I left for De Jacht from Troon (where I work) at a little past 17:00 to attend a work party at Albert Hall. I went into the Subway to buy a 10 voyage Lijn ticket. I’m not sure if these little tickets have an official name. So from now on, I’ll call it a “jump pass”. Mostly because it sounds cool.

I took my Jump Pass to the bus stop and got on. The bus trip from Troon to De Jacht was uneventful and totally boring. The bus was full — mostly working stiffs trying to get home I suppose. 

When I arrived in De Jacht, I was about an hour early. So I walked around a bit. The intersection at De Jacht was pretty large — something like 6 roads converging. Lots of people. Lots of cars.

I really felt that I had entered the ‘old city’. I got this sense that the structures here predate the structures I see a lot around Troon and Central Station. If I had more time and a camera, I might have investigated further. It’s great how many buildings display their year built on a sign above or beside the front door. 

They let me into Albert Hall a bit early; I was the first one there but did get a chance to talk with some of the event organizers. Before letting me in though, I had buzzed the door and a very nice older French-speaking fellow came out to meet me. I asked when I could go in. He had no idea what I said. Then he said something and I had no idea what he said. I have <em>gotta</em> learn me some French!

Eventually, we resorted to animal sounds and pointing. I pointed to me. Then the door. Then I showed him 6 fingers. Then I shrugged. Something clicked and he responded with a nod, six fingers, and then 3 sets of ten. 18:30. Got it. Merci. Dank u. 10 minutes later, he let me in. Merci. Dank u opnieuw.

The party was our 2008 kickoff event and featured many PowerPoint slides about how we’re doing and where we’re going. half the presentation was in Dutch. I understood a surprising amount of it. The English slides helped. But in IT, many of the words are simply English: Data Warehousing, Service Level Agreement, Project Management, etc…

One conversation I had with a few different colleagues was the etiquette that surrounds the Belgian Kiss. You know, when two strangers, acquaintances, or friends exchange a cheek-to-cheek ghost peck. I asked a few people if extending my hand in a hand-shake could be seen as rude.  I’m not totally comfortable with the Belgian Kiss so I avoid it. Based on my feedback, it looks like I’ll stay the course. No new strategy. Merci. Dank u.

Then the magician came out. Ugh. I find it easy to see the sleight of hand when you don’t concentrate on what the magician is saying. Misdirection is his game. But I was focused on his hands and caught some of his moves. He’s fast, but I wear glasses now and don’t speak his language.

I got home around 00:10. It was a late night. But I enjoyed my short trip to De Jacht and look forward to heading that way again some day.