Football!

Not even two weeks after the joy of Roland Garros (although it wasn't my favourite RG, to be honest - Federer and Henin out way too early, and two pretty boring finals), there is more pleasure on tv for the sports fan. The football World Cup in South Africa has been kicked off about an hour ago. Since Belgium didn't make it to the tournament, I'm supporting Germany (like I always do) and England (especially for the mister!). When it comes down to winning the cup, my bets are on Spain, though. Who are you supporting and who do you think is going to win?

Tell me how do I feel (London 1-2)

So here I am, back from London. I received my (really good) exam results yesterday, but I haven't got plenty of time to stand still and enjoy the glory, because today is the start of the new semester. Before I leave for my first course of the term, I'd like to share some of my latest UK trip with you guys.

I arrived in London on the last Saturday of January, quite tired because I went out in Ghent the night before and only got about half an hour of sleep, quite nervous because I was going couch surfing for the first time in my life. But first of all, I met up with Jim, who by coincidence was in London that weekend to visit his parents. We went for a drink and a chat, and then he was kind enough to escort me all the way to Alan's (my host) place and carry my suitcase. I said goodbye to Jim and Alan (still dirty from playing football :)) welcomed me into his house. He turned out to be a very charming 24-year old English guy, sharing a place with two other lads (Alex and Nikos). He was absolutely lovely and I felt at home in no time.

The boys had some friends over, and Nikos prepared supper for all of us. Afterwards, all of them took of to see Real Estate. I didn't have a ticket, but we met up after the gig to go out together. There aren't many things I like better than British indie nights, so you can imagine I had a great time (even though the dj didn't play my request, Blue Monday by New Order).

Despite having practically no sleep (again), Alan and I woke up early (Alex decided to have no sleep at all instead) to watch the Australian Open finals. As a UK citizen, he of course had to support Andy Murray, but I was relieved to hear he also admires Roger Federer, who won the match (or what had you really thought? :p).

In the afternoon I hopped on the tube and went shopping on Brick Lane. I absolutely love Brick Lane on Sundays, with its cosy markets and the lively atmosphere. Plus, they have the most amazing vintage shops. I found myself a lovely flowered dress and could go back to the house feeling satisfied. Alan cooked me a typical English meal and we spent the rest of the evening watching YouTube videos of drunk ministers (hello, Michel Daerden). :) I went to sleep around midnight as I had to get up early the day after to catch my coach to Liverpool in Victoria.

...to be continued...

A gorgeous building I had to pass each time I walked from Alan's place to the tube station.

Brick Lane.

The universe is expanding

She didn't win the finals against Kim Clijsters in Brisbane, but even Kim fans will have to admit either one could've won. My point is: Justine Henin has made the best come-back ever, showed everyone she still has that magnificent fighting spirit and technique, and is ready to become the world's number 1 in tennis again soon! Allez Juju!

London part 3

On the third day I woke up...oh no, wait, I didn't, thanks to Dean you can reduce that to just stepping out of bed and still be sort of awake. The worst part was he hadn't even noticed Eloise screaming at him and me kicking him all night long. He was very embarrased though, poor guy. :) Eloise went off to work, me and Dean headed to McDonald's for breakfast.

After some good laughs and Dean showing me all the pictures on his phone, we seperated ways and I took the tube all the way to the Wimbledon museum. Cost me 10 quid, but I didn't mind as it was quite a good museum if you like tennis. You get to see a whole lot of old (old, wooden rackets, tennis outfits for women that look like ballroom dresses...) and more recent (Wimbledon cup, Roger Federer's amazing military style outfit...) tennis attributes and the fantastic Centre Court (with the new rain roof). The shop is pretty good too!

On my way back I made a stop at Rough Trade East, which turned out to be HEAVEN. I bought myself a whole lot of stuff, ran into my mate Murray by coincidence, then headed back to Brick Lane. Lenny, Mathi, Eloise and I met up with Eloise's friend Rebecca. After watching some tv, we had a drink at the Old Blue Last before going to this place called Catch. At Catch, we had a great time dancing to eighties tunes you'd rather not know. We also ran into Grant from The Rifles, again by coincidence.

Breakfast with Dean

Wimbledon

Centre Court


Pretending to be Roger Federer

Roger's outfit

Rough Trade East

Party at Catch

Grant and Eloise

Rebecca's impeccable dance moves

A touch of genius

For those who didn't get to see the US Open semi-finale between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (and also for those who did, because it's still great), Roger's amazing between the legs shot:



It's not the first time he pulls a trick like that. This was a couple of months ago against Andy Roddick:



(haha, look at Roger smiling at the end of the video)

He's a dedicated follower of fashion

By the way, have you seen Roger's new Wimbledon outfit? Most stylish tennis player ever, without a doubt!

