I see a lot of cats in Louvain-la-Neuve, and this one I liked a lot. One day as I stepped out of the house to go to work, it ran over to my feet out of nowhere and whispered the softest “MEOW” I’ve ever heard from a cat. Then it ran off quickly, as if it was shy. Honestly, it may look badass in the photo, but on the contrary, it’s super gentle and adorable <3

Green is still rare in Louvain-la-Neuve, but it’s coming soon, I promise! The new leaves bring colour to the city and along with them, new hope.

A lone cherry blossom waves in the fresh spring air. Soon the branches will be filled with pink blossoms, welcoming the late coming of the new season.

My stroll took me to Lake Louvain-la-Neuve, where on an unusually warm day that almost felt like summer, lots of people were out and enjoying the sunshine. Better take advantage of every ray of sunshine in Belgium. It dropped to 12 degrees today and I began to wonder if spring was just an illusion…

Aside from the apparent slow arrival of spring, things have been hectic in Belgium, but progressing well. It was nice to see LY again, having dinner together from time to time after a long day of work. His cooking is definitely better than mine!

And of course, what more could I ask for? Even if the day’s work was filled with obstacles and challenges, with a warm meal on the table and great company at the end of the day, I am so thankful.

That was a short update on Belgium, three weeks after re-arrival. Tomorrow I will go to the Laeken Greenhouse in Brussels and next week, a mission is to be completed. Until then, let it remain untold…

Hmm, how did this happen? Louvain-la-Neuve, not just a campus, but barely a real city. I didn’t like it much when I first stepped into Louvain-la-Neuve, that much was certain. The place felt more like a trap than a comfortable place to live.

It took a while to discover the charm hidden within, a process that required living there for a few months at a time and frequent absence. Gradually I found myself starting to like Louvain-la-Neuve more and more as I found ways to enjoy the “city”, as I took delight in the small, unique things that surprise me.

So, after having written about the streets of Bordeaux, I feel that it is only fair to dedicate a post to the streets of Louvain-la-Neuve

On an unsuspecting Saturday afternoon, if I am not out and about travelling to nearby cities, I like to take slow strolls around Louvain-la-Neuve. Although the area of the place itself is not big, there are so many hidden corners that I seem to have missed during my walks that I slowly discover one by one. It’s always fun to get lost, then find my way again.

Random guy sitting outside the Esplanade, apparently reading or just chilling. I remember that it started raining after I got home from my walk that day, and hoping that the rain on didn’t soak him…

…and here is another fella that seems to enjoy chillin’ around…? Only, he seemed a little rigid and pensive. Hmm, doesn’t he look familiar somehow? I hope the Manneken Pis didn’t get too tired of peeing in Brussels and decide to travel to Louvain-la-Neuve for a visit. Could this be the next big attraction in Belgium?

A boy plays with his two dogs near la Parc de la Source in Louvain-la-Neuve.

Cats. There are lots of cats on the streets in Louvain-la-Neuve. I wonder whether they are stray cats or domesticated ones that just move around comfortably everywhere. I think I started to like cats a lot after seeing a lot of them in Louvain-la-Neuve. There is something about their eyes, the way they stare into your soul…that badassery!

On the subject of whether the cats are stray or not, a friend commented, “Cats always know where they are, it’s everything else what is lost.” I like this, my friend. Very well played.

A lonely, empty beer bottle leans against a basketball pole.

The orange globe sends a luminous glow that saturates the sky while it bids goodbye for the day. Oh, Louvain-la-Neuve, it won’t be another few months till I see you again, but I will be back at least one more time. Until then, I don’t have to say goodbye yet. Not yet.

There is a forest nearby my campus called “Bois de Lauzelle”, a great place for a nice afternoon hike. From the centre of Louvain-la-Neuve, it’s about a 15-minute walk. Not too far, huh. One would think I would have gone there already during my previous stays in Louvain-la-Neuve. Nope. Due to my laziness, I’ve never visited the woods, even though I knew of its existence since the beginning of the year. It’s like Antwerp and Maastricht. I didn’t make the effort to visit until this time around, when my departure from Belgium at the end of the month may be for a good 6 months.

So, on a cloudy Sunday morning after a rainy day (the day I went to Antwerp), I ventured into the woods for my first autumn hike. Laziness had to be conquered, yes, but I was not going to let this opportunity escape me again. After Tobermory and Kawartha Lakes, I was determined to discover Bois de Lauzelle, on my own.

As I started my hike from the centre of Louvain-la-Neuve to the outer parts of the city, I passed by the Parc de la Source where this gorgeous bird was chilling among the branches. I think it was a swallow…I could never be sure of bird names. The leaves were still very much green, but traces of yellow and orange have begun to appear everywhere.

Entering the Bois de Lauzelle, I found myself being offered three choices of trails to take. I navigated through the woods by following the signs for the red trail. Wow, the trails are certainly very well-defined and well-maintained!

I loved this part of my hike. This pathway seemed to me like a corridor to heaven, shaded by calm green canopies that serve as guardians in a quiet forest. The road was muddy and the soil was soft after the rain, but I made it through without making too much of a mess!

Ah, mushrooms. I noticed them on a small hill as I continued down the trail and I knew I had to stop to take a closer look. This reminds me of the rainy days when I first arrived in France, and I’d go on a mushroom photo hunt around where I lived. Hah, I was certainly very attentive back then, and that was two years ago. What a thought!

I thought the picture of dripping rainwater from wild berries was a particular interesting and amusing scene. It gave me the feeling like each one of them was hanging onto a tear drop, refusing to let it go. Perhaps the wild berries were waiting for the wind to come and sweep away their tears.

Reflections of the surroundings in a random pond that I stumbled upon during my hike. The contrast between green and red, summer and autumn, it’s striking!

Another mushroom, this time sticking out of a wooden bench by the pond. Perhaps this was the abandoned child of the mushroom family above? Poor kid, stay strong!

A stunning flower was blooming proudly in the autumn air, showing off its splendid magenta dress and its intricate core. How do I stop loving nature when it offers me such beauty, such charm, such aura?

After what seemed like a never-ending solo expedition, I found the sign that would point me in the direction of going home. I gotta say, what an enjoyable hike! I am so glad I was able to say “no” to sleeping in that Sunday morning. At the end of the hike, I liked Louvain-la-Neuve a little bit more…okay, maybe a lot more than I already do (and trust me, this place has grown on me significantly throughout the past year). I am really going to miss Belgium for the next few months, no lies!

BONUS: I actually went BACK to Bois de Lauzelle the Sunday after my first hike, just to see if the colour of the leaves has changed within the week, and it has! Just look at the woods now! The yellow and red and orange that enchanted me so much last year have now wrapped the entire forest in hues of autumn, transforming it from a calm paradise to fields of passion. Beauty knows no end.

Two years of being away from any family. Two years of wanderlust. Two years of getting lost over and over again and waking up in epiphanies in the midst of my academic journey that’s supposedly going to lead me somewhere. Two years of calling a land once foreign to me, “home”.

Well, let’s take a look at some quick figures.

Total number of months since starting PhD (as of end of September, 2012): 24
Number of months in Bordeaux: 11.5 (48%)
Number of months in Louvain-la-Neuve: 10 (42%)
Number of months in Canada: 2 (8%)
Number of months in China: 0.5 (2%)

At two years, I am more than halfway through with this PhD program, which was the reason why I stepped onto European soil in the first place. France and Belgium – I’ve grown to love both of my host countries day by day. Doing science in such exotic lands has never even crossed my mind say, five years ago. Of course, this European adventure brought me so much more than just academic advancement. After all, what would I have gained if I stayed only in Bordeaux and Louvain-la-Neuve – odd combination, now that I think about it – without expanding my reach beyond the horizon of possibilities?

