DIScourse - Countdown Begins

I've been in Antwerp for about 11 weeks now and I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I only have 9 more days left in Europe and a few of those will be spent visiting some friends in Bristol, which I'm really excited about but I'm really not ready to go back to the States and I'm not ready to face the possibility of not being able to come back to Belgium to live and work. However, I am ready to see friends and family. I'm also ready for a burrito, dancing and riding my bike.

This weekend I was planning on going to Bruges (or Brugge in Flemish) but the weather wasn't cooperating and I was informed at work on Friday that I could take a few days off during my last week at work. So, I think I'm going to try and go to Bruges on Thursday instead.

Friday at work I was was also told that there will be some discussions at the end of August (when the owner of the company will be back from vacation) about my future with the company. This could include everything from getting an offer to come back to Antwerp and work full time at the company, to a freelance position or possibly a thank you and good luck. So, it's still very much up in the air. The main issue seems to be that my lack of knowing Flemish makes me an outsider and possibly makes it uncomfortable for my coworkers. Of course everyone can speak English here, but normal office conversation is in Flemish so I miss out on most small talk/gossip/etc. I've also been told that even if I spoke Flemish my accent would be strong enough that people would prefer to speak English to me, it would give me a better understanding of the day to day life here though. If I am offered a position I am planning on enrolling in a Flemish course.

On Friday we also received the new buffalo horn glasses in the office, which I saw in April when I was in New York, and which I wanted since I saw them. We received 4 styles in 6 colors per style and I helped to check them in (making sure they were made correctly and not warped). So, I found the style that I liked the best and narrowed it down to two colors and was going to ask the owner on Monday if I could get a pair at cost (normally employees get two free pair a year). However, since I found out the owner was leaving for Spain after work I had to ask him directly. To my surprise, he offered to let me have a pair for free, and I said I'd get the lenses done at his shop in town. This morning when I got into work I decided on the color and then went through the frames and made my final selection. Since horn is a natural material the color and grain varies from frame to frame, sometimes drastically. I'm going to go to the opticians during my lunch break, but here are the frames I picked out:

Saturday was the first day of the fall collection at the Ann Demeulemeester shop in town and a day that I had been looking forward to since I found it would occur during my stay in Antwerp. The collection is fantastic and as always has a lot of black in it but there are a lot of purples, earthy greens and pinks in the collection as the main print for the season is a photograph of dried hydrangeas from her garden. The store opens at 10:30, but I didn't want to be the first person there, since I've already spent too much time in the shop, so I decided to go at noon.

When I got to the shop I went upstairs to where the men's collection is, along with some of the women's. I started at one end of the rack and worked my way to the other (maybe 10 meters) and to my surprise and disappointment there were no coats, jackets, vests or cardigans in XXS or XS. There were some t-shirts, shirts and pants in XS but the selection was very limited. Of course not everything has arrived but what was in the store was the majority of what would be in. Very disappointing and one of the few times that I wished I was just a little taller and bigger. I would have a much bigger selection if I was a size S (38 US) and wore size 8-9 shoes instead of size 7. I did end up trying on some shirts and pants and then found out that there would be at least one XS suit jacket coming in later this week. I also found out that they sold two XS jackets before I got to the store (damn!), I didn't ask which ones since that would probably be torturous. In the end I did find some nice things to add to my waredrobe and now I'm just waiting to try on the jacket when it comes in, hopefully it will fit.

Sunday it was raining off and on all day and I was felling a little down and unmotivated. I was going to get a drink with a coworker but it fell through. Around 8pm I decided to go for a walk, since it's my last weekend in the city. I ended up walking around for a little over an hour before heading back to the apartment.

Now it's Monday and I only have a few things to do at work this week. I'm looking forward to having a couple days off and looking forward to going to England again (I hope the weather will be better there). I really can't believe I have to leave in just a few days. It feels like I've only been here a month.