blues

The academic year has started, and many parties are going on. So there is much reason to be happy. Instead, I've got the blues. I feel like nothing interests me anymore, the world is turning backwards. Everything we do, is useless, as it results in more unhappiness.
On the bright side; these moods only take a week or something.

The end of Slovakia

My internship here is almost finished. My boss is very happy with my work (allthough I personally think I didn't do anything worthwile). I had a really good time here, thanks to my international friends Kosta, Julio, Adrian and Hannes and my slovak friends Marek, Rasto and so many other friendly slovak people.
The thing I like the most here is the price and amount of beer you can get. Beer is served in half liters and in some places it only costs like 60 cent. Needless to say, I've tried quite a few Slovak brands.
Also the slovak girls are very nice, I'll tell you that. I've often wondered how the ugly slovak man all end up with such beautiful women.

Slovakia

...they are crazy here. Slovakian barbecue consists of four rounds of stronlgy alcoholic drinks and one piece of meat. And so on until you've had enough meat. In between you can drink beer (or kofola).
People doesn't like working here: they stop at 3 in the afternoon and most often earlier. Nothing seems to be a problem .

In Vienna

As I'm writing this message, I'm at the airport of vienna, waiting for my transit to kosice. A lot of time has passed, so, it's time I fill you lot in. As you possibly remember, I first went on a hiking tour through switzerland. The weather was really good, except for the last day when we saw lightening in the mountains (and walked right through it).
We had a really good group, all of us were able to walk the full distance and we had only one major injury. Switzerland is expensive though, so I spent a lot of money (mainly on food, as I became very hungry of walking such long distances.)

So now I'm waiting in vienna for my flight to Kosice, where I'll live for the next six weeks. I came here with austrian airlines from Brussels, and it must be said: I've never flown better. Friendly hostesses, good food, flight on time, no turbulence... hope the next one will be as good

back from france

My first voyage of this summer has come to an end. I went with my parents and four obnoxious sisters to Groffliers a sleepy village in Pas-de-Calais, of the northern regions of france.
the holiday began very good as i got the message from jeroen (thanks buddy) I passed the exams. We visited the old cities of Boonen and Kales (nowadays known as Boulogne and Calais) and went to the beach.
The best thing about the domain was the swimming pool with jacuzzi. Allthough I cannot swim, i went to the pool every day. We drank a lot of wine (he wasn't that good, but still better than nothing).
The french are a sleepy lot though, things that should open at some hour were closed until another hour passed.
Onanother note: tom Boonen won a stage in the tour de france today, houzee!

post exam stress (or no stress :))

exams are finished, I suffer from a severe case of sunburn, my legs are killing me and I'm drinking champagne, just like Freddy Maertens.
In the mean time, my version of NWN (neverwinter nights, the greatest game ever) is installed once again and searching for updates.
today, i went to katrien (i guess you'll be hearing a lot from her in the future), my thesis counsellor. She outlined the whole project, highlighted the important issues and burried me in information :) (She seems nice though). I'll be working a whole year at "slot waveguides for biosensing applications".
On a totally different note, in a week the tour de france starts. I fear the race'll be in the shadow of the drugs. New revelations are menacing some of the topplayers: Petacchi, Valverde, Vinokourov... on top of that, the csc team refuses to signe the charter from the UCI, thus excluding them from participating in the tour?
I just hope Boonen wins the stage in Ghent and gets the green jersey at paris. and of course also that the winner of the yellow jersey (I put my money on Schleck) don't get caught afterwards.

Livinusfeesten

In the village where I live (Sint-Lievens-Houtem), there is an old tradition of a big party every 50 years in honor of Saint-Livinus, an irish bishop who christened our region. This weekend, it's that time again :)

So, the result is that there are four podia scattered across our village, a lot of noise for the coming days and a lot of local artists who are performing. To memorate the irish inheritance of Livinus, the theme of the feast is "when love comes to town", after a song of U2.
Tomorrow I'll be walking 29 km (from ghent to sint-lievens-houtem) like the pelgrimages of old. This kind of 'religious stroll in the park' existed already in the 15th century, but emperor Charles V forbade it because there were too many crimes committed along the way.
Let's hope that doesn't happen tomorrow!
anyway, for those of you who want to know a little more and who speak dutch, surf here