School and work

Being in a co-tutelle, I am involved in a collaboration between two labs in two cities, meaning I hop between the labs fairly often. In terms of time spent, the Bordeaux-LLN ratio is much closer to 50-50 than originally planned, which surprises me even today. At the beginning, I was anticipating something like spending 80% of my time in Bordeaux and 20% in Louvain-la-Neuve, but in reality, I’ve spent almost an equal amount of time so far in my labs in both cities. People ask me if I ever get tired of switching cities every few months, running around, packing and unpacking and repacking over and over again. To be quite honest, yes, I get tired, but strangely, I enjoy this mobility, even if it means having to look for housing in Louvain-la-Neuve in advance every single time (so far, 5 different places).

I’ve seen some of the best sunsets in Louvain-la-Neuve, one along Rue Charlemagne as I was walking home from work. Yes, even a little place like LLN has its charm.

Then the next question that I hear quite often these days is, “What are you going to do after your PhD?” or rather, “Are you going back to Canada after your PhD?” Reasonable questions, because I really only have less than a year left, ideally. Wow. What is going on? Where did all my time go? My standard answer at the moment is, “I don’t know, we’ll see where God leads me.” The answer applies to both questions, but we can take a look at them separately.

In terms of what I’m planning on doing after my PhD, I had originally wanted to stay in academia. You know, the usual route – get your PhD, get a faculty position (preferably without doing a post-doc which is extremely improbable), teach and do research, and bam, great career. I used to naively think that this would be a straight path and as long as I work hard enough, I can and I WILL stay in academia. Not so sure anymore. The idea of going into industry or even starting up something new crept into my mind throughout the years, and it made me wonder why I had shunned the idea of industry for so long. Perhaps I had been too used to the shelter of a school environment that I don’t ever want to leave, but there’s a whole new world out there to explore, if I’m not afraid of being eaten by hungry competition. Then again, I speak as if there is no competition in academia, which is completely false. So this leads me right back to the beginning – I haven’t got a clue. (Or I can take my dad’s suggestion and open up a pizza store…highly likely.)

True story, this happens every morning before I can begin to think about working.

As for whether I’ll go back to Canada, I’d like to think I’m open to possibilities in terms of where to go. Wherever there are opportunities, I wouldn’t mind going around the world, so I’m not confined to Canada or North America. Well, this notion changed slightly after my trip back home this year. Somehow when I returned to Europe, I felt more homesick than usual, and usually, I’m not homesick at all. I’m not sure what it is. It could be my family, so well settled in Canada and unlikely to move anywhere. It could be the familiar environment, especially the English. It could simply be a calling of Toronto to just go home already, the REAL home, not Bordeaux or LLN. Toronto.

So, this is where I am right now, wondering where I will be and what I will be doing in a year. Of course there are struggles in the nitty gritty details of actually being a PhD student, which you can read about here and here. Still, it’s time to look at the big picture, and look beyond today and tomorrow. Check back in a year. I’ll let you know what happens.

Travelling

Europe is amazingly beautiful. I am stating the obvious, but one does not simply cease to admire the beauty of this compact yet diverse continent. No matter how many times I’ve been to the Grand Place in Brussels, I marvel at the magnificent architectural structures around me every time I stand in the center. No matter how many times I’ve visited the Miroir d’Eau in Bordeaux at night, I fall in love with the dazzling Place de la Bourse over and over again as it is reflected so perfectly in the mirror.

Silhouette of the Brussels Town Hall taken on a Sunday afternoon before I headed back to LLN from the church in Brussels. Wandering through the lively streets in old town Brussels has become a habit of mine. I pretend to be a local, but who am I fooling, with an Asian face, a camera bag, and a strong accent?

My absolute favourite travel destination so far is without a doubt Switzerland. Oh dear, Switzerland. It was a 4-day trip and already I fell for this country like no other. Putting aside the outrageous cost of…everything, Switzerland is the embodiment of charm. Turquoise waters and green fields of passion, trains that creep between roaring mountains while discovering enchanting little villages hidden within, blinding beauty that knows no end…can you tell that I was super impressed? I’ve only been to Basel, Interlaken, and Zurich, but there are so many other places in this gorgeous country that I’d still like to visit – Geneva, Lausanne, Lucerne, Bern, Montreux, Rhine Falls. When will I see you again, Switzerland?

Many small villages like this one were spotted on the way from Interlaken to Zurich, wrapped around by lakes and mountains. It was probably the only morning train that I ever took where I was wide awake the entire time.

I have yet to visit a city – in Europe or not – that I don’t find beautiful in some way. A friend once told me that he has seen enough of the same types of architecture in Europe that it has stopped putting him in awe. “This beauty doesn’t excite me anymore,” he said, and I thought it was slightly unfortunate that he’d say that. Yes, you may have seen similar types of buildings in different cities, but beauty is beauty, no matter where you find it! Even in tiny Belgium, just look at Ghent and Dinant! Neither well-known nor touristy, but such precious gems! Granted, I don’t necessarily LIKE all the cities I’ve been to, but in the end, I can’t deny that they ARE beautiful (Paris and Amsterdam, I’m talking about you again).

Of course, there are some places that took me awhile to like, best example being Louvain-la-Neuve. I loathed this place in the beginning. I found it boring and quiet and I couldn’t wait to get back to Bordeaux. I think I started to love – not an understatement – this place during the autumn of 2011, when I saw the fall colours that painted the entire campus in a glorious sea of red and orange. That feeling was unforgettable and the beauty was indescribably real. From then on I began to enjoy the quietness of the city, something that I couldn’t get even in Bordeaux.

Autumn in Louvain-la-Neuve was lovely when the leaves were still attached to their branches. Wait a few days and all we have are balding trees with a sea of foliage on the ground!

You might think I’m “forcing” myself to like a place, only because I am obliged to live there for a long time. I would refute by saying that “forcing” is the wrong wording. Rather, travelling has taught me that it is only with an open heart and mind that you can learn to appreciate your surroundings. I often take places for granted (Toronto, for example), missing it only after I leave. Knowing that one day I may very well leave Europe permanently, I am making the most of my time here by enjoying every moment I spend in Bordeaux and LLN, being thankful for every street I walk on, every strange I pass by, every leaf that falls, and every sunset I see. To put it in another perspective, if I’m going to be living in a city for a relatively long period of time, rather than complaining about how it sucks, why not look for things that make a city unique and beautiful, and enjoy it to the fullest?

Ah, my dear Bordeaux, I’ve missed you. See you very soon <3

Now what?

Well, I’m in my third and final year. In my studies, at least. Maybe I will stay in Europe afterwards. Maybe not. We’ll see. With the remaining year, it’s time to crunch, crunch, crunch! Work hard, play hard, and my role model Geoff says, “Do now. Regret later. Then never regret.” It’s gotten me this far without screwing me over, so I say let’s continue charging forward. Year 3, here we go!

The purpose of Saturday’s trip was precisely the latter. A friend from Bordeaux is leaving for her internship in China next month, and she happened to be visiting Paris on Saturday. I had booked my tickets to Paris for the same day about a week ago, to see another friend’s art exhibition (which was, actually, the main purpose), so I figured, why not meet up before we say goodbye? I do head back to Bordeaux next Saturday, but there will be a training school in Anglet the week right after, and I will depart on Sunday. By the time I get back, she will be gone As such we planned our day carefully, first having lunch after my arrival, then heading to the exhibition and finding a place to have a nice chat afterwards.

Even though the city itself has failed to impress me each time I went, I still somehow look forward to every visit to Paris. Of course, I see it not as the most romantic city in the world or the “City of Lights”, but more as a big maze of a place where I can convenient go to get myself lost. And I love that feeling of wandering; Paris is perfect for that.

But as much as I dislike it, I gotta admit that amidst the strange odour in the metro, the dirty sidewalks, and the crowds of people everywhere, Paris is a city filled with music, art, and culture. There are streets where entire rows of galleries and art shops can be found, like a heaven for the true artist. Turn a corner to the next area and you’d find a whole bunch of street musicians performing for an audience that is willing to pause and listen. Such is Paris.