Roland Garros week 1

When Grand Slam tennis is on, I'm always glued in front of the television screen, exams or no exams. No exception to that rule was last week, the first week of Roland Garros 2009. It was a very interesting tennis week, with a significant amount of top class matches and some very unexpected losses. The highlights:

- Last year's champion and also favourite for this year's title, Rafael Nadal, rushed through the first three rounds (beating Daniel and crushing Gabashvili and ex-number one Hewitt), only to surprisingly lose in the fourth round against Swedish subtop player Söderling.

- Novak Djokovic was supposed to be one of the most important outsiders to challenge Nadal, but he didn't even survive the third round, when German clay specialist Kohlschreiber crossed his path.

- Someone who did better than expected, is Nikolai Davydenko. The Russian is of course an excellent player, but nobody really thought he already had enough match rythm to really challenge the big guys in this Slam. Wrong. Davydenko well impressed against young talents Wawrinka and Verdasco.

- However, like usual, my eyes are mainly focused on Roger Federer, who is eager to finally win Roland Garros and even Sampras's Grand Slam record. Federer had some tough matches, especially against gravel specialist Acasuso as well as this afternoon at the start of week 2, battling a strong Tommy Haas (who - we may not forget - is a former number two, and whose rather moderate ranking is only due to lots of unjuries). But fortunately there's enough to keep the hopes up. Roger already showed us some new techniques, is mentally ready for big challenges (against Haas, he returned from 0-2 to 3-2 in sets!) and still has that great touch we love so much (which he especially demonstrated against Mathieu). Come on Roger!

- The road seems to be open for Roger Federer to win his first Roland Garros now Djokovc and Rafa are out, but danger is lurking only right around the corner. Murray, Roddick, Tsonga, Monfils, Del Porto and Davydenko are only a few names to look out for.

- Women's tennis is pretty boring nowadays, lacking real champions. However, my vote for this Roland Garros goes out to Safina, who is playing excellent so far (only giving away 5 games in 4 matches!) and who kind of deserves it as well.

- When it comes down to new female talents on the horizon, I'd like to point out Larcher de Brito, a 16-year-old girl from Portugal who made it until the third round, where she lost from Rezai. It's a girl with a temper (!!) but I kind of like that commitment, and it's clear her techniques are great.

We are always running for the thrill of it thrill of it

70%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Does that mean committed to my blog yet still healthy? :D

Talking about healthy, a couple of weeks ago I decided to practice some more sports to support my body condition that I can use well whilst playing badminton. And I'm keeping this promise I made to myself, cause today I'm off for my first real swim in years!

AO finals 2009

I've always been a very sensitive person when it comes down to any way of competition, not only when it involves myself, but also the athletes I look up to. There's not athlete I have more admiration for than Roger Federer, which resulted in me crying my heart out ever since the men's finals of the Australian Open were played and won by Rafael Nadal (7-5 3-6 7-6 3-6 6-2).

The first four sets were extremely exiting. Federer and Nadal are so much better than anybody else in the ATP tennis tournament, and it showed. Federer didn't manage to make something out of a couple of great chances he managed to create, and that's what killed him in the end. Did his nerves fail on him because of his previous losses in Grand Slam finals against Nadal? Or was it something else that made him struggle with his first serve? Anyhow, Federer also showed us some amazing tennis, but those little moments of hesitating gave Nadal the opportunity to push through and finish it off in the last set.

Nadal was great, so you won't ever hear me say he didn't deserve it. I just felt so so bad for Roger. I think Rafael and Roger are equally good at this point of their carreers, but Roger is under too much pressure and he has some difficulties handling it. It wasn't very surprising that he was very disappointed. He had a hard time after the match was finished and confessed "God it's killing me" before the tears started rolling. Bless Nadal for saying “I really know how you feel right now. Remember that you are a great champion and you are one of the best in history and you will beat Pete Sampras’ 14 titles for sure.” I hope he's right. I know Roger has the talent and the will to do so, but I hope he can still find the strength to keep on fighting for it.

It's unbelievable how emotional watching tennis can be. At first I was a bit angry with Roger because of his disappointing last set, but now I'm sure he gave all he could bring up mentally and physically. I'll keep on supporting for him and have faith in him winning his 14th Slam after all. Go Roger!

Heaven knows, it's got to be this time

All right, Roger did it again! He beat Roddick in three sets and made it to his 18th (!!!) Grand Slam final! Tomorrow will be decided wether his opponent for the final struggle will be Nadal or Verdasco.

I'm off to the karaoke bar tonight. My best friend Elke had her final exam today so there's plenty to celebrate!

Tomorrow will be equally fantastic. I'm going to see Oasis play in Lille and afterwards we're all heading to the afterparty where Paul (Liam and Noel's brother) and Peter (from Make Up Club in Ghent) will be dj'ing.



And after that, it's time to prepare for Rome! To give you a taster, I'll show you some pictures of the first time I ever was in Rome (it was the school trip in my last year of high school, almost three years ago).
Sorry about the proportions of the photos. My antivirus is fucking up my computer and now I can't upload pictures anymore through Blogger, so I have to use Photobucket which apparantly leads to this. I'm really sorry.

ice cream!


pizza restaurants!


