The problem with sharing your birthday with the EU...

The problem with sharing your birthday with the EU is that it is probably the only fifty year old which is statistically likely to outlive me... Depressing. Still not going to let that get in the way of getting ratted now am I! Besides, we all know that out of the EU, the Anniversary of the Slave Trade's abolition and my birthday that I AM THE MOST IMPORTANT!!!! Ahem, sorry about that.

The Friday before my birthday I was trying to sort out my finances on the phone to the bank. It was about five and the office was winding down with most people on the floor just killing time till Happy Hour at the Pullman on Place Lux.

'Hi I want to transfer some money into a Belgian bank account. Can you tell me how much this will cost?'
'Certainly, it will cost....'

I lost him at this point as the entirety of the EPLP assistants and stagiares poured into the office singing happy birthday.

'Sorry I'm going to have to call you back' as a chocolate birthday cake is handed over.

The bloody candles would't go out either. They were bloody sparklers or something and everytime one went out it would smoke and then relight, even when I put them out with my bloody fingers! So they were thrown out the window before the fire alarm went off. Still an hour of drinking cheap wine and a foul Hungarian spirit meant that I was already in fine fettle upon reaching the Pullman. The night quickly descended into messiness and at 11ish we crashed some guys house warming party for food then I wandered home with a girl who knew the way and of course we managed to find a bar on the way back too. This of course just set the tone for the weekend!

Brussels was buzzing all weekend and there was a huge free concert at the Atomium on Saturday night. I didn't really know any of the acts. It was mainly Europop with some aging German metal heads and a very depressing French singer. It was pretty fun though and a good introduction to European music. Some of the groups were even pretty good, including a Belgian band, really! Fifty thousand people were there and the Atomium was a great venue making a great backdrop and also a brilliant fireworks display.

The one annoying thing with the event were the bloody Belgian presenters! After every bloody act they hauled over the singer or band and bloody interviewed them! And because this is Belgian every answer and question was repeated and translated into five bloody languages! You'd think a country that speaks too many languages would focus on non-verbal stuff, especially at a sodding concert but oh nooo, that would be far too simple! Also the Flemish guy out of the two (the other being a French woman, I think that is always the way round as well...) was a complete clown and also seemed really bitter about the fact that one of the acts - a previous Belgian Eurovision act - hadn't won it. I wasn't surprised, she was shit.

After the concert I got off the metro at Schuman at about 1 and went in to my local for one. Five hours later I rolled out of there with Paulina - my Polish housemate - and staggered home... Jon the aussie barman had been plying me with shots 'for my birthday' and although I felt okay at the time the next morning I couldn't feel my legs!

After getting up at half three the logical thing to do would be to eat something and then go back to bed... So I went out and celebrated my momentous 22 years on the actual day and got abit pissed... Its okay I made it in to work the next day at half 8... besides pickled things last longer, take that EU!