Top Three Thursday

I know it's technically Friday already, but as I got confused over the day I was flying on, I am still in confused mode and still think it's Wednesday. When it is clearly not. Anyway, time for Top Three Thursday! This week, it's Belgium-themed, as I spent the past week at home.

(1) Family

I was in Brugge (and surroundings) most of the week, spending time with my mom, sister and brother, and also with my other sister and her family and my dad and his family. It was really great, just being a part of their lives for a few days, being immersed into a family life again. I really miss it in Liverpool and it gave me a lot of energy to keep going for a while now! The main event of my trip was of course Easter and with that came Ciska's Confirmation in the Easterwake. It was a wonderful ceremony in the Brugian Cathedral. I saw the bishop and whole bunch of priests and I really enjoyed the mass. Then on Sunday we first had some traditional Easter breakfast (with me cycling to the baker's last minute cos we didn't have enough bread) and after that we had a nice BBQ at mum's, just relaxing in the warmth. It was a laidback day and a really nice family moment - though I must say I slept for a lot of it. For some reason I felt so tired in Belgium! Luckily it was a lot better the next day, when Ciska had a party to celebrate her First Communion. Some of the family came over, including my amazing cousin Delfien and my pregnant auntie whose babybump was just wonderful to see. And then on Tuesday, I left for Liverpool.

(2) Or so I thought...

I had a nice leisurely trip to the airport, arrived at the passport control, give them my boarding card and... *PUUUUUT*. "I'm sorry, Miss, do you have another boarding card on you?" "Erm, no?" "Well, I'm sorry, but this ticket is for tomorrow. You're a day early."
Yes. That actually happened to me. A rebooking of my ticket would cost me 170euros (a new ticket was cheaper at only 135!), so I used my last euro in cash to call Bieke, who was wonderful enough to let me stay with her in Leuven. I actually ended up smiling all the way to Leuven, as I didn't want to leave for Liverpool yet when I left Brugge and now I could stay for a day longer and see all my friends in Leuven! I said hi to Bieke, put my stuff at her room and then she had to go to her evening class so I went to Preparee (after eating an icecream at 't Galetje first, of course). It was great, I laughed til I cried and afterwards I met up with Bieke again, talked for a bit more and went to bed. Spent the next day reading for four hours in my old faculty building (thank God for the series of Eden Hall I brought from home - thanks Mom!), before meeting up for lunch with Anne, for a chat with Katrien and for a quick drink with Nina. In between I chanced upon some more friends, resulting in quite a catch-up day friendship-wise. I really enjoyed my mistake in the end, and as I made the whole passport and security check that evening in ten minutes, I could very leisurely enjoy my flight home. What an end to a great holiday!

(3) Fantine

Last time I was in Belgium, I met for the first time the new cat my mum took under her wing. It is a stray cat, which means she is incredibly shy and barely ever allows to be petted, let alone comes when you call her. I spent the smaller part of a day in the house last time and she avoided me like the plague, so I went away feeling terribly disappointed to not having been able to pet her. This week however, change came about. When Fantine (the cat) wants food, she comes over and acts "nice", so you'll give her what she wants. So when she started curling around my legs again, I decided to take advantage of the situation and picked her up, petting her all the way to the back-kitchen (where the catfood is kept). At first she was very reluctant and tried to get away, but as the days passed, she let me pet her more and more. Two days before I left, I managed to put her in my lap after she had been fed and petted her for a good ten minutes (after which my cat was terribly jealous, so I took him on my lap, and the moment he jumped off again the two cats started fighting - I must say, I secretly felt really loved!) and the next day she actually stayed on my lap for thirty minutes (after which Kamiel - my cat - didn't want to be around me for a fair while, but luckily enough ear-scratching turned him round again). But the true miracle happened on the very last day, just before I left. I sank down in a chair for a few minutes and Fantine, who had been sitting in the other chair, actually lept to the ground, came over and jumped in my lap. She now comes when I call her, she lets me pet her, give her little kisses on her head and will happily sit on my lap and roll round in cuddles. Mission achieved!

Top Three Thursday - Because it shouldn't all be negative

I've decided to start a new, regular post on this blog, listing the Top Three Things that happened in the week. I'll do my best to have a post here every Thursday!

