An Edible Epic Yarn: Housing, snail mail and food

Hi again! I'm still alive.

Housing...
My housing situation has gotten rather interesting. As some of you may know, I am a sublessee of a nice apartment which has its own kitchen and bathroom, and is fully furnished (since I am renting it from the tenant). Turns out that he (the person I'm renting from) is not coming back, and so we discussed the situation and from January 2013 onwards, I would take over the rent.

But. There is a catch. The rental price that I pay him is actually not the real rental price.

What? you might think, are you getting ripped off?

Actually, it's the exact opposite. He gets rental subsidy from the government, and so the amount he charges me is actually AFTER the subsidy, as in I pay what he would normally be paying. Which makes a lot of sense.

It seems like it shouldn't be too bad, I just need to apply for rental subsidy myself for when I take over, right?

Well, apparently the Dutch government decided that if you're between ages 18 and 23, then there's a certain minimum/maximum rental price for which you're eligible for rental subsidy. If you're older than 23, that window increases.

And wouldn't you know it, I am between 18 and 23, and the actual rental price is above the price bracket.

Not sure what to do now, but amen ^^;

Snail mail...

When I got home this past weekend, I opened my mailbox to find FOUR letters for me.

I was so surprised, but excited. As I opened and read them, they actually seemed remarkably independent from each other (one was for an assignment, one was from someone I had sent a postcard too, etc...)

But it was fishy, because... how did they all know my address?

So I asked my mom, and I found out that she organized a number of people to send me snail mail. My mommy is sweet :). It's also very exciting cause I don't know whose letter will come next, and they're all very cherishing and heartwarming to read.

Food

I love food :)

Visited Lille this past weekend...

Apparently, real legit crepes are BUCKWHEAT! Wow, who knew?

And you have them with apple cider (see top left corner)... the cider is almost wine-like.

So delish.

Okay, dessert crepes are a little more like what the rest of the world thinks a crepe should be. Mm, caramel with salted butter and banana? Yes please.

There was an upside-down house...

Stuffed waffle from Meert! Soft waffle that is thin (looks almost like stroopwafel cause it's so fine, but the texture is different) and has vanilla in between. Looking at this is making me hungry.

This was the special of the day... I don't know what exactly it is called but it was also very good.

I had almond tea that I didn't take a picture of, but it was super delicious. Not almond milk tea, just almond tea. Coupled really nicely with the sweet desserts.

And... not only shoes are big here....