Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet

I don't care for serious discussions on my blog.
It's not a matter of ignorance, indifference or whatever you want to call it. It's a matter of looking at the world from a colourful perspective. I want to make the world a better place: laugh with silly things, smile for stupidities, love for no reason.
No black or white, just colours.

But then there's the discussion that's starting to take universal proportions. Zwarte Piet: racist? humiliating? offensive?

I didn't want to join the debate at first. I have my opinions about it, but I didn't want to waste my time on it. And it was working out. Being happy, since my facebook-page wasn't spammed with Zwarte Piet-messages of any kind for a couples of days. Until this showed up: Black Pete exposes the Netherlands' problem with race.
It made me SAD: big S, big A, big D.

I can cry for misunderstandings.
I can thank the world for depriving me of the joy of eating chocolat figures without debating about traditions, whether racist or not.
I can accuse The Guardian of being shortsighted, telling only half of the story.
I can mediate: the Belgians and Dutch have the tradition, others have another opinion about it. But others will probably never understand our tradition nor will we understand their opinions about it. Why? Because we have another point of view. Some people might be convinced - on either side - but never all of us. There wouldn't be a discussion in the first place if we all did.
I can say that there's not one Zwarte Piet who does his/her typical make-up thinking "Hurray! I'll offend black people now! Making kids happy? Are you stupid, I only want to be offensive!" *seriously????
I can talk about pots and kettles blaming one another for being black - oh irony - or say 'let he who is without sin cast the first stone'.
I can elaborate on the fact that the core of racism doesn't reside in the use of particular words or traditional figures, let alone that it would be solved if those words or figures are never used again. Boy, would that make it easy!

Or...

I can smile for the memories I have of the excitement I felt on the night of the 5th of December.
"Tonight de Sint will come with Zwarte Piet... Have I been a good girl?"
In my shoe I had a carrot for the horse, a beer for Piet and one for de Sint.

Once my dad came running into the house: "Come quick!!!" He picked me up and carried me outside. And there on the street I saw their silhouets.
I know now it was my neighbours dressed up but that doesn't matter AT ALL.
I relived what I felt back then as a little girl while writing this and welled up.

This is the only thing that matters: making kids feel excited. The pure happiness of a tiny human being. The sparkling eyes of an innocent child.

That's all that matters...
That... and a bit of perspective.

how to drive on the left side?

June 11,
message from Than-I on facebook to me, King J. and Z.:
"Girls and boy, please take a seat! Since you haven't visited Cyprus YET, F. and I decided to give you a good opportunity. We booked a nice church yesterday for the 5th of October and you are all invited."

Hurraaaaay!! Finally I can go to Cyprus yippy!!! Why do they book a church... I was wondering... doesn't matter. Ecstatic I answered: "I'll be there!! Legend -wait for it- dary-wise I'll be there!"

Still no clue about the church though, but who cares! I'm going to Cyprus with my friends! Sun, sea, beach, warm weather and meeting Than-I again after such a long time. I LOVE it :)

A bit later: "C.! We need a bachelorette party!!!"

Wait a sec... church, invitations, bachelorette party... ... ... *my mind started working* *pieces of a puzzle* *sudden illumination*
OMG!!!! She's getting MARRIED!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Wow... this is big! And wonderful! I am SO happy for her!

And to be honest, I spent some working hours by talking on fb about the wedding, the dress, the shoes, the bachelorette party... Practically anything! Shared excitement counts as triple excitement!


July 8
message from Than-I on facebook to me and Z. (I read the whole conversation later)
-[story about the dress and the idiocracy of some wedding store ladies wanting to put 1.60m Than-I in a tent]
-[discussion about heels which I don't really understand *hey, don't blame me, I'm 1.80m... with heels I'll bump my head to a basketball hoop...]
-[communicating our travel intentions to go for one week]
-[planning a bachelorette party]

AND the following question by Than-I:
"Actually... I had an idea, for both of you. What if, you are my equivalent of the best man and the obligations are looking gorgeous beside me in the church..."

When I read this conversation six hours later and this part in particular I literally, but really literally screamed out my joy *my landlord came up to check if I was ok ^_^*!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
So honoured I could cry! Overjoyed!
Three day later I booked my tickets to Cyprus *another day later I left for Vietnam :)


October 5
After two days of siteseeing, sunbathing - in the cold, cause according to Cypriot terms it was -, driving on the left - nothing to it, just mirror everything and you're on your way- and especially eating *thank you all deeply for the most amazing food*, it's wedding day!!!

before the wedding
the girls to Than-I for dress and make-up fun; King J. to the guy's party. And Milano the cat had a bow tie!! And the cars a giant tiara and equally big hat!

fact: Milano is the cutest cat EVER

on the way to the wedding
blowing the horn of the car for twenty minutes all the way from the houses to the church! *OMG I love this :D :D hahaha*

very very close to the wedding
reassuring the groom that his bride is on her way :)

told you she'd be there ^_^

the wedding
the ceremony - of which I didn't understand a word... it's in Greek, what did you expect - was absolutely beautiful and gorgeous and full of meaning and traditional gestures and...
*too bad I missed the last part... damn you lack of oxygen :( *

right after the wedding
my most favourite part - next to bachelorette parties - burrying the happy newlyweds in a storm of rice and rose peddles

train got a teeny bit heavier

and for the 600th time making fun of the photographer who must be in more or less EVERY picture EVERY friend/relative/colleague/invitee/... took

the usual ^_^

in between the wedding and ze parteeeeee
wedding pictures of the happy couple AND their friends in a bar - in comparison to the 95% of the Cypriots who's wedding album exists only of pictures taken in Lefkara (we saw already three brides and grooms in the half hour we visited the place later), VERY VERY VERY original

a summary of ze parteeeeee:
- cutest wedding cakes EVER
- after an hour of shaking hands and efharisto'ing for all the lazazizou's - the privilege of being maid of honour - Z. and I helped the bride with a bit of dress cleaning
- and then... fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood! let's storm that buffet!!
- live band and a bit of shaking - when they packed I had the idea the party was dying a bit but then...
- ... Cypriot DJ took over and the room exploded - I did NOT expect this :O
- the groom and one of his friends ran into the sea - h i l a r i o u s !
- the feeling that I should add 'attending a Greek wedding' to my bucket list just to take it off

wedding cakes (LOVE THEM!!)

party next to the beach (would have been AT the beach if it wasn't for the wind)

again... the usual ^_^

party on fire

King J. played with his cakes

parteeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

this was absolutely totally over the top amazingly wonderfully fantasticly LEGENDARY!

sweeties, I wish you all the happiness in the world! don't think you'll need it though, being so happy with each other already ;)

the mirror gang - part XI

This morning when I woke up, the girl on the radio reminded me of A.
"Today is Tuesday, boekskesdag!"    *I know, it's Thursday by now, but whatever
Automatically I thought of A.'s desk drowning in a new weekly batch of boekskes... and this a day after she cleaned it up, poor gal.

