Going to the Movies

Miguel and I go to the movies a lot in Brussels, mostly because we have a UGC pass. This allows us to pay a set rate each month for as many movies as we care to see, for this, going to the movies here is great. The rest of it, well, you can decide.

Last weekend we went to see American Pie: The Reunion (which was surprisingly good) with friends on a weekend night and I wanted to document some of the ridiculousness. Miguel and I arrived 30 minutes before the movie to get our tickets and get seats. The ticket line was surprisingly ok, but when we got to the actual theater we were blocked from entering by a velvet rope. Now, this is standard procedure, they were cleaning the theater or something, but the staff at the UGC made NO effort to control the crowd. Soon it was packed enough with an unorganized mob that had there been an emergency I don't even want to think about what would have happened. Finally, about 5 minutes before the show was supposed to start  one staff member seems to remember that there are people waiting and lifts the rope, at which point it's a no-holds-barred free for all. People pushing and shoving, rushing around trying to get seats. The crazy part was, the theater wasn't even full in the end!

So the four of us settle into our decent seats for the show. Before the movie started we got one measly trailer that came on first and then the ads. My god the ads. The ads for beverages alone were ridiculous! Two for coke, one for pepsi, one for aquarious and one for fanta (and maybe one for sprite). There were ads for Axe body spray, for various radio stations, car dealerships, etc. For. 20. Minutes. Towards the end of this barrage (during which you have to think, did I actually pay for a ticket??) we get one more trailer. For the movie we are about to see. What is that? As if that's not ridiculous enough, it was advertising it saying it opened on May 2nd, and we were sitting in that theater nearly a week before that date. Oy.

So finally just about an hour after arriving at the theater the movie starts, and already I start to think, uh oh, I have to pee. Of course, I avoided the bathroom before the movie because not only is it pretty smelly, out of toilet paper a lot of the time, only has crappy "automatic" hand dryers (that are basically the equivalent of having someone just breathe on them for about five seconds at a time), no paper towels and no purse hooks (the floor... ew) but I have to pay 35 cents for the privilege. The concept of a "madame pipi" annoys me anyway, but in a theater where even if I don't order a drink I have to sit through five drink ads before the movie even starts and I end up in the same place for at least three hours. COME. ON.

One last complaint to end on (I swear, I'm not bitter). The idiot girl behind me kept kicking my seat. Actually, to be fair, she had her feet on the back of my seat the entire time and would kick it sporadically. This is despite me turning around in my seat and asking her to stop, turning around and glaring, pushing my seat back when she did it and none of that worked. I understand accidentally kicking the seat in front of you while you cross your legs, but this was ridiculous and incredibly inconsiderate.

All of that said, we still go to the movies a lot and it's not always that crazy. As always my ranting is meant more for entertainment that to be a scathing review of Brussels. So... enjoy!

Trying to see a movie in Brussels

It's another lazy Sunday, and Miguel and I are thinking of seeing a movie, so while having coffee over at Blomqvist's, we check out the movie schedule at the UGC on his blackberry. There was one I had been thinking of seeing for a while called "Another Year," though for the life of me I couldn't remember what it was about, so we clicked the title to look at the synopsis. This is what it said:

Printemps, été, automne et hiver. La famille et l'amitié. Amour et réconfort. Joie et peine. Espoir et découragement. La fraternité. La solitude. Une naissance. Une mort. Le temps passe...

Spring, summer, autumn and winter. Family and friendship. Love and comfort. Joy and Pain. Hope and discouragement. Brotherhood. Solitude. A birth. A death. The passing of time...

Riiiiight, so this could be just about any movie ever made. Awesome. On to imdb...

The Stubborn, Optimistic American Abroad

There are so many differences between Belgium and the US. It's hard to know where to begin, it's also hard to stop myself from complaining sometimes. But...

I'm sure I've mentioned the lack of "service" in "customer service." Well, here I go again! On Friday night, Miguel and I went to the movies to see Shutter Island. The theater was packed and the movie was fantastic, but the problem came when I got home and realized I had forgotten my super-awesome Sigg water bottle in the cup holder of my seat. Miguel, being the wonderful husband that he is, and it being late (10:45pm, weirdos are out by then) offered to go back to retrieve it for me. So off he goes, braving the weirdos and clubbers on my behalf. Sadly, he returned a few minutes later, water bottle-less.

