Rivers & Roads

I would say it is officially fall here in Belgium. The days are brisk, the nights are chilly, and the leaves are falling! But fall is by far my favorite season, so I am not complaining. It has been an uneventful week here in Gent, Simon has been working extra hours because one of his coworkers just had a baby and I have been studying and going to lots of yoga! Next week is my last week of class for level one, then we have a week off, and then our final test will be the week of November 3rd! If I pass, I will move onto level two which start the following week, no rest for the weary! I am feeling pretty good about my dutch, it has been improving slowly but surely and now that I have a lot of the basics down from level one I think I will start to feel more confident in level two trying to use my Dutch a bit out in the real world!
This past weekend we went back to Simon's parents house, where we took a very nice walk with Pluche along the river where Simon likes to go fishing. The trees and all the old houses along the water are really beautiful. Also in the photos below you will see a few shots from my latest museum visit to SMAK. The current exhibition is about an exhibition the late Jan Hoet put together in 1980 about art in Europe after 1968. Jan Hoet was the founder of SMAK and died earlier this year, so most of their recent exhibitions have been tributes to his work.
Also I have included a few new videos for you all! An old one of Siena in front of the flatirons playing with bubbles, and then a small clip of our train ride from Simon's home town back to Gent! For some reason blogger cannot find this video when I look at my youtube account, so I just included the link.

We have a few exciting upcoming events! In two weeks Simon and I are going to Amsterdam! Then the week after that my friend Taylor is coming to visit, so lots of things to look forward to!

Visa update: We have gotten word that the police officer will be coming by our apartment this Sunday afternoon, so hopefully we will have good things to report after that!

Dutch phrase of the day: Ik wil een kopje koffie, alstublieft! = I want a cup of coffee, please!












https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bliug5s0HI

 Another eventful weekend here in Gent! (I will list events in order of the pictures below...)
On friday I went to Simon's work to have lunch with him, I had never seen his job in person so it was fun to finally go! His building is right by a little stream so its a pretty nice place to eat lunch and forget about work for an hour.
Then all over town was a festival celebrating World War I (...I think?). There were flags all around town, lots of activities for kids and little spontaneous live performances done by kids also, showing how their generation perceives the war. At least that is what Simon and I could gather, it was all very abstract and sort of hard to understand.
I went on a nice run around the lake that I used to go to pretty often but have not been to in a while and found some very nice flowers!
This weekend was also a special shopping weekend in Gent. All of the shops were open late on friday night and then most stores were open on Sunday too! Usually everything here is closed on Sunday which is a bit annoying, so we took advantage and went wandering around since our flea markets are coming to a close. We found a nice art sale going on in one of the main churches in the city center.
We also put up some nice new cork boards above our little dresser and printed tons of pictures to decorate your bedroom a bit more! We have been trying to find some nice art to cover our walls with but we have not found anything great yet, so this is a fun option! And now I can see all of your smiling faces everyday when I wake up! I made a very short little hyperlapse of Simon hanging the cork boards which you will see below. Not the most exciting video but I am playing with music and just trying new ideas! I have also included a hyperlapse of my route to school! Unfortunately it was not taken on the sunniest of days, but you still get the picture.
When I was here in february, I had written a post about doing yoga here in Gent and I keep forgetting to say that I have started doing it again! I am going to the same place I went before and have found some good classes. It is still a little weird not knowing what the teacher is saying but I just look around me and try to follow along. I think it will also help my dutch, I am able to pick up a few words here and there but hopefully I will learn more and more as I go. One VERY strange thing happened at one class though. I met a guy from Boulder!! We were walking in and he said something to me in dutch and I did my usual, "Oh sorry, English?" and we said oh yes I am from America that is easier for me. Then I said I am from America too! And he said Im from Colorado.... and I said me too...(pointing at my tattoo) and I said I am from boulder and he responded me too! Ya  know the laughing goat?? (which is a coffee shop in boulder for those of you who don't know). So yes needless to say a very strange coincidence, but I guess of all places to meet a fellow boulderite in Gent it would be at a yoga class! BUT THEN, I ran into him today at the laundro mat too! What are the chances! Very strange, I guess we are just supposed to know each other.

Visa Update: Still waiting for the police to come to your apartment.

Dutch phrase of the day: Ik woon naast de vrijdagmaarkt = I live next to the Friday Market