It took two years to finally get my butt across the Atlantic to do it, but on May 29th it finally happened! The long awaited reunion with some of my best friends from when I was studying abroad at Ajou University in Suwon, Korea. As anyone who has gone on a study abroad will concur about their own experiences, the nature of being in a foreign environment with adventurous types who chose to put themselves in such situation tends to create deep bonds. This was certainly true of our group, where our misadventures could have filled an entire tv series, but as is typically the case post study abroad return our lives moved on and we began to lose touch. Although time and distance took its natural toll on the frequency of our communication with one another (the occasional facebook message) there was a sense of blessed surprise during the weekend. Despite how much we had changed individually as a group we were able to pick up right where we left off in Korea.
The 4 day weekend got to a rocky start as I was supposed to take a 4AM bus to the airport (which required me to walk to the station from my dorm since trams would not be operational at that hour), and due to my trying to avoid sleep so I could pass out on the long bus/ plane rides I ended up passing out around 2 in the morning and waking up at 4:45... A panicked search of the bus service website and online ticket purchase for the next departure (the faster route to the center of Prague instead taking me all the way to the airport unlike my original ticket), and I was out the door with the urgency of a firefighter. Thankfully around 5AM is when the trams start running their 10 min routines, and I was a good 20 mins early for the bus.
After looking at the time table for bus service, I realized that once arriving at the Prague central station I would have to wait 30 mins before a bus to go to the airport, and that it would arrive with less than 20 mins for me to check in before the flight. A frantic search through my google Nexus (thank you mobile internet) found no public transport routes that could get me to the airport any faster. So I bit the bullet, and put in an online order for a taxi to pick me up as soon as I arrived at the station. The decision got me to the airport a safe 45 mins before my gate closed, but cost me about $30 for a ten minute drive (in purchase power parity perspective I generally can go most of the entire work week only spending that much :/)
I thought once I got on the plane everything would go smoothly, but as is generally the case with most of my plans, that would work out beautifully in other people's hands, I was bound to be sidelined by other freak externalities requiring me to make quick improvisations and adjustments after my arrival. Fortunately I guess, this crap happens to me so often I'm used to such disasters happening.
Obstacle 1: Sim card never works upon crossing the Czech border (more on this in another post).
Obstacle 2: Brussel's street signs while more coherent than Czech's are ridiculously confusing randomly switching their names between French and Flemish variants, which made my detailed maps, I printed before my trip, about as useful as a child drawn map scrawled in crayon on the back of a napkin.
Obstacle 3: Upon purchasing a local prepaid sim card, I still could not get the thing to work. Eventually got a visiting French speaker to help me activate the phone, sms and internet services, but although I had credit activated for the account my phone still could not detect the internet network without me manually inputting the NAT information. Spent 10 euros using the hostel's 1 euro per 15 min console to search through a bunch of phone forums with none of the NAT addresses working on my phone :(
As I had arrived a day earlier than everyone else I took the opportunity to explore the city on my own i.e. wander the city with an emphasis on looking at the places residents hang out more than tourists. I checked out the Jardain Botanique park near my station, snacked at a cafe, and of course checked out the local mall and book stores (Brussels is the world capital of comics after all). Although Brussels already has the distinction of having both French and Flemish as primary languages and it not really being a tourist hot spot it does have a very international feel due much in part to the fact that the EU has several of its governing bodies located within the city. This pays off for me as I was able to easily get along with all the shop clerks speaking only English, something I really don't get in the Czech Rep unless I'm in a tourist infested neighborhood...
As impressive as my solo tour was it was the rest of the weekend that I had really come for, starting the next morning with the arrivals of Pedro, Vanni, Ania and Rikard. After some hugs, comments on how "fit" people had become, and some overly affectionate gestures from Vanni (one can only assume due to him being Italian :p ), we were ready to explore the city proper as Ania had lived in the city before for a year. With perfect weather (sunny with a slight breeze) that could rival SF the day became a walking tour hitting up all the tourist attractions, stopping wherever we saw food and drink that looked appealing, and slowly being joined by the later arrivals as the day progressed.
In order of arrival: Adrian, Viri, Maciej, Magda, Otto, Adam, Juan and a brief "in spirit" appearance by Arnaud the one member of the Spring semester group that actually resides in Brussels, but couldn't make it to the event. At dinner we were joined Ajou Summer member Simon and Hunnie who are currently living in the city as well, and they showed us a couple of hot spots, and we all finished the night at their apartment before making the trek back to our hostel in the wee hours of the morning. Sunday morning was mostly spent recovering from the previous night, but by noon we were out again repeating much of the previous day's agenda of taking in sights and grabbing up the local treats wherever possible, while starting to make our goodbyes to members who were returning back to their respective homes. I was understandably completely exhausted by the end of the day (see photo), but was recharged by the restaurant Simon and Hunnie took us to for dinner, which in French translated to something like "Find or End of the Century". It was easily the best meal I've had in all of Europe thus far... seriously look how happy I am in that photo :)
The next day was time for my own goodbye, and though I was already missing them by the time I got to the airport I knew that after this weekend it doesn't matter how many years pass I'll still be able to count all of them as friends. (cue sappy music yea yea I know I shouldn't have said such a corny ending to my post)
More pictures of my trip can be found on my facebook account, or here on my
Picasa.
A list of recommended things for people to do if they make a trip in the future:
Grand Place Grote Market
Manneken Pis
Atomium
Galeries Saint Hubert-Sint Hubertusgalerijen
Palais Royal de Bruxelles
Rue de la Loi
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