Hi everyone!
I miss you all so much! I arrived in Gent last Sunday and this first week has been a whirlwind! Monday was by far the craziest day: picking up apartment keys and signing the lease, moving in, physical signing of the post doc contract, going to the lab, registering for Dutch classes (yes, because I was so lost during the day and resorted to speaking French with the power company) and going to my first Dutch class. So by the time I got home it was close to 10pm!
Tuesday was meeting with the boss to discuss a plan, going to retrieve my lost box of books in the middle of nowhere (I guess I forgot that the postman here is on a bike so they don't deliver big boxes that often) and after work a trip to IKEA (which turned out to be another adventure) by tram to get the basics for my place. Wednesday was a day to start working on data, returning some more paperwork to the real estate agency and 3h more of Dutch class at the end of the day. And today for the first time I got home before sunset. (It's getting pretty chilly in Belgium already... 10ºC overnight, that is 50ºF!) I tried to go to a 2nd hand furniture store, hoping to find nice book shelfs and side tables that I could paint in bright colors but everything in the store looked to be from before the WWII! Then I went to Brico, which should be the equivalent to Home Depot or Lowe's (or AKI in Portugal) and was soooo disappointed! I swear that plastic must be really expensive in Belgium! I couldn't find any trash can for less than 12euros! The store looked so cluttered and run down and I couldn't find an adjustable wrench or regular inexpensive screwdrivers! Seriously... It was a lost trip!
Some odd things I have found in this first week:
- in the department the ice machine is in the bathroom (which by the way is mixed),
- also in the bathroom there are really big signs saying not to steal the toilet paper, because if we do so the bathroom will stop having it!
- everyone eats "outside", rain or shine, if it is raining we go eat in the greenhouse!
- most of the people in the department eat sandwiches for lunch which consist of bread and a slice of ham or cheese
- cab drivers, cashiers and dining hall staff do not know a word of English or French
- most people in the department arrive after 9, leave before 5 and have an hour long lunch break!
- post docs think it is very common to be a post doc for many many years
- some beer companies offer free beer on the street
- In Dutch You is jij (it might be just me but isn't this the weirdest combination of letters?)
More to come soon!