DIScourse - Antwerp

Today is my last day in Antwerp.  I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!

I spent Thursday in Bruges and on Friday evening I went to Bristol, England to visit friends for the weekend.  I'll write more about this when I return to the US.

Yesterday I returned to Belgium at 10:00 only to run into a baggage handlers strike at the airport.  I ended up not leaving the airport until 17:00!  After six hours I finally filed out the lost luggage forms and was going to leave but it was 16:10 and the bus to Antwerp leaves on the hour.  So, I sat down and after about ten minutes the words "THE HOUSE OF DIS" caught my eye.  I couldn't believe it.  My luggage had finally made it out of the basement.  It was supposed to arrive on Belt 2 but ended up coming out on Belt 7 so it was pure luck/fate that I happened to sit down across from Belt 7 (in a completely different part of the terminal).  

Today I'm at the office for part of the day to mail out a box to clothes to the US, check my mail, say my good byes and clean out my desk.  I'm still not sure what my future is going to be at Theo but I am hoping that I can at least continue to do some freelance work with them.

Tomorrow I have to catch a train from Antwerp to Schiphol in Amsterdam at 07:00 for my 10:30 flight back to Portland.  I'm glad that it's a direct flight because I'm not looking forward to hauling my luggage around.

New Glasses

I just picked up my new glasses.  I love them.  I'm not used to wearing such thick frames though, so it will take some getting used to.

PS  Ignore my hair.  I woke up late today and didn't have time to do anything with it.

Daily DIScription

I just realized that in exactly a week I'll be on a plane heading back to Portland. I'm so not ready to face that future. I am looking forward to seeing some people but I really need a little more time in Antwerp, say 2-3 years.

Today is also my last full day at work. Tomorrow I will go to Bruges to visit the main designer behind Theo, Patrick Hoet. I'm also going to check out the fine art museum to see a Hieronymus Bosch painting (I've never seen one in person). I normally am not too interested in historical paintings but in this case I'll make an exception. I also found out that there are some Bosch paintings in Antwerp, so I'm going to see if I can fit them into my schedule.

Yesterday I got paid and made my first purchase for Fall/Winter 08-09. I bought a beautiful black pleated shirt with a collar that disappears into the neckline (hard to describe), a silk scarf with a floral print that was sort of the signature print of the season and a purple long sleeve thin cotton shirt with the word Heaven printed in black on the front.

Today I got a call saying my glasses are finished and ready to be picked up. I'm really excited! I've wanted these since April and I've been looking for a thicker pair of glasses for awhile. Too bad I could get two pair and turn one pair into sunglasses.

Friday I head to Bristol, England to visit some friends. I may not post anything else until I get back to Portland. It all depends on my internet access in the coming week.

06 Augustus 2008

05 Augustus 2008

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.

Daily DIScription

04 Augustus 2008




























03 Augustus 2008




























02 Augustus 2008

Daily DIScription

01 Augustus 2008

31 Juli 2008 (Missing)

30 Juli 2008 (Missing)

29 Juli 2008

DIScourse - Antwerp

Antwerp, BVBA 32

Antwerp, Ogre Statue at the National Shipyard Museum

Brussels, View from the Wiel Museum

Brussels, The Original Maison Martin Margiela boutique

Antwerp, Kulminator sharing a Kasteel beer from 1989.

Here are some photos from the past weekend. The weather was finally looking like summer which was a real relief after all the grey skies and rain.

A longtime friend was visiting from Vienna so the weekend was more active than usual. Not long after I got off work my friend got in so I met him in front of the train station. We walked back to my apartment and then walked to a few shops before meeting up with a mutual artist friend (and a friend of his that I'd met before) for drinks at Berlin which is a little restaurant/bar that I'd been meaning to go to. After our friends left we walked to Kulminator to continue drinking in the sun. Since my friend and I met nearly 19 years ago in the fall of 1989 I decided we should try having a beer from that year. After scanning the extensive menu I found an '89 Kasteelbier that we decided to get not realizing it was 12% alcohol. It was a rich brownish auburn and almost like a liquor in taste. Very smooth and heavy. Since it was so warm out we ordered a couple other blonde beers to keep us refreshed while we sipped the Kasteel. Somehow we managed to walk home and make it up the stairs to my apartment.

Saturday I woke up not feeling so hot and saw a half eaten sandwich on the table next to my bed. I suppose I needed a snack when I got home the night before since I hadn't had dinner after work. After a somewhat slow start my friend and I made it out of the apartment and to a shop we had been to the day before so my friend could buy a hat that he had tried on (his first hat in years). We walked around town a bit and to a couple other stores then headed to the train station so we could check out Brussels.