Forum Romanum


Vittorio Emanuelle monument


cocktail bar evenings


Guy, my favourite teacher ever (and still a friend nowadays)


Elke and I back in the days


beautiful ceiling in the Vatican musea


the balloon


my best mate Sam and I were playing cards right in front of the Vatican (playing cards was the obsession of our class at the time, I don't think there's been a place in Rome where we haven't played)


Castle Sant'Angelo - Elke, Guy and I


castle Sant'Angelo




Pompei


Vesuvius

So you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore

First of all, hurray for Roger Federer who kind of made a fool of Del Potro by playing on his top level (oh yes, as good as in 2006!) during the Australian Open quarter finals. Next up is Andy Roddick in the semi-finals. Roddick has definitely become a better player during the last few months (well hello, where did those superb volleys suddenly came from?), but a good Roger can handle him easily. :)

Oh, and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CteLDN7214

Anyway - today was my first free day, and since most of my friends still haven't finished their exams, I had to spend some time on my own. Apart from watching loads of tennis (and some dumb, but really funny program in which two guys are competing each other with their talent in picking up girls), I've been reading a lot in this lovely book I got as a Christmas present. It's called "The Travel Book" and it contains all possible countries, all of them described by some distinctive attractions and beautiful pictures.

It made me think of how much of the world I have yet to explore. And I can't wait to do so! I made myself a list of places I definitely want to go to in the future. It's kind of an endless list, so I made you a more compact edition:

- NORWAY! My dream since I was a little girl, I've always had a strange fascination with this country.
- Russia (transsiberian route, please!)
- Australia
- Sweden
- Finland
- Iceland
- Canada
- US (especially the San Fransisco area)
- Ireland
- the Baltic states
- Peru
- Japan
- China
- Czech republic
- some countries I've already seen, but definitely want to give some further exploration: England, Scotland, Spain, Italy, Portugal...
- and so much more

How about you guys? Any travels YOU really want to do?

And it's no surprise that you'll soon forget about me

THE EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER!


And I've treated myself to a new badminton outfit I found on eBay. Well yes, is actually a tennis dress, but clothingwise there's not much of a difference between the two disciplines, right?

The tennis fans among you might remember the dress from the Australian Open 2008, when that year's champion Maria Sharapova wore it (she had a beige and white one, I've bought the beige dress).

I'm looking forward to playing in it!

Cheering for Roger

Today I got faced by another annual distraction during the exams: the Australian Open. Regular readers have probably already noticed my uncoditional love for Roger Federer so it was not really surprising that a couple of hours ago, I was not to be found studying, but in front of the television screen, jumping on the couch and loudly cheering for Roger. (I like to call that my 'lunch break')

Roger found a tough opponent in the Italian Andreas Seppi, yet he managed to finish his match in three sets (6-1 7-6 7-5). Victory for Swiss class! (by the way, have a look at his beautiful new outfit!)

Some other things I noticed on the first day of playing:

* most games were quite predictable in their outcomes, no big favourites were sent home

* among the subtop, Marat Safin, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Caroline Wozniacki made a great impression

* our Belgian players won and lost: Xavier Malisse and Kirsten Flipkens made it to the next round, whereas Yanina Wickmayer may pack her bags

Who's playing tomorrow? Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt, Fernando Gonzales, Rafael Nadal, Ernests Gulbis, Christophe Rochus and Steve Darcis (from Belgium), Serena and Venus Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Elena Dementieva and many more.

Yes this fear's got a hold of me

If you're wondering why I haven't been blogging that much since the start of the new year, I can give you one simple answer: exams. They're starting next week, so I better have to be prepared. I've got 5 exams to do for this term. There's 3 of them I'm pretty comfortable about and two that eh...ah well. :)

So, what have I been up to except for all the studying? Well, I did have my share of entertainment thanks to the Four Hills tournament. I'm one of the probably not more than four or five ski jumping fans in Belgium, and it's an event I look forward to every year.

This year was even more special, because my favourite jumper Simon Ammann - who used to only peak at important events and rank rather averagely in the normal cup events - had kicked off the season extremely well (he even topped - and still tops - the ranking for the world cup) and was one of the favourites - if not the favourite for winning the Four Hills. Unfortunately he didn't (he became second tough, and he's still number one in the world cup rankings - yeey!), but it was a very interesting edition nevertheless.

The top five consisted of (starting with the winner) Wolfgang Loitzl (experienced jumper who's been around for a long time, but now seems to be in the shape of his life at 28), Simon Ammann (my favourite, who also seems to jump better than ever before), Gregor Schlierenzauer (very young jumper, but already really good), Martin Schmitt (another "oldie" who seemed to be written off, but who is making a fabulous return this season) and Dimitry Vasilliev (31-year old and very underrrated Russian jumper, I'm glad he finally got to show his abilities). So, if you have any idea of what and who I'm talking about, you can imagine what a lovely tournament it's been.

Before leaving you, I'd like to share some photos I took when the snowflakes had fallen down again.