At first I thought he was joking when he said he had no luck. Apparently, the woman there said that he couldn't go up to the theater because there was a movie going on. Also, though he made it clear that it is an aluminum bottle (so I don't have to keep using plastic ones), she said it would probably have been thrown in the trash. Uh... what? She also radioed the clean up crew, who said they had cleaned the theater and found nothing. This was Miguel's report. He told me to leave it be and we could check again in the morning.

Maybe it's because I'm American, instilled with such values as optimism and stubbornness, but I was not about to accept that answer. I looked up the movie showings, and when Miguel had gone back there was no movie showing in that theater! Oy vey. So, to Miguel's protest, I equipped myself with my Swiss Army Knife and my cell phone and headed out to wage my battle with UGC Cinemas and retrieve my beloved water bottle.

I arrived (after talking to Miguel on my cell all the way there) and walked in feeling good. I explained in my horrible French that I had left my bottle there. She said yes, your husband was here, but there is a movie going on now. I said, in my stumbling, but forceful French, "No, there is no movie in that theater, I was in the last showing that ended at 10:30." She looked at her board and said ok, go ahead. Already I had done better than Miguel!

I schlepped up the stairs to theater 14, went through both sets of doors and burst into... a pitch black theater. I quite literally could not see my hand in front of my face (as Groucho Marx would say, "You wouldn't get much enjoyment out of that!"). I didn't dare to walk forward for fear of tripping over the seats, so I went back to the hallway. Luckily, I had brought my ipod touch, which has a handy dandy app called "flashlight" which is just a white screen that gives off just enough light to make a difference. With that on, I inched down the aisle seeing wrappers, plastic water bottles, etc. everywhere (they obviously had not cleaned that theater) until I came upon my very own light blue aluminum one! Triumph!

I went back downstairs thinking 2 things: How I won, and how I would gloat to the woman downstairs, but more importantly, to Miguel! The American way works! Of course, once I saw the woman again, I held up the bottle and said happily the equivalent of "I find it!" and then tried to push, rather than pull the door, looking more than a little like an idiot. Oh well.

So there you have it. Score one for the foreigner!

So I'm back in the States and have been for 2 weeks now. I'm back in Europe on as of Tuesday and back in Brussels as of Saturday the 13th.

I've had a good time being back, I have grocery shopped (and ate) to my heart's content, watched a bit too much tv, seen lots of friends,
attended one wedding...

and have seen 3 movies (thus far).
-The Soloist- wonderful, moving, true story
-The Hangover- hilarious, silly, entertaining
-Drag me to Hell- scary, funny, campy, wonderful
And tomrorow I'm going to see Up (the new Disney/Pixar film).

I have also done a good bit of shopping for "necessities." It's been a good time, but I'm looking forward to my triumphant return to Europe (and to Miguel). And now it's less than 4 months to OUR wedding, how crazy is that?

Things and Stuff

So it's been about a week, and what has happened?

Brice went on to this farm near Liverpool to learn about joinery and live in a teepee/wigwam. (I told him he had to go to that farm because he got to live in one. If I could, I would, just to say I had.) Miguel and I then had to get used to having the apartment to ourselves again, ourselves and the cats, that is.

We're all doing fine, though Miguel did get hit by a car today! Ok, it was more like, the car was backing up very slowly into him, but he is totally fine, not even a bruise. We banged on the car though to let the woman know we were pissed.

Oh, I've been trying to come up with something to put on the walls (they are kinda boring as of now) and it occured to me I could paint them with a design or a mural or something. Since we are living in a very art nouveau neighborhood I want to do something, well, art nouveau-y. I've been doing some sketches to test things out...


Feel free to leave thoughts or ideas!

So now, just to remind you all that I have cute cats, I present you with...

1) Plotting kitty
And 2) Sleeping kittyAnd, for good measure, both cats together on my awesome new (used) chair!
In other news, both Miguel and I got our hair cut today (at different places), he's not so happy with his, but I love mine! (this picture also featuring my semi-new glasses!)And since this is already a picture heavy post, I may as well include another couple from good old photobooth! (Sophie the just plain cute and Cleo the camera hog)






























Oh, Miguel and I went to see "He's Just Not That Into You" tonight (the premier here in Belgium, cue "ooh"s and "ahh"s). It was pretty good, cute. Not anything AMAZING. Also, Jennifer Anniston has seen better days... (Does saying that make me mean?)

Anyway, Brussels is fine otherwise. Really nice weather, outdoor cafes, trees with leaves, indoor picnics, friends, it's pretty good! I do miss home though, and am really looking forward to my visit!

So, I guess that's it for me for now! I hope everyone is doing well and had a great Eastover!