80!

hit the big eight-zero here today! nothing too special, actually. woke up at like 12:30 so at least i got a good nights sleep i suppose. then i had some cereal and watched tv for like five hours. its kind of funny, actually. then i finally took a shower and biked to town to go to a movie with two girls from my class. to be honest with you, i think i'm getting some sweet new leg muscles from all this biking nonsense..its impressive. we saw eat pray love and although i really liked the concept of the movie, the way it was filmed and julia roberts performance were slightly subpar. my expectations for the movie were high due tothe fact that i read the book during my first month in belgium and have made it sort of a reference point of mine, something to look to for a little inspiration i guess. not to mention the movie came out in the usa like a day after i got to belgium in august...thats like three months of anticipation!! so julia roberts monotonous voice and meandering demeanor didn't quite fit the books uplifting-giddy blonde girl sort of vibe the author seemed to be writing about. but then again, what do i know..i'm not a movie critic. in the movie a middle-aged writer woman leaves for a year of travel to "discover herself and life" or something like that..and at the end of the movie theres a quote that of course wasn't in the book, but i find it nice, so thanks to the magic of google i can share it with you:

...I've come to believe that there exists in the universe something I call "The Physics of The Quest" - a force of nature governed by laws as real as the laws gravity or momentum. And the rule of Quest Physics maybe goes like this: "If you are brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting (which can be anything from your house to your bitter old resentments) and set out on a truth-seeking journey (either externally or internally), and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared - most of all - to face (and forgive) some very difficult realities about yourself....then truth will not be withheld from you." Or so I've come to believe."

the best part of the movie was definitely the ben & jerry's chocolate brownie ice cream. although most things have WAY less sugar here in belgium, the b&j's was not one of them..thankfully. even cooler was that i got free sunglasses with my ice cream, hah!

then i came home sometime after ten and my very nice host brother vincent got us food at the frituur..thank goodness its junk food friday or ice cream and french fries would be really off limits! almost feels like i'm back in america..BJ nights with adam bradley..occasionally going to taco johns afterwards..hmm. so that was my day, i hope yours is great too and thanks for reading!