Friends and I were on our way to the art exhibition when we stumbled upon this small strings ensemble playing near the Louvre. Judging by the sound, they certainly didn’t seem like your average amateurs. Seems like you can find a concert anywhere in Paris, even on the metro.

In fact, I had my first “dream Paris” moment on the metro during this trip, when an accordion player hopped onto the train and started playing what sounded like typical French music (similar to this). Well, perhaps that’s what media and generalization had me believe to be traditional French music, but as the train zoomed past the city (it was a part of the metro line that was above ground), I listened to the dancing accordion while glancing out the window at the old French architecture. Then for the first time since I’ve arrived in France, I felt like I was in “Paris in the movies”. So leisurely, slightly romantic, a little dreamy. It was quite an enjoyable moment.

We arrived at the gallery/workshop where my friend’s exhibition was held, still around the Louvre. People who study art truly amaze me sometimes. Art gives rise to such a diverse array of possibilities, boundlessly vast with infinite space for imagination. No restrictions, no limits.

Of course I have to show off my friend’s work (with his permission), since he’s worked so hard for this exhibition. The artist’s mind hides an intricate maze of ideas, conceptions, and thoughts. The canvas may be empty at first, but give it to an artist and wait for an inception of something miraculous. They say that each piece of art conveys a story that touches every person in a different way. Your interpretation of the same painting may be completely different from that of the person next to you, but there is no right or wrong answer. What’s important is that the art truly resonates with one’s heart and soul.

Blue. So blue. Blue is melancholy, yet there seems to be a touch of naivety mixed with irony. Ignorance, agony, indifference, gloat, lack of warmth…am I being a little too negative? In any case, I am so proud of you, my dear friend

Food! (Yes this part was actually before the exhibition.) We decided to try a Korean place near Dupleix that everyone has been raving about. If it’s that popular, it must be good, right? I gotta say I’m unfair when it comes to evaluating food though. I compare everything to food that I’ve had in Toronto, and we all know that Toronto is certainly not lacking in this aspect, both in taste and variety and especially in terms of Asian food. So, what have we got?

We each ordered a set menu with a starter, a main dish, and a dessert (plus some complementary side dishes). I had the seafood pancake as the starter and disappointingly it was a very small portion, but tasted decent enough. As for the main dish, I ordered the spicy stir-fried squid and half-lean beef. Now, this was a satisfying dish, as I am a lover of both squid and beef. The texture of the squid was well-controlled at the right “chewiness” while the beef was tender and juicy. The spiciness complemented well with the overall taste. Yum yum! I guess to make up for the small portion of the starter, the main dish was quite sizable, which of course made a hungry Annie very happy!

Oh, dessert? It was green tea ice cream, nothing to rave about, but I was sure glad to taste my favourite ice cream again after too long!

A part of our day was spent wandering around in a shopping centre called Galerie Colbert that we passed by. We weren’t going to enter at first, but after seeing a parade of at least 50 people go in (we assumed that it was a tour group), we decided to blend in and enter, just for the heck of it. The place reminded me of a modest version of Galeries Saint-Hubert in Brussels, which was said to be the first shopping mall in the world.

And here is Annie with her soon-to-depart friend and friend’s friend (indeed it was three of us throughout the entire trip). I have my classic “no eyes” expression…seriously, I am the epitome of the small eyes Asian stereotype. And is taking a photo in front of a mirror also an “Asian” thing to do?

We spent a chunk of time in a shop where they sell flower ornaments and decorations. Of course most of these fall under the category of “cute and classy yet expensive but would be nice to have around the house”, like most of the stuff I saw in Cologne last year.

Soon it was time for me to head to Gare du Nord for my train back to Brussels. Yes, even I found it a little crazy that I actually went ahead with a Paris “day trip”. The Paris metro map is quite colourful, isn’t it? I think Paris has one of the most extensive metro networks in the world. I used to think the Hong Kong metro was complicated enough, but not anymore! And TTC is just pathetic compared to anything…

Hello, Thalys at Gare du Nord. Ah, good ol’ Thalys, taking me right back to Bruxelles-Midi in an hour and 22 minutes, so very convenient. Out of the 6 main train stations in Paris, I’ve been to 3: Gare du Nord (mostly for international trains), Gare St.Lazare (to Normandy), and Gare Montparnasse (to Bordeaux). The other 3 are Gare d’Austerlitz, Gare de Lyon, and Gare de l’Est. Maybe I’ll make it a goal to travel to at least one city from each of the stations before I leave France for good.

I still feel insecure when I’m wandering around Gare du Nord. In fact, I rarely feel very secure in Paris. Again, I will make an unfair comparison to Toronto. The Paris city centre is probably not too different from downtown Toronto in terms of safety, if you keep some common sense. However, I’ve never felt threatened or unsafe in Toronto, even if I was out quite late. Then again I’ve lived in Toronto for 15 years and will probably permanently call that place “home”, so you see how this is an unfair comparison. Sorry Paris.

Back in Brussels, it was dark but still only 8 o’clock at night. I decided to drop by the Grand Place before I headed back to Louvain-la-Neuve, just to see it lit up at night. I was anticipating this part of the day because I LOVE cities at night, and I had thought that the Grand Place would be stunning after the sun goes down.

Well I was a bit disappointed. Only the town hall was lit up in a ghostly green, which was kinda cool, actually. However, none of the other buildings at the Grand Place were lit up I still took a stroll around the area though, mainly because I wanted to get some Brussels waffle from Brussels. The authentic thing must taste good! At least that was what I thought.

Disappointment again. You see, I had a plain Brussels waffle in Louvain-la-Neuve and it was probably the best waffle I had ever tasted. Now, any normal person would expect Brussels to have the best Brussels waffle, no? The first one I got was too soft and even slightly soggy. Not satisfied with it, I got another one at a different store (picture above). This one was better than the previous one, but still no match for the one from Louvain-la-Neuve, which was crispy and flaky on the outside, soft and warm on the inside and just so…DELICIOUS! I can’t believe LLN has better Brussels waffle than Brussels, but hey, at least I can get it here conveniently from now on!

Side note: when I was buying the second waffle, a man aged around 50 came up to me and asked me if I wanted some chewing gum. Feeling a bit sketchy, I declined, but he struck up a conversation with me. We chatted for a few minutes, him telling me that he’s a musician and recounting some stories of his performances, asking me whether I’m on vacation and where I’m from. To be honest I liked the old guy, though natural instincts still told me to be careful, so I didn’t talk so much. He seemed like a cheerful guy though, and as I got my second waffle, he waved goodbye with a kind “bonne soirée”. Ah, strangers. Perhaps he was a nice guy after all. I’ll never know.

Finally, I headed back to Brussels central station to catch a train back to Louvain-la-Neuve, ending my long day trip to Paris and Brussels. Oh dear, I was so tired by the time I reached the house, but every moment of the day was worth the effort made into making this trip happen. Cheers

I know I mentioned that there hasn’t been much sunshine in Louvain-la-Neuve lately, but when when there is sun, this is quite a relaxing place to be at. Ever since the trip to Ghent, I’ve stayed in Louvain-la-Neuve every weekend – gasp! Weekend afternoon walks became my activity of choice here, especially pleasant during the two weekends when it was warm and sunny out! Spring was definitely coming, right?

Wrong. Weather here fluctuates like the lottery. When I thought the sunny weather meant that it was the beginning of spring, Mother Nature burst my bubble by sending snow last week. Splendid. For two or three days I felt like we were back in that period of time at the beginning of February when Europe was invaded by a sudden cold attack. I almost had to get my scarf and gloves out again. Not amusing.

I am glad, however, that I did take advantage of those warm days and left the house to enjoy the rarity. My favourite place in Louvain-la-Neuve is definitely the lake. When in doubt, you can’t go wrong with the lake for a nice, relaxing afternoon.

