4 countries in 6 days? Bring it on...

Since my last post, I have been busy traveling, exploring, and worrying about getting everything accomplished that I want to before my time is up. It's been a whirlwind adventure to say the least! As a continuation of the last entry, here are a few pictures of the weekend my mom visited Brussels. We had such a great time!!

The first photo is Mom in front of Mannekin Pis, Brussels' famous fountain/statue of a little boy doing exactly what his name implies- Pissing. Its about the size of a garden gnome and really anti-climatic. We had much more fun taking pictures of all the other tourists visiting at the same time we were. The second photo is my mom and I in front of Audrey Hepburn's birthplace in Brussels. We are attempting to reenact the cover of Breakfast at Tiffany's... Success? Fail? You be the judge.






















After my mom left, two very intense weeks of traveling occurred. First, our program took us to a city in the Netherlands called the Hague. Unfortunately, this was the day after St. Patrick's Day, so after a long night out with too much Guinness in Brussels, we had a relatively weak showing on the CIEE bus at 6:20 AM. The select group of us that got ourselves out of bed bussed it to the Netherlands to get to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia or ICTY for short. This is part of the United Nations designed to prosecute serious war crimes. We spent the morning watching and listening to a hearing, but it was rather hard to understand and stay awake for it. I enjoyed the next part of the day much more, where we were able to walk around The Hague and go to my personal favorite museum of my time abroad thus far - The Mauritshuis, where the painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is located. We had a fantastic tour guide, and I was able to learn a lot about the painter Vermeer and his many works that were on display here. We then spent a few hours in a charming town called Delft, which has many canals and could be considered a "typical Dutch city." I loved its charm and had a great time relaxing outside on the beautiful day. Here is a photo of my friend Amy and I taking up residence on one of the cities many canals:

















After arriving home around midnight, I only had a few hours to sleep, only to wake up at 3AM to catch a taxi to a bus to get to the airport. Where to this time? Dublin with my friends Amy and Danny. The first thing on our agenda upon arriving in Ireland getting a "typical Irish breakfast":
It was delicious for the most part. The black 'pudding' tasted like baby food but other than that, it was a great way to start the day. We couldn't check into the hostel until later in the day, so we decided to take the train to a fishing village on the outskirts of Dublin, called Howth. The brochure we got beforehand said "Howth is MAGIC"...and it was right. The water was beautiful and we were able to walk all around the port and see "Ireland's eye," an island right off the coast. I loved seeing the seals that swam right up to the docks and the hundreds of fishing boats and fisherman preparing to go out to sea. It was a nice change of pace from the big cities we usually travel to. Here is a photo of the port with Ireland's eye in the background:

Upon returning to Dublin, the city was already bustling with people getting ready for the 6 nations rugby tournament taking place in Europe that weekend. With that said, I should probably mention that more than half of these people were Scottish visitors, ALL wearing kilts and talking smack to Irish people before the Ireland vs. Scotland game the next night. We spent the night bar hopping and sipping lots of Guinesses. Since we apparently hadn't had enough Irish beer, we woke up the next morning and went to the Guinness factory, which was just a short walk away from our hostel. It was interesting to see the process of how the beer is made, and climbing to the top and having a complimentary beer while overlooking the city. Here is the group sporting our rugby jerseys on top of the factory:

That night, we watched the rugby tournament and went to a bunch of different bars. The next morning we found a place with my favorite hangover breakfast- bacon, egg, and cheese bagels! We spent the day walking around the city and enjoying the sunshine in Dublin's famous park, St. Stephen's Green. I loved my time in Dublin, even though it was quite a culture shock... everyone spoke English and I was able to read all the street signs! The bagel even further affirmed the Americanization of Dublin. Danny headed back to Brussels Sunday night and Amy and I stayed till Monday morning.