(1) Travel

I have been travelling quite a bit lately, as I wanted to have something to show for my year here once Summer hits. I've been to New Brighton twice, because there is a little spa there and I had voucher for a fish pedicure, and I also went to Wales on Tuesday. New Brighton is a little seaside town about twenty minutes from Liverpool by train (it's on the Wirral, the peninsula on the other side of the river Mersey) and my visit there finally helped me grasp the concept of "a trip to a little seaside resort". You see, in Beligum the entire coast flocks up during Summer, making it hard to even find a spot for your towel on the beach. So for me, the beach is highly unattractive during Summer, despite the fact that I live relatively close to it. Now, because England is an island, it has loooooooads of beaches, which means they aren't all overly crowded! I had a lovely few hours on the beach, taking pictures with Rebecca and just sitting on the promenade watching the water. I also went to Wales with Anne, again to a seaside town, called Llandudno (pronounced "Klandidnow"). It was a booming seaside resort in the Edwardian era and is situated in a bay, which means it looks like an absolutely fairytale. The mountains start straight next to the sea and there's a castle not very far - it would be such a lovely place for a holiday! My family would absolutely love it, that much is certain. Maybe it's an idea for the future, Mum?

(2) Possible Awesome Job

I applied for a job as a playstation game tester; I would basically play playstation games all day and check whether the Dutch translation is okay. It combines my love of language with one of my favourite passtimes: staring at a screen! And the pay isn't bad either, so I'm really crossing all my fingers and toes in hopes of getting the job. It would be great and a real good reason to stay in Liverpool!

(3) Picnic

When the hot weather hit Liverpool last weekend, the group of internationals I meet up with weekly decided to have a picnic in Sefton Park (the biggest park in Liverpool, it's absolutely massive). It was a great afternoon, just sitting around in the sun, playing some silly games and eating gorgeous food - someone even brought some sushi!

Friend-less

After a quick calculation I realised that because most of my friends are graduating this year, I will have 3 close friends left here after Summer. I'm getting more and more convinced I will not stay in Liverpool after the Summer. But I don't know where I'd go next.

Sudley House

I just came back from an amazing afternoon.

Now that I'm unemployed, the simply sitting around doing nothing is driving me crazy. So, after a long and hard day yesterday, I decided that today I would go out and do something. As I browsed through the Liverpool website, my eye fell on a stately home not far from my house and after some texts to friends, my plans for today were made. When I drew my curtains this morning, the sun was pouring its light over the roofs of Allerton and the people in t-shirts were plentiful. I even popped over to the Tesco on the corner in my sandals to buy some milk and cereal and it felt like Summer had come early.

At two o'clock, Rebecca arrived at the busstation and we set out for Sudley House. It was a nice 30 min walk through the residential areas of Allerton and with the sun shining down on us and the wind gently playing with our hair, we were enjoying ourselves as much as we could. We even passed the church where Anne and I got lost the very first time we came to Liverpool, which was a heartwarming memory (although at the time we were almost at each other's throats). The sign for Sudley House showed us a beautiful drive way, but our attention was drawn to the other side of the road, where a gorgeous view of Liverpool in the valley was visible. As I later learned, Sudley House was built on the second highest point in Liverpool, so that the home-owner, a retired shipmerchant, could have a great view over the bustling of the ships on the Victorian Mersey. I saw this panorama at the end of the tour, when one of the guides saw me taking pictures of the garden and proposed to take me to an even better view. Climbing high into the house via the servant stairs, he finally opened a little door and showed me unto the roof, where a breath-taking view was my reward. But I am running ahead of the story.

The beauty of Sudley House is its peace. It's not very well known, which means there are very little tourists (certainly as it was a weekday), which meant we had the garden and the house almost to ourselves. After numerous pictures amongst the trees and flowers next to the driveway, we finally made it up to the house and I was bold enough to ask a guided tour from one of the men there. His speciality was pictures, so he mainly talked about that, but oh, how I enjoyed it. The house itself is not a typical stately home in that its main focus point are the paintings and not the house itself so much. The principal house-owner, George Holt, was a fervent collector of art and after his death, his only child, Emma - a spinster for life -, preserved this collection and the house, donating the house with all its grounds and the pictures to the people of Liverpool after her death in 1944. Sadly, all the furniture was auctioned off, but the house itself was preserved in more or less the same state and so are the pictures. It was lovely getting a guided tour from someone who obviously loves the family history and I drank in every word of it. It reminded me so much of those holidays to England we used to make with my family, stately home after stately home explored, walking through the gardens, having a cup of tea in the cafetaria afterwards. I thoroughly enjoyed it and as the entrance was free, it is a place I will certainly go back to. I found such peace, just sitting on the terrace in the sun, having seen such history and such art. There even was a bridal exhibition upstairs, which meant I saw some beautiful old wedding dresses.

