Visas and Housing

On Tuesday I went to the Belgian embassy in midtown and picked up my visa. I was quite impressed with my first brush with the famed Belgian bureaucracy and found it almost totally painless. Some of the paper work was a bit tedious and, I thought, unnecessary. For instance, does the doctor really need to verify I don't have ebola before I am issued a visa? If I did, I'd almost surely be dead before I could use the visa anyway. That said, picking up my visa was a snap. The Consulate is located on the 26th floor of an office building. The office was smartly and simply decorated, and, best of all, there was no line. I walked in, told the woman behind the glass I was there to pick up my visa and gave her my i.d. She had all my papers rubber banded together right there on her desk. She slid the bundle under the glass, and I left. In and out in less than two minutes. I hope the rest of the trip is that easy.

I also think I've found a room in Leuven for the semester. It's small but cheap and just a short walk from the law school. Luckily, a girl from my international law class is from Belgium and her sister, who goes to Leuven, is subletting her room this semester while she is in France. At 230 Euro a month its a steal. Pictures below. The decorating is not really my style, but I'm sure I'll adjust.

The price includes broadband internet access, which is great. Sam and I both got webcams for Christmas and plan to keep in touch over Skype. If any of y'all have a webcam or even just a microphone and speakers, let me know. Skype will let me call you for free.

I'm really not into the flowers everywhere, but whatever.

There's a sink behind the screen. I share one toilet, a shower room and a kitchen with four other people, all Belgian students. Two of them are law students.

The red dot is the approximate location of the room and the green dot is the law school. The girl I'd be subletting from says it's about a seven minute walk. (You can click on the map for a bigger picture)
Well, that's about all that's new for now. I've been writing a lot in my spare time, reading and cooking for Sam almost every night. I know he'll do the same for me someday (right sweetie?). Hope everyone's doing well.