25/6/ Zumba and Pauls

So last Thursday I finally took my first Zumba lesson in Belgium. Taken over a year but I finally did it yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
I did enjoy it. However it was hard after not really doing it in so long and a figured that these people were more advanced than when i started or it sure felt like it. I thought the teacher was nice and she showed the moves before each dance and then put them together as the music went on. However I am not sure I will be attending another Zumba lesson. The problem is that they only seem to have Zumba lessons in Gyms and therefore you have to pay for a gym membership and they are sooo pricey. I wish they did them in community centres etc and you just payed a few euro's each session.

Well this weekend I went to visit Alice and after a hour of driving around in circles I finally arrived with some tasty treats from Pauls bakery.

So the white things with the red balls on top that now look like boobies to me lol. These were white chocate moose's with a jam filling. So good but maybe a little sickly. The other things are a koffekoeken. Basically a coffee pastry called a mirror. (Apparently). I got these because we have a soft stop for the puddingy stuff in the middle. Basically its cold custard lol. Although I have to say I think the choco moose was my fave lol. I must say I love this bakers and will likely try and work my way through the menu in the coming months.

Another thing I did this weekend is try a second Sushi place in Gent called Tyoko Sushi. I didn't take no pictures sadly. So really I have very little to say about it it was a pretty good price cost us 20 euros each and we will def be back there. (Then I can remember to take pictures lol hopefully )

Over A Year In Belgium

Yep that right I have officially made it over a year here. Other fab news is that me and Kevin are Getting our own apartment. So a figured as we are more than a year in should up date with a long post and hopefully now that I am out and about more around Gent I can post more often.

Needless to say this year I have not done as much exploring as I might of hoped. Indeed overall I could be considered boring.

Restaurants.

I have tried out a few Restaurants and will talk about them all in turn.

1. Fondue husje in Gent (I think that spelling is correct. Also not to be confuse with fondue huis near vrijdag market). This was a pretty good place and for 2 of us with soft drinks and desert cost us around 70 euro s. We got plenty of salad and fries and a plate of meat to dip in the fondue. Meat was really yummy and came with different sauces. However desert I found was a let down. They was fruit and as chocolate fondue however it was dark chocolate and very bitter.

2. Pampas. In Gent. This is by far my favourite place to stuff my face currently. Basically the idea is you pay around 30euros excluding drinks and dessert and you start with some garlic bread and tapas and then its all you can eat salad fries (or jacket potatoe) and then fresh BBQed meat and fish. So far I have been here twice once for my birthday and once with Kevin and some friends. Needless to say I have been so stuffed I have never got to try to a desert.
Anyway to the right is a pic from pampas. The man is cutting off peices of pineapple. The severs are coming around all the time to slice you off pieces of the different foods on the menu  from pork lamb beef sausage pineapple prawns white fish and so on. All this yummy marinades on.  I must admit its some of the best lamb I have ever had. If my little sister comes to visit I will def be taking her here.

3. Ocean Sushi in Gent  Ok so I have always wanted to try good sushi. I am not a huge fan of seafood but sushi is one of those things sometimes I've eaten it and kinda liked it but everyone said it was because it was cheap and low quality. So in feb me and Kevin tried this place in celebration of 2 years together. I must admit I am now a fan of Sushi, On the Right is my meal. As I was unsure I would like the saw seafood I took a veggie option and the rolls were filled with cue cumber and avocado and the other pieces had egg omletts on and avocado. It doesn't look like much but was very filling.
Anyway the photo below is Kevin with his sushi choices and yes I also stole a taste of some of his rolls with the tuna and salmon in which were pretty tasty.

Kevin said that he enjoyed the cones the best but he liked all of it. The fish was really fresh and good quality to.  Sadly I don't remember how much it cost but they do have full menus on-line as well as having a place in Antwerp.

