Final Entry (until Tokyo...)

After a relaxing, guest-free week off from school, during which I pleasantly didn’t accomplish much at all, Sarah and I decided to take a weekend trip to Brussels, Belgium. We stayed at an awesome house outside the city where her family lived for four years while her father worked in Brussels for NATO, and took a tram into town the night that we got there to go sight-seeing and barhopping. Unfortunately, just before we walked into the center of Brussels, I was pickpocketed on the street (like father, like son!), and we ended up wasting an hour of our night at the police station while I furiously canceled my credit cards and banged my head against innocent walls. It could have been a lot worse, since the guy never accessed my cards and I didn’t have a whole lot of cash on me, but it was very frustrating - especially after I told one of the MasterCard telephone operators that I was pickpocketed in Belgium and she replied, “Belgium…that’s in Germany, right?” I was forced to say “No, Belgium is a country!” in front of the police officer who was helping me out with the problem, which drew some chuckles from the other cops in the room. Once we were done with the mess, we hightailed it to an ancient, three-story, debris-filled bar which served an unusual but delicious hazelnut-infused red wine cocktail; I downed several of them to forget about the wallet incident (it worked). Later, we moved on through the Grand Place, the old center of Brussels which is described in some travel guides as the “most beautiful place in Europe,” and hit some more crazy bars before we headed back toward the house at about 5 in the morning. The next day we got up and walked through Turvuren, your typical “sleepy” little Northern European town outside of Brussels and had a Kriek (cherry) beer and some French fries before we took the tram back into the city for the rest of the day. We checked out a bunch of interesting bars in Brussels, one of which had a “mortuary” theme – they served beers in mugs that looked like skulls on tables that were made of actual coffins. The walls were black, the lights were red neon, and it was extremely creepy, but fun. A famous statue called the Mannekin Pis was also nearby, along with Janneke Pis, Mannekin’s counterpart, and a statue of Charles-Everard de T’Serclaes, a scary-looking bronze guy that you have to rub in strategic places for good luck. Yes, Belgium is kind of weird, in case you were wondering. Brussels is a lively, rough place at night, but it’s a very old town with lots of beautiful medieval architecture, which creates a mixture of people and sights that are tough to describe, but very enjoyable (if you manage to hang on to your wallet). After eating some waffles – you can’t visit Belgium without eating at least one – Sarah and I headed back home to Paris on a night train through the countryside.
The next Monday when class started back up (a boring IT/e-Business class taught by the dean of our school), I finally made it to the Tennessee bar with my trumpet and got to play with the in-house band at a crowded basement jam session. I only got one tune in, “Killing Me Softly,” but it was really cool getting to play again. Later that week, my whole class got to go on a corporate tour of the Paris offices of Bloomberg Financial, which was pretty interesting. Afterwards, in accordance with the financial theme of the tour, we went back to Footsie, the stock market bar, and continued our usual destructive antics there…
The following weekend, I helped Sarah’s roommate throw her a surprise going-away/graduation party with a big group of her AUP friends at Vodka 31, the red velvet-covered Russian mafia bar, which was a great time, as always. Corporate Finance was on the course menu last week; the class was interesting, but the test (on a SATURDAY in January…) is going to be awful. I spent most of the week working on an interview/paper project for my Entrepreneurship class from a couple of weeks ago. We were instructed to interview an entrepreneur about his/her business ventures, mistakes, lifestyle, etc., and write a paper to sum it all up. As I was looking for someone to interview, Sarah put me in touch with a family friend of hers named Chuck Samiotes, who has run a few businesses in Boston and almost got to play for the Greek Olympic baseball team. I ended up interviewing him for the project and learning about his businesses, Greek/American heritage and its effect on the entrepreneurial spirit, and some of his new projects, and turned a potentially dull assignment into something I really enjoyed.
After attending an end-of-the-year party on Friday at school, I stumbled over to the Sarahs’ place to help them pack up their apartment and move all of their stuff out (always a pleasure…). Last night, a big group of my classmates and I headed to Nos Ancetres les Gaulois, a crazy restaurant on an island in the Seine where they serve you a five-course meal in what looks like a giant barn with walls covered in steel weapons and dead animals’ heads and skins. They first brought out a huge basket full of big, raw vegetables, most of which was played with and/or thrown to opposite ends of the table, then we all dug into a weird antipasto/sausage buffet, then some grilled meat kebabs for the main course. After that, along with all-you-can-drink wine served in barrels placed throughout the restaurant, we got a basket of fruit and a plate full of stinky cheese, some really good desserts, and a rambunctious serenade from a sketchy guy with a guitar. I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone traveling through Paris anytime soon.
Bright and early this morning (ouch!), Sarah and I hauled all of her luggage to the airport to get her on her flight back to the States, and I’ve been studying for a test for most of the rest of today. Unfortunately, the remainder of my time here probably isn’t going to be very enjoyable, exciting or newsworthy; I have a test Monday afternoon, a really tough information modeling class on Monday and Tuesday, and I still have to pack up and get out of here by early Wednesday morning. Wednesday is going to be ridiculous, as I’m traveling through FIVE AIRPORTS to get to Tampa in time for my buddy Nick’s wedding on Thursday afternoon. It’ll be a miracle if I’m still standing by the end of the reception (because of the jet lag, of course…).
After that, the whole family is taking a cruise to Mexico from Tampa, and then I’m getting sworn into the Florida Bar at a reception at the Tampa Yacht Club on the 29th. I regrettably shaved off my latest prized possession about a week ago, so I guess I’ll be forced to look decent for the ceremony…
When I get to Philadelphia, I’ll be living in a house with two of my French buddies from class, so that ought to be a lot of fun – I feel like an American cultural ambassador whose mission is to teach them significant, daily lessons about Busch Light’s delicate beauty, mastery of the Art of Kegstanding, and the societal importance of 24-hour Cheesesteak joints.
It’s been a lot of fun writing this blog, and I’m really glad to hear that so many people have enjoyed it – thanks for reading! I’ll be continuing when I get to Japan, so please stay tuned for more shenanigans in July…