But let's retrospect for a second...

When I was A.'s neighbour for the politics-episode of the quiz I didn't know that much about her.
Nothing actually... except for her reputation as 'magazine gal' or boekskeswijf
In other words dreaded competition cause she knows about everything about everyone in about every corner of "celebrity world" - and no, there was no peeking for answers! (okay, there was, but that was reciprocal)
But firstly she was - and is - incredibly fun to talk to and such a sweet girl!
And of course ^_^ very open: already after 15 minutes I was updated on the entire story of her and Al., a guy she really liked - this gave us immediately a conversation opener for the next couple of weeks - with information on their mutual whereabouts, messaging, meetings etc :)
*I could detect some butterflies :D

But back to the quiz...
*Funny thing: when I watch the quiz-episodes again, I can understand my friends a little bit better in their "Where is Waldo"-quest   *or more like "Where is C.?"*   cause even though I know where I was seated, I look like a dog in front of a fish tank watching his favourite fish swim by - or whatever comparison seems appropriate...

First round: inquiry - or how does the Fleming think *aka pain-in-the-ass-round*
One of the questions involved a more 'naughty' question: which of the following female politicians would you like to see naked? With resolute determination I pressed B   *not joking... I have it on tape - or DVD actually - me in close-up excessively decisively pressing the button
The next question involved a slightly repulsive equivalent of the previous: which of the following male politicians would you like to see naked?  
A) A. De Croo   *ieuw... no way... never... not for a million box... God no... no no... message to my visual mind: STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!
B) K. Peeters   *Flemish Prime Minister, aka George Clooney of the Wetstraat... possibly... probably...
C) B. De Wever   *lost 50 kilos in six months, so blubby belly... nah ah... didn't think so...
So I pressed B...
... and it turns out the average Fleming answered A... ieuw... no no... ieuw   *don't...wanna...think...about...it
*emphatically unwanted mental picture... this would haunt me...

Second round: pictures
Q1: which of these is not a 'political' couple?
*aaaand again close-up of me
The intermezzo of co-show host Sam brought him to A.: "Where there's gossip, there's A. van de boekskes... you read them all right?" - "Yes, all of them, I've got them all on my desk!"
*and look at her smiling ^_^   (hereby message to me: close your mouth C., you look like a retard... of course on national television, since I was right next to A....)
Q6: which of these liberals is the youngest:  A) A. De Croo,  B) J.-J. De Gucht,  C) M. De Clerq
*... I don't give a damn about politics... djeez, how am I supposed to know? ... I guess... C)
In the mean time, co-show host Sam was standing in front of me for his intermezzo   *ouf... exciting ^_^
"C., did you answer correctly?"  -  "Mmm, neh," I knodded apathetically, but with my usual big smile  -  "Though, you did play the finale once, lost by a bit, but this round isn't your best?"  -  "Nope, not really..." I said frowning simultaneously with the big smile *weird sight... gotta admit*  -  "C., you're 26 and still single..."  -  "Uhu"  -  "Which one of these three is on your 'to do'-list?"  -  "Ugh! None of them"
*Dear Lord, the thought alone...  I later on received a message from S. saying: "Well said, girl ;)", so thank God... it's good to know there are still other sane women on the planet (and there were more of them in the recording room... strangely enough to the inquiry results, more or less all women Sam talked to...)

Evidently...


Oh... by the end of that episode A. and I had created a virus ^_^  ... the one of applauding synchronically with the quiz jingle aka being a pain in the ass of the sound editors

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part X

Okay, let's see... where did I leave off...
Right! I was about to storm out one government building to head for the other (aka the recording studio)
And again: the exhausting run up hill, including the pounding heart and the gasping for air at arrival
Though I was getting better already! The one-day-old goal of 15 minutes... I did it :D
Still, thank God these were the only two times I had to do that -_-
The same friendly faces welcomed me and I sat down happy as a kid in a toy store
By that time I had finished my second day as a real employee of the state, but the start of my real adult life seemed totally irrelevant back then :)

Yesterday's themes had gone quite well:
Firstly: Royalty  -  categories 'are you a royalistic, republican or neutral'
Secondly: Foooooood  ^_^  -  categories 'food preference (meat, fish, gourmand (or devil-eat-it-all), degustator (or devil-eat-it-all-as-long-as-the-dish'-name-is-inversily-proportional-to-its-size-and-quantity), veggie (or devil-don't-want-to-eat-whatever-had-a-face) or allergy (or devil-really-want-to-but-can't-eat-it-all-cause-if-I-do-I'll-pop-or-blow-up))
I was really enjoying this category thing: there's a conversation opener on every moment of the day to any person in the room
Very interesting to know who to invite for a serious BBQ for example... or better to whom I should invite myself for a BBQ ;)   (since my BBQ-skills are as developed as my cooking skills... so not...)
... And no, no I didn't put myself with the food allergy people... my craving for meat is still and will ever remain dominant to whatever current and/or future intolerances
*Btw Ian, thx a million for the spare ribs last weekend :)


Today's themes: Politics and the Seaside (capitalized, our 65 kilometers of coastline do deserve this)
Categories: newspaper preferences and travel preferences
Always curious who my next neighbour would be...

