Expect the unexpected.

Have you ever been invited to have dinner with someone you never met? Did you ever spend an entire evening at a complete stranger’s home? I can only recommend it, after what I’ve done yesterday…

Shannon saw my profile on couchsurfing, and wanted to meet me for a drink and a walk through the town of Genk. We spent a couple of hours together, and she ended up inviting me to her hosts place for dinner the next evening.

It felt kind of awkward and strange to be invited for dinner by people I’d never seen before in my entire life. And on top of that: they weren’t personally inviting me, they sent somebody else out to deliver the message.
I decided to jump into deep water and swim…

So there I was, entering somebody’s privacy, sitting at their table, talking to people I just met and already feeling very welcome and comfortable.
This evening turned out to be wonderful. We had a delicious home cooked meal, chatted the night away, and ok, I admit, some alcohol joined the party as well…

I always thought that this was only possible in other countries, in other cultures. Turns out that this spirit is also to be found within 5 minutes from my doorstep.
After this wonderful night, and in times where some people want to split this tiny country, I can only quote Mr John: “Potverdekke, it’s great to be a Belgian!"

Time to look back and ahead.

We’re halfway through September, and summer is coming to its end. This is the time for a recap of the last couple of months.

Most people go abroad when they’re having their annual leave. Even before 2011 started, I decided not to leave the country this year. The budget of this year’s holidays will be added to next year’s.
Instead of crossing the Belgian borders, I had people from outside the country coming over to visit me. It’s nice to reverse things every now and then.

I spent a fantastic time hosting these people. I learned a lot. I played tourist in my own country. And believe me: although being a small country, we have a lot to offer.
I saw that people can really appreciate Belgium and its people. I experienced that we can make people feel at ease. I found out that we are a serving country and that the services we provide are often fast, clear and well organized.
And that there’s a statue of a man on a horse in every Belgian city that you visit.

I spent my summer holidays in the company of some wonderful people that have become my best friends, or even more: family.
We had fully planned, long days and short nights.
I’m enjoying my last week of vacation now, and there’s an enormous difference with the preceding period.
The contrast is probably best explained by the way I experience time. The hours flew by those last couple of weeks, and days were gone in the blink of an eye. Today is not such a thing at all. Minutes seem to be hours, and hours seem to last forever.
There's no plan, nowhere to go to and nothing to look up on the internet.

All I'm saying, is that I spent a wonderful time with you, girls, and that I can feel with every fibre of my being that my friends and family share that feeling.
I’ll have to set my pace and rhythm back to daily routine, but I can assure everybody that I’m already looking ahead.

I can only thank my visitors from the bottom of my heart for spending their precious time with me and for making this summer one to never forget.

I am pretty sure I will see those people again. I’m planning, budgeting and counting the days!

Politics, anyone?

The current world record is 289 days.
Belgium is heading for that world record. We are on our way to have the longest government formation period ever! And guess who’s the current record holder… Iraq!
A world record to be proud of? I don’t think so.