On this day, my original destination was actually not the lake. I began by wandering through some residential areas of LLN, stumbling upon some new, unvisited places, before somehow ending back at the lake, as always. Really, how far could you go?

I usually have to go through this tunnel or underpass, whatever you call it, to get to the lake on the other side. It’s not that I’m afraid of anything sketchy going on – I mean, it literally takes 10 seconds to cross – but somehow I have this irrational assumption that it would stink in there. Then I take a deep breath and hold it until I am all the way on the other side. I think I sneaked a breath once when I was crossing the tunnel, and…it didn’t stink. BUT I still hold my breath every time I go through it…

Lake Louvain-la-Neuve is a great place to observe the birds that surround the area. Although I didn’t see the swans that usually hang around the lake, there were whole flocks of geese, ducks, and seagulls scattered all around.

Apparently Canada geese don’t only live in Canada. After “living” with them for 5 years in university – not a bit too scarce on the Waterloo campus, UWers would know what I am talking about – I certainly didn’t miss them much.

These two ducks caught my attention for quite awhile, as their behaviours were way too entertaining. I suspected that they were dating or something, because they seemed to like to tease each other, and they would follow each other everywhere. Here they are on land after a leisurely swim, drying off themselves.

I like playing around with the colour accent effect on the camera, especially with the blue sky. The black and white brings out the peacefulness of the LLN cityscape, so calm and tranquil.

It’s interesting to think back to when I first arrived in Louvain-la-Neuve. Wow, that was more than a year ago. I thought the place was quite ugly and boring and wouldn’t stop trying to find ways to get out. That was why from March to May last year, I practically went to a different city every weekend.

Now, I’ve taken a liking to the univer-city setting. From a distance, Louvain-la-Neuve is actually a pretty little town

The clouds decided to return to try to engulf the sun, but before I concluded my walk around the lake that day, I found out what the clouds were really up to. Apparently they turn into a fire-breathing monster when no one is looking…or well, they THINK no one is looking. Better run…

On the way home, I spotted these birds chilling way up high on the top of a roof. Max zoom on my camera only gets me this far. Seems like they’re enjoying the unusually great weather as well.

After a bit of birdwatching, something stirred in the air, causing the birds to lift off into the sky. I watched them for a bit and realized that they flew in a defined pattern, so it was quite convenient to predict where they’d be at any given moment. They flew in circles, cycle after cycles, before resting again on the roof.

It was quite spectacular. I’m glad I stood there and observed a little before going home (and I’m glad my camera battery survived that last bit!)

Next week I’m going to Paris and Brussels, two places that I’ve been to a few times already, but with a purpose. Well, two purposes. If I succeed in taking some nice pictures, I will certainly write about it!

To introduce Leuven a bit, it is in the Flemish region of Belgium, which means people there speak Flemish, not French. Leuven is located north of Louvain-la-Neuve and east of Brussels, forming an equilateral triangle on the map. Leuven is home to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), which is directly related to the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL, where I am at) as UCL split from it in 1968. I don’t know the entire history behind the event, but due to some language tensions, what used to be known as the Catholic University of Leuven split into KUL and UCL, and UCL “moved” to Louvain-la-Neuve in Wallonia, providing French-language instruction.

My visits to Leuven generally began at the train station as I arrived at around 19H00. Then I would stroll down Bondgenotenlaan (name of a street) until I got to the Grote Markt and took a turn onto Naamsestraat (another street name) until I reached my destination at 19H30 for the start of fellowship. At the end of fellowship, I took the same route back to the train station at 22H00 in order to catch the last train back to Louvain-la-Neuve. Unfortunately I don’t attend this fellowship anymore due to the tight timing. Sometimes I can’t make the train that gets me there on time, and leaving early at 22H00 doesn’t give me much time to mingle at all

The few times I was there, however, I really liked Leuven. The wide streets and the gorgeous Gothic architecture were certainly refreshingly different from Louvain-la-Neuve. I’m sure there’s much more to see beyond the limits of the city centre, and it’s a trip I’ll have to re-take one of these days, when the weather is slightly better.

The silhouette of an unknown structure glowed prominently straight ahead of me as I walked down Bondgenotenlaan, towards the Grote Markt. In October last year, I usually arrived in Leuven right before sunset, just as the sky was turning dark. This was taken during my first time in Leuven, and that silhouette really stood out and amazed me.

Turn around and we see where I came from, the train station. There was a World War II monument right outside the station, can’t miss it. And yes, I was standing right in the middle of the road. I liked the feeling of stepping off of the sidewalks and taking a picture right down the centre of what are supposed to be car lanes, and thankfully there weren’t many cars on the road. The lack of cars (perhaps only during the time period I was there, I don’t know) made the whole city feel so spacious, so clean.

Behold the town hall at the Grote Markt! Really, what Belgian city DOESN’T have a place called Grote Markt or Grand Place? I’d have to say this one is quite unique though, probably the most stunning Grote Markt I’ve seen aside from Brussels. You see, at the Grand Place at Brussels, you’re SURROUNDED 360 degrees by these buildings. You get dizzy just by the sheer dazzle of the architecture. Here in Leuven, the Grote Markt was much humbler while at the same time not losing its charm and glamour. Just look at the splendid Town Hall shown here! I loved how the fascinating façade was covered in a simple beige, yet enhanced by the colourful flags hanging from its windows. Beautiful!

Look at the amount of details on the exterior of the Town Hall! Architecture truly amazes me sometimes. It is beyond my understanding how humans are able to design and construct such delicate and magnificent structures.

For some reason I just liked the Leuven Town Hall more than the Brussels Town Hall. Observing and admiring the Leuven Town Hall sent shivers down my spine due to its sheer audacity and beauty, a ravishing beauty that gave a completely different feeling than Brussels. Maybe it was because the Grand Place in Brussels is always so filled with tourists and you can barely enjoy and take in the true essence of it all, while Leuven is not so tourist-oriented, in turn feeling more like a “real” city with more “authentic” student life. At least in the Grote Markt, I felt like I had all the time and space in the world to marvel at this one building, a gem well-hidden.

I took a random turn near the Grote Markt as I had a few minutes to spare, and ended up at another place with a lot of flags, though I have no idea what they are or what they represent.

I couldn’t resist taking another picture of the Town Hall, this time with respect to the entire Grote Markt. Lots of bars and cafés here, frequented by the student population which makes up the majority of Leuven. I think I’d enjoy living in this city, much like I enjoy Bordeaux’s relaxing lifestyle.

The whole time I was in Leuven, I thought it reminded me of Bordeaux. If you were to ask me last year, when I visited Leuven, whether I’d prefer to live in Leuven or Louvain-la-Neuve, I would say “Leuven” without hesitation. Everything seemed superior compared to LLN – atmosphere, aesthetics, lifestyle. To be fair and honest, back then I didn’t like LLN a whole lot, but that was before I experienced the autumn wonders of this place. Now, during my third stay, I am liking tiny LLN more and more, and wouldn’t answer as quickly as I would have last year. Yes, LLN can’t compare to Bordeaux (I’ve only scratched the surface of Leuven so I won’t use it as a comparison) in certain aspects, but it does have its own strengths as well – tranquillity, convenience, eccentricity.

A lovely full moon floated in the sky on a clear, cloudless night, magically lighting up the Grote Markt on my way back. I also found the building on the right to be quite cute. Those protrusions from its roof looked like rows of mini-houses attached to the top. It made me imagine that perhaps a gnome lives in each of them…teehee

Waiting for the train at the station that would take me back to Louvain-la-Neuve. Leuven has a fancy train station, which reminds me of the one in Liège, especially at night.

I should find the time to visit Leuven again before I head back to Bordeaux, perhaps spend a full day to go into the actual city and see something that is NOT the Grote Markt. Oh, and I should probably find out the names of the buildings that I saw when I went last year so I don’t just call them “that building” or “that structure”. Ha!