After a fantastic weekend, we flew back to Brussels, but ran into a bit of trouble before we could really get home. Amy and I went to different lines at customs and while she got through, the man checking my passport proclaimed that my VISA had expired. I tried to explain to him that I was a student and that I had applied for my resident card and was waiting to receive the paperwork (this is how to extend the legitimacy of a VISA in Belgium, I actually had not applied yet but I knew we were supposed to...). I had to do this in English and French because the man's English was quite terrible. He summoned me into a back room and told me to wait for him to finish checking everyone elses passports. After that, he told me to follow him down to the police station. Amy had been waiting for me and when the policeman saw her, he asked to see her passport since she was with me. He deemed her unworthy of entering the country and took us both to the airport police station. Amy and I frantically sent text messages to our program directors asking what to do, but neither of them had ever dealt with such a situation before. The cops were saying they were going to deport us back to Ireland if we couldn't present valid identification. They gave us an "Administrative Arrest" warrant and said we were detained until further notice. The only other times they spoke to us were to have us write our addresses down and then AFTER we asked for water. First response to the water request: "Just wait." Second response: "You have money for it?" It was like out of a movie- we were parched and waiting in an all white room with no windows. Detained. After 4 hours of waiting they told us we were being sent back to America - then burst out laughing, and said we could go back to Brussels. Needless to say, I will not be traveling without proper documentation ANY time soon!

I know this is long but bear with me, I have to catch up on my travels! The day after returning from Dublin, our program took us to Luxembourg. We left that evening, and arrived just as the sun was setting over the castle we stayed in for the night. Yes, we stayed in a castle... recently turned into a hostel. Basically, it was UNBELIEVABLE, located in the rolling hills of the Luxembourg countryside, and we had the place to ourselves. There was a delicious 3 course meal with copious amounts of wine waiting for us when we arrived. After taking full advantage of the wine, we were surprised by our program directors with cases of beer and several tables set up to play flip cup. In a castle. Nothing in Madison will ever rival that, there's just no way to top it! Anyways, we had a whole night in a castle and lots of alcohol, so it was bound to end up being a great night. People slowly started to trickle outside into the wooded forest area surrounding the castle and we discovered a cave that we continued to party in for the remainder of the evening. Little did we know (as everyone was extremely intoxicated at the time), it was ACTUALLY a sewer underneath a well. We were just too drunk to care or even realize. It made for many great stories and lots of pictures that could serve as blackmail (and are definitely not blog-appropriate)! We had another early morning, waking up at 6 to get to the European Court of Justice. Once we sat down to watch another court case, we were shown a man whose sole job it is to make sure visitors don't fall asleep during the hearing. WELL this was just terrible news for our group, as most of us got no more than 3 hours of sleep the previous night. We all tried to keep each other awake throughout the hearing, but many got death stares from the man, and some even got lucky enough for the man to venture over and call them out for sleeping in front of everyone (cough Leah cough). After getting some lunch and coffee, we were fueled up and ready for a walking tour of Luxembourg city, which was quaint and good to see. Overall, a great trip!

The following weekend, we had another early morning to catch the train to go to Bruges. Yes, this is the city in Northern Belgium where the movie "In Bruges" was filmed (which everyone should see by the way, its really good. and yes parents, I finally watched the end) Its a beautiful and medieval city with lots of canals and stunning architecture. We spent the morning walking around the city. After getting some lunch near the city center, our group went on a 4 hour bike tour through the Belgian countryside surrounding Bruges. This was probably my favorite excursion thus far, as the countryside was absolutely breathtaking and I know it's something I never would have visited on my own. We had a local beer brew mid-bike ride which was delicious and well-deserved. The sore-ness the following days was worth it! Here are some photos of Bruges:





Sorry for the long-winded post. Had a lot to update! Off to Prague, Rome, Athens, and Santorini in the morning for some spring break adventures! See you in two weeks. Hope everyone is well, wherever in the world you may be!

