T-minus 19 hours

In less than 19 hours I will be arriving in Antwerpen, and leaving home in only 12 - the nerves have officially set in!

I finished packing this morning, and I have my passport, some clothes, a couple of textbooks and some bits and pieces - what more could an intrepid law student need? If I've forgotten anything important I'll just have to do without or buy another one over there! As I'm travelling on the Eurostar I have a limit on my baggage - luckily not the weight - where I can only have two medium items (apparently a length of 85cm and below is 'medium' - this seems pretty large to me!) and a piece of hand luggage, so I haven't been able to take things like bedding, kitchen utensils or towels, meaning I will have to buy these things when I arrive or the next day - all part of the fun of moving via train!

My journey will be made up of 7 stages - car, train, walk, train, train, train, walk - and take just under 7 hours to cover the 399 miles from door to door. Lucky I enjoy travelling! I've packed my Dutch vocab book, the Cityspots guide to Antwerpen, Terra Incognita (a fantastic book about a woman's travels through Antartica) and some food and drink to enjoy along the way.

When I arrive I'll be meeting my landlord to collect my keys, move in and unpack. I suspect the remainder of my evening will be taken up with locating dinner and possibly some form of bedding! Wednesday is going to be a relaxed day of settling in and exploration of my new neighbourhood before I start my EILC on Thursday and suddenly have to get my brain into learning gear again after a summer off - eek!

As a mental break from language studies I've just booked my ticket for Laundry Day next Saturday. No, this is not a national day of clothes washing - the Belgians aren't (quite) that weird. It is actually Belgium's largest one day music festival, conveniently held a 10 minute bike ride from my room on De Beuckerstraat in the Antwerpen Zuid district. According to www.laundryday.be it started on a Saturday afternoon (the traditional laundry day) back in 1998. A local block party in Kammenstraat turned into a success - there was no stage, 1 live band, 1 disco bar, only 500 people and due to rain the party had to end early in the day. Nowadays it has moved to Nieuw Zuid, has 13 stages, 140 acts, around 60,000 partiers and lasts for 12 hours regardless of the weather. Sounds like a good time and a good way of learning about Belgian music, plus it's only 29 euros - detailed review to follow!

So having zipped up my suitcase, buckled my rucksack and entrusted my cat to my mother for the next year, my last night in England for 4 months draws to a close - next stop, Belgie!

A roof overhead and a suitcase full of textbooks

Despite my optimism in my last blog about getting a room to live in, there has been much drama over the last three weeks! It turned out that Paardenmaarkt was rented out from under me (not the only time it would happen either!), then Stijfselstraat wasn't complying with the Kotweb rental agreement so I didn't want to risk living there.

Not to worry, I told myself, there are plenty of places to rent in Antwerpen. Now that may indeed be true, but getting hold of one, or even just a landlord  to discuss terms, is mightily difficult. Approximately 40 emails, 3 false alarms, a variety of hideous looking properties and a lot of hair pulled out later, this morning I heard back from a studio on Carnotstraat for a great price - it was available! Fantastic I thought, and immediately asked about paying the caution. Sadly, mere hours later disaster would strike in the form of a previous tenant leaving the place in such a state that it would take 2 months to repair the damage. Despairing, I got the telephone and started trying to find somewhere by speaking (bad) dutch. Still nothing.

Luckily, just as I was beginning to wonder whether I am really meant to be going to Antwerpen, I got an email about a room I'd been enquiring about (but that wouldn't be available until 15/09/11) saying that I could rent it, and that the landlord would let me stay in his daughter's empty studio until the room was available.

Hallelujah! After much anguish and despair I have managed to find a 13m2 room sharing a kitchen and bathroom with two others on De Beuckerstraat not far from Antwerpen Zuid, the Schelde, Konig Albertpark and the number 12 tramlijn. It even has a place to store my bike. For only 250 euro per month including my utilities, central heating and internet, it's a bargain!

Filled with excitement and relief about finally sorting my accomodation out I began packing my new stripy suitcase with bits and pieces and ticking things off my to-do list. Book accomodation? Check. Photocopy important documents? Check. Order a local map? Check. Buy a guidebook? Check. All in all a very productive day, despite the awful interlude in the middle. 18 days to go!