I'm happy to report that yesterday afternoon was better than yesterday morning was. I was still fairly sick and completely exhausted, but the fact that I had a bunch of Belgian dudes standing around watching me was motivation enough to get through the day. I'm still surprised by how few people speak French/English here - besides my customer and his wife, everybody else has been Flemish-only, even at the hotel. It's made for a lot of interesting hand-gestures and stick drawings, especially when working with the electrician and the plumber!



They've been very nice though, and contrary to what I'm used to in France, they came to pick me up at the train station (= no rental car, woot!), booked my hotel and they invite me to eat with them at lunch and dinner. They've also shown me around the area bit, and are in general just a lot more open than my French clients. I kept hearing all these stories about my co-workers being chauffeured around, taken skiing or yachting, etc, and I kept thinking "Man, I really got the shaft here with France", so it's nice that I finally have a customer somewhat along those lines too.



I'm kind of bummed about being here on election night - I have a feeling I will be getting up several times tonight to turn the TV on and see where things are at. I've gotten a little burnt out on all this election stuff, but now that it's finally here, I've got butterflies in my stomach (or maybe that's just all the coffee I've had today, lol). Seriously though, sitting there at lunch today, watching Obama on the Belgian news, I felt hope for the first time since he began campaigning - like maybe there really is a chance for change if he wins. I remember too well how it felt to lose in '04 - let's home tomorrow's results will redeem ourselves a little bit. I can't believe election day is finally here, and that this time tomorrow will we know who our new president will be!

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