Buddima, Nadun and I (Chamara) had the privilege to travel to Belgium thanks to our client. So, we started our memorable journey on 22nd of September 2016 from Bandaranayke International airport. We were supposed to fly to Qatar first and take the transit flight straight to Belgium. After long flight hours we eventually reached the Brussels airport on the evening of 23rd September.
We had a lengthy wait in a long immigration queue due to rigorous security measures which can into place after the ISIS bomb attack on the Brussels airport. Our BIG BOSS came to pick us from the airport and see us to our apartment. We were so excited at this moment and we didn’t even feel the cold breeze in the evening. This was a very unique and exciting experience for all of us since we were in EUROPE. Our boss took us to their headquarters before heading for our apartment and we met a few of our Belgian colleagues.
We stayed in a large apartment all together and it was a new experience to bond with colleagues. We were in Belgium for a month and it was a very enjoyable time. So much that we still remember the trip, as if it was just yesterday. We cooked, traveled and did pretty much everything together as a team. It was a real bonding experience.
We traveled to parks and historic places, and many castles nearby. The weather was a little cold since winter was setting in, but we were very much enjoying every second of our travels.
At the client’s office, we were fortunate to meet a colleague who was from Sri Lanka but has been working and residing in Belgium for many years now. He treated us like family and was kind enough to give us nice Sri Lankan meals every time he invited us to his home. He pretty much looked after us while we were in Brussels and gave good tips about the city and shopping.
We worked only on weekdays and we took the tram every morning and evening. We were careful not to waste our precious time in Brussels, so we visited places of interest after work – such as – Gate hall, Royal place, King’s place, Grand place, Atomium, Red light district, museums and the list goes on. And, we booked our weekends to travel on long distance trips.
We were so lucky, we had the chance to travel to France and Netherlands during our stay in Belgium. We visited Eifel tour, Louver Museum, Arc de Triumph and more, while we were in Paris, France. It was like a once in a lifetime moment for us!
And, we visited Amsterdam, Netherlands on the following weekend. Amsterdam is also a very attractive place with lots of entertainment. We visited the Wax museum, Redlight district, boat rides etc.
We also visited Bruges, a remote beautiful city in Belgium that is of breathtaking beauty. The visit was suggested by one of our colleagues at the client site as he felt we would enjoy the beauty of that city.
This colleague also took us to an amusement park called Walibi, which had amazingly terrifying rides and activities. We enjoyed every second of our time there. And the CFO treated us to our first real Korean meal at an authentic Korean restaurant in Belgium.
We should mention that we enjoyed the office hours very much. It was really fun working at the client office. Everyone was so nice and they treated us like family, making our stay so memorable!
And after the month ended, we returned to Sri Lanka with so much good memories and experiences!
