Thursday Points

• My parents have just arrived to spend the weekend with us. My mum came with the kids and me when we moved here at the end of August and also visited me when I lived here back in 2002/2003, but my dad has never been to Belgium. So we'll do some touristy stuff at the weekend, probably a repeat of when Maria and Daniel were here a couple of weeks ago. Tomorrow I am working but my parents, Peter and the kids will explore our neighbourhood and/or go to Tervuren (forest/park). 
• This week I've attended a three day training course on working for the EU covering everything from basic EU knowledge (mainly on institutions and the links between them) to working in an extremely multicultural environment (I'm still amazed every day just how many nationalities there are - I knew it already of course, but now I'm really realising it) to problem-solving skills to procedures. It was a really interesting and good course that really concentrated on our work situation and personal skills and competences. It was extremely interactive (sometimes a bit too much for my taste, such as making short plays to illustrate situations; acting is not my thing) and almost everything was done in pair or groups. The majority of the participants were newcomers like me who have arrived within the last six months. Really good crowd, and I hope to see some of them again. 
• Tomorrow it's back to (real) work again and I have several urgent tasks waiting and next week looks to be a busy one too. The honeymoon is definitely over! But it's fun so I'm not complaining, just stating fact! 
• We're planning to drive to the UK to visit friends for a long weekend at beginning of November. We just need to book the train or the ferry to cross the channel. Can't believe we can actually drive from here to see our friends! It's supposed to take 5,5 hours non-stop but travelling with two young children means we'll take our time.