Now in the recording room I wasn't prepared for the barrage of (public) questions about my ride home by the entertainer - or actually... I was... that dude's just way too predictable
"There has got to be a budding romance here! Come on... 100 people, a quarter of which is single... give me a break here,"
*I knew this was more than just a quiz... secret dating agency alert*
"You, C.?"
*O_O  oh crap, I suck at poker faces*
"Nobody for you in this range of fine young dudes?"
*Yes maybe, but that is totally and utterly none of your business...
"No no," I said maybe a little bit too suspiciously convincing and shaking my head from left to right like a retard
"Are you sure? What about T., your chauffeur?"
*Ok, he's sweet and cute, but I just want you to move on and find someone else to pick on... why did you even pick me? I wasn't looking you way! There are other single women here...
"No no," I repeated whilst I kept on shaking my head
"Nothing happened in the car?"
*For crying out loud!!!  
"No no"
"Not your type?"
"No no"
"Ok then... Hey, did you hear that joke about..."
Pff thank God... definitely not comfortable with that kind of heat
*Btw T., you told me I broke your heart a liiiiitlle bit here, but don't worry... I do love you ^_^


After that barrage I continued babbling, chatting and gossiping with my first - and for today the only noteworthy - neighbour who turned out to be the 'magazine gal'... an 25 year old girl from the Seaside, living in Brussels, who reads magazines for a living, blogs and wears a cute little fox for a necklace
... this is when I met A.   (A for Awesome ;))

"And recordings start in 3, 2..." Wes-the-producer shushed us.
"Good evening..." the show host started and we were in place for another episode of quiz fun


TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part IX

I heard a double *whistle* (like when construction workers do when a short-skirted woman passes by their yard) – my sound for a text-message

*very funny! you should try it… it’s a real head turner

My phone made some noise again… I had turned it off during the recordings but I knew the thing would go nuts once I’d turn it on again

Cause what was already old news for me, was a big surprise for my family and friends (and A LOT of people saw that episode! even two months later I still ran into people telling me “hey, I saw you on TV a while ago,” invariably followed by “I was switching channels and by accident I got to that quiz...”

*there’s no such thing as coincidence... don’t you know by now*

So... my phone went nuts: “OMG so close!” “Humo! Humo!” (the name of the magazine I was supposed to answer) “damn you looked hot! admirers will come flying to you!” (no they didn’t and  no I di... OK, I did look good ^_^) etcetera...

I  turned on my laptop to check facebook

Still wide awake (so much for the time won by hitchhiking with T.)

I sighed... a sigh of pure happiness

By that time the length of my facebook-friends list was rising, I had Maggy, S. and D. (who has an incredibly nice and sweet profile pic but more on that later) already before New Year’s, so more and more the quiz adventures would expand to the digital realm (in the end resulting in our own group ^_^ *killer idea, S.!!!)

OKAY! Fb too had gone nuts!

“OMG that was thrilling”, “such a pity”, “you were great!” and one very sweet, though slightly giving away a – for now, but not for long, except for that one it’s all about – secret “you look as good on TV as you do in real life... and I’m thrilled my 6th sense still works ^_^” from Maggy

I replied with a “thx, and btw my 6th sense still works as well cause I knew you would ask me that” and went to bed

Then Friday after lunch I took some quality time to chat with Maggy

M.: “Good morning! Did you cell phone hold the barrage of messages? And why did you except that question from me?”

Me: “Heeeey! Well most of my friends congratulated me J … some where angry I let a guy win :D! And about your question…”

M.: “Yes?”

Me: “Well from the moment you said    say    I knew what you were gonna ask and I thought ‘damn it C.! it’s too clear!’… which is soooo not my intention!”

M.: “Ah but don’t worry, I’m really good in picking those things up”

Me: “Yeah me too, but usually I’m the only one, so I didn’t count on others with such a 6th sense J”

M.: “Haha! But you know,…”   *and here comes the turning point to opening up the door to my heart by just a teeny tiny liiiiiiiiitle bit (too much)*   “… his body language to you is also quite open”

…oh crap…   *head rush* *stomach butterfly rebellion* *instant lack of oxygen (or was it the airco at work? … no no it were the feelings)*

Me: “Nooooo sssjjjjtt! Don’t say that!”

M.: “Hahaha”

Me: “Now I’m gonna look for signals…!”

M.: “OK! Didn’t say a word”

*baaaaam! too late*

Me: “It’s just… I’m not ready for those kind of feelings… Last time my heart got broken, it wasn’t just broken, it was scattered… So it totally freaks me out!”

M.: “I understand… but that’s normal! BUT!!! No one ever died from looking ;)”

Me: “Hahaha! True :D  But I gotta go, the government calls me”

This was 1.45PM... in the next two hours there was of course only one thing on my mind...

Two hours later, 5 minutes before I had to storm out again for the 30 minutes run up hill, I quickly said goodbye to Maggy

Me: “Hup! Here we go again! I’m leaving work for something muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch more fun ^_^   But it’s a real pity you can’t join us today! We’re gonna miss you!”

M.: “Good luck to you all!!! It sucks I can’t be there, but I have got to study for my exams! And ehm… enjoy the view!”

:D

I certainly did    ^_^

goddamn...  too cute *ouf* 


TO BE CONTINUED

what about easter eggs

it's Easter!  well... almost

so the first thing to pop into your mind has got to be: easter eggs and chocolat :D
so what do you do when the egg you crushed on your bread is only one piece too small to cover the entire surface?

you crush another one for that one piece... and eat the rest as a side dish ^_^

no way you can put the pieces back into the bag now is there?

PS: it's OK to eat a piece of chocolat with your triple chocolat muffin ;)

the mirror gang - part VIII

“Ian, do you by any chance have a vacant place in your car?”

Finding a ride home would turn out to be quite a difficult task: full cars, cars that were too small – no, not exactly too small, just inappropriate for passengers’ transportation...

But that quest did lead me to meeting new awesome people.

I had heard the week before carpool initiatives were being taken, to (and from) Brussels from (and to) every corner of the handkerchief we Belgians call 'country'.

Equally from THE city (everything else is parking lot is being said)...

... Antwerp city ...  

... my city ...

* mm, no not really my city, I just moved there...  – I think I have to say Leuven is still my city... do miss that place... loved living there... I’m wandering off... – but my moving to Antwerp did make the city automatically even cooler*

“Aaaah no, the car is full. Damn, we actually did consider to take two cars but since we all fit into one...”

That’s when I met Ian: a teacher from Antwerp, with the habit to talk about pita whenever spotting a celebrity *the word pita would later on cause some confusion, but I’ll get to that*, he turns blood red when he laughs, doesn’t mince his words, and when it comes to noise pollution he was a nightmare for the editors of the quiz episodes (talks a lot... talks aloud ;) 
*D. did roll his eyes more than a couple of times when he was sitting near him – was actually funny to see*

“Maybe ask T.? He has a sportscar.”

I actually wondered why the term ‘sportscar’ was relevant to my quest home. He lives in Antwerp too would obviously come in handy, or He carpools as well or even He always appreciates the company of a pretty girl *;)*

But it was the ‘sportscar’ that was of importance... And believe me... that car would become the topic of some of our most hilarious conversations :D

“Where is he? I saw him already today.”

