It really is a fairytale!

On Saturday, Celeste, Emily and I went to Bruge. We looked up the tickets before hand and the website said they would be 24 round trip, but when we got to the ticket counter at the train station, it only cost us 8 euro!! With this in mind, we decided we would treat ourselves this weekend. At least for my, I had been