1 month later- Adventures in Spain, Amsterdam, and Brussels

Somehow, it's been a month since my last post. I feel like I posted it yesterday. But since then, I feel like I've really solidified my life here in Brussels, and established a day-to-day routine. School and my internship take up my weekdays and when those are done for the day, it's already dark out and the majority of the stores are closed. This makes the weeks fly by! My weekends are always jam packed with traveling or going out and exploring Brussels. It's extremely hard to believe how fast time is going! Everyday I wonder to myself "Am I doing something memorable and new today?" I try to make everyday count because my time here is already halfway over... Regardless of how much I've already done, I still know there's SO much more I need to do and see before mid-May. But before I start freaking out about how little time I have left, I'll try and recount the past month and all of the adventures I've been lucky enough to have!

The last post I made, I was getting ready to leave for Madrid. Needless to say, that trip began with a very rocky start. My flight out of Brussels was on a Thursday night. I figured that my 3 and a half hour window after class and before my flight was enough time to make it to the airport and make it to Madrid on time to go out! What I didn't know was that the airport I had to get to was an hour outside of Brussels, and the only bus that could take me there was another half hour away from my house. Bottom line, 3 and a half hours was NOT enough time to get there and I ended up missing my flight. Keeping an open mind and opening my wallet, I bought a ticket to fly out the next morning and took the hour bus back into Brussels, wine bottle in hand, making it back in time for the thursday night dinner party my friends and I arrange every week. Drowning my sorrows and eating the leftovers, I managed to wake up in time and finally made it to Madrid the next morning by noon! I met up with my friend Stephen there, who studied in Madrid last spring and was back visiting his friends. I immediately fell in love with the city as he showed me around. I don't know if it was the sunshine (which I hadn't seen in weeks) the beautiful parks, or the delicious chocolate pastry Stephen bought for me, but I knew I loved Madrid right away. We met up with Izzy, one of my roommates from Madison, and spent the day going to different bars, drinking wine, sangria, and eating tapas with some of Stephen's spanish friends. I only managed to squeak in a "gracias" or "no hablo espagnol" every once in awhile. This was the first place in Europe it was difficult for me to find people who spoke at least a little bit of English. Thank goodness I had Izzy and Stephen around to translate or else I would have been REALLY lost. Izzy and I spent the next day exploring the city (it was another beautiful day), spying on attractive Spanish couples and admiring the Spaniards impeccable sense of fashion. We met some of her friends from her program and went to a beautiful park in the center of Madrid, called Retiro.

<-- Izzy and I in Retiro

After enjoying the sunshine all day, we went to a Spanish house party, in which we had to dress up like something that is 2 syllables. I bought some fake flowers and stuck them in my hair and clothes and went as a jardín (or garden, for you non-Spanish speakers) and Izzy was fútbol, sporting an old-school soccer jersey. After getting our drink on with some rambunctious Spaniards, I grabbed a cab to the airport at 4:30AM to make my flight back home to Brussels. *Note to friends from school: Izzy has changed her name to "Isa" since being in Spain, because her silly Spanish friends can't pronounce her real name...

The next week in back in Brussels was different than the rest. Why? Everyone on my program and at school realized that they had to do schoolwork for the first time since being here. And why was that? Midterms. Had. Arrived. As my feeble attempt to "buckle down and get work done," I stayed in Brussels that weekend to study. Did I get much done? Not really. As always, I ended up cramming last minute for my exams. I even had to cram extra hard because I had requested from several of my teachers to take my exams early as my friend Amy offered me her spare ticket to go see the USA vs. Netherlands soccer game in Amsterdam, which happened to fall in the exact middle of midterm week. But I just couldn't turn that opportunity down!

