What about getting up on 6.20 AM, step outside the house at 6.45, get on the bus at 6.55.

Then arrive in Antwerp at 7.25 AM. Walk to the central train station. Get on te train at 7.51. Arrive in Brussels at 8.36. Walk to work. Step in at 8.50.



And I also have to go get back at the end of the day. So I spend about 4 fucking hours a day just GETTING to work. And my day is just from 9 to 4 with a one-hour lunch break. So 6 hours of work a day. And 4 hours to get there. It sucks gorilla balls.

you need to get a friggin' car, dude. The longest it's ever taken me to get to work (regularly) is 45 minutes, and I was driving halfway across the D/FW metroplex during rush hour.

Hehehe...well, rush hour between Antwerp and Brussels is mostly moving at 20mph, so it doesn't win you much time, alas. And it's more expensive in the long run.

The difference is that you don't have to lose time by getting from the bus to the train etc, of course. And you're more relaxed in your car, not in a packed bus/train.

That yours is just fine, Ox. Check this out: Getting up on 6.00AM, preparing and eating something in the dark (to not wake up noone present and sleeping in the same room with you). Leaving in 7.00. Taking a long walk to the bus station. Catching a full bus in 7.30 and taking a trip to one mountain. In 8.30 you are on the border of civilization, and truth saying you would sleep but it is most likely that someone would pickpocket you that way. On 9.00 you'll be climbing on mountain. Well, let me clarify it - you HAVE to climb in order to get one signature from a leader of that small expedition. If you do not have enough such signatures on the end of semester, you won't be permitted to take any exam.

But, good, in 11.00 you are done with that and free to go.

But ouch. You must take one taxi because your classes start in 11.30 and there is no other way to pass 5km of bad way for an half of hour. Of course you have to be late and apologize for that.

So... that class last to 13.00. Then you have 45 min pause. Trust me, you do not have what to do with them. No food to purchase and no place to sit. Just one big groove boredom. Next class: 13.45 - 15.15. Then one half hour pause. Again the same boredom. Next class: 15.45 - 17.15. Then you can go home and cook something to eat. Of course you must do homeworks till almost 24.00, or you won't be able to finish them on time. If you do not finish them on time, you won't get the needed signatures. Without them you won't have right to take any exam too.

So funny fucking is it.

rofl...god, makes my life seem simple in comparison.

That are used to be my mondays two months ago. ... It feels so good that I am done with it.

Ok, Gfree wins That sucks a good bit harder than my day. Because once I get to work, I pretty much bum around all day. Today, I wasn't given any work -at all. No one at the office even called me or mailed me to ask something...so since I've got my own office, I could have just stayed home and no one would have even noticed I didn't show up. That's federal bureaucracy for you!

So basically I spent all day surfing the web, writing mails, posting on forums...all fun, but after a while that gets old too. I even wrote a mail asking the guy for some work, but no reply. I guess he wasn't in the office today.

Anyway, it's a weird place. It's hard to grasp for me sometimes that it comes down to is that 40 or so ppl who are all working to 'support' one person (minister of home affairs in this case). The majority of texts, columns or speeches he does are written by someone else -that would be what I do- and for every meeting, interview, debate in parliament or press conference he gets debriefed on the matter at hand by specialized sub-cells within the cabinet.

Meh...we'll see how it works out. No one can blame me for not doing anything, in any case. I even freaking asked for work...that's not something I tend to do (as in, NEVER).

Ox turned into a contributing member of society .. ?? That's a big shock

What happened to the bum we all knew and loved?

I was loved?

As for being a bum...man, I feel so out of place at my internship. I'm wearing shirts (!), getting up early (!!), parading up and down the Wetstraat (!!!) and working for The Man (!!!!). It's kinda funny when you think of it...I mean, that it's ME doing those things, not the posh losahs of my class.

The Wetstraat is insane. It's go all the minister's offices, Belgian parliament, and a lot of the European office buildings