollars to do a big load of laundry, you gotta do it sparingly. Im talking like, wear your clothes at least three times before washing them. Since everywhere here is smokey, no one can really tell if you smell bad, and even if they do, you are in Europe and will probably not see these people again.
6) Only go to art exhibits etc. when they are sponsored by the school. Chances are you can pull some strings and score some free tickets. No need to waste money buying them yourself.
7) Share things. I do not have one single textbook that I can call my "own." We all share them. This saves me over 200 Euro. Sweet.
I have tried to budget myself to under fifty Euros a week. Can I do it? Probably not but so far so good.
1) Since I have breakfast and dinner provided to me during the week, I eat as much as possible. Im talking like, eat till you feel sick. Usually breakfast can hold me over till dinner, but on the days that I am hungry, refer to step (2)
2) Next to my school is a Colryut (a grocery store chain). Inside the Colyrut, you can obtain free samples of some things. They always have coffee, fruit slices, and nuts. Each day between classes, I make my way up there, drink some coffee while I "shop", sample some fruits, and grab some nuts (yes I know that sounds funny). Voila, there is my lunch.
3) If 1 and 2 fail, you can always buy a one dollar loaf of bread, which is usually good to feed you for three days. If I am really going all out, I may invest in a few slices of salami. But that is just for a treat.
4) Sleep late on the weekends. This way, you can cut down on the amount of meals you eat simply by sleeping through them.
5) Hold off on laundry. Since it costs over 13 U.S. dollars to do a big load of laundry, you gotta do it sparingly. Im talking like, wear your clothes at least three times before washing them. Since everywhere here is smokey, no one can really tell if you smell bad, and even if they do, you are in Europe and will probably not see these people again.
6) Only go to art exhibits etc. when they are sponsored by the school. Chances are you can pull some strings and score some free tickets. No need to waste money buying them yourself.
7) Share things. I do not have one single textbook that I can call my "own." We all share them. This saves me over 200 Euro. Sweet.
I have tried to budget myself to under fifty Euros a week. Can I do it? Probably not but so far so good.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
The Egg Incident...
So breakfast here is usually a suprise. Sometimes we wake up and have cereal, sometimes meats, sometimes bread, sometimes omelletes. Today we woke up and Iria had prepared us hard boiled eggs, or so I thought.
Alright, I know how to eat these. Being in somewhat of a rush, I smashed the egg open with my spoon and began to peel off the shell. It felt very soft to me, so I figured she just didnt cook it long enough. I then tried to pick up the egg and dump the contents onto my plate, leaving a mess.
Iria came out of the kitchen and gave me a strange look. Apparently, this type of egg is a famous breakfast in Brussels, called "The egg with soldiers." You are supposed to just take off the top of the egg, and dip your bread into the yolk, and the bread is usually cut into little slices called "Soldiers." So afterall, this wasn't just a runny hard-boiled egg, rather it was a famous breakfast.
Way to drop the ball Tom.
Alright, I know how to eat these. Being in somewhat of a rush, I smashed the egg open with my spoon and began to peel off the shell. It felt very soft to me, so I figured she just didnt cook it long enough. I then tried to pick up the egg and dump the contents onto my plate, leaving a mess.
Iria came out of the kitchen and gave me a strange look. Apparently, this type of egg is a famous breakfast in Brussels, called "The egg with soldiers." You are supposed to just take off the top of the egg, and dip your bread into the yolk, and the bread is usually cut into little slices called "Soldiers." So afterall, this wasn't just a runny hard-boiled egg, rather it was a famous breakfast.
Way to drop the ball Tom.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Rubens Exhibit
Yesterday Garret, Matt, Adam, and I went to the Rubens exhibit at the art museum. We got free tickets from this Belgian dude in our class, so we figured we should go check it out. Not being really into art, I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy this too much. After looking through his paintings, however, I realized th
e skill possessed by artists of those times. You really have to look deeply at the paintings to understand exactly what is going on and to appreciate all of the fine details. For my class, we are supposed to pick a painting that we see in Brussels and do an in depth paper about it. So far, my favorite painting is called "Massacre of the Innocents" by Rubens, because the history behind the painting is pretty interesting, but not widely known. The painting depicts a bunch of babies being killed by some men. Apparently, after feeling that his reign was threatened by the birth of "Jesus" , Herod the Great ordered that all children under the age of two were to be killed, in hopes that Jesus would be one of them. Thus, the name is "Massacre of the Innocents."
e skill possessed by artists of those times. You really have to look deeply at the paintings to understand exactly what is going on and to appreciate all of the fine details. For my class, we are supposed to pick a painting that we see in Brussels and do an in depth paper about it. So far, my favorite painting is called "Massacre of the Innocents" by Rubens, because the history behind the painting is pretty interesting, but not widely known. The painting depicts a bunch of babies being killed by some men. Apparently, after feeling that his reign was threatened by the birth of "Jesus" , Herod the Great ordered that all children under the age of two were to be killed, in hopes that Jesus would be one of them. Thus, the name is "Massacre of the Innocents."
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