Post-exams, we scrambled to the grocery store to stock up on snacks and drinks for the bus ride to Amsterdam. However, this process ACTUALLY led to us miss our bus. We couldn't wait for the next bus to come or else we would miss the soccer game, so we ran to a different station to catch the next train. This cost us even more money but took much less time. A few drinks and 2 hours later, we quick checked into our hostel, dropped our bags and ran to the metro to get to the game in time. Donning our USA face paint, we had a great time cheering on our home country. The energy in the stadium reminded me of a badger game, especially being surrounded by the surprisingly large amount of American fans!
Final Score: Netherlands 2, USA 1



At the end of the game, we found ourselves chatting it up with another American. He started scribbling things down on a little notepad, which was curious, so we asked if he was a journalist. Turns out he works for ESPN magazine and he interviewed us for a story they're doing about American fandom! Look for this quote from yours truly in an upcoming issue: "I haven't chanted 'USA' this many times since Obama was elected president!" After our starstruck moment there, we ended up running into a bunch of other kids from UW-Madison who were leaving the game and also strangely enough, staying at the same hostel as we were. We went back into town and spent the night in the hostel bar hanging out with them and also meeting travelers from around the world.

We spent the next day in Amsterdam doing a strange combination of cultural activities: checking out the Red light district, touring Anne Frank's House, visiting some of Amsterdam's infamous coffee shops, and seeing the Van Gogh museum. That night, we went over to my family friend's house for dinner. The Ebbink's are a Dutch family that lived across the hall from my family when we lived in New York when I was a baby. They moved back to Amsterdam about the same time my family moved to Minnesota. They were so nice to host us and it could not have been nicer to be in a home eating a meal with familiar faces. This may not be shocking at all at this point, but we missed our bus back to Brussels the next morning, and finally made it home after 4 + hours in traffic on a later bus.

Since that trip, I've been happily spending my weeks and weekends in Brussels, relaxing and really exploring and getting to know my city. This past weekend, my mom came to visit, and it was the first time I was able to be HER tour guide! She had never been to Brussels before, although she's been almost everywhere else in Europe. She surprised me at school on Thursday, and we went to my favorite restaurant on campus, Times Square, for coffee, where we first ran into one of my professors. It felt like middle school parent-teacher conferences again, because she couldn't help but blurt out, "how's Jenna doing!?" Luckily this professor apparently likes me and gave a good 'report.' As we walked outside we happened to run into my boss, and my mom of course asked for more progress reports and a tour of my office! Even though I tell her how everything is going, she was happy to get to experience my day-to-day life here with me for herself. After spending some time in the not-so-glamorous VeCo computer lab, we retreated to the hotel for some relaxing before going out to a delicious dinner with some of my friends at a Belgian restaurant, Les Brassins. It’s a hidden gem that’s tucked away on a small side street and also happens to be next door to Audrey Hepburn’s birthplace! The next day we had lunch on top of the Musical Instrument Museum, which has a view of all of downtown Brussels and of course a lot of great people watching. We walked the entire city that day, taking pictures and soaking it all in. After eating famous Belgian waffles, we went to Delirium, the bar with 2000 different kinds of beer. My mom had been practicing beer drinking at home for this excursion and she got a mango beer and loved it! After the beer tasting we got traditional Belgian frites with spicy samurai sauce and called it a night. I was so happy to have her here and get to show her my new life! Pictures to come soon as they are all on her camera.

I leave for Dublin on Friday with a few friends to check out their beer selection, sights, and see Brother Ali in concert! Updates sooner than later after that.

"Get around round round, I get around..."

So it's been awhile since my last update.... I've had a busy couple of weeks! Here's the big news: I have finally left Belgium. It's not that I don't love my new home in Brussels, but I am so centrally located in Europe that there's no excuse not to be exploring the continent. My friends and I took a spontaneous day trip to a city in the Netherlands called Maastricht two weeks ago. It was a beautiful day, so naturally everything was just 10 times better because of the sunshine (something we're not used to seeing in Brussels). We left for another country in the morning and made it home in time for dinner. I'd call that a great success! To prove I saw sunshine... here are some pictures from Maastricht:




