There’s no getting a word in edgeways... which actually came in handy for a shy girl like me ^_^

“Ah there! T.! Do you have an extra seat available for C.?”

He turned around and I looked into the puppy eyes of that guy with the glasses.

That’s when I met T.   ^_^

“Ah no, I have only one passenger seat and that’s taken. I’m sorry,” T. said

“Pity, but that’s ok, I’ll keep on looking.”

The recordings were again lots of fun... *more details will follow*

God! Again, one of the best decisions of the year to participate this quiz... Really!

In the mean time I was very curious for reactions of my friends and family on my personal 45 minutes of fame. My episode was aired when the new ones were recorded, so I expected a full inbox of ‘ooohs’ and ‘aaahs’ at the end of the day

“C.!” T. said after the recordings – when I had already made my peace with taking a train home – “It turns out I can take you home! My passenger found another ride home.”

“Oh,” I was a bit taken by surprise, “Great! Thanks!”

And in 22 minutes I was home, instead of 40 with a normal car or 90 by train 
*convenient, such a sportscar, must keep that in mind*
Reason #1 why sportscar was relevant

Thx T.!! 

TO BE CONTINUED 

the mirror gang - part VII

Auch... the adrenaline was killing me
In the car, in my bed and everywhere in between, every two minutes I repeated my swearing
I guess you can imagine I slept little... very little...

For days I screamed out the name of that magazine at random... and pressed the imaginary button like a twitch
In the mean time a shortened Holiday Season passed, including family dinners and friend gathering on New Year's eve *all on which I had to put up a poker face though simultaneously informing people to watch the show... especially on Thursday... - "why on Thursday? will you win?" - "just watch :)"*
Thank God it was a hell of a week: moving out, family dinners, New Year's Eve, New Year's, first days at the new job (starting with a reception :)) and then it was already Thursday again...

... two new recording days...
*thub thump thub thump*  ...heart beat accelerating at the thought | stomache butterflies awakening before the thought even came te my mind | could barely eat a bit ... *thub thump thub thump*

... all feelings I was familiar with... not in this context though...
... felt like I was in love... with a quiz   O_o   really...

One teeny tiny problem: I had started working, so after the recordings on Thursday that probably wouldn’t end before 11PM, I would have to catch a train, get home and first thing in the morning, would have to wake up again to get to work   *OUGH

Less than 6 hours of sleep   * hell… 3 days after New Year’s… didn’t think so

Since sleeping over at S.’s was a problem – pity, cause it would have been fun (maybe even too much joking around and chattering so the sleeping over to spare sleeping time would pretty much miss its point) – I started looking for a ride home.

Ahaa... 45 minutes from door to door sounded better than one hour and a half...

Okay, problem solved... nah... OK... almost... merely had to find a victim to drive me...

The other teeny tiny problem: I wouldn’t get there in time...

though the recordings wouldn’t start before 5PM, we had to be there at 3.30PM...

and I couldn’t leave work before 4PM...

“It’ll be OK for those two days if you’re an hour late, but do your best to arrive as soon as you can,” Ch.-from-the-crew had said.

So Thursday afternoon I checked the distance from my work to the recording studio. 

Google maps says 30 minutes walk...

*challenge accepted*   I’ll make it into 15  ^_^

At 4 o’clock – after making sure my newborn colleagues would watch – I sprinted out to the current love of my life   ^_^   ... the quiz

(just for the record, I failed for the 15 minutes... took the wrong turn... and underestimated the slope of the hills (Brussels ‘s not as flat as I  had hoped))

All out of breath and gasping as if my longs were about to pop out of my body, I finally arrived at 4.20

“C.! You’re here! Perfect!” R.-from-the-crew smiled. “You can relax, don’t worry!”

Friendly face #1: thank God for R.

Friendly faces #2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were waiting downstairs. West-Flanderss’ BJ., pregnant Soph, teacher Da. and of course Maggy, S. and D. smiled when I plumped on a chair panting for breath.

“You made it!” they said happily.

“Thir...ty... minutes... up... hill... in... less... than... twenty,” I exhalend while making slicing movements at the height of my throat.

“Would you like a drink?”

“W...a...t...e...r...”

Two minutes later I was rehydrated and recovered.

Let the quest for a ride home begin...

Not to mention... let the next two episodes turn out well (for me AND my friends)

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part VI

Suspense, suspense, suspense...

Even two months later I can still feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins...

*watching the episode again is quite helpful too :)

After every question there was more and more and more adrenaline, nerves, stress, butterflies, ... and some other things messing with my head and body

7 questions had passed - I had 3 of them correct (one was whispered into my ear by about 99 others) - when the show host took a breather *which I did literally... blew out some stress... shook the adrenaline out off my hands*

Restart... 

The next two questions went great - quick reaction, right response - that smoothly even, cause already after those two another breather was taken

I was on fire!   *focus* *concentration* *fixation*   500 points was the goal

"90 points for you Jo.,   *focus, you're doing great C.*   but 380 for C.   *concentration, calm down C., you're gonna make it*   ... which   *fixation*   means..."

... and all of the sudden J. pressed his button by accident

I bursted into laughter

*that was funny :D*

Okay, next one for 110 points...   ^_^ *I know the answer!*   but too late... :(

For 120... ^_^ *I know the answer!*   but again too late... :(

For 130... ^_^ *YES! I know*   ah craaaap!!!

"Let's take another breather... 380 for you C. and 450 for Jo."

The "oh's" and "ah's" I heard in the room spoke for themselves... the suspense was deadly

Last question would decide... either it would be Jo or it would be me

The host started: "in what magazin did the news anchor from national TV pose in bikin..."

^_^ *I know the answer!*   I pressed the button to answer...

... a fraction of a second too late...

Jo.'s light coloured blue

I swore out loud and uncensored   *damn! D A M N*

I knew it was over; Jo. knew the answer   *DAMN! damndamndamn*

It was over, I missed my chance...

Maggy and S. yelled "oooh" in defeat and shrugged their shoulders out of disappointment   *aaaww, how sweet :)*

"We'll hug later!" they said.

I congratulated Jo. and met D. when I left the recording room.

"You'll have another chance to win! I'm sure of it!" he said and put his arm around me.

I grinned "let's hope so" and smiled.
I caught Maggy smiling my way, and I smiled back

A little while later I said goodbye to my friends. I hugged S. and wished her a happy new year   *it was still December, FYI*   and said "see you next week" with a smile.

