Belgium

Belgium. BE. België. Belgique. So what would you do when you, after flying through fat layers of endless grey mist and coldness, arrive in a petite country that is only well known for its beer, chocolate and... that's it? I had no clue what was going to happen. I did not think any second there would be my best friends at the airport, but Dokus and Peter were - and so I had my first real Stella in more than a year - and believe me, that tasted deliciously good.

I felt like a tourist, the first weeks. Even the train ride home was surrealistic to me and I analysed all the details like I did before in all those countries. I could understand everything those people were talking/complaining about, can you imagine? Of course you can, but for me, it was special, kind of magic. And when I arrived at the train station to take the final bus home, I realized I made this one error, again, like 14 months on the exact same spot a year ago: I forgot to bring some euros to the station, and they do not have any ATM there. So I hitch-hiked home, haha, I thought it was funny and it were the very last official seconds in transport during this trip. 

My parents warmly welcomed me with Belgian flags, champagne and my favourite food and I immediately felt home. But you know me, the world is not enough, so a couple of days later I left for Paris to visit Lewis, the little big guy who will call me godfather. A few days later I returned to Brussels. Home. Finally. No more buses, trains or airplanes for a while. This cocktail of feelings became even more stirred when I had to make the decision about the very near future. Where to work? Where to live?  Believe me, the choices were difficult. I knew I had to be careful. I had to stay busy, move myself around. Avoid falling in this hole of grey sadness and melancholy, keep the thoughts and emotions alive to avoid this kind of cold turkey. And so I did.

Beautiful Brussels

And then Brussels talked to me. I walked around the city, with my camera, and listened. I opened all my senses for the city and I fell in love again. The noise and the quietness, the beautiful bars and the mix of cultures pulled me back like a magnet. In less than a few lazy days I found myself this crazy big house and I signed to go back to my previous job. The coming days I'll be 'busy' with editing pictures, chilling out in the living room and think about this all again. 

It's been... awesomelicious, I still did not absorb everything, and I realize how wonderful this whole thing was. I wrote a poem about it, it's in Dutch. But you'll understand.

  dM3