Then last weekend, my friends and I booked a trip to Colonge, Germany for the legendary Carnival celebration. It's the biggest street festival in Germany and one of the largest in all of Europe! Getting off the train in Colonge was comparable to walking into an extremely colorful and loud dream. There was hardly anyone who wasn't dressed up in some kind of costume. Some were in tacky halloween costumes, some were decked out in Colonge flags and hats, and a few were just downright creepy full body animal suits. In a group of 10 Americans, we knew we stuck out like sore thumbs. We immediately needed to go shopping and pick up some Carnival gear. Before we could do that, we had to cross the 1 tourist-y activity off of our list: climb to the top of the Dom Cathedral, one of the largest in Europe. Here's me at the top of the Cathedral after climbing 533 steps and some friends and I at the train station celebrating Carnival after scrambling to find costumes:






















After countless beers and brats in Colonge, we returned home for 1 day of rest. I only had one day to recover because CIEE (my study abroad program) took us on an excursion to a small town in the French-speaking area of Belgium called Binche for its famous Mardi Gras celebration! After getting excused from class (apparently partying on a Tuesday afternoon is a valid excuse), we boarded the bus and made our way to Binche. Thousands of people crowd the streets of this tiny town for the festivities that last the three days preceding Ash Wednesday. We were there for the most important of the three days- the parade! Then men of Binche dress up in giant hats adorned with ostrich feathers and parade through the city throwing oranges at the onlookers. When I say throw, I mean they really pelt them at the crowd. Most people were coordinated enough to catch several oranges. I on the other hand, left empty handed and with a battle wound on my arm from a flying orange. The flying oranges and traditional costumes (called "Gilles") have been tradition since 14th century AD. It was mayhem and a blast. Here are some photos from the day:




































Tomorrow I'll be taking a break from French and jetting off to Madrid, Spain to visit my roommate from school, Izzy, and my friend Stephen!

More to come after that... Adios!

Want to go on a tour of my neighborhood?

In my time in Brussels thus far, I can count the number of sunny days we've had on one hand. So when I opened my window today and saw sun rays coming through the clouds, I knew I had to take full advantage and spend time outside soaking up some Vitamin D and getting to know my neighborhood a little better. So for all of you curious readers who want to know what the Schaerbeek neighborhood in Brussels has to offer, you've come to the right place.

Lists

List #1- United States, you should do as the Belgians do:

1) Going green.

Most stores in Brussels charge you for a plastic bag if you don't bring your own reusable bag. Everyone carries shopping bags and rolling carts with them to the stores/market. On another eco-friendly note, all the lights are motion censored and turn off automatically after about 10 seconds if you don't move around the room enough. Way to go Europe for actually following through with being environmentally cautious!

2) Public transportation.

It is phenomenal here. There is a tram spot a few steps from my front door that takes me directly to school. The metro, trams, and buses all continuously run during most days. Cars are not even necessary here, and those who do own cars do not understand how to drive them because of a severe lack of driver's ed training (we've been told that the test consists solely of turning a car on and driving it in a straight line).

3) Relaxation.

Most every store here closes at 6 PM on the dot every day. Almost nothing is open on Sunday. Restaurant meals have multiple courses and last for hours and hours. Belgians fully understand the concept of taking time off, relaxing and living a slow-paced lifestyle. (United States, take note of this one in particular!)



Just wanted to share this photo... I like to call it "the beauty of getting lost." I took the wrong tram one night and ended up at this beautiful cathedral. Turns out, I was close to my house but just in an area I was unfamiliar with.



List #2- Brussels, really!?

1) THERE ARE NO COFFEE SHOPS HERE.

This has been a very tough adjustment for a caffeine-addicted college student. In the US, you can't walk more than 20 feet without stumbling across a Starbucks or some other coffee-producing establishment. On the contrary, Belgians haven't grasped this concept yet! We have found a small café near our school that gives out Dixie-cup sized "coffee to-go" for the equivalent of about $3.

2) Meteorological conditions.