Some goodbyes later I found myself hugging the boobs guy... 

... that's when I met N., a happy, cute and honest little puppy
*N. if you ever read this, don't... no wait... do! believe my words! you're absolutely and truly adorable ♥

I looked for D., but he left already

I hugged Maggy... a long hug that gave away a friends-for-life-feeling
Right before we let go of each other she said    "say..."

*oh ow... I knew what was coming*

She held my shoulders and looked me in the eye: "... is something going on with you and D.?" with her eyes sparkling of curiosity

*darn :s I was right

"I... eeehhmmm... don't... know..." suppressing and totally in vain trying to swallow a smile.
"YOU LIKE HIM!!!!"
"I... mmm... y e a h... okay, maybe I like him a little bit"
"I knew it!! I knew it! I have a sixth sense for those kind of things"

*ooouuugh, please don't let it be that obvious*

"Do you think it's mutual?" she asked
"I have absolutely NO idea!" I said
"You know... his body language is quite open to you as well... so maybe..."
"We'll see," I said and put out my tongue

Nonetheless... I did drive home with a huge smile on my face
If it wasn't for the amazing experience, the butterflies or the new friendships, maybe the 'ha! eat that loser!'-feeling towards my ex

no... it were the new friendships... or the experience... or probably the butterflies...

TO BE CONTINUED

@ work - part III

every once in a while you're witness to a mass-gathering of national proportions (that is Belgian size).
last week: front row seats to the massive demonstration of the trade unions

the demonstration had been announced weeks in advance; a 'strong' signal to the government was expected; all colleagues even received an e-mail including a form to fill in if access to the building would be denied by the demonstrators   *0_o   say what?*
btw, meeting point for a couple thousand demonstrators: underneath our window

a couple of hundred became a couple of thousand became a couple of ten thousands.
the avenue was coloured in red, green and blue

and those couple of ten thousands brought along the good many noise
whistles, small firework, smoke bombs, drums...

in particular the fireworks were startling... and omnipresent
cause there the explosion for one, than the noise from the explosion, that same noise bouncing off our building, the building across the street, the tower next to ours, and the six other buildings on the avenue...    *very annoying
my colleague wanted to go down and - in her own words - scream like an old lady would do (including swinging a walking-cane I imagine) "stop it! stop it! stop it!"

after another 30 minutes of whistles, small firework, smoke bombs, drums... I went to the bathroom
finally... a noise-insulated room... silence...
I was so into that sound - the delicious sound of silence - that I kept on hearing that sound of silence when I came back

... wait
... have I gone deaf? O_o

"have I gone deaf?" I asked my colleagues
"nope, they left"

lovely... !

couple of hours later I got on the train... conveying quite a lot of those demonstrators
:( no peaceful trainride for me
... but I was offered a beer by one of them

... nice guy :)

the mirror gang - part V

They announced 'the six' and when I got up, D. and Maggy woow'ed *he winked and smiled*, S. made a 'come on'-fist and I felt the radiating pride of my mum brightening the room.
I looked to D.  *healthy stress - or butterflies? - knodding up my stomach*, pulled up my eyebrows out of an 'I'm just a liiiiiiitle bit nervous'-impulse, sighed and went down

I experienced the rest of the episode intoxicated with joy, a victorious high, or like I was alone in the room... or more like "Oh MY GOD, signing up for this quiz was one of the best decisions of my life!"
I do remember the show host asking me questions about my job and my hobby to massage people   *O_o  really? that's what you wanna know?*   and me focusing on repeating all questions in my head to remember the answers for the finale...

*the finale... would I get there...?

Somewhere along one of many short breaks I heared the entertainer asking the public who was there to cheer me on. Besides my parents obviously, I saw in the corner of my eye Maggy's arm shooting up in the air   *OMG! how unbelievably sweet is she!!! <3 :="" a="" br="" feeling="" fussy="" gave="" gesture="" good="" like="" me="" nbsp="" silly="" such="" that="" warm=""> I felt like being a match for the entire world
*I smiled... there the happy butterflies showed up again :)  ...I'd really love to keep her as a friend*

The suspense was building up; some questions I missed, others' I knew the answers to, yet for others I had to try my luck or they were subject to faith
*oooooh... will I make it? I felt confident, the feeling in my stomach told me it would be fine... but still... oooooh the excitement*

And then the redeeming words: "And the finale will be: C. and Jo!"

:D  ^_^  :D :D
*OW YEAH*

Surprisingly calm I heard the applaus, the "come on, C.!"'s, saw thumbs and crossed fingers and felt how my newborn friends sent me all their good vibes and hopes and how they granted me this victory.
*again, would I make it?*

I had met Jo. once before at the preselections. And I remember thinking 'he's a potential winner'. Don't know why, but I was quite sure back then... actually convinced!
*no worries, C.! You ROCK, you go girl!!   you can and WILL make it*
I could feel the sweet taste of victory...
I was all smiles
I would make it :)
I would make myself and all of my family and friends - who I would order to watch - soooo proud (or happy cause I would really have to buy them a drink)

The lights came *more about 'the lights' later on* and the finale started....

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part IV

"Don't you hate it when people ask you 'how come you're still single'?' I asked S. "Like the show host yesterday with Maggy..."
"Oh! Unbelievable! Like being single is supposed to equal being sad and lonely," S answered.
"Uhu! I'm a happy single and I feel great!"
"Yeah me too!"
"What about that guy?" *no, being a happy single doesn't equal not checking handsome fellows ^_^
"No, he was with the married men yesterday. So that's absolutely NOT done. And he has one too many tattoos. Besides I'm going for the Eddie Vedder-lookalike behind the camera." S. chuckled.
"He girls!"
"Hey Maggy :)"
"What's up?"
"S. found her hero! The Eddie Vedder-lookalike."
Maggy looked up, checked the guy, waited one second and said with a smile: "he's all yours..." :D

Just in case you're wondering: no we weren't allowed to talk during the recordings - we did of course but that's for the editors to worry about *hehe* - there was a short break - something technical...

D. wasn't in the running anymore (he dropped out right before the finale) *aww, pity D.! :(*
Maggy had started socializing with N. - the biology student that got a reputation as 'boobs man' in the first episode (there had been a question about real and fake boobs and co-show host, famous radio-DJ and embodiment of talent Sam had come to interview him: "N., why am I standing here with you?" - "Don't know... probably because it's about tits?" he had answered, leaning on his right elvow, with a big smile on his face and his eyebrows going up and down :) *hence the reputation*)
And I was signing to teacher Da. and Bj. how they were doing...