In Brussels we went to a few shops that we had wanted to check out before they cleared out all the sale stuff (Saturday was the last day of sales at most shops). I was extremely lucky and found a pair of summer boots in my size that I had been wanting, along with a new button up shirt at Stijl. I actually found several shoes that I wanted to get but I'm really looking forward to the fall collection and need to save some money for its arrival in the store. We made our way to the Hoet optical store (Hoet is owned my the main designer of Theo) to look at the Hoet line of frames and so I could introduce myself. We then went to a cafe for an afternoon drink and stopped into a gallery to check out a small group show.

We then caught a cab to the Wiels museum where the Mike Kelley retrospective was that had been recommended to us. The museum is in an old brewery and is on the edge of Brussels. The show covered three floors and was a really great overview of his work complete with sculptures, paintings, videos, music, sketches, and photographs. When we were done at the museum it was getting close to 7:0o so we walked to the Brussels south train station and caught the next train back to Antwerp.

Back in Antwerp we dropped our things off at the apartment and then walked to the city hall neighborhood for some pizza and people watching. After pizza we walked around for quite awhile. We picked up some bicycles from my office and took them back to my apartment then sat on the balcony and had some beer while listening to music. Later in the evening we went for another walk before heading home.

On Sunday, after we got up we had coffee and got ready for the day (me in my new boots, my friend in his hat). It was super sunny and warm. After leaving the apartment we went to le Pain Quotidien (daily bread) for a light lunch. We then wandered around the city stopping for beer later in the day near the Demeulemeester boutique (which is closed until the 2nd). After having a drink we went to the MuHKA (the modern art museum) to see the group show that was going on Die Lucky Bush, which turned out to be a great show and also included some Mike Kelley pieces. It's funny that I've been in Antwerp for 2 1/2 months and for some reason never new about MuHKA.

After leaving the museum we headed back to my apartment for a brief rest before getting on our bikes and riding to the suburbs to see and take photos of Ann Demeulemeester's le Corbusier house. We rode around some more and then took the bikes back to the office before heading back to the apartment. I was going to cook Japanese curry that another friend had sent me but the gas was out on my cooktop, so we ended up just having a cold dinner which was fine since it was so warm out. We sat on the balcony and listened to music while eating, drinking and people watching.

We then decided to head back out on the town for some more people watching and a beer at one of the many outdoor cafe's. It was already past 10pm but there were crowds of people out eating and drinking still. We went to the Pelikan Bar and had a La Chouffe as we talked and watched people walk by. We kept seeing flashes of light every 10-15 minutes and assumed that it was coming from the outdoor concert that was happening nearby but as the flashes increased we realized a storm was coming. So around 11:30 we headed back to the apartment. About ten minutes after we got in the first rain drops fell. We sat at the balcony doors watching the lighting and rain until the wind picked up enough that we closed the doors. It was a huge electrical storm that also created some of the heaviest rains I've seen in Antwerp. It was still raining when I fell asleep.

Daily DIScription

28 Juli 2008

27 Juli 2008

26 Juli 2008

25 Juli 2008 (Missing)

24 Juli 2008 (Missing)

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23 Juli 2008

22 Juli 2008

21 Juli 2008

DIScourse

It's Sunday and I'm in Rotterdam since Monday is a National Holiday in Belgium and everything will be closed tomorrow. Unfortunately, I didn't really think about it and all the galleries and museums are closed in Rotterdam tomorrow.

Friday was a good day for me in Antwerp though. I mailed the current issue of Plazm magazine to Ann Demeulemeester's publicist in Paris and it looks like I may actually get to interview her for the forthcoming issue of Plazm. After going to the post office on my lunch break I rode my bike to the Demeulemeester boutique to see if there was anything left from the sales that I "needed" to get. Surprisingly there were still things left in size XS but I was a little disappointed that everything was still only 30% off. While I was there I was speaking to some of the staff and one person mentioned that they are looking for another sales person for the store and that he thought I would fit. While sales are not really my strong point, the employees at the shop also help with the runway shows, sales, etc in the company which seems really exciting to me. Anyway, immediately all these thoughts went swimming arounf in my head and I was trying to figure out a way that I could come back to Antwerp and work for Demeulmeester in case the job at Theo doens't work out. While I was in the store I also heard a John Parish song from his new album which made me really happy since I don't hear his music in public very often and I always like hearing music from friends.

When I got back to work after lunch I had an email from Vice magazine in my mailbox. I'm really not sure how they found me or why they wanted to contact me but it appears that they've seen my website and this blog. So, who knows if anything will come of it but it's nice that my website and blog are being viewed by people other than close friends and family.

