Belgian police are useless. I waited 20 minutes at reception then was given the opportunity to say what had been stolen and where. I got my passport scanned and they held onto it. After about thirty minutes more of waiting I got bored and asked for a pen and wrote down the chain of events and a description of the thief. After half an hour of more waiting I got given my passport and a crime reference number then I handed over the description. The receptionist then said that because I had additional information I had to get formally interviewed and took my passport back. One hour, three cigarettes and half a baguette later I finally got invited to the interview room. It's a public room, mainly full of policeman chatting amongst themselves. The guy who interviewed me spoke in Flemish. I asked him if he spoke English, he said no, asked me if I was on vacation (in English) said a few sentences in Flemish, skimmed over my description in a matter of seconds then asked me what my problem was and what I wanted done about it. I replied that I just wanted my passport back. He obliged. Very nice of him.
So that's me finally heading to the train station. My first journey of the trip without my pills wasn't too bad My only problem is a stiff neck from last nights moshing. I arrived in Amsterdam just after 8pm. I got given directions to Hans apartment by a homeless guy who could give most Scottish people a lesson in speaking English.
All my last nights have been good. The last night with my mates in Peterhead was magic (at least what I remember of it). My last night with my immediate family was at my brothers wedding (quality night). My last night in Scotland was a great night in the bar at Balmaha with my Auntie, Uncle and cousin and my last night in Europe has been no exception. It wasn't a wild night just a few beers and good company. I've only spent 3 days of my life in Hans company and haven't seen him in 20 months but it was just like seeing a friend that I've known all my life (I expect the same from you when we see each other in X amount of years). It was also good chatting to my mum and dad on the phone. They sounded so much more Scottish than I remembered them to sound.
Myself and Han are very similar. We come from similar backgrounds, have similar liberal attitudes to life, we're both musical and love to travel. Han is working freelance at the moment running music workshops for kids. He gets 3 months of travel every winter so hasn't had to take the sort of drastic measures |I have had to in order to explore the world. He's off to India for 3 months this year. Han let me hear some music he's done. I've heard some of his music before but not his rap band that he was in 4 or 5 years ago. I really like it. http://youtu.be/-McLxhwHxJ8
Thats Han rapping from 45 seconds. My attempts at ordering drinks in Dutch were far more successful than ordering coffee in Bruges.
Hans off to work now, I fly to China at 11pm. I don't have a key so I'll probably stay here until I empty the contents of the ashtray then head off. I intend to do nothing productive today and will be pretty annoyed with myself if I do. Hopefully I can blog in China. Arrivederci.
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