I was scoring surprisingly well! It was nice to be good for once :) *ok, I know, second episode and all... but still :)
I looked at D. and saw the disappointment in his eyes. I smiled at him and mimed: "you'll have another chance to win! I'm sure of it!" - "Thx! Let's hope so :)  How did you do?" - "Quite OK!" I said, with a feeling of relief.  We both smiled.  I saw Maggy looking our way and waved at her.  She grinned.


Next theme would be: film and TV   *yihaa*
Categories: how to spend an evening out (dancing, going for a beer, TV-night, reading, movie...)   *we should be daaaaancing, yeah! (DUH)*

After dinner (quite OK, but not too warm institutional-kitchen-food), I went to change my dress.
In the bathroom I heared some screams and little applauses. 'Good timing, C.! Disappearing right when they announce the new 6'   ... typical...
When I entered the waiting room again, Maggy caught my eye, jumped up and screamed: "C.!!!! YOU'RE ONE OF THEM!!!"

O_O

.... :D

I think I remember the earth stopped turning for second: *me??? one of the 6??? camera on my face??? finale maybe??? about film and TV???   ON NATIONAL TELEVISION?!!!! *

^_^

So I went up and got my hair styled, my make-up done *heaven :)*
*For once I'll admit, I looked pretty darn good (maybe a bit too much red on my lips, but still)*
My red dress was approved (by one of the most famous stylists of the country)   *yeah!!*   as were my green earrings   *particularly happy and proud about that :)*   and I went to get 'miced up'.
"Lose the earrings," the technician said though, "they'll disturb."
*aaawww :(*

A glimpse of pride of my parents - especially my mum :) though they didn't really know what to expect - and I went in ...
"Little applause for a pretty red dress"   ... o_o
*The entertainer was warming up the crowd - or trying to... Dude, really... you need a red dress to have people applaud? Are your jokes that bad? Why don't you tell a good one? ...Oooh, C., you shouldn't have thought that (a bad joke would be the best he would tell all month...)*

I sat down in front of D.
"Hey C.! Lots of good luck!!! You'll rock!" he smiled.
*aaaawwww... what a teddy bear ♥ :) *

There we go...

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part III

MY GOD!!! that was fun!!!
All the way, I drove home with a huge grin on my face and when I arrived (ca. 00.30 AM, I think) I wasn't even the tiniest bit tired.
Too much adrenaline... O_O   - another cue for the rest of the month
That was Thursday... tomorrow I would take my parents to cheer me on.

Friday morning already I was eager to go back... 5 more hours
... okay, I'll survive...
Although... I was irrevocably addicted... already :)
I started to pick out my outfits for that day... since my quiz resolution had been 'a different outfit for every episode', that is: 19 different colourful outfits *Hell YEAH!*
Choice of the day: a green and a red dress

let's go fancy ^_^

At arrival I checked the list for the 6 lucky bastards of the day - that as well already had become a habit, almost kind of a biorhythm... like checking your mail when you get home, or rolling over in bed 3 times after your alarm went off -   and   *OMG! yihaaa!*   I smiled instantly when I saw D.'s name   :D
Funny actually how you can be that happy for a person you've known for two days. But then again, I was screaming out my joy when Maggy won... and I had known her for only one day   ^_^
*wow... 'our table' is off charts!!!*
I went to our table and out of pure happiness I cried out "hey!! you're here!"
Despite the fact she won the day before and didn't have to come back, Maggy was there to cheer us on!
*aaaawww... how sweet!*
I ditched my parents in the waiting room and went back my newborn friends - hey... there my parents... I can see them more than often :)

When the gay stylist-for-the-common-people came to check on all of us -colourwise- Maggy and I started wondering how the gay stylist-for-the-TV-people would dress up D., since he's a kind of prototype for casual
- t-shirts, hoodies, sweaters... not at all sloppy, but definitely not suit-up Barney-style...
When Maggy asked "did you put D. in a shirt?" and the gay stylist-for-the-TV-people said "of course", I still couldn't imagine what that would look like...
*I only pictured D. as a full-size doll being played with and dressed up by the stylist :D
Still... I was pretty curious...

Anyway... theme of the day: money *crap, don't have any... this will probably not be my best game*, categories of the day: employment status
"He, we're again almost right next to each other!" S. said.
I smiled... fun was guaranteed   ^_^

In the recording room S. and I were having fun - again separated by statue of silence (another one this time)
*I gotta say, it's a challenge, an animated conversation with an obstacle in between the conversationalists...
Anyway, the 6 lucky bastards came in - a cue to start - no, wait 5... D.'s missing
*strange... not exactly the type of person for whom make-up and hair styling takes a lot of time...
Ah! There he i....

... aaawwwww...

THAT's    what he looks like in a shirt!!!
... with his sleeves rolled up...
ô_ô
... hmmmm...

I signaled him good luck - quite an understatement, cause I probably looked a bit retarded holding my fingers crossed in his direction, squeezing my eyes and with a huge grin on my face - and went back to chatting with S.
When we were waiting for the recording to start the excitement was burning a hole in my stomach *wow, seriously addicted to this quiz... or was it something else...?*

TO BE CONTINUED

the mirror gang - part II

*bad auditive quality intro of Paradise by the Dashboard Light (aka my cell phone ringing)
a girl from the crew calling me a couple of days later to ask about my experiences of the first recording day
... "awesome!!!" had been my response :) "that test run was a hit!" - "that's nice to hear, we enjoyed it as well"


a month had passed since then
one including Christmas, Christmas shopping and even snow (and an awesome selfmade snowman, with fancy tie and hat), and of course New Year's preping
and I almost forgot... the Maya-2012-New Age-earth's gonna go boom-fuss...

but nonetheless the only thing I was looking forward to were for the real recordings to start
I was looking forward to the quiz, the settings, the atmosphere, the colours (since we had to brighten up that boring decor - of course I was highly pleased... finally a place to exploit my knack for colours *yihaa) and obviously... the people :)
Da., the all dialect speaking teacher; BJ., the funny West-Flanders dude; Soph., the pretty pregnant girl; Mi., the cute, oh so sweet 17 year old gay (one of many)...
... and of course Maggy... and D.

at arrival I checked the list of potential winners of the day (six of 100 people who could win a sum of money and a ticket to the finals) which   *OMG O_o :D :D :D yihaa*   included   *no, not me*   MAGGY!
*all right babe! you go girl!*
I didn't quite know her back then but even so, I was really excited for her!