And even now, while I sit in my room behind my computer, the sun slowly setting behind the houses, I feel like I used to do on those days over Summer. My face fresh from the outside walking, with a subtle feeling of cool around my jaws and in my fingers, my eyes ever so slightly drooping, my stomach hungry for bread and soup. I take my book in hand and read and enjoy the new rhythm of my life.

A reaction to my sister's blogpost.

For me, Catholicism has evolved so strongly. Well, my opinion of it has. What I saw as a dry, boring church through which masses I had to drag myself in school, it has become a place of peace and calm, a place where I can experience my faith the way I want it to, without having to join in with the crowd. The Catholic church is the only church where I can sit and enjoy the service and agree with what is being said without having a single sceptical moment (where I think "Well, that's not true" or "Well, isn't that a bit exaggerated" or "Well, that's all nice for you, but it's not my thing"). I don't join in with the Mary-devotion, the Saint-thing is still a bit hard to fathom and during the communion I simply bow my head and remain seated. But the difference is that in the Catholic church, this is okay. At no point do I have the feeling I have to "evolve". There is no pressure on me to pray the Mary-prayer, or to kneel down, or to take the communion. It is simply taking part in faith. In Evangelical and Pentecostal movement, I never felt "finished". I'm not saying I'm finished at all, but in other churches I always felt like I was on this path towards becoming the "right" Christian and I had more to learn and more to learn and more to learn and there was always a part of me that wasn't ready, because I didn't agree with everything or something. I never felt quite at home, fully comfortable. In the Catholic church, I feel comfortable. There is no pressure. I am still challenged and I know my faith still has a lot of growing to do, but I don't think "Oh, in time I will feel okay with speaking in tongues" or "Maybe if I pray more I won't think healing can't be done on a weekly basis like a regular clinic". I don't feel like I am missing in my faith. I can simply sit and bathe in God's presence, in a space especially built for His worship, in a place of serenity, with people who are devotional without making a show out of it. I love it.

And my favourite part? The fact that not everything is about converting your neighbour. I'm gonna come out with it: I háte converting people. I am not the missionary type. I live my life and talk about God and hope people see faith through that, but I have never ever felt good about trying to convert people. Maybe that is why I lacked in the Evangelical church of the Pentecostal church: For me, faith and God's love is not about trying to convince people that this is the best way. It's a way to live, the way to live, but the most important part to me is "Love thy neighbour", not "Make disciples". I know they are both Jesus's words, but one flows from the other, in my heart, and the Catholic church does exactly that.

I don't know if I'll become a "real" Catholic. At this point, I am just extremely happy in the Catholic church, because there is a peace you cannot find in Evangelical churches, and a quiet which would be shunned in the Pentecostal churches. Because there is a devotion which cannot be found in either. What I love, is the awe shown to God. I have never found awe in an Evangelical church. Jesus is your buddy. Maybe, but God is your God, and you should treat Him accordingly. And that's what the Catholic church does. Good ol' respect. I love it!

I'm thinking of becoming a Catholic

or at least attending Catholic mass on a regular basis. Just throwing that out there.

Settling

For the past few months, I've had this feeling which, when I tell people about it, is often a reason for them to look at me funnily. You see, I wouldn't mind if I were to wake up tomorrow and I had skipped over the next ten years of my life and I'm married, with a kid or two, in a house, with a cat, with a car, with a job, with a husband, settled and happy. I wouldn't mind a 9-5 job and being settled in my ways, with my family and my pets, going out for walks in the park on Sundays, maybe visit some family the day before. Coming home in the evening, preparing some food, watching some tv after dinner. Go to bed at a reasonable hour, snuggle up with my husband under the duvet. Wake up the next day and do the same. I wouldn't mind being settled. I'm only 22 years old, but I wouldn't mind being 35 and having the "grown-up" life. I wouldn't mind skipping over the whole "finding a job, meeting the one, falling in love, engagement, get married, move to a nice house, get babies, get pets"-thing and just get to that point where you are settled in life.

I think I might be too old for my age.