The weather here can never make up its mind! It's always gloomy and usually misting rain. Yesterday, Mother Nature decided to dump a couple inches of snow on us. Today, that snow is gone because of an unusually sunny day. Now don't get me wrong, the rain doesn't stop me from going out and exploring the city but it would be a hell of a lot better if it wasn't somber and dreary outside all the time...

3) "Gourmet" food.

At home, cheese curds and french fries are two food groups we're told to avoid because of the grease factor and fat content. However, in Brussels, they serve massive cheese curds at restaurants as an appetizer, arrange it nicely on the plate and slap the name "cheese croquettte" on it. Gourmet fail #1. Also, french fries are considered a prime delicacy here. I want to make it very clear that I am NOT complaining about the fact that I receive a side of "frites" with almost every nice meal I eat out at a restaurant here, but rather reiterating the fact that french fries are such a strong cultural symbol for Belgians.




That's it for my lists. This past week in Brussels, I scrambled around the city to find my textbooks (still haven't found them all) and tackled a laundromat for the first time. On Wednesday, my program hosted a dinner for some french speaking students joining our group. The condition to attend the free 4-course meal + unlimited wine: No speaking English. Let's just say the unlimited amounts of wine helped my broken french flow throughout the evening. Yesterday, our group went on an excursion to several World War II memorials, including an American cemetery in Luxembourg honoring soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. We also saw various German tanks, a German cemetery, and visited a forest where several fox holes were still in place from the war. It was a powerful reminder of how many people sacrificed their lives for their country and for future generations.

Here are some photos from that excursion:

View of the city of Bastogne- The snow seems to follow me everywhere

Memorial honoring all 50 states.

American cemetery in Luxembourg




C'est tout pour maintenant! (That's all for now!)
Bonsoir!

Beginning to be Belgian

Today marks my 2-week anniversary of living in Brussels. And in such a short amount of time, I can already say that Belgium has become my home. My sense of direction has dramatically improved as I no longer have to pull out my giant metro map at every stop to figure out which direction I need to go next. I was even able to direct a lost tourist to their correct metro stop! Being mistaken for a Belgian is probably the best compliment I've received since being here. I've also been pleasantly surprised with how much my French has improved in so little time. Just seeing signs in French and hearing everyone speak it on the metro and on the street encourages me to practice as much as possible. This paid off when I was in line at the grocery store, and I held a conversation with a woman about the convenient product placement of gum and magazines near the check out line... all in French! While it may not seem like much, it's been several years since I've taken any sort of French class. Goes to show how crucial it is to be immersed in a culture/language to really learn it. However, the defining moment of my Belgian-ism occurred at my school-sponsored beer chugging contest. Before the contest began, one of my fellow Belgian students found out I was American and began telling me various bars to go to and landmarks to visit. He was astonished to find out that I had already been to most of the sites he was suggesting! I even rattled off the name of a bar that our program director had told us to visit, and my classmate had never even heard of it. Knowing more about Belgium than a native Belgian in week 2? I'll take it! (Side note for everyone wondering: I lost in the first round of the beer chugging contest...)

As promised, here are photos of the the house I rent a room out of:



My room---so much space, so few things to fill it with!












In other news, reality struck in Brussels this past week with the beginning of spring semester classes. I will be taking classes at Vesalius College, a tiny, 300 person English-speaking college. Here is "campus":


Our school takes up solely the first floor of this building. Classes are extremely small and can last up to 3 hours. This is quite an adjustment from 300 person lectures in Madison where the professors wouldn't even have the slightest idea you exist unless you make the effort. At Vesalius, everyone knows everyone and everyone is accounted for, as attendance is taken in every class.

My schedule is as follows:
International Journalism
U.S. Foreign Policy since 1898
Intermediate French II
Belgium Culture Course

The best part: No class Monday or Friday! This means I'll be free to travel on the weekends easily. This also allows me to have more time to work at my internship! I have been hired as an intern at a non-profit organization here in Brussels called Close the Gap. This organization collects computers from corporations and other donors and sends them to third world countries for educational purposes. I will be helping with the marketing and PR for Close the Gap this semester and receive credit for it.

