Benelux--> back in Differdange

It was a nice warm sunny day in Differdange when the bus arrived at CEPS, our research institute. We predictably had slightly too many boxes and luggages for the bus - some had to be stored in the bus driver's sleeping area (a secret compartment under the bus) and on the seating area of the bus (it is good that there are only seventeen of us). Anyway, the Luxembourgish bus driver was in impeccably good humour and did not mind our heavy luggages.

I did not get a lot of sleep last night while I was packing away my cosy Leuven room. I will miss it a lot, although having my own bathroom in my Differdange hotel room does have its appeal.

The last days of my Leuven term were hectic. Last Saturday was my Comparative Social Policy oral exam. This is the course given by a rather charismatic Flemish government minister (regional government of the federal state of Belgium) who was educated in Oxbridge. I 'wikipedia-ed' him and found some interesting information about him *wink* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Vandenbroucke.

His course was one of the better courses in the programme. Once, he invited two guest speakers for one of our seminars, a member of the European Parliament and a Dutch academic who frequently advises on European Union social policy matters. That turned out to be an interesting session.

Later that night, we had a big house barbeque party. The accommodation office decided to compensate our troubled first weeks with frequent power cuts by sponsoring a nice barbeque (the 'in' thing to do with our soaring temperatures). Many friends and friends' friends came and we ended up with 60-plus people. By the end of it, we still had leftovers of meat and drinks. And to top it all, the local police dropped by to tell us to lower down our music. This, according to local 'tradition', made our house party a *real* house party in Leuven. ;)

Then on Sunday, a few of us rushed to the Hague which was preparing for the Dutch annual Queen's Day (Koninginnedag) on 30th April. My coursemate's boyfriend's place was located in a largely immigrant-populated area. It felt like some parts of London, but cleaner. We spent most of Sunday at the Scheveningen beach that was a tram away from the city centre and displayed a good mix of long clean beaches, white sand dunes, tropical-themed cafes and restaurants, and amusement stalls.

On Monday, while the rest hopped on to Amsterdam for the main Queen's Day celebrations, I decided to visit an art history museum in the Hague before returning to Leuven. The museum, Mauritshuis, was relatively compact but it exhibited many famous Dutch and Flemish paintings, e.g. the Girl with the Pearl Earring by Vermeer. It was a good decision to return to Leuven, my sprained right foot (from a darn pothole while walking along the crowded streets at night) was swollen and in need of a good rest and some ice.

On Tuesday, it was packing in the midst of farewells and rubbing ice on my foot.

As for today (or this early morning), my extended afternoon nap meant that I did not retrieve my hotel room keys in time. So here I am, lodged in the research institute for the night.

'Benelux' in the last four days (the Hague, Leuven, Differdange) and now I am back to where I was three months ago. Leuven feels like a dream, a really long and nice dream.

It will take a while before we get into the official "dissertation" mood. My guess is, the next ten weeks will go by very quickly. Which means that I should really get some sleep soon and try to reorient myself to working decent hours again.

Cheng