I started my first solo trip to another country.
My first day in Belgium. Reached Brussels, Belgium at 7:45 am. It took me around 45 minutes to clear the customs, get fresh and reach the train station downstairs. Most of the instructions/notice boards were written in non-English language. But thanks to my accidental finding of a podcast that had oral directions about getting to Leuven from airport, I had no difficulty in getting to the train station. Bought the ticket, but just missed the train that was at 8:39 am. Actually, I didn't know that the these trains take a halt at the station for at least 10 minutes! Otherwise, I would have gone to the platform to take my chance of boarding the train. But thinking that the train would have been gone by now, I didn't go the platform. And my laziness resulted in me waiting for the next train for another 40 minutes. The train arrived at 9:22, and left the station at 9:30, which seemed to me like forever. Saw a clock on the platform whose seconds-hand had a continuous motion, without acknowledging each little stops that our usual seconds-hand makes. And it reminded me of being a tourist. Otherwise, now in USA, I fail to even notice about such little things. Watching out of the window from train, I realized that I am heading towards a very small sort-of village. The houses seemed neat, but small compared to US and also more closely packed with respect to each other. There were green fields or farms and the place really seemed like a village.
Got out of the train station, asked somebody about where the taxis would be, and headed towards it. Got into taxi, which transported me to the hotel. I checked-in the hotel, came to the room, and first thing I did was to inquire for the internet access. I had tried on the airport to start my phone, but it refused. So had to let AJ and parents know that I reached safely. Then, even though I had to reach the workshop venue, looking at the bed, I couldn't resist sleeping (considering that I had a jet-lag of 6 hours.) Slept for an hour, got out, took shower, got ready in formals, and set out to the workshop.
Leuven seems like a little town, with so many people either biking or walking. And that makes it lively. Some roads are so narrow as if only a single car can go in either direction at a time. It's a little university town, with university buildings spread all over. A small hilly street from my hotel was not a paved road, but instead had just stones and rocks which reminded me of a street back home in front of my house.
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