4. Peking Garden  in Halle. I have tried a few takeaways for Chinese food in Belgium however I like this the best. I have found that Chinese food on a whole here doesn't have much of sticky sauces like we do in UK and that I miss. However this place do the best Lumpias or spring rolls. The place is reasonably prices costing around 50 euros for 2 starts mains with rice and a bottle of water. Also the surroundings are lovely and the staff very pleasant and friendly.

Well that's it basically on the food front apart from that I have done little else expect from trips to Starbucks, bars and the pictures. Lately however I have met a few people at ex pat meets and a new friend named Alice. We get on really well and have spent a lot of time around het spiker and the Irsh bars in Gent. These seem to my new watering holes. Anyway love to all and until next time and hopefully that wont be to long. 

Ok so yet again I have manged to Neglect this a bit however I have been pretty busy so I am sure I can be forgiven.

Firstly I have no moved from Saint Geneious Rode to Gent. I have been here since 1st of June and I must say I like it a lot more then Saint Geneious Rode. Currently were I am is a place called Nazareth. Mostly it is a very quiet area however there is plently of things near by around no more than a 20 minuate drive and I can also get to most areas by bike to. The house I am in its also very cool. I have my own room and bathroom. I also get on with the family really well . Also the children can understand me a lot better with them being older despite there limited English and my limited Dutch skills. However hopefully I will be taking a course and I have 3 weeks to brush up my skills whilest they are on holiday. A few days ago me and Kevin took a trip to Denze park. We looked at the animals and had a nice picknick

The picture in the top corner is Kevin and a owl and the one above is me and a horse

Me feeding a goat

Pretty Peacock

Cutie baby goat

Also I graduated from University. It was so werid I walked up on the stage for my paper and I couldnt hear any cheering it was like I was in my own little bubble. Also one of my best friends got me a limo there to make my day all that bit more amazing. Some photos below.

In the Limo

The get up lol

Cocktails afterwards

After a week in England traveled back to Belguim the boat ride on the way back was way nicer then the one the way there. The room was much more ventalted and the sea nice and cailm. Crazy boat photos some from before and after

This is indeed the biggest tube of malteezers ever

Once I got back I spent a fez days with the family before visting a friend in the Netherlands. We hung out and then went to eat and went to a nice park. Also took pictures.

Hanging out in the park tis all pretty

Playing game of life I totaly won lol game masterrrrrr

In the rest yummie bread with garlic butter and some Belguim Mayo that is indeed very thick

The fallowing Monday I went to catch the last day of the Gentse Feesten. Sadly not a lot was happening just a few stalls and I had some really lush fries and I had a nice walk around some of the streets here in Gent.

Fries I am starting to get obessed witht this lol

Kevin at the bridge lush view with yes fries lol

Couple of pictures taken from another small bridge. It had some really obsure at work on the walls but those pictures didnt turn out so maybe next time

Well thats all for now tomorrow is a big day of frists for me so looking forwood to it.

Super Cool Thunder Storm

So its now 23.20 and I have just experinced one of the coolest thunder storms I have in a long time and despite my camra being kinda shitty I got a few cool shots and figured I would share them

The rain comming down from the window

Shot of the bolts

The whole sky lit up it looks like day time

Final Few Days Untill I Move On.

So I am down to my final few days of being in Sint-Genesius-Rode and then I move on to Gent. Well just outside of Gent.

I am very excited to be moving but overall it has been a interesting month. Lots of things to get used to. Also I cant wait to start learning dutch properly. I think its harder to even pick it up here due to the mixture of both French and Dutch (Flemmish) and I get often confused.

I took a picture from outside of my window so you guys can see the lush weather. Around mid day my car said it was 38 dagrees eeek.

Thats the house from one of my windows and then you can see my tiny spot of a car to lol. On that note Car insurance in Belgium is one big fat joke. Almost 900 euros for 3rd party. That is if I crash thats there car covered. Not even fire and theft. Its crazy. I don't get how everything is so expensive in this country (well apart from alcohol) That seems to a be a bit cheaper lol. (The phrase being raped with my cloths on come to mind sometimes).

