Before my parents had their stuff shipped out, they convinced me to take in two of their (many) plants. They'd originally wanted me to take all of them, but I figured that wasn't a good idea, considering how I would be gone for semi-long periods of time (winter & summer vacation) in which there'd be no water for the plants. So, not wanting to kill ALL of them, I took two home-less plants in, one of which is the orchid pictured. And the buds have bloomed! Two of the five, anyway. They're quite pretty. :) Hopefully the rest will bloom as well, and this orchid will have a long life (unlike the one my roomie tried to raise back in LA).

On another note, I tried to take pictures of my room, but I realized how messy and disordered it is currently. There's clothes hanging all over the place because my mom has no closet space (yes, it's filled with all my stuff, but it's not a very big closet at all!), so she has to utilize random hanging places in the room. :P So, wait for it ... the pictures will be up soon enough.

What a long day.

Went into Brussels today to have lunch with my mom's friends. Also walked away with a very nice pair of boots that was expensive, but not as expensive as the 200 ~ 300 Euro ones, which were the majority. Sigh. I figured it would be a good idea to get a pair since 1) it rains so often here, 2) it'll keep my calves warm, and 3) I can maybe wear skirts (I might have to start wearing tights, though. Oh dear God.).

After lunch, my mom thought we would be able to exchange my dad and her's drivers license at the community place near our old apartment, so we chill around until 5 pm and head over. Turns out we were mistaken and they were closed already (argh, it's a long metro ride, which feels even longer during rush hour), so we had to head back downtown to the train station (rush hour!!!) and wade through crowds (Friday AND rush hour. ugh.) to get to our train. We end up taking a really slow train that stops at all the little stops (normally it takes 20 minutes, this train ended up taking 36 minutes). Then we get to Leuven and decide to try to take the bus back to my apartment because it's cold and wet, and we end up going in the wrong direction. Thankfully we realized it before we actually arrived at the last stop (far, far away). So we wait in the cold and wet for the bus to take us in the other direction and finally make it home at like 7:30 pm (we left at 10am). At least now I know how to take the bus to the train station. Sigh. Did I mention it was raining all day long?

Oh how I hate the weather here. Raining most of the time. I seriously think So Cal weather has spoiled me. Sun. Blue skies. Sun. Little rain.

I am super tired, so please disregard any incoherencies and grammar mistakes. >.<

I've noticed a pretty interesting thing here in Leuven. There's beer EVERYWHERE. In the student cafeterias they sell beer. Today at Mcdonalds I noticed they were selling beer too. Oh man, definitely a beer culture here. It's so normal to have beer being sold everywhere that they don't even blink an eye. Coming from the U.S., this openness to alcohol still takes some getting used to. Even in Taiwan where the drinking age isn't enforced (what is it anyway?), beer's still not as accessible as compared to Belgium (well, unless you count 7-11). And! The beer here is better. Mmmhmmm.

So. Any beer fanatics out there? You should apply to KUL. Just not the human sexuality program, ok? Ok!



On an unrelated note, I am dying of allergies. I went to the laundromat today to do laundry, and either that place has way too much dust or something, it's riled up my allergies like no tomorrow. Sigh. I think I've sneezed more than 20 times today. My brain is starting to leak out. Gross.

Speaking of laundromat, it was difficult understanding what needed to be done when everything was in Dutch. :( Thankfully there are nice peoples out there who are willing to help. Sigh. And the laundromat is a walk away. Sucks. And I used to think going from the second floor to the first floor to the laundry room in Gayley was a hassle. I shouldn't have complained back then. T~T And it's more expensive here too! Really shouldn't have complained about the prices back in the States. Hah. Washing and drying cost me 6.80 Euro (~9.45 USD ... holy mother). Definitely won't be doing laundry THAT often. Will have to start handwashing. Sigh. Why is life here so tough? Why?!

(Image from allposters.com.)