03 February 2009
"Second Impression", should be positive now. But no. Leuven truly sucks and there is nothing I can do about it. After 5 months I still do not at all feel at home and I do not understand how anyone can, it is like Disneyland, somewhat wonderful but very fake and alienating. The reason I hate Belgium is easy, it is too similar to Holland so that the cultural differences become an annoyance, making life difficult. Because it appears so much like Holland, I think to know how life works there and constantly have to find out that I do not know it. There are other rules at work, with such subtle differences that I cannot discern them, yet with great consequences to everyday life. Thus it feels like I am living in a twilightzone, a freaky David Lynch movie where everything is completely recognizable yet unreal. It still feels as if everything is working against me, that Belgium is a collection of disconnected villagers that do not understand one another and are frustrated with their lack of identity. Not lost in translation but lost in similarity.
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