Today, my friends and family, I have experienced the sweet taste of victory. After two months of residency here in Belgium, I, in one short afternoon, have accomplished three monumental tasks:
1. I have been invited to submit my paperwork at the City Hall for my residency card. (I was told that I should have it in one month. So, by applying my newly-designed Belgian mathematical formula of multiplying by 2, adding the number of days I have already been living in Belgium, and taking into account the 148 or so public holidays, I should have my must-be-obtained-within-ten-days-of-arrival-in-Belgium residency card by April.)
2. I have finally received my contract from my electric company so that I can now actually *pay* for the electricity that I've been using for two months. I haven't actually received a bill yet ... (see formula above.) I suppose eventually I will be made to pay for the water and cable TV as well, but in the meantime ...
3. I HAVE A BANK ACCOUNT! Yes, I can now start keeping my money in the bank rather than in various hiding places throughout my little studio.
So, contrary to my increasingly-hopeless attitude, I have now been reassured that Belgians actually do live in the 21st century.
Nevermind that in the States these very same tasks would have been accomplished within 2 days of my arrival at a new address. But we don't need to go there ...
On September 17, 2006 I arrived in Europe to begin a year of dissertation research. This is a chronicle of my adventures--both academic and otherwise--here in Belgium.
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