5 Things I Love About Beligum and 5 Things I Hate

In no particular order.....

Love:

1. Radiators, or more specifically the way they make a room feel warm and cozy without being smelly, messy, dangerous, sucking all the moisture out of the room or requiring any attention other than to occassionally adjust the knob

2. Italian coffees (with Amaretto), available pretty much anywhere, perfectly acceptable after any meal and almost always obscenely strong

3. Roundabouts, or 'rondpunts', no more sitting at lights and less U-turns!

4. n-ch-n-ch-n-ch-n-ch....it is a 24x7 party here on the radio and there are a million stations ranging from pop to electronic to terrible French music. They will play and/or re-mix anything. I have heard Welcome to the Jungle back to back with Lionel Richie and then straight into Katy Perry or the latest Kings of Leon. And starting on Friday night they take it up a few notches to full-blown rave all the way through Sunday morning when they count down the top 50 of the week. And besides the radio, there are at least 8 non-stop music video channels. Which leads me to ask: Are they Belgians, or are they dancers? (If you were listening to Belgian radio on a daily basis you would totally get that reference.)

5. Bottle refunds, specifically beer bottles. You can buy a case (24) of either Jupiler or Stella Artois for around 9 Euros and when you bring the bottles back they give you 4.50 Euros back! Granted they are 25cl bottles (8.4 oz) but you can also get them in 33cl (11.15 oz) for a couple Euros more.

Hate:

1. City Hall, or at least the people who work there and specifically the girl I talked to yesterday. She was a snotty bitch and I walked out knowing little more than I did when I came in and having no idea what I am waiting for or for how long, just that I have to wait.

2. Cheese Croquettes, or 'kaaskroten'. Or any other kind of kroketen for that matter. This sounds like something that I would put on the other list, but somehow they have managed to make the joy of deep-fried snacks into a mushy, flavorless mess.

3. Parking lots, all of which have clearly been designed for mini-coopers and the like. I am forever making 3 point turns to get in and out and am always squeezing through the door.

4. The Metric System. I don't care if the entire world uses it, I am over it. Don't ask me how long, how fast or how heavy something is because I am tired of doing so much math in my head.

5. Emmental (Swiss cheese). Apparently this is the only choice for 'melting cheese' in the entirety of Belgium (and maybe France). Yes, there are tons of great soft cheeses, fresh mozarella, gouda and on and on and I'm certainly not complaining about those, but they know nothing of Cheddar, or any other cheese that would go on nachos or into macaroni. It's Emmental, or nothing. Have you ever had beef tacos with Swiss cheese? I don't recommend it. It's depressing.

We are going to London in the morning for the weekend with some friends. I'm excited except for the part where we are underwater on the train for an hour. Being someone who holds their breath for the two minutes that the L train goes under the river to Brooklyn, I am just trying not to think about it. Kookai will be with us so I'm hoping she might keep me occupied.