Friday after work I went to STAN salon for a cut and color, my second since arriving in Antwerp and most likely the last time during this stay. I went for a shorted cut and got rid of the purple-ish red in favor of brown and black. As always it was a good experience and afterwards I was asked if I'd like to be a hair model for the salon. Of course I'd do it but I originally thought they'd just want me to come in and to be photographed but apparently they do a photo shoot or show twice a year and I might not be in Antwerp during the next shoot.

New Hair

After I was finished at the salon I called my American friend, whos sister was visting from Montana, and her husband came to pick me up for dinner at their home in Mortsel. So, we had a nice evening eating some of the seasons first mosselen (mussels), listening to music, drinking wine, having conversation and watching a great version of the "Ice Ice Baby" video.

Saturday was a pretty uneventful day. I slept in and when I woke up it was raining. I made and ate breakfast then watched some television and went grocery shopping. When I got home I fell asleep again. Later when I woke up it was still raining and I got dressed. By the time I was dressed it had cleared up and I decided to go back to the Demeulemeester shop. Half way there I got caught in a thunderstorm and downpour. I had my umbrella with me but still got soaked up to my knees. When I got to the shop the pair of pants I was thinking of getting had been sold. I tried on another pair of pants but decided that I should wait to see the fall collection before I bought anymore clothes. I also had brought in a jacket that I'd bought in Tokyo a year or so ago and had it marked for alterations. In the shop there was a blackened silver necklace/belt/bracelet from last fall that I'd been looking at that was still in the case and I decided I was something I "needed" especially since I couldn't get the necklace I saw in NY (which I still want). So, I got the accessory and went on my way home.

I ended up deciding not to do anything Saturday night since I didn't want to be tired for my trip to Rotterdam.

This morning I woke up really early and watched cartoons on television. It was my first time seeing the Smurfs (den Smurfen) on television in Belgium but it was some new version with a grandpa Smurf (he had yellow pants) and Gargamel had a boy assistant who I don't remember seeing. One thing that crossed my mind that had never crosses it before in my years of watching cartoons, is how do the Smurfs keep their shoes and pants so white even though they are walking on dirt and grass most of the time? If anyone knows the answer to this I'd like to know.

Rotterdam

I got to the train station about 1:00 and bought my tickets for Rotterdam but I has some time to kill to I had my first Belgian waffle from a cart and a cip of black coffee. The train to Rotterdam only takes an hour from Antwerp so I was at my hotel by 3:15. I put my things, plugged in my computer (€22.00 for 24 hours of internet) then went out to explore the city a little. Rotterdam seems much larger than Antwerp but it's a very new city having been bombed in the WWII. That said there is a lot of boring if not ugly architecture in the city. However, most of my favorite furniture/product design and architecture is coming from Rotterdam or the Netherlands in general, so things are getting better here. I noticed a lot more contemporary public in the city as well.

Rotterdam





















Since it's Sunday most shops are closed and the ones that were open today were closed by the time I got to them. I did manage to make it to a couple of small galleries and found a restaurant to have dinner at. After dinner, I walked around some more and ended up walking through a park before going back to the hotel.

Het Park





















So, now it's 11:00 and I'm watching The Gathering on television. Tomorrow I'm hoping to make it to some shops and if all goes well, to a couple studios of designers I like. In the evening I'm planning to meet a friend of a friend before I head back to Antwerp.

Daily DIScription

Okay, I've been forgetting to take photos on a daily basis, but since I already failed at taking a daily photo missing a few more days doesn't make a lot of difference.  If you have a problem with it take it up with the boss (me). 

20 Juli 2008

19 Juli 2008 (Missing)

18 Juli 2008

17 Juli 2008

16 Juli 2008 (Missing)

Daily DIScription

15 Juli 2008

10 Juli - 14 Juli (MISSING)

I spent Friday-Monday in Vienna and was too busy and forgetful to take photos each day. However, I had a great time, visiting friends, dj-ing @ FLUC and seeing Patti Smith in concert.  Here's a photo from Saturday on my way to see the PUNK and Derek Jarman exhibits in the MuseumsQuarter.

09 Juli 2008

Daily DIScription

08 Juli 2008

07 Juli 2008

06 Juli 2008

05 Juli 2008

04 Juli 2008 (evening)

04 Juli 2008

Daily DIScription

03 Juli 2008

02 Juli 2008

01 Juli 2008

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30 Juni 2008

29 Juni 2008

28 Juni 2008

27 Juni 2008

26 Juni 2008

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25 Juni 2008

24 Juni 2008

23 Juni 2008

22 Juni 2008 (photo missing)

Black leather sandals
Black cotton/linen striped short pants
Black cotton t-shirt with white cotton inset with black and red "Dada" print
Black titanium and plastic mirrored sunglasses

21 Juni 2008

20 Juni 2008

Daily DIScription

19 Juni 2008

18 Juni 2008

17 Juni 2008

16 Juni 2008