I really never thought that finding somewhere to live would be as hard as it has been, but there you go, that’s life. Thankfully I’ll be moving into an apartment right in the centre of Brussels tomorrow, with the chance to unpack all my boxes of stuff, and get settled down for a few months. I think I’m getting used to the contrast between Belgium and the Netherlands now; I seem to find the country (by which I mean Brussels, the rest of Belgium is essentially non-existant to me at the moment) to be less irritating. Of course it could just be that I’m a bit busier with preparing to start work and catching up on all the Party stuff that I let slip during the dark days of the thesis-time.

I read on some expat site that, while living abroad for limited periods, it can be a good idea to make a list of all the touristy, cultural, and sightseeing things that you want to see and do before leaving, so I guess I should make just such a list. I think a trip to Brugge is pretty high up there, along with a ride on the historic tram line that apparently operates in Brussels at the weekends.

This has probably been a pretty boring post, but what can you expect from a personal blog; I did however relaunch my political blog, The Thursday Briefing, today, so perhaps some more interesting posts will work their way onto that over the next few days.

What a long time—an inexcusably long time—it has been since I last posted something on here. I suppose I should write another of those, “I Live In …” posts, since I managed to add a fourth entry to the list of countries I’ve lived in, with a move to Brussels last week. I managed to make it exactly one year in the Netherlands, mainly due to pushing everything to do with the move to the last possible minute to get more thesis writing time. Thankfully though, the thesis is in and graded, I’m about to cease being a student (last time I wasn’t enrolled somewhere was my gap year, four years ago, scary!), and I can settle in to attempting to grasp at a career in EU politics, with only the harshest of job markets to hinder me.

I have to say that Brussels is not somewhere to judge by first impressions; to do that would lead to only the very worst image of the city. Even though I’m used to the far from perfect image that the city presents to visitors, I am always surprised that the city still feels happy to have the red light district (complete with girls in windows), and a series of collapsing buildings, as the first things that anyone sees on arrival. Second and third impressions don’t help much for someone grown accustomed to Holland, but once you start to form the fourth and subsequent impressions, Brussels becomes a lot more pleasant. I’ve been attempting to cycle around the city over the past few days, to get a feel for the layout, and some much needed fresh air, and I even managed to find an Ikea on a metro line, so the settling in is—thus far—going well.

The fact that I’m no longer studying, and that the first job I’ll be doing shouldn’t eat up too much of my free time, has also given me a chance to reassess all the stuff I commit to doing. I sometimes get the feeling that I’m not really able to do everything as well as I really could, and I won’t go into the detail of all the posts I hold, but suffice to say, I’m resigning one of them, in the theory that I can do less, better.

And with that little window into my life posted, I think I’ll go and see how my other blog is doing. Hopefully it won’t be as long before the next post finds its way up here again.

Last night was of course the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, and naturally, I was in front of the telly for the whole thing. This time though, I had my first truly international experience of the show, watching with friends from Lithuania, Romania, and Turkey in a hall of residence for international students (and enjoying the Dutch commentary on the broadcast). There’s something special about Eurovision for me. Aside from it being one of the reasons I got interested in Europe (not the only one, but a significant influence nonetheless), I just love the idea that all across the continent, people are having Eurovision parties, and enjoying what must be the campest international tv event to have ever existed.

My all time favourite song remains ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’, courtesy of Ukraine’s Verka Serduchka from 2007.

But this time round, my votes (since when were we allowed more than one vote?) ultimately went to France, for their great song, and Greece, mainly out of loyal voting.

I could go on in a serious tone about the value of common European identity and friendship that is fostered by Eurovision, but that’d miss the point of it all. Eurovision is the perfect excuse to assemble friends and wine, and have a laugh at the outrageous costumes and songs, enjoying the pure fun of it all.

A complete version of this post is available on The Thursday Briefing, including exciting economic indicators.

I guess this is how traditions are established: one is a one-off, two is a repeat, but more than three is a tradition. So, welcome to my fourth annual New Year post. I think it was at the start of 2008 that I first noted the financial turmoil, which makes it nice to see that as 2010 looms over us, the coming year might end in a rosier state than it starts.

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Being a foreigner in the Netherlands at this time of year is great; not only can I celebrate my own Christmas and winter traditions, I can also join in with the Dutch Sinterklaas festival. My coursemates had, what I think is termed, a Sinterklaasavond last night, from which I received a teapot and a lovely poem written by Sinterklaas and his helper, Zwarte Piet, which is reproduced below (the poem, not the teapot—though I’m sure there is a computer scientist working hard somewhere to develop a hyper-teapot transfer protocol):

“I’ll sing you one, Ho
Green grow the rushes, Ho
What is your one, Ho?
One is one and all alone
And evermore shall be (it) so”

But Tom,
You’re not alone
Though, in Leiden, you’re hardly seen
Dashing off to some conference green
With gay abandonment
Saving the environment
Cars and trains cross the land
So we can all understand
The dreadful warning
On the effects of global warming

But please, Tom, take a little hint,
As for earth you do your stint:
You see:
Hitchhike
Take a bike
Or, of course,
Like me,
Take a horse
But please, leave a carbonless footprint.