Wait, what? PhD, that can’t be right…

But indeed, something struck me like an epiphany last week, as I was working in the lab. PhD…that’s serious business. I have to write a thesis and defend it in about a year and 8 months…um, whaaaaaaaat?

Usually I get shocked by sudden realizations when things don’t work out at the lab, leading to frustration. And indeed, work hasn’t been proceeding as planned lately. I also noticed that I’m almost halfway into my supposed 3-year PhD, and it’s a little scary to admit that I don’t have nearly as much done as I THINK I should.

Of course, all my friends see is me travelling here and there every weekend, enjoying the freedom of the “European lifestyle” and experiencing what the world has to offer. No one really sees between the weekends, where hours are spent on trying to get one process to work, where frustration and disappointment turn into silent curses, where time is too precious to lose.

Just some thoughts…let’s reflect on them with a walk through a weekday in the “real” life of Annie.

Annie’s desk at work in Belgium…messy or not?

When there is nothing to worry about, it’s so easy to say, “Do not worry about tomorrow.” (Matthews 6:34). However when it does strike, worrying can be so nerve-wrecking. When I have to delay an experiment because a chemical is out of stock or an equipment is booked, I can’t help but worry about the progress of my work.

Let’s get some good ol’ liquid nitrogen.

Then again, the strange thing is that I usually DON’T feel the pressure that a PhD student should be feeling, which ironically makes me worried. Sometimes I wonder if there is something wrong with me, and I begin to ask myself questions. Am I not trying hard enough? Am I not doing enough work? Is travelling during weekends too much? Should I be working on Saturdays as well? Am I ever going to publish any papers? Am I going to have enough to show at the end of my PhD to warrant the degree? What is the purpose of all of this???

Why, you look sleepier than I am, little guy.

One thing I’ve learned from being in Europe is to notice the tiny things around me that make life a little better, even in the lab where I work every day. The other day I noticed that the two meters attached to the argon tank formed two funny looking eyes, and though it was a tough day, it made me smile.

Soxhlet not dried? Miracle accomplished.

Learning to be thankful also alleviates stress significantly, especially when we learn to be thankful of each small accomplishment that we managed to achieve, or things that just WORK. Friday morning I arrived at the lab to find that my acetone Soxhlet rinse, which had been running overnight, was still running. I’ve had occasions where the acetone has completely evaporated despite the cooling mechanism – not what was supposed to happen – so I half expected an empty flask roasting in the heat. I was surprised to find something that actually WORKED for once, and I just felt…thankful. For once I didn’t have to rush to get my probably contaminated samples out of the apparatus.

Beware of PIRANHA! Approach with care…A LOT of care.

Working in a chemistry lab also developed a sense of paranoia in me. Did I inhale enough toxic silane to cause brain damage? What if that liquid nitrogen pipe explodes and I freeze the entire lab? What if the glass breaks while I’m preparing piranha solution and I lose a hand? Keeping these hazards in mind, though, also prompts me to be much more careful with what I do so I don’t hurt myself and others.

Ready to do some gas phase silanization? Don’t get the pipelines mixed up!

It reassures me, however, that I still enjoy doing what I’m doing. You enjoy your work when you’re okay with being busy. You enjoy your work when you look forward to the challenge of planning. You enjoy your work when you find a tiny tingle in your heart as you learn something new at work (like SEM or confocal). You enjoy your work when you’re smiling, maybe subconsciously, while you work. I think I still enjoy my work, thank God.

Aside from the main lab shown in the pictures above, I have to work in a cleanroom. Now, I have a love-hate relationship with the cleanroom. Sometimes I really look forward to doing work there, but sometimes I just loathe it. The reason why I don’t particularly like it at times are as follows.

1. It’s in another building. Not a problem unless it’s raining/snowing and I have to transport samples in between the labs…
2. It’s not really “our” cleanroom. Even though the operators are super nice, there is still something about working in a “common” lab that makes me feel uncomfortable.
3. I can’t listen to my music while I work, because of #4.
4. I constantly look like someone who is working on developing biological weapons or something, like this…

I swear they put the mirror there so everyone can take a self-portrait as they pass by. This was taken in last May, but I still look like this every time I enter the cleanroom. When you put on gloves and work in the cleanroom all day, your hands can get all sweaty…yuck. Oh, but those goggles saved me big time. I was filtering PMMA in toluene when the syringe burst, spraying the solution all over my face, but thanks to the goggles at least it didn’t get into my eyes, and I am not blind. Ever since that incident I wore goggles every time I did anything in the lab, no matter how small (re: paragraph above about hazards).

Hmm…which buttons do I press?

The X-ray reflectivity machine is probably one of the most used machines in my work. Here’s one of my other irrational paranoia. I am always worried that I’d forget to turn off the shutter and that when I reach my hand inside to change the filter, the X-rays would burn my hands and I’d become permanently disabled. Of course I wouldn’t even be able to open the door without the whole machine shutting down, if I did forget to turn off the shutter…

Friendly note from the supervisor: DO NOT STEAL MY STUFFS!

Note to self: Try not to get in trouble with the supervisor, although if I ever do, it’s probably not because I stole something from the X-ray machine…

Warning warning, danger danger! Kudos to whoever designed this

This is seriously one of the best programs ever designed…in terms of amusement factor. Aside from this humourous warning, there are a bunch of others, such as this one. Bonus points for being run on an old-fashioned Mac!

Sometimes I just want to press this…no WordPress pun intended.

And right now, I feel like I’m entering my almost-mid-PhD crisis. It’s a bit overwhelming to realize that I’m ACTUALLY almost halfway through…whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it there for a second. Isn’t it a little too fast?! I really do get the urge to just press that big red emergency button and say…STOP! Just…PAUSE! Slow down for a moment, I’m not ready to continue. My experiments aren’t working! I don’t have results yet! I’m not ready for my confirmation exam! I don’t know what I’m doing! Ahhh!!!

Can I just sleep now?

At the end of the day, life goes on whether we get desired results or not, and I cross my fingers and hope for the best while trying different alternatives to make things work. I suppose having to toggle between two countries does make things slightly more complicated, though that was expected at the beginning, when I decided to take on the challenge. I do get somewhat tired though, with all the moving around. It seems like I’m living the life of a snail, carrying a mobile home on my back.

The journey will continue. Endure it, embrace it, love it! Annie will do it!

Now, I say autumn is magical because it is filled with the colours of warmth and passion. As I wade through fields of yellow and red and orange leaves, I can’t help but feel that my whole surrounding is embraced by the moving flow of life. The leaves, they quietly fly away from the branches they have been hanging onto, and gently wave goodbye to the year, joining their companions on the ground in a sea of heterogeneous radiance. It’s as if the trees were shedding their hair, only to wait for fresh ones to come back next year.

It’s the first time ever that I feel like I’m in love with autumn. Such a short spam of time for the switch from summer to winter, but so calm, so beautiful.

Let’s start with some good ol’ LLN. Then we’ll see what autumn has that got me so amazed and in love.

I always find this sight amusing when I pass by, shoes hanging randomly from a string. Till this day I do not know the significance of them, if there is one.

Drawing on a wall at the Place des Sciences. I gotta say it’s pretty well done.

Here are a few snapshots of my lab. Nothing TOO revealing – I never know whether lab stuff is supposed to be confidential and camera-shy. Among the lab coats (top left) mine is the yellowest one because I got an old one…yep, oh well. And apparently someone loves science so much (top right) that he/she declared it to the world via his/her lab coat. Passion wins! Of course, don’t forget your lab coat, goggles, and gloves (bottom left) before entering the lab, especially when you are going to work with PIRANHA…solution (bottom right)!

Walking towards the Grand Place on a Saturday (or was it Sunday…I forgot) afternoon.

What, is that Pacman I see hidden behind the windows?! Oh man, people in this place certainly have some humour. These things made my day when I saw them! The first one is visible from my lab where I often work, and the discovery of the second one was accidental during a random walk. I actually found a few more of these on other windows, though they’re not Pacmen. One of these days when the weather is less gloomy, I shall go and catch them all!

