Spring

This is the first time I see spring approaching in another country.

It's nice: 15°C, and the trees are blooming. Nice white and pink flowers... on the trees. I can't stress this enough, folks, they have some sort of strange mutant tree-flowers around here.

The incident with the policeman has a simple enough explanation. Ingibjörg was right; he was at my place to see if I actually live there. This is something they do around here.

Some weeks ago I registered my new address, and was told a policeman would come for a visit. I had nearly forgotten about that promised visit when finally I got a letter asking me for my address. Read that last part again if you didn't catch the absurdity. :)

That meant the policeman had come by a few times, and I was never there. Later I found out that he had come by 9 times, all but once sometime between three and four in the afternoon. Of course I wasn't home, I was at work! *sigh* So I had to go myself to pick up the policeman.

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Belgian police stations are funny. The policemen look like cartoon characters, most of them with a moustache, really fat or somehow otherwise a caricature of a caricature.

The first one had a moustache. Asked me what I wanted, explained I was in the wrong place, and I explained I was, in fact, in the right place. He asked me to wait. Another policeman, this time the special 'I-come-to-your-place-to-see-if-you-live-there' agent (fat), came and asked me what I wanted, explained I was in the wrong place, and I explained I was, in fact, in the right place. He also asked me to wait, but at least this time I was offered a seat.

The fattest policeman sat opposite me while I waited. Gulped down a can of diet coke while disinterestedly asking me about my reasons for being there. Got off his chair and disappeared for a few minutes, then came back with another diet coke.

A policeman that looked like santa claus walked in, looked bewildered, then walked out again. It would have been kinda funny if it wasn't for the gun he had strapped to his waist.

Finally my policeman came back with all the required paperwork, and told me he would be at my place in 15 minutes. Hence the wild dash back to my apartment for some last minute tidying up.

And that explains that!