Bonjour tout le monde!
This is my first post from Brussels so I confirm that I am alive and well and I survived the journey here (which is pretty easy to do). Here's how I got to this point.
On Monday afternoon I waved goodbye to my Mum at Stockport train station before starting the first leg of my journey-a two hour train down to London. Largely uneventful but I saw a surprising amount of lakes in the fields surrounding the train line which actually just turned out to be flooded fields from all the stormy weather in the UK recently. One thing I'm happy to be leaving behind!
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| Leaving Stockport |
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| Train to London Euston |
I arrived in London mid-afternoon with 4 hours to kill until my Eurostar to Brussels from St.Pancras. I would've liked to have a bit of a wander around London but seeing as I had so much baggage with me I didn't really go anywhere, pretty much sticking to Euston Road for the entire time. Despite this, I did manage to do something I'd wanted to do for a while. I went to Kings Cross Station so I could visit the infamous Platform 9 3/4, maybe nip to Hogwarts for a bit. I had a picture taken running at the barrier however in hindsight I have made a horrible realisation. In the picture I am wearing a Gryffindor scarf but I have since remembered that on Pottermore I was sorted into Hufflepuff-Nerdy I know. I may get this picture re-done properly on my way home in honour of my house.
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| Kings Cross |
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| Who needs Belgium when you've got Hogwarts! |
So after further procrastination in the British capital, I finally boarded my Eurostar to the Belgian capital. It was my first time on Eurostar and my first time on any highspeed rail service and I didn't truly realise how fast it was going to be. While I chatted away with some French women sitting next to me I could feel my ears popping! 2 hours later I arrived at Brussels-Midi station and was met by my new host Renaud who welcomed me with a sign with my name on it made by daughter Louise. I then went on to meet wife Marie-France when we got to the house who gave me a brief guided tour of the house before a cup of tea and some much needed sleep in my new host family's house.
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| Leaving London |
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| Arriving in Brussels |
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| My Arrival sign made by Louise |
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| My new room |
My first two full days in Brussels were spent sorting out various bits and bobs to do with admin. Registering myself as a temporary Belgian citizen and Au Pair, getting a sim card, getting a travel card, understanding the local area and getting to know the kids Louise and her older brother Clément. These initial days have been pretty hard-hitting. Not only am I still getting used to a new country, a new family, a new city and a new culture but also I have been thrown into the deep end of the proverbial swimming pool of French language. Since I finished my A level exams last June, I haven't had to really use any French having spent both part of the summer and autumn in Spain so I've found it hard to adjust to this new environment where I hear and see French all around me. The kids are nice enough when they're not being noisy and I find that I can get along with them quite well as we have different but similar interests. Clément in many ways reminds me of my brother Ethan as he loves Star Wars and Pokémon but isn't really into sport or music in the same way as me. Louise is really sweet and although she doesn't speak too much English, we do find our ways of communicating with each other and playing games and I expect that she will improve over the course of my stay as will Clément.
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| FOOD OF THE WEEK: Having a crepe party for my first tea time in Brussels, something very French with my French family |
Thursday was my first day in Brussels city centre in which I took the afternoon to wander around and get a feel for the city taking many pictures as I went around. Initial thoughts on Brussels are that it is a weird mix between the traditional buildings of Amsterdam, the grandeur of Paris and the grey modern architechture I seem to associate with Germany. There are plenty of impressive sights and museums to see around the city and I feel there is much more for me to explore in the weeks to come.
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| At Belgian Parliament |
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| With Manneken Pis, one of the most famous Brussels landmarks. A sculpture of a little boy taking a slash, quelle bizarre! |
To round up my first five days in Brussels, I joined Marie-France in doing something very much out of my comfort zone-Rock Climbing, something I hadn't done for about 4 years. This may seem a bit bizarre to some of my friends as for years I have shunned any type of climbing due to my mild fear of heights (quite understandable when you're as big and heavy as me), my lack of coordination and weak fingers from my Rugby playing days but using my yes-man mentality I decided to give it a go. I was more King Kong than Spiderman on the walls and despite a few hairy moments of panic it wasn't too bad so I may consider going again sometime.
Not sure what else there is to say so I'll leave it here for now. A good start to my Brussels experience, long may it continue.
#FraserOnTour
FP
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