(Click thumbnails for full-sized photos.)

Well, let’s get to our main characters, the colours of autumn! I never realized how beautiful autumn colours are until one day when I noticed the sea of orange leaves accompanying me on my way to the lab. Then I slowed down and observed the sudden peace that enshrouded me. Louvain-la-Neuve…isn’t all that bad, after all. All I gotta do is pinch my nose to avoid the odour of beer and puke after party nights, and open my eyes to what’s beautiful.

Back in Canada, they make a big fuss about going to see the falling leaves during the autumn. Yes, you can make a special trip to the park to see the maple leaves as they turn red, or you can glance out the window while you’re on the highway to see the transition of colours, but in everyday life, one almost always fails to notice that even the tree outside his house shed its leaves, and it could be a beautiful thing.

It’s true. When you take your time to stop and smell the roses, you notice little details that are around you each and every day yet pay no attention to. Last weekend, I took a stroll around Louvain-la-Neuve, from the east end all the way to the lake (it’s not really that far) and back, taking a new route, stopping here and there to fully experience the place before the trees go bald, which happened a couple of days ago. Thank goodness I got off my lazy ass to take pictures before all the leaves fell. I never thought Louvain-la-Neuve could actually be so enjoyable.

I went to Lake Louvain-la-Neuve again and this is my starting point. This curve caught my attention inexplicably. It’s so…aesthetically pleasing. It was quite a grey day though, the skies overcast with impending rain.

I stole LS-san’s idea in Barcelona for this one. We saw a pretty lady in a bright red flamenco dress that day and LS remarked that it’d be interesting to take a picture of her where only the red is shown and the rest is black and white, which then reminded of my camera’s selective colour mode. Of course, this time I DID have my camera with me, so I tried it with this girl with the red jacket. It didn’t work perfectly because the camera also recognized other traces of red around the scene, but the effect is still pretty neat. At least now I know how the mode works.

A look at Lake Louvain-la-Neuve from behind the greenery. It was my third time walking around the entire lake and every single time, it’s a different feeling. I saw a lot of joggers and bikers this time around and it gave off a sense of community, because everyone was out even though the weather wasn’t the best.

I’m gonna miss dad’s amusing comments on the blog for a few weeks since he’s on a trip. Funny, I’m starting to like his comments. He tries so hard to put everything in Cantonese, and I try so hard to actually understand. Well done, dad.

This (long) weekend…Cherbourg! I absolutely cannot wait…^_^

As the name implies, it is literally a 24-hour bike race. With beer. Lots of beer. And people.

This year, the race happened on October 26th and 27th. Some sources say that this is the second largest beer event in Europe after Oktoberfest, which surprises me because it’s happening in a small place like Louvain-la-Neuve. In any case, I’m pretty sure it’s the largest beer event of the year in Belgium, and definitely THE festival of the year at Louvain-la-Neuve. Some 40000+ people are said to attend each year, many from cities all over Belgium. Beer and bikes – a good combo or not? You be the judge.

So how does this race thing work? I actually didn’t quite figure it out myself, but I know there are three types of races: normal bikes, “folkloric” bikes, and charity bikes. I think it works like a relay race where teams have racers that rotate amongst each other and go around the circuit x times in y amount of time. I can’t imagine one person biking non-stop for 24 hours – that would take endurance, heck of a lot of endurance.

Aside from the races that take place through circuits designed around the city (I still hesitate using the word “city” to describe Louvain-la-Neuve, but heck, it makes things easier here), there were a plethora of concerts and activities happening concurrently. As far as I know they lasted all night, and yes, there were beer stands. Lots of beer stands for your drinking pleasure.

Let’s see how it went down.

Some colleagues told me that a few people in our lab were racing in the normal circuit, so I decided to join the team…as a spectator, and part of the cheering squad! Here’s Remi in blue, heading off for his turn. It was my first time trying to shoot fast moving action with Mr.Nikon, and I really have to practise more and learn how to do it properly, especially in the dark! A tripod would probably help, but with 40000 people in a crowded place, I felt in danger even with Mr.Nikon around my neck that day, not to mention a tripod…

By “folkloric” bikes, they mean uniquely designed bikes in all kinds of sizes and shapes. Some of them are quite creative, actually! In order from left to right, top to bottom (click to enlarge), we have the helicopter with broken propellers, Lightning McQueen, a Rubik’s Cube and a sexy woman, an “I <3 MSC" bike (I doubt MSC means mesenchymal stem cells…), a chicken’s cage, and a bottle of…I think it’s wine, who knows. Rather amusing stuff!

Of course, here’s my favourite folkloric bike…AN EPPENDORF PIPETTE! Yes, call me nerdy, but come on, it’s neat and awesome! Now, where’s the pipette tip???

After all of the participating members of our lab have had their turn on the race, we decided to wander around the city a bit and see the festivities. Anyone want some beer? I certainly do!

This scene actually reminds me of St.Catherine’s street in Bordeaux during the last weekend of the yearly French sales. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Louvain-la-Neuve so crowded before, and really, I wonder how many people came from nearby cities. I’m assuming a lot of them came from Namur and Liege as there were special trains running all night between Louvain-la-Neuve and these cities.

What is this…big brother is watching you???

I’m not exactly sure what was in these little plastic cups, but I doubt it was juice. I’d say it was either bitter poison or some kind of alcoholic shot. The red ones looked a little bit safer but the blue ones? Hmm…I would think twice before trying it

Just to prove that I DID hang out with colleagues that night, here were are! Mouseover the pictures for their description. My dad is starting to complain that my blog has very few pictures of me, so here I am dad. I have lovely colleagues in Louvain-la-Neuve and it’s great fun spending time with this goofy bunch. Viva la IMCN?

One of the final shots before battery died for the night, a concert held in the Grand Place at around 10pm. Many people were drunk by then as we witnessed fights, collisions, and a lot of rowdiness. I fail to understand why some people insist on drinking so much until they’re drunk, and consider it as “fun”…it may be something I will never comprehend.

To conclude, I enjoyed my first 24 Heures Velo thanks to my adorable colleagues. It’s actually a coincidence that I was able to attend this year, since I’m not often in Belgium, but alas, at least now I know what the hype was all about. I wonder when the smell of beer will fade from the streets…

Sinking back into the French lifestyle was easy. All you have to do is…do nothing. Nah, I kid. I do have to work, but I have to admit that the pace in France is significantly slower than Belgium. In Louvain-la-Neuve, there were times during my stay that I felt like I was running out of time, that I wouldn’t be able to get any results with my experiments. Back here, yeah I again have limited time, but the mentality somehow just completely changed. I am way more relaxed and I convince myself that I’ll get everything done on time. I can take it slow and easy.

Blah. Is this my lame excuse for my own laziness? Perhaps, but I’ve learned enough time management to know better than leaving things until the last minute now. I think I can proudly say that I am slowly getting rid of my nemesis in university, named procrastination. It has improved a lot since then, and I am no longer pulling my hair minutes before a deadline. Thank goodness.

In terms of stuff to do outside the lab, it was almost non-existent in Louvain-la-Neuve. Upon my return to Bordeaux, I realized how lively Bordeaux is during the summer, with events and festivals all over the place! I am going to a Beethoven/Wagner concert next week, then Saturday and Sunday is Fête le Fleuve! Dance shows, outdoor concerts, and of course fireworks…I can’t wait to see what the quais have to offer this time!

Here’s some more on life in Louvain-la-Neuve, the last for awhile. The next time I go back will probably be October of this year, if all works out well.

Random sculptures found along the road during a walk through the woods near the city center. I found a lot of interesting sculptures like these scattered around the campus, each unique in its own sense.

Street performance in the Grand Place.