This past weekend, some friends and I took the train to explore a town about 45 minutes north of Brussels, called Antwerp. Antwerp's claim to fame is that it has a booming diamond industry and exports 80% of the world's diamonds. It is also home to 50,000 Orthodox Jews. We happened to be visiting on Shabbat, so very few places near our hostel were open on the day of rest. Regardless, it was great to wander around a new city, even it was for just 1 day.


This is the train station in Antwerp. It has been voted 4th best in the world, giving this quirky city yet another claim to fame.

One of the highlights of our stay in Antwerp was the discovery of a Mexican restaurant. This was especially monumental because on day 1 of orientation, our program directors told us Belgians don't know how to make Mexican food and there was no way we would ever find anything close to decent Mexican food in Belgium. This was heartbreaking as I am a frequent Chipotle customer and nacho lover. It felt so good to prove them wrong! While this restaurant was extremely overpriced (15 euros for 1 burrito-equal to about $20), we managed to haggle the owner for cheaper food if we all got the same enchilada. He agreed and even threw in free chips. Next mission: Finding a decent Mexican restaurant in the city I actually live in.


Overpriced but delicious Mexican food... Olé!





































Another 3-day stretch of class ahead before another weekend and the beginning of my internship. This weekend we'll be taking a trip to the Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg with the CIEE program... Stay Tuned!

À Bientôt!

Je suis en Bruxelles!

It seems like ages ago I was saying goodbye to family and friends in snowy Minnesota and making my way across the Atlantic for the semester in rainy Belgium. However, it was only one week ago that my plane landed in Amsterdam, for me to find out the connecting plane to Brussels was cancelled due to "expected heavy snow." To make matters worse, the Brussels airport decided it would be a good idea prepare for the snowstorm by shutting down for a few hours. Diversion #1 had arrived! Solution: Train. Needless to say, it was quite stressful attempting to get my 70 pounds of luggage on to the 2-ft high train platform before the door closed on me. The final lap of my cross-continental journey was complete when I arrived in Brussels that afternoon. And yes, it was snowing. It was only fitting that the terrible weather followed me from the Midwest.

After catching up on some sleep, the unofficial beginning to our orientation week started. It was nothing to complain about as our program directors took us out for traditional Belgian beers at a pub in the heart of downtown. Beer is a way of life in Belgium. To quote one of our program directors, "It doesn't count as alcohol here." It is a beer drinking culture, but not in any way like UW-Madison is. In Belgium, it is customary to go to a pub and talk with friends over quality and locally-brewed beers whereas at school, the quality of beer is not important but rather how fast it can be consumed. After giving light, dark, and even many fruit beers a chance this first night, we were well on our way to becoming beer connoisseurs! Orientation began the next day.

Several days of planned group excursions and meetings followed... After getting to see the city and meet some of the people here I have devised a list of my initial impressions of life in Belgium:

1) If it's not snowing, it's raining.
2) Nothing is open past 6 PM.
3) Whole milk is the only milk available. AND it's kept at room temp... Ew.
4) Late=on time.
5) The waffles are without a doubt the best in the world.

My first Belgian waffle:


Barrels of beer at the Cantillon Brewery, where Lambic beer has been brewing since 1900:


Beautiful park in the City Center of Brussels, by night:



I will soon post a photo of my apartment. It is not as independent as my housing in Madison, but rather a room rented out of a family house. Lucky for me, the house is enormous! A couple (my landlords) lives on the first floor, while the 10 rooms on the second and third floor are rented out to students from Poland, France, and the Netherlands. And ME. The only downside is that I have a long commute to school and the downtown area. Good thing the public transportation system is extremely efficient!

It's hard to believe that it's been a week in Belgium already, but tomorrow is the first day of class! I know what you're all thinking... "Isn't that Martin Luther King Jr. Day?" ...Yet another difference between life in US and life in Belgium.

Until next time... Au Revoir!