Bosvruchtenhagelslag en chocotoffs

My dad and his family were over this weekend. Apart from the fact that they brought me food, books and hairproducts, they also cleaned the kitchen and took me shopping for a new bookcase. It was amazing, to say the least. I had to work on Friday, so after they arrived late Thursday night and I had installed them in my room, I packed an overnight bag and spend the night at a friend's, as I did not want to risk hurting my finally-recovering back by sleeping on the couch and then having to work an 8-hour shift the next day. So I did not see my family til 9pm the following night, at which point everyone was rather tired, so I installed myself on the couch and watched television with my brother and housemate. My brother's English is actually quite good for his age (12), he had no trouble holding up (simple) conversations with my housemates, which rather surprised me.

After a short night, we head out to the secondhand store the next day to find me a bookcase. Not happy with our first options, we visited two more shops, to finally buy a nice black-and-white simple bookcase which will hopefully hold all my books. It fits in perfectly with my room and my new interior design is actually even better than before, so I am very happy with that. I have not begun to unpack my books (two large boxes of them!), as I want it to be a special moment. No matter how dorky that sounds.

Saturday afternoon we went for a meal in town (Full English Breakfast!) and then headed out to the shopping centre, as my brother needed some clothes. As all English people will know, it is the final week of the sales, so when we found the New Look, we didn't leave for another three hours. Poor dad. After shopping for literally hours, we headed down home, where we had a wonderful meal and I headed out to the pub with some of my friends, while my family relaxed at home.

Came Sunday morning, we headed to the 10.30am service at Frontline, which, though it was nice, was not really my thing, which meant I actually attended the evening service too! Anyway, after the service, it was time for my family to head back home (with a slight detour at Anfield to get a Liverpool scarf), so we said our goodbyes and I headed to a community garden nearby to read a bit of Hardy before meeting up with a friend for a drink.

At night I went to church and when the service was over, I got picked up by some Frisbee friends to go to a birthday house party on the Wirral, which, though short, was very lovely.

And today, today I head to the Matthew Street Festival, which has been messing up traffic the entire weekend, so it must be a must to see!

Update

It has been quite a while since I wrote on here and even now I am, it's going to be a short one. I have been very busy with work, working almost every day from 12 til 8. I enjoy it very much, but today my back just started hurting like crazy and I had to go home. I took painkillers, but was still in pain for most of the day and I doubt tomorrow will be any better, so I will probably have to call in sick. Not the best start of a new job, but I do not want to risk damaging my back permanently.

My dissertation has been submitted and my bank might get sorted within now and the end of the week, so at least that is okay.

Now time for bed, in the hope of not waking up with a very sore back in the morning, but to be honest, I very much doubt that...

New, brilliant job!

So, I finally found a good job! From Thursday on, I will be working fulltime (40 hours a week), getting paid £8 an hour (very well-paid!) and doing a rather pleasant job of informing people door-to-door about the public transportation here in the area. Plus, I will be working with two of my church friends, making it all the more pleasant.

The job is only til the 17th of September, making it perfect for me, as it means I will earn about £1000 and then enjoy my part-time studying, part-time working life by getting a weekend job of sorts.

Gloriousness!

Waiting for the clock to strike ten.

The sun is out and I’m wearing a dress, sandals on my feet. I know the lack of sleep must affect me somehow, but my weariness has presently been wiped away by the sound of running busses and a latte. Why did I never go to cafés in Belgium, book in hand, enjoying the solitariness? It seems to be a travelers trait and yet, there’s a man at the table next to me drinking a coffee and reading the papers like it's everyday business. Which it probably is. He seems a little disturbed by my typing, but I type as I talk. I feel more free in this country, different from my Belgian self.
I’m full of hope, today. I think it is the weather. It snowed in Swiss last night. The world is turning topsy-turvy. Why did it take me so long to discover lattes?

New job

I found a new job, doing Silver Service Waitressing, what I've done for the past two years or so, and am very happy to do again. This afternoon I have a trainingsession to refresh some of the basics and then I can start from Monday on. Very happy with this one! However, as this is not regular work and I cannot say for sure I will have work every week, I am still looking for a parttime regular job, even if it is just for two nights a week, so I at least have a regular income to be certain of.

As for my dissertation, I will probably work on it through the night, as we all know that I work best at night. Hopefully I'll have finished everything I can work on without a library by tomorrow morning, so I can write the finishing touches on Saturday/Sunday and send it to someone at home by Monday. Wish me luck!

And the jobhunting continues...

Today I hunted for some more jobs, resulting in an interview tomorrow morning for a company which will probably only give me a few hours a month, but still, money is money, and I also got a modelling job! Well, my feet did. This should be interesting, hah!

Tomorrow will be a day of some more jobhunting and dissertation finishing (going especially to the library for that), followed by a night of creative writing!

Very much looking forward to that, I must say. I have not picked up a pen properly in a long time and I cannot wait to get the inspiration flowing again. Bringing my fountain pen and perhaps even my manuscript, though it is still so rudimentary that I might just as well not take it and write something completely different.

The sun has been out for a couple of days now and I can see the effect already. I am a lot more joyous and positive, though this might also have something to do with my birthday, the Belgian sweets my sister sent me, some good news about a situation I was worrying about and a wonderful service on Sunday which just filled me with joy and positivism! :)

Birthday ftw

My birthday was a grand success, after what appeared to be a sad start. I spent the afternoon eating sweets, surfing on youtube and talking to a friend of mine for more than three hours, which helped me through my sadness. After a refreshing shower, I headed down to my friends' house, where they gave me a glass of delicious wine (which didn't taste like wine at all) and another friend gave me my first birthday card! After a short chat, we went off to Bingo and the awesome part of the evening started. The guy behind the register was lovely and funny and hilarious and incidentally also the caller of the numbers, which led to him (and the rest of the bingo hall) singing "Happy Birthday" to me halfway through the evening. Redness and laughing fits were all-present. We didn't win, but the thrill of stamping your way through the numbers and always be so near to winning was exhiliarating and we had a laugh and just a generally amazing time. After, we went for some cocktails at my favorite cocktailbar (Font!), where I had my first Cosmopolitan (sooo good!).

When I came home after what I thought was the perfect birthday, I found yet another surprise: my lovely housemate Brenda had hung balloons on my door and bought me a huge chocolate cake and a bottle of wine! It was the perfect ending to a perfect night and has lead to yet another birthday celebration tonight, a picnic in the park with cake and wine with a group of friends. This is the life!