Also I have quite gotten into the spirit of bike riding over here. However I keep getting a sore bum lol. I think i need to get used to being on a bike more. I am also very excited about the possibility of getting a visit from my friend in September I shall have to start scouting for things for us to do here. I know she already wants to go for waffles and ice cream. So frist thing on the list is finding a good waffle house lol.

Night out in Brussels

So Friday night I decided to suck it up and get myself out to Brussels. I was invited out by some people from a expat blog and I am glad I did. I did have a lot of fun. It was nice to talk to people and make friends as well as have some understanding of the types of things I am going through. Example going to a store to buy a phone job up and such a huge thing now and were to find particular things.

So we all meet in a bar. I didn't drink anything apart from one Kirk (Cherry Beer or Larger) and then just diet coke. I drove down you see as I was worried about finding the place etc but I manged easily enough. I think overall I made a pretty good impression but we well see over the coming weeks if any real friendships form although I hope they do. I would make things here so much more enjoyable when I start to gain my own life and Independence.

Long Overdue Update Eeek

Ok so firstly I must apologise. It has been so long since I posted on here but things just got to much with uni and moving. Well uni is over yayyyyy and now just getting ready for my graduation.

I moved over to Belgium on the 26th of May. I took the ferry from Hull England to Zeebrugge in Belgium. I went with P and O Ferries and I was pretty impressed. It was perhaps a little more than flying. However I have paid between 100 to 400 for a plane ticket. Also the ferry works out cheaper if there is more than one person travelling. This is due to the fact you pay for a room and a car not per person. However I needed my car and it was much easier to move more stuff with the help of my car. Below are a few photos of the ferry.

View of the ferry from my car waiting for board

Bunk Beds in my cabin

Cute little bathroom


So that was the ferry trip here now for the rest of my time in Belgium. I spent a couple of days with Kevin just hanging out. The weather has been rather nice this last 3 weeks or so. I then went to move in with the family on the 29th. And the fallowing Wednesday I spent 4 days with them at the coast. However both me and the mother of the family have decided I will not be staying on after the month. It has been very up and down and a huge challenge in terms of Language barrier. The youngest especially finds it very frustrating and in aspects of behaviour and discipline and then not really understanding me much it is just unfair on both sides. However I have had some lovely time with the family and would like to keep in touch with them see how they are getting on etc.

So given last weekend the 11th up until the 14th I have been chatting with potential families. I cancelled one interview as the deailtes had changed some and I felt slightly pressured to sign with them right away. I met a family in Nazareth near Gent who have 2 older children 10 and 12 with limited English but who are actively learning it at the same time. The oldest a boy also had done some English previously. The second was a woman with a small girl and then twin babies who wanted extra help and support when she moves and the 3rd was a disabled woman in a wheel chair needing help with her son. I however have decided to go ahead with the family from Gent. This was perhaps my least favourite at the start as I was worried about the language and needing my car. However when meeting the family I felt every comfortable with the parents and was pretty impressed of how well the children could understand me. So I start there the 1st. I will be registered and start taking a language course. I think I want to take a pretty intensive one so I can learn as much as possible or maybe do a a normal one a few times a week with the Rosetta stone. I am not sure what will work best. As I need to get a good grasp of the language due to I am looking into taking a childcare course next year.

Well today has been a nice quiet day. I got up at 7 with the children did breakfast and then read a little and then went out with Kevin. There are some photos of that below. I had a yummie lasagne with quite a lot of herbs in it perhaps making it a little perfumey (That being about the only bad thing I can say about it)and Kevin just had a huge sandwich and some yummie cherry flavoured beer which I love.

Kevin and his cherry beer yummmm well cherry larger really

Kevin and his big ass sandwich and less cherry beer lol

And finally me and my food and I love how that glass has ended up in every photo lol

Well that’s basically it for now still not a lot of people read this but thank you to those of you that do. I am perhaps going to Brussels to meet up with some expats tomorrow. However Fridays are a bit of a odd day for me work wise and the family are not going to the coast this weekend to it is still a but questionable if I will make it and also how to get there but we shall see tomorrow. I promise to try and post moreeeeee