Dinner and a Movie

NH Brussels City Centre, Brussels, Belgium

I got my laundry done! And by done I mean started. When I walked in at 6:15, the lady in charge told me I couldn't get my clothes washed and dried in time. I asked her if I could just wash it and she agreed. Then she asked me if I wanted to leave and pick it up in the morning. It sounded like a good plan to me; the less waiting, the better. It was only on the way back that I realized that I had absolutely no proof she was who she claimed. So tomorrow, I will either pick up my laundry or some French-speaking lady will have $15-worth of socks and underwear. I guess we'll see...

Dinner was, in fact, awesome. Patrick, César, and I went to a Chinese restaurant. It was very good Chinese, and was some of the most reasonably priced restaurant food I've had here so far. And fast too! It only took an hour. I had never had quail before; the leg bones were pretty cute. Patrick and César even had trouble putting all of their food away, so naturally I felt obliged to help them.

We met Hassan, Ellen, Chirag, and Christian in front of the movie theater to see War of the Worlds on its opening day. Belg-ish opening day, I guess. I'd never been to a movie in a foreign country before. You could actually get a better price on your tickets the more you bought, which was kind of cool. And I've never seen a movie subtitled in two languages before.

I'm not going to spoil the plot for you. But I honestly can't recommend that you see the movie. If you ever saw the first one, I'll bet you remember that anticlimactic feeling you got when you saw it. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. The audience in general kept clapping and laughing and being loud at inappropriate places in the movie. I thought it was a European thing until I was corrected by some of my European colleagues. It was more likely a "I'm 17 years old and have never been out of the house on a Wednesday night" thing. Coolest part of the movie (and this is a paraphrase; sorry!):

Tom Cruise's son: Are they terrorists? Where are they from?
Tom Cruise: I don't know!
Tom Cruise's son: Are they from Europe?

What are the odds I'd be in Europe when I saw that? Oh, and it was nice to see Éowyn in the movie.

I'm going to Beersel tomorrow. From Midi, take train #55 to bus #154. Here's to good weather!