Btw, theme of the day: sex and relationships
Categories of the day *oooow ^_^ interesting* relationship status...
Quick check on my seat of the day (we moved a lot!), when I heared "ah, we're almost right next to each other!"
That was the moment I met S., a witty, sharp girl and equally awesome gal!
I gotta say, it was a pity we weren't actually sitting right next to each other; we'd have even more fun than we already had. Unfortunately there was another woman in between us... or better a silent barrier... could have easily been a statue... quite boring... -_-

Anyway... the relationship status
One of the first announcements of the producers had been: "This will probably be more than just a quiz. Friendships will be made, alliances will be forged and who knows, maybe even love affairs or babies!"
Wiley minxes! Clustering single men and women! Put-up job! That was their intention! This is better than a dating agency... definitely more efficient :D

So single ladies S. and me started "judging". First of all the counting: 10 single women, 16 single men...
... Math was in our advantage

... only theoretically though...
... a quick count of the gays turned our odds...
... A LOT!
... only 8,5 left   *gay radar alarm for one guy, though he denied firmly*   :D

... a further elimination of "too short", "too old" and "too young"   *no, we're not picky, we know what we want*   left us with... 0

O_o

"I guess we'll have to look for our companion somewhere else, C." S. said.
"Guess you're right," I answered.

ok... a less severe elimination left me two PC's (Possible Candidates): a guy with a beard and black glasses...
and D. ...

TO BE CONTINUED


oh btw! almost forgot! Maggy won!!! *you rock, sweetie!!! OW YEAH*
little wave and celebration to Maggy
 _|°__---/°°°°--___---/°°°`---,___,--°°°°-___

also... wondering if there was some "judging single ladies" going on with tha boyzzz...
*of course there was :p *

399... going on 400

a round number... it's just a random number, equally unsignificant like any other, simply another number in line

bullocks!
a round number is something special... a turning point... a milestone for a new start!
Prince sang about it: "tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999"
*just for the record, last week I partied even better! but that's a different story...
*wondering what year that could be compared to... ^_^

... scusi... I'm straying off

a round number...
it's cool
it's exciting
or at least, that's what I tend to think about it

as is the case for my current number of facebookfriends
it's now set on 399...
who will be 400? there are 3 options

1) a celebrity
scenario sketch: tomorrow morning I'll walk out of my door, sun shining on my face, I'll go running, elegantly and sporty -like in the movies- and I will bump into a famous guy
preferably Henry Cavill
he is charmed... no not just charmed... speechless by my dazzling presence, we start talking, go to the bakery together, exchange cell phone numbers and after my shower I'll check my facebook and I'll have a friend request from Henry Cavill... my 400th friend ^_^
*too bad this will not happen...
already after the first comma the probability level failed
... it's Belgium... what are the chances the sun will shine O_°*

2) the love of my life
scenario sketch: Prince Charming... no wait he's a wussie... Mr. Right will wake up tomorrow morning and will turn on his computer to check his facebook
after his second spoon of coco pops a strange feeling will overwhelm him and guided by faith he will take a long shot -like Google's "I'm feeling lucky"- and search for me
I'll accept his friend request, we will meet and fall madly in love
he'll propose to me in the most romantic way imaginable, we'll get married and live happily ever after
*too bad this won't happen either...
I mean... coco pops... really!! please eat something manly for breakfast... like frosted flakes... at least they have a tiger for a mascotte*

3) just another facebookfriend
sadly enough the option with the highest probability
life goes on...

no worries!
I'll have fun with my 4th, 18th, 111th, 215th, 249th, 374th, 376th, 377th, 379th and 395th facebookfriends

and with all others :D

... still curious who'll be my 400th...
*_*

the mirror gang - part I

I've been dieing to blog about this, about the mirror gang... it's over now, so let's say this is a proper time to write the story of January 2013

for a couple of weeks - or weekends, actually - something's been growing inside of  me
I'll be more precise: a nest of butterflies

the last month was one for the archives
one of the most crazy wonderful adventures of my life
a month which I'll NEVER forget!
one that granted me new and most amazing friends

I participated in a new TV-quiz; one with more than 100 participants
the concept is actually of irrelevance... I wanna tell the story behind the scenes

It started in the beginning of December with a test-run. So for the first time all 100 of us came together. Nobody knew anybody; neither did I.
So when I arrived, about 90% of the people were there. I took a long shot and placed myself at a random table; the one with the people I was most attracted to. Faith put me at the table of people from West-Flanders, the completely other side of the - I know, Belgium's small , but still - country.
Nonetheless I didn't feel uncomfortable... au contraire.
Bit by bit more and more people trickled in. Some of them joined another table, others went to sit on the side by theirselves.
While we were waiting for the recordings to start, I was talking with Maggy *awesome gal*, one of the girls at my table, and we both agreed that one guy on the side looked a bit lonely and sad. At the same time - I'm not joking - we both turned around, called him and told him to join "our" table.
That was the moment I met D.; at first sight a though guy, but truly a little teddybear.
*D., if you ever read this, don't believe my words; you're just a though guy, nothing cute about you... you're a strong, sturdy dude ;)

the recordings were delayed - a cue for the rest of the month - so we kept on chatting, talking, gossiping (already ^_^), jabbering - equally a cue for the rest of the month
the foundations for life long friendships were made

TO BE CONTINUED

happy birthday to me

sooooo cool to wake up on your birthday like this:

changing room horror

I went shopping...
quite essential bit of information - I realize - and so far a state in the obvious considering the content of following blogpost

nonetheless it did inspire me to create a list of horrifying stuff and deadly annoying situations in clothing rooms

- didn't happen to me this time but: traffic jams of hysteric sales-shopping women
- then - didn't happen this time either, luckily - the cubicle smells like the sweat of the 30 hysteric sales-shopping women who were there before you were
- sales woman closes the curtains for you *O_O horrrrrroooooor
- cubicle's too small *bump elbow, and other elbow, and wrist *you leave with bruises and your mother wonders what the hell happened to you when you get back home
- cubicle doesn't have enough hooks *15 pieces of clothing on one hook *two seconds later 13 are on a pile on the floor
- due to the lack of hooks, there's no way to categorize your catch *hook NO - hook maybe - hook YES... mmm... pile NO - pile maybe - pile YES
- due to the beforementioned pile of piles it's getting more difficult to trace back your own clothes
- the mirror is not even big enough to check the colour of your eyes
- you're bound to go out where there are sales women hunting for people to comment upon, such as yourself
- example#1: I try on a blue dress (with my own blue boots) and I think "too dark, but might be ok with my red boots", sales woman says "you already have the right boots, mam haha"
*O_o
- example#2: I try on another blue dress, more turquoise (again with my own blue boots) and she says "now the boots don't match"
*when did I tell you to share your thoughts with me?
- example#3: I try on a blue dress with green flowers and I think (in line with my colour mission) "might be nice with a red or yellow cardigan" but she says "I have something matching" and disappears...
*oh noooo, horror, "matching" -_-
... and returns with a green blazer (exactly the colour of the flowers)
*tell me, when I go in with yellow pants, blue boots, a turquoise coat, a red scarf and a green sweater... exactly what part of I-don't-wear-matching-colours don't you get, woman?
- and last but not least... she closes my curtains again

I ran out screaming...