Mural art in a hidden street. Things like this make me realize how little I know about the campus. The place is ridiculously small and I hadn’t even fully explored the whole place. When I do take a new path though, I always find something quite interesting.

A concert at the Aula Magna concert hall held by the university band. Rather professional and impressive, I must say. If I had known about these events before, I would have gone out a lot more. Now that I know, I’ll be sure to check them out next time I head back.

Tape art, or as my colleague (who created this) called it, “contemporary art”. When you wait for the XRR machine to align and calibrate, creativity creeps in and with a little bit of equipment within reach, anything can be materialized.

Lab barbecue at the Forest of Dreams in Ottignies. Very fancy name, sounds like something that would only appear in a fantasy novel or a fairy tale but it’s actually the name of the place. I was sitting there along the table, somewhere.

Looking outside the window as I go down the stairs on my way home, the view really reminds me of Waterloo, especially the MC area.

Next week I’ll write about the International Fair (Foire internationale de Bordeaux) that I went to on Sunday, which was a pleasant surprise. Until then, cheers and take it easy ^_^

The trip to Geneva last weekend had to be cancelled last minute. While it was slightly disappointing, the timing wasn’t too bad as I did end up needing the weekend to pack for my return to Bordeaux. And rest. Catching up on some sweet sweet sleep felt so guiltily amazing.

(I’m putting Geneva back on my travel list though. It didn’t work out this time, but next time it will. And it’s an easy destination from either Bordeaux or Brussels, so plenty of time to make it happen!)

As the “Louvain-la-Neuve” section of the blog has been feeling lonely due to my constant absence from the little city during weekends, I will dedicate this entry and perhaps the next to my home for the past three months. I had been hesitant to call LLN “home” at any time; when there is so much mobility and movement from place to place, your expectation of “home” changes from time to time. To blatantly admit that I really disliked a place – well, LLN is the first.

Or well, I supposed I disliked it at the beginning, when the contrast between LLN and Bordeaux was so strikingly clear. Though, after awhile of living in one place, no matter how lurid the place smelled or how aesthetically unpleasing it appeared, you always find something to miss when you leave. Most of the time, for me, it’s the people.

It’s no different this time around. I really did have a great time in Belgium, thanks to the wonderful colleagues that I met at the lab. One thing that sucks about moving around is that just as you’re starting to feel like you are fitting in at your workplace, it’s time to leave. It was the case every single time during co-op in university, since each work term was so short (4 months) that there was barely enough time to be truly integrated in one lab community. Here it’s the same, only difference being it’s a continuous cycle of heading back and forth. That, I am glad, because the next time I go to Belgium, I won’t feel like a newbie anymore, and I can dive directly back into the work environment that I so thoroughly enjoyed the first time around.

Well, if you were wondering what I had been doing and where I had been for the past three months aside from weekend trips all over the place, this might give you a general idea.

This is a chalkboard on the -1th floor of our building. First of all, yes I did say -1th, or -1st, if you prefer. The entrance to the building leads to the -1st floor, then you go up to the 0th floor, the 1st, and the 2nd floor where the lab is. Don’t ask me why the buildings here are laid out in such a manner; I had my own share of confusion already with 0th floors in France.

So, I found it amusing to see Chinese characters on the chalkboard, and funnier still is that some of the characters were written incorrectly. Let’s take a look at the two lines of orange writing. It says “I have a cat; I dislike cats” in bizarre grammar, and the character for “cat”, among some others, was wrongly written in both cases. I was told that this was a French colleague attempting to learn Chinese from a Chinese colleague. Chouette!

These little fellas here are known as the “poisson d’avril”, literally “fish of April”. Google that and you’ll find out that it’s the French term for April Fools’ Day. According to the colleague who drew this, people draw pictures of fish on a piece of paper and stick it on an unsuspecting person’s back as he or she walks around obliviously, kind of like the “kick me” notes. I dunno, would you rather have a prank played on you or walk around with a fish on your back all day?

Every time I see this screen I find it exceptionally funny. This is a computer program used during X-ray reflectivity analysis, and I’m not sure if it’s only designed for the Mac, but all we had was a very old Mac. At the end of every run, the measurement dialog would show the “KillWindows” button, which really means to close the window. But hey, if you didn’t tell me, I would have thought that Apple had something against Microsoft…just sayin’.

Stepping away from the lab, here is the lake of Louvain-la-Neuve, whose pictures I’ve posted awhile back when I first arrived. The first time I walked around the lake in early March, winter was still lingering and it was quite cold, as I could still see ice on the surface of the water. In May, however, the weather warmed up significantly and it was actually quite nice to take a stroll around the lake, watching these gorgeous swans going on a spring date.

And really, the place isn’t all that bad, after all. The lake is a calm place to go for relaxation after dinner, and walking once around the lake only takes approximately 20 minutes. One thing I really appreciated towards the end of my stay in Belgium was that at 10:30pm, the sky still doesn’t get completely dark. The sun begins setting at around 9pm or so, but night doesn’t truly fall until say, 11pm. This gave me the false impression that it was still early when in fact I should have been getting ready for bed.

This is OUR Grand Place, the hub of student life. I pass by this place every day to and from work and unless it is exam season (i.e. now), the place is packed with students during their off hours.

Voilà my office with the colleagues with whom I share it, minus two of them. The atmosphere in our office was very amiable, and we are composed of a rather diverse group of nationalities: Ethopian, Indian, Belgian (not really, but one that considers himself as a Belgian), French, and of course, Canadian. Very pleasant (and silly) bunch of people!

Two French colleagues and I at a super awesome pizza place as one of my unofficial “farewell dinners”. I didn’t feel the need to have farewell parties for myself, especially since there will be many if I were to come back and leave all over again, but these colleagues were very sweet and insisted having one for me. And I said “one of”, because on the day before I left, another unexpected one took place of which I need to acquire the photos. Anyhow, do not underestimate the power of the spicy oil! It does add an excellent touch to the pizza, but like the hot sauce you get at Vietnamese pho places, a little bit is already more spicy than you’d imagine! Then again, perhaps my tolerance for spicy food isn’t as high as many of you out there, so if you ever feel like adding spicy oil to your pizza, feel free to apply generously…=)

Louvain-la-Neuve. The first quest is over, with more to come. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I’ll be back for sure.

Louvain-la-Neuve reminds me very much of Waterloo. Or shall I say, the University of Waterloo. The entire place gave me the feeling of a gigantic campus, and I suppose technically that’s what it really is. To give you Waterlooians (I refuse to use the term Waterloosers) an idea of this little place, the distance from home to work is approximately the same as the distance from MKV to DWE. The only difference is that everything you need is en route – restaurants, a shopping mall, grocery stores, cinemas…you get the idea. There are no cars or buses or vehicles within the campus/city – it is literally made for walking.

And I like that, except the part where I have to carry my laptop in my backpack to and from work, but that’s only about half an hour of the entire day combined. One thing I expected even before coming here is the cost of living. I’ve heard that Belgium is on the high end even in Europe, and to be in a place where 99% of the population is university students who are stuck within a one kilometre radius, it makes sense that prices are jacked up. That means I have to make wise choices in terms of spending…thank God for research stipends.

In Belgium, there are a couple of interesting things I noted that are a little different from France:

(1) The numbers – I’ve been warned of this before, so it wasn’t particularly shocking. It became apparent when I was ordering food for the first time. In France, 70 in French is “soixante-dix” (literally “sixty-ten”) and 90 is “quatre-vingt-dix” (literally “four-twenty-ten”…four times twenty plus ten, such rationality). In Belgium, however, 70 is “septante” and 90 is “nonante”, but 80 is still “quatre-vingts”. Well I just gotta say…THAT MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE! Now, why didn’t they just make 80 “huitante” as well?

(2) Les bises – In other words, kisses on the cheeks. In France, generally it’s one on the right cheek and one on the left cheek for acquaintances. I was told by a colleague here, after trying the right-left bise, that it’s just one on the right cheek and that’s it. Alright, I said to myself, time to adjust to the local customs. However, I’ve gotten the right-left bise several times and even one that was right-left-right…so, I am confused. Someone explain!?

