Tag Archives: belgium

The eyes are barely staying open. As you can tell by the lack of posts over the past 48 hours, I’ve done the rare thing and gone on a weekend getaway without my beloved powerbook. Fear not, I did bring my iriver and there will be an ardennes podcast ASAP.

Though the rule is never talk about work, take note all you new bloggers, don’t try this at home. This weekend getaway was work sactioned and I have to say – I love working at the fishtank because of these types of initiatives. Every few months we ge out, normally on the town, and spend time outside of work; eating, playing, generally goofing off. So this trip was an extra special one because it involved a caravan of 18 people driving to the great Ardennes forests of Belgium. And if you’re planning a journey to BENELUX, do yourself a favor and swing by SPA (yes, its where the spring water comes from) because there you will find true isolation and nature. If you like those two things.

Needless to say, it was a weekend filled with eating, dancing, nature-walking, and generally getting to know people that I see everyday yet never knew many things about them. For example, how many shots they could each handle. Or what a kickass pumpkin soup they could make. or the most interesting, that many of them CAN dance all night.

But what really sticks out in my head is work culture. And you’ll see me talking about it many times on this blog, the differences between jobs and job cultures, both across borders and sectors. I can’t say if its specifically Dutch, or academic, or international, but whatever it is – I really appreciate having a gig that involves such acitivities.

Greetings from THE Belgium my friends. Brussels, to be more specific. After going more than six months without seeing a family member in the flesh, I’m here visiting my wonderful cousins, playing with obscenely energetic children, and doing a bit of tourism, despite the fact that I’ve made this trip countless times.

If you’re thinking of coming to THE Europe, and perhaps starting in the dam, Brussels is only a three hour local train ride away. Or you can be posh and ride the Thalys. When I grow up, I’m going to ride the thalys. I know.. its posh.. but man.. its so nice.

Travelling has taken on a new meaning to me in the last year, mostly for one reason: podcasting. On my train ride down here, while staring out at Antwerp and Rotterdam and the piles of cow staring back at me, I listened to podcasts from around the world. An Australian journalist talked with Brasilians in the favelas about president Lula. Dr. Lesbian called random podcasters and discussed the concept of being “family safe”. And my personal fav on this trip, PW Fenton spoke of his life epiphony. Listening to that Billy Joel while staring out over neverending green fields was delicious.