Arriving in Mons

On the 29th of February I and Gabi left Craiova at 7:00 and went to Bucharest to catch the 15:00 o'clock plane to Belgium. The drive was ok as we didn't feel sick or anything (we usually suffer from car sickness). The anxiety manifested itself mostly in Gabi's case. He becomes silent when he's nervous and this annoys me A LOT. So, he didn't say more than a few words during the whole trip.

When we arrived in Bucharest we spent a lot of time queuing to check in and get on the plane. The luggage didn't seem heavy at that time even if we had more than 32 kg/person with us (over the acceptable limit). Later on it proved to be a miracle that we managed to catch the trains in Brussels with that luggage!

Seeing the airplanes so up close was impressive (it was after our first time in the plane station and on a plane)...Gabi even filmed them. The planes look so big...big chunks of metal...it almost seems impossible they can fly... My plane ticket insured i had a place near the window so i could see everything: the clouds, the plane's wings, the flaps, the ground as we got closer or further away from it...We took some amazing pictures of the takeoff and of the landing and we even got them on camera, but still being there was more impressive. The sensations were amazing and scary at the same time. I can't really describe it. The lift off made us feel uncomfortable, but the scenery and speed of the plane made us forget the discomfort (which wasn't very big either). We didn't throw up, but there was a little nausea present, especailly after the 3 hour journey. We made a stop in Koln, Germany, so we got to take off and land twice making things twice as exciting.

The view from the plane wasn't very attractive because there were a lot of clouds. The ground was visible only from time to time, but the clouds were like a sea of milk. If you look at the pictures, it'll seem like you're looking at snow. Only the wing of the plane indicates that we're high in the sky. The sun was bright and we stared through the window for some time, so our eyes finally started to hurt.

We arrived in Brussels tired and hot. We had to take two trains to arrive in Mons -> from the plane station to Brussels North and from Brussles North to Mons. The trains departed from the train station as soon as we arrived, so we ran with the lugagage and asked around a lot. We didn't know french well and we didn't know exactly where to look on the boards to find out the information we needed, so we exausted ourselves running from one place to another. It was very difficult, but we made it.

We arrived in Mons at 9:30 pm and the weather was awfull. While in Romania it was warm and sunny, in Mons rained and the wind was strong. The worse thing was that there were no cabs to take and we were sitting in the pouring rain and in the cold shiveing and waiting...A girl told us that we could call a cab and gave us the number. She didn't speack english at all so you can imagine how we understood each other (in our bad french and sign language). Very few people here speack english and their english isn't great either. A cab finnaly arrived and left us in front of the campus (Cite Houzeau). It only took us 6 euro for the ride, even if we were expecting a more expensive price. One of our "god fathers" told us in an email that taxis are expensive (and i'm not saying they are not!, we just didn't know how expensive and we were initially planning on going by foot...however, the weather conditions prevented us from doing this...)

The prices are indeed higher here and the food is quite expensive too ( a Coca Cola bottle of 2 l is 2,20 euro and a sandwich is 2-3 euro; a water bottle of 2 l is 0.8 euro, 2 euro, 5 euro - depending on the quality) These are only some of the prices we've discovered so far, but i'm sure we're going to find so cheaper stores later on...

Someone met with us at the reception in campus and gave us the keys to our rooms and the acces cards we needed to enter the capmus building. The rooms are new and look very nice. We've also taken pictures and filmed them as well. They are 20 square meteres large... so pretty big, have a balcony, a bathoroom with a shower, a toilet and a sink, have a one person bed, a desk and some places where one can put the clothes. The great thing is that there is heating and it is very warm inside. Outside the weather is windy, but it's very pleasent to sleep in a warm room when it's cold outside! We also have a very interesting ventilation system... We didn't buy anything yet, so we didn't cook in the cooking room. Every floor has one and we've seen the ones where we are supposed to cook. There is a boiler, a few sinks, a cooking stove and a few tables with benches. The kitchen also has a ventilation system which keeps the air fresh...So far, it looks well.

On Saturday we went to visit a few of the streets in Mons. The weather was sunny and it gave us a chance to walk around a bit more. The streets are small and romantic. Paved with limestone and guarded by weird looking buildings with large windows, the city looks as if it's from a tale. The houses don't have any space between them and look as if they were made from biscuits and chocolate. There are a few large buildings, but the captivating scenery is represented by the small houses which have large windows and tall doors on which you can come in only if you go up a few stairs. The pictures will show much better what i'm trying to explain. The Grand Place looks very much like the squares in Cluj and Timisoara and the first day we arrived, it was filled with motorcyclists (200-300 bikes were there and i still don't know what they were there for). The stores and the restaurants all have the prices in the windows and people can see them easily and choose which products they'd enjoy eating. There are many stores with cookies and sweets and chocolate specialties and it makes you druel when you see them in the windows (but they are also expensive....) People here are very friendly and well civilized. They always say hello when you go in the store and when you leave, and i'm not just talking about the store manager! The vendors invite you to come in if they see you hesitate, but they have a certain je ne sais quoi which doesn't leave you with the feeling of being agressed. Clothing stores are full of things, but i haven't seen "special" ones which i'd like to buy on the spot. Some prices are acceptable, but some are expensive (a pair of shoes -snickers- cost 50-60 de euro, but you can alos buy 2 pairs of jeans for 30 euro). The clothes are of better quality, but they are not extremly attractive (not to me anyway). Perhaps things are different in Brussels, but we'll talk about this when we'll visit it.

So, far i've discovered the art museum (of course!) and we're going to visit today, a gallery that will open this month and only for a few days, a theater and another museum (i don't remember what kind of museum)....The Faculty building is impressive, just as the cathedral is. The faculty must be covered with green plants during summer time, but now it is all black as the plants are dead. It looks a bit gloomy, but is very large. I'm not sure, but i think the building where i'll be studying for 3 months isn't this one...they have many buildings anf the one dedicated to Electricity is somewhere else. The Cathedral...is being reconstructed, but it is opened to visitors. It is one of our tourist objectives as well.

That's what i can tell you so far. I haven't spoken to any of my professors yet, but i will soon. On Monday, i'll have new things to talk about!!!

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