(3) Lots of English – That’s right, people generally speak English here. Unlike Bordeaux, Louvain-la-Neuve is the host to lots and lots and lots of international students, so it is more or less an expectation for people in the lab to speak English, and it is no surprise that an entire office-full of people converse daily in English. This felt a little strange for me, ironically, because I had gotten used to speaking French in the office and it just doesn’t feel so right anymore when I switched back to English. So now, I speak to my supervisor in French (he asked me to choose between English and French, and I chose French for the sake of practice) and the colleagues in my office in English…or French, or Frenglish, or whatever comes out of my mouth. You get the point.

Out of extreme boredom this weekend – and that is not an understatement – I went out to take some pictures, as I do in any new city. Here is a more pictorial introduction to the city, and if you’re still interested in why I have been so bored, please continue to read on after the pictures.

Train station of Louvain-la-Neuve. This is the terminus, which means I HAVE to take the train if I want to go ANYWHERE outside of this city – unless I have a car, which I don’t. The great thing, though, is that the train station is right in the centre of the city, and walking from either my house or my workplace takes literally less than 10 minutes. This shall be very convenient for future out-of-town explorations.

This is the neighbourhood in which I live, right outside of the main campus, and it looks like a typical drive or boulevard in Canada, doesn’t it? Nice quiet place with some rather impressive houses. I live in one unit in a three-room house owned by a man who was one of the first residents of the city about 30 years ago.

Houses across the street, as seen from my window. The housing style is really different from what I’ve seen in Bordeaux.

This is the Grand-Place of Louvain-la-Neuve, and I suspect it is nothing compared to the REAL Grand-Place in Brussels. I actually don’t know what the building in the picture is, but to its left is movie theatre. This place is packed with students during lunch time, but it’s somewhat deserted during the weekend…go figure.

Rue des Wallons, as seen on my way back home from work. To get to the train station, you enter the building on the right, take a set of stairs down to the platform, et voilà.

Another gathering place for students during lunch time. I think this is in the vicinity of the science quad.

This is one of the science buildings (I think), to the right of the previous picture. I really gotta figure out what these places are instead of guessing based on the names of the buildings. It seems like I’m still just stuck in my little corner of the campus in one building…coming up in two pictures.

Here I was standing right in front of the building in which I work, staring down at the pathway I take to get to work. Nothing terribly surprising there.

And there’s the Boltzmann building which houses my lab. Actually, the cleanroom is in another building named Maxwell, and I will probably have to run back and forth between the two buildings eventually to get stuff done. I don’t remember what Boltzmann did, but he does have a number named after him. What is the value and what does it signify again? I can’t recall for the life of me.

So there you have it, wonderful life in Louvain-la-Neuve. As mentioned earlier, the weekend in Louvain-la-Neuve was extremely quiet as students head home or out of town, just like those Waterloo weekends. I don’t exactly know where they go, but I see lots of people with luggage headed for the train station Friday afternoon, so I could only assume they were going to Brussels or somewhere close.

As for me, I took a stroll around town on Saturday and discovered that all there is to see here can be seen within one hour, which explains why people go away during the weekends.

On Sunday, I attended the local church. It was quite an interesting experience for me. There were approximately 50 or so attendees, and except for me and another couple, EVERYONE there was of African origin. The pastor was from Congo – some luck I have with Congo, huh? Having met the pastor already on Saturday, I ventured to the church without knowing what to expect, and what a surprise. At first I felt a little intimidated and out of place because of the difference in race, but I kept telling myself that there shouldn’t be any boundaries between skin colours in faith, and with that thought in mind, I stayed for the entire service.

And I’m glad I did. I got to experience a worship that I had never seen before, those lively, energetic, joyful bodies filling the air with praise through their songs and dance. There were drums and tambourines and songs sung in Congolese, and the choir even sang me a welcome song. I felt slightly embarrassed at first, but seeing their sincere smiles and feeling their earnest welcomes, all I could do was to give thanks for the courage from God to stay. After all, there’s a first time for everything, right? Why can’t I be the first Chinese girl in their church?

Alrighty, time to head to bed and prepare for a new week of work and learning. Being a newcomer is always a bit tough, but I’ll get through it! Meanwhile, if you’re free, tell me a joke or something, because chances are, I am bored. Ciao!

So now, I am in Belgium, Louvain-la-Neuve, to be precise. That was fast, huh? After approximately 6 hours of travelling, I entered the mysterious land of the Belgians. The course of the journey was as follows: Bordeaux to Lyon by plane, Lyon to Brussels by plane, Brussels to Louvain-la-Neuve by train with one transfer. Lots of moving around, so I am sufficiently exhausted. I arrived at 19:30, so it was already dark and I hadn’t had the chance to explore yet. That will have to wait till tomorrow morning.

Well, first impression? Of Belgium in general (which only consists of Brussels and Louvain-la-Neuve at the moment), it’s more “modern” than Bordeaux. The reason I put the word in quotations is because it may very well be a false impression, either because I haven’t seen enough of Belgium yet, or modern Bordeaux eludes me.

The Brussels airport was pretty huge and I liked it. One thing I noticed was that while people in France dress as if they’re all in a fashion show, the people in Belgium – at least the ones at the airport – tend to dress on the professional side. I felt that I was in the midst of a gigantic conference where everyone was in suits or something formal. It makes sense, because Brussels is a location with quite big of an international influence, being the headquarters of EU and all, and I liked that.

One new thing I have to get used to is everything being in Dutch as well as French. In fact, announcements come in Dutch first, then French. I even got redirected to Dutch Google. Great. Still, I’m glad I’m in the French region of Belgium. I’m not sure if I’m ready to tackle a new language.

As for Louvain-la-Neuve, boy, is it lively! The students are quite the enthusiastic bunch and even if the place is small, it doesn’t seem like it lacks activity, being a student town. Exploring this place will be fun, and I’ll have to find all the nice places to eat and shop, though everything is so close together that I can probably see the whole city in an hour.

In terms of accommodation, I’m living “chez habitant”, which is something close to a host family. My room consists of an upper level with a bed and a desk, and a lower level with a dining table and a small kitchen. Very nice and well-equipped – I’m impressed! The best part is not having to pay for it…score Seems like this is gonna be a joyful little hut for the next few months. Let’s see what we have.

Top-down view of the “living room”. Where I’m standing, the desk is to my right, the bed is behind me, and the stairs are to my left. My luggage is a mess now so I’ll have to unpack, unless I want to rummage through my luggage every day for the next while.

Small kitchen and dining area. On the table is a map of Louvain-la-Neuve, which will be my best friend for at least a few days.

This is my favourite part of the room! So much kitchen stuff!! I’m quite thankful that the room comes with all of this so I don’t have to worry about cooking utensils, but it’s so much more than I had hoped for too! I was going to be greedy and say “if only I have all of this in Bordeaux”, but I realize what I have is already better than anything I could have expected, so no complaints

I’m not sure why there are so many towels, but I like.

I’d like to think that I’ll have time to curl up and read, because it seems like it’ll be the most comfortable way to spend a lazy evening. However, let’s just see how the workload goes…

This is the first time I’ve seen something like this – stove tops on top of an oven. Yes, it’s an oven, not a microwave, which came as a surprise for me. I’ll have to figure out how and what I’m going to cook, and that really depends on what I can get at the groceries. If I’m lucky enough to find someone like Andy here, then maybe these won’t be of any concern

Desk upstairs. This place is going to get cluttered…very cluttered, very soon.

And finally, the bed. Back in a bigger bed for awhile…nice. Looking forward to some sweet dreams tonight.

And here you have it – first entry in Belgium, sooner than I had expected. It seems like this city/community/whatever you call it has much more than what I had in mind, and I’ll keep you posted on the latest findings in this new land!