Working

It has been a while since I last posted, so much is going on that it is difficult to know what to start with or where to comment.  I have now been in my current job for 5 months and I seem to have little time for other things.  Typically I rise at 06.00 and I am on a train by 07.07 for the short commute into Brussels.  Usually I arrive at work between 08.00-08.30 and finish up anywhere between 17.30-19.00, with a leaning towards 19.00.  The novelty of having a new job has worn off and now I know the train times and platforms by heart, I see the same faces on my walk as I migrate with the herd on my daily journey.  I started wrapped up in the cold of February and now I appreciate the daylight and greenery of the summer.  I have acquired a dislike of the impersonal shop assistants in the main station in Brussels Central, although the waffle and coffee kiosk is always friendly, even last night when I dropped a 1 cent coin both the assistant and a nearby train conductor went out of their way to make sure I got it back.

I am surprised at how many times I have been asked to help with directions and train times by people of all nationalities.  It is rather handy having the iPad with the NMBS app on it. I have discovered that everyone in Belgium blows their noses like trumpets in an orchestra and I am irked by those who seem to smoke everywhere I go.  My entertainment, apart from people watching, is usually a good book, radio 4 podcast or watching a film on the iPad.  The latter has its risks as I recently discovered.  NMBS has the habit of throwing in surprises to the journey, like re-routing trains that don't stop where you expect them to and this is whilst you are on them too, you need to keep listening out for changes.

I don't generally speak to others on the journey but when I do they are very friendly.  I can only recall maybe one incident of a commuter that seemed impatient to get on or off the train.  They also do seem to block off spare seats or refuse to slip sideways into the seats by the windows, preferring to see you awkwardly balance your way between unsympathetic knees before plonking into the seemingly insufficient space that they have grudgingly removed their bag from.

I have paid for the privilege of using the station toilets, 50 cents and no toilet seat.  I wonder, as I carefully lay down paper on the rim, why and how anyone can steel a toilet seat and past the assistant who collects the money.  I sympathise with the toilet attendant for having such a job, it seems degrading but then someone has to do it.