... after buying a dress and two sweaters

euphoria vs. murphy - part I

you know those situations when everything goes wrong, but still one way or the other it can turn about into euphoria
or the other way around... but that's for later

last week I came home, happy to be inside, given the blistering cold
... -7° that was...
I know, I absolutely adore a fine and true winters day, but that's only 1) for the coating up and 2) for the looking forward to cosy warm inside temperatures
* note the "cosy warm inside temperatures" *

1°
so, I came home, alone
which means not only an empty house, but also a cold house, where the heating's not on
I shiver, go up to my room - where it's freezing too - so I turn the heating on and go back down to make dinner
about 20 minutes later, dinner's ready and instead of eating in the cold kitchen, I went back up to eat in my room
... where it's still freezing :(
confused, I touched the heating, which is obviously cold as well
... darn... :(
luckily I have an emergency heater for emergency heating moments... like this one

so, problem #1 more or less solved

2°
but then there's problem #2: where to eat?
it wasn't a matter of extreme hording situations - although I came close :) - but there were (and still are) construction works in progress in my room
* and again, I stress "in progress" *
I've been living on a construction yard, with my furniture more or less covered underneath a plastic wrap
not quite the definition of fun
but ok... in the end I found a place

problem #2 solved as well

3°
a bit later I wanted to go to the bathroom and I remember sighing in relief cause the day before the plumber did finish that one: toilet *check*, sink *check* and working shower *no check yet, cause I wanted to shower in the morning, but no water whatsoever came out*
but anyway I have a working toilet...

... until... I open the bathroom door... and I discover... there's a leak... there's water on the floor
oh come on, you gotta be kidding me
too pissed to clean it up *that's for the stupid plumber* I slam the door to go back to my room to ventilate my frustrations on facebook

4°
but facebook didn't respond... all of the sudden no internet... nothing
connection to the world wide web was lost
the only ventilation I had left was to open the window... no... blistering cold

Assembly League of bad luck in one evening...

and nonetheless, there was only one thing, I could think about
*okay, two... I admit*

that day, the foundations of my existence were made: my parents met each other 37 years ago

... wonderful feeling :)


the other thing on my mind... that guy...

@ work - part II

situation sketch:

8h30, on the stairs, on my way to the 8th floor

just a matter of a little bit of daily exercise...

out of breath I reach floor 7 1/2, where there is no light

this is normal, cause the light has been broken ever since I started working there (possibly even longer)

heaving myself up the last 10 steps, I notice the light on the 8th floor doesn't work as well

which is less normal

I open the first door to my floor - no light; very abnormal - and the second - no lights either

that was my clue for realizing something was actually wrong

even more when the electricity cabine is open and two masculin legs are coming out of it

*no worries, nobody got electrocuted... it was only a technician

people come and go: electrians, technicians, instruction givers (recognizable by their lack of blue overalls)...

every once in a while the light pops back on *accompanied by an "aaaah" from several islands

couple minutes later another light pops on *sad to say this one is the emergency light - sign for working in the dark on laptop batteries

batteries that last for 4 hours... 

... makes me wonder what we'll be doing in the afternoon if the problem won't be fixed

in the afternoon the electricity is fixed...

... they found the problem

we can start reloading batteries...

on one condition...

... one related to the problem mentioned before

... cause the electricity fails...

... when the heating is on

it's -5° outside...

joy...

@ work - part I

Finally, finally, finally!!! After almost 27 years of my live I started working! For real :D
Ow yeah!

So... for I have the feeling that at work I'll have to live through some kafkaesque situations, I will keep you posted!

First week, first achievement of Kafka: the fire alarm...
It's Friday around noon, and with my colleagues I come back from lunch.
I distinctly remember saying, when I came out of the elevator, "there's a weird smell here"

Two minutes later, the fire alarm blasted - very loudly and painfully of course, but okay, that's usually the purpose of an alarm, I know...
The other purpose of an alarm is usually to get people on their feet immediately and to evacuate the premises.

Over here, it was slightly different: startled by the sudden attack on my eardrums, I looked up... something all other colleagues on the other islands did as well.
*I stress the "looking up", don't read "jumped up"*

The second reaction (on several islands, not just ours), accompanied by a look of confusion: "it's not Thursday right?"
*for the record, the fire alarm blasts every first Thursday of the month... as a test...*¨
Pure confusion means actually a slight feeling of panic, not for a fire, more for the interruption of the daily work flow

In the mean time (read two minutes later) some people get on their feet and go take their jackets.
Attention, still very relaxed, doubtful and above all not too much in the mood of moving...
Slowly we decide to actually go down and to execute the evacuation procedure, when ...

... it stops

Again confusion but most of all relief for not having to take the stairs :)
We sit down again and go back to work

when...

Two minutes later again... the fire alarm

Reprise of the previous, though slightly faster.
We reach te door of the staircase and ... of course

... it stops again

We sit down and go back to work

when...

you know what's comig

This time we actually remain seated... third time's a charm (at least we hope so)
And indeed, the fire alarm does stop and more importantly... it doesn't start again

Ten minutes later the door of the staircase opens and a severly gasping men enters (for the record, we're on the 8th floor)
"Had... to take... *very deep breath* the... stairs *sound of a man on his death bed* ele... vator... didn't... work"

*Poor man... resolution to take the stairs at least twice a day and improve my physique was made

But!
Only another five minutes later another man comes up and I hear him say
"Ah yes, there was a fire... in the electricity cabine on the ground floor"

O_o

So far the foolfroof fire drill...