Tough Love

Jeremy installed filter software on my computer that blocks reddit.com.

Sigh.

Goodbye, rage comics, memes, and other trivial items.

It's time to be serious I guess.

Beginnings

Today is the first official day of our program. Jeremy, Dan, and I assume that we will need to take the following courses:

• Philosophical Anthropology (primary text: Freud's Beyond the Pleasure Principle)
• Philosophy of Being (primary text: Kant's Critique of Pure Reason) 
• Ethics (primary text: instructor William Desmond's Ethics and the Between)
• Theory of Knowledge (primary text unknown) 

In addition to completing coursework, each of us is expected to have a substantial thesis outline completed by November 15th. So it begins! 

Library

Just some pictures of the university library, no big deal. Interior:

Exterior: 

So yeah, that's the library. It's pretty cool or whatever.

Provision

We have a roof! Hallelujah.

Jeremy, Dan, and I are renting a large studio apartment. It's split into two levels; the main level comprises a kitchen, hall, and some living space, which is split by a set of stairs that leads up into a large loft, where the beds are located. A sizable window gives us access to the roof, where today we found an empty vodka bottle, pair of once-white women's shoes, and a child's painted chair. There was also a scattering of red bottle caps.

If you would ever like to send us a letter or a package (which we would absolutely love), please make use of the following address:

STUDENTS' RESIDENCE
GOEDE HERDER LEUVEN
To the attention of Marty Jones, Dan Leonard, and Jeremy Heuslein
Studio-3.19
Minderbroedersstraat 21
B-3000 LEUVEN

It's been an excruciatingly long couple of days and we are very tired so goodnight.

Think About Your Troubles

So far, my two fellow student-travelers and I have failed to procure long-term housing, and we can only stay at this hostel for one more night (tonight). It's 9:15pm. We are emailing landlords like crazy. Now is the time to pray for us, if you are that sort of person, and would be so kind as to send an intercessory word heavenwards.

To Do

I'm traveling from Naarden/Bussum to Belgium on Monday. Things I need to accomplish upon arrival:

• Procure temporary housing
• Enroll, pay tuition
• Register at City Hall
• Open a Belgian bank account
• Procure long-term housing
• Sign up for orientation
• Do a single, normal thing, just to prove to myself that it's possible

Dutch Life: Things to Tolerate

• Water at restaurants is never free; at the snazzy eatery I was blessed to visit tonight, my aqua arrived in a thick glass bottle, which the server opened and poured for me. When I drew it to my lips I anticipated a tinge of sweetness, fruit or alcohol perhaps, but no. Just water. Very expensive water. 
• Prices seem to be higher by the sheer numbers than in the US, and they're also listed in euros, so I guess things must be around eight times more expensive than they are in the states. When the euro is strong, sixteen times, rough guess.
• Hipsters here: who knew? 

Benefits of Life in the Netherlands

Just a few things I have come to love after living with my Aunt and cousin for two days in Naarden / Bussum: 

• 10am Coffee or tea with biscuits, cheese, etc 
• 4pm Coffee or tea with biscuits, cheese, etc 
• 5pm Pre-dinner wine with biscuits, cheese, etc 
• Post-dinner coffee or tea
• Evening nightcap with option for biscuits, cheese, etc
• Bicycles are a primary mode of travel, and bike lanes are incorporated into the transportation infrastructure everywhere
• The beds are long enough 
• A pervasive sense of historicity