kersenpittenkussen en werkloosheidsuitkering

Hello everyone.

I am sitting in front of the computer and try to find a word which could be the superlative of "update". Since there was an article in the "Heusden-Zolder Krant" I am forced to "update" my blog. Even though "update" is, as I mentioned, not really the correct word: the last blog entry was published in November. This date makes me blush... AND moreover: Someone, who is calling herself a friend (won't mention your name, Amanda, don't worry) threatend to DELETE me from her blog-follower's list. Ha, this is the facebook generation: Simply delete people from your list and get rid of them :-D

Ah seriously, hows is my EVS going? - Pretty good. 100% content. Still! Even though at the moment I feel as if I missed to go on winter sleep. But well, I shouldn't whine, in Poland it's minus 27 degrees right now. F***** hell, that's to call cold.
Sometimes I guess it's the revenge of the climate for us failing in Copenhagen.
I took me 9 hours from Cologne to Hasselt - I could have WALKED faster. Just because of the snow breakling down the public transport. Well, probably we deserve that, right?

Just recognized that from November till end of January pretty much happend, I will give a short overview:

19/nov: a "studiedag" round children's rights in the Culturcentrum - because it was its birthday they became 20. Very nice day, worth to mention it here. I followed a workshop from Arnaud Raskin over his mobile schools. He is working in several countries with children in the streets - not to teach them how to analyse Shakepeare, but to show them how strong and great they are. And that they can find a way out, if they just keep on trying... a very impressive concept round how to appreciate humans and how we can learn from them by searching for a solution instead of a problem.
Take a look at www.mobileschool.org

24/nov: Shoppen in Maastricht! Great & girly - and they are several ways leading to Rome :-)

25/nov: my first project started: Christmas in Shoeboxes from children for children in Heusden-Zolder. Even almost nobody is aware of this fact, every fifth child in Europe is "poor". And this isn't just in Estonia or Bulgaria - no, even in France, Germany and Belgium. So we started a project in which the kids collected some toys to pack them into shoeboxes and send them via St. Vincencius to those kids who can't expect that much under the tree. It turned out as a success, even though a german aphorism was right: Rely on someone and you are left alone.
But in the end it wasn't a big deal - and the kids were happy. Nice!

28/nov: Brahim concert in Muze! Very good :-)

03/dec: mid-term-evaluation with my mentor: first of all: dammit, "mid-term" means there are just 3 months over?!
Second: EVS is gewoon de beste keuze die ik had kunnen doen, echt waar! Ik ben heel tevreden :-)

04/dec - 06/dec: short periode home, for my love: gyro wheel - presentation was good even though I had never a muscle ache from this extent :-D
And I hadn't known that it can be so stressy trying to visit all your friends in one weekend. But it was worth it. Sometimes, you just need to go home for a sec.

09/dec: Exposition about human rights "thirty somethings" in Maastricht with the people from Article 27 and Pieter: So good! And randomly I met about 10 german students there. Haha, the world is so small.

11/dec: I am so lucky: Got invited for a dinner from the center for handicapped people and people with special needs because they had guests from there german partnertown Brilon. Cool, ay? Practising my german again.

12/dec: meetingpoint EVS: meeting with some other volunteers and Ex-volunteers to visit a brewery and the christmas market in Brussels. 1. "Geuze" tastes like a mix from beer and champaigne - believe me, don't try. 2. Glühwein tastes good everywhere.

13/dec: I had like the best advent-dinner ever: (I know why I am getting so fat here - constantly invited for havin g dinners... ;-)) Soooo italian, so familiar, so tasty, such a good evening! Thanks to Tienne, Brigitte and Frank.

14/dec: Listen to "The Killers - Sams town, Abbey road version".

16/dec: Oh god, how humilating, EVSers, protest! I had to play the "zwarte miet" - it took ages to clean the black colour off!!!

18/dec: holidays!!!

20/dec: the belgians are kind of paranoid from the snow: about 5 centimetres wet, white stuff laying on the streets forces everyone to stay home and even radio 2 advised not to go out "if it's not really necessary". Someone from the Sauerland had to hide her smile...

24/dec: Merry Christmas. Celebrated Christmas with 20 people with belgian ands polish traditions... how cosy and warm it was. Great. Thanks to my lovely and warm-hearted family.

27/dec: Partying in Gent! And meeting Kate Moss!!! haha

29/dec- 03/jan: Went home for new years and celebrated it with my friends and a lot of Cuba Libre. Thumbs up! And my family bought a puppy. Never thought I would fall inh love with a DOG. How unlikely for me... But well, "everythings's changing and I don't feel the same"...

03/jan: Odysee from Homer is nothing against trying to get from Cologne to Hasselt! Good thing there is Starbucks to sit in for 3 hours, good that there is chocolate to share and get to know some travelling-compagnons - ... In the end we went by taxi to our final destinations. Felt pretty VIP :-)

...nothing happend....daily life in Belgium... (isn't it cool that after a while it is just "normal" living somewhere else?)

22/jan - 24/jan: mid-term-training in Brussels: SO good to see all the group again, haven't seen most of them for more than 4 months! Very nice people, good conversations, nice surprises... and beginning to say goodbye. Even though I have still 1 1/2 months to go, I start to think over: what's next? It makes me nervous, I even find it scary: how much will I miss it here? The belgians always say: Ah, it's just Belgium. But then I meet unbelievebly nice people, gastvrij, warm-hearted, I see Brussels and Hasselt, I am drinking Genever, seeing those lovely pralines ((trying to resist ;-)), living in a family which formed my new home, living in a country which is so liberal and populated with so many free-minded people. And then I say, no, it's not just Belgium. It's Belgium. And I love it.
I think I changed a lot during my stay, learned a lot. Going home will be the next step - a new task.
I prepared for my new project a questionnaire about living in Europe. The last question is: Do you feel as a European?
Someone wrote: "I am a visiter in the world". I will keep this in mind.

And til I go there is still so much left to see!!

Ps to Saskia: Central Park in spring...!