Last night I jumped on the train to Amsterdam to attend a conference put on by Q4K (Quest for Knowledge). (I’ll blog more about the content of the conference over at Tod means Fox.) The conference runs ’till Friday.

The train ride was long and hot. For a stretch (between stops Brussel Centraal and Mechelen), I had to stand. Not a lot of fun when you have to stand with about a dozen other people in a poorly ventilated tin can. And not a lot of fun when you have a laptop and suitcase resting at your feet. One kid took a tumble when the train hit a bump and his foot got caught on the exposed wheel of my bag. I felt bad, but hey — he was alright. Nothing broken. No blood.

The train got significantly lighter when we dropped off passengers in Antwerpen Centraal. And then again in Roosendaal. By the time we reached Den Haag, I was living large. I bought a Coke from the cart guy (a dirty old man wheeling a cart of expensive goodies down the isle like a stewardess on Northwest Airlines). I had a seat next to me all to myself, and I was cruising along in my new book: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell.

I really enjoyed Malcolm’s Tipping Point, and am really enjoying Blink so far. I’ll be posting more about this soon…

…

So here I am, at the hotel. Questing for knowledge and thinking without thinking. Sort of ironic I suppose.

I just learned today that practically right across the street from where I work (in the Troon area in Brussels) is the US Embassy building (which is in the Kunst-Wet area). I had been wondering where this was in relation to my building. I need to go to the US Embassy some day soon for my daughter’s paperwork.

It’s a lot of fun getting to know the lay of the land. I feel pretty good about the Central Station / Troon / and Kunst-Wet triangle now. I’m also a trained professional at buying cheese pizzas from the Pizza Hut around the corner.

And, to top it off, today is absolutely beautiful out. I’ve learned to really appreciate the nice days here!