Survivor

I'm back! I survived my first business trip! Hooray!

Yesterday, I went to Brugge. I had special permission from The Boss to miss the last day of the tradeshow and so I did. This was my first real solo adventure outside of the country; I only had myself to rely on to figure out how to get from one place to another and back. The result? I got lost. HaHa!

I took the wrong Metro (subway) so I ended up going the wrong way and had to ride it all the way back to where I started plus two more stops. You know, it was then that I realized that knowing English is really a powerful thing. As long as you know English, I think you'll always find your way to where you need to go. After a quick talk with a Metro attendant, I was on my way to the train station.

At the train station, I relied on myself to figure out what to do. Who knew I was smart enough to figure out where to buy the ticket and which platform to go on! LoL. After an hour on the train (sitting next to youngins on a fieldtrip, Pen!), I got to Brugge successfully.

The first thing I ran into was Michaelangelo's "Madonna and Child," his only masterpiece outside of Italy. The church where this is located is great in itself. I can't believe that churches could have so many religious masterpieces. I swear, the churches in Manila and Seattle are so plain compared to the ones in Europe!

I didn't have a map with me so I just wandered around until I found the next tourist-y thing. After walking endlessly and ending up in so many back alleys, I found my way to the center of it all: the market place. I gasped upon seeing it. The Grand Place in Brussels is nothing compared to the one in Brugge. The architecture is amazing; it was vibrant with all the flags; and it was lively with all the people. Simply beautiful!

After eating frites for lunch, buying souvenirs, and seeing some more churches (they get old after awhile, and yes, that was a pun!), I started heading home. Well, sort of. I got lost again. Seriously, the skinny European streets all look alike and trying to memorize the names aren't that helpful because they're usually long. I wandered for maybe 45 minutes and found my way to what I called "downtown Brugge" where all the restaurants and hotels were. I finally gave up being my own radar and went into a hotel and asked where the train station was. The front desk lady was nice enough not to roll her eyes at me and told me that I just needed to follow the street in front of the hotel.

After walking forever, I almost passed the train station. Thank God, I turned back and checked it out first before walking another mile and a half. There was a point in time when I thought I would have to cry my little eyes out because I had no idea where the hell I needed to go to catch the train. And I thought backpacking in Europe would be easy!

Once the train arrived, it was easy as pie. When I saw the Hilton after hiking up the subway stairs, I breathed a sigh of relief. Being lost in a foreign country is a bit scary. I don't know how non-English-speaking people travel the world. If anyone cares to enlighten me, please don't hesitate.

Anyway, we all gathered for dinner again to celebrate the success of the tradeshow. There was some drama that came up which I shall talk about in the next few days. I actually cried in the hotel room before going to bed last night. Tsk. Tsk. Let's just say that I'm having doubts about what my position requires, most of which were not listed in the job posting when I applied. How difficult it is to be a businesswoman!

For now, the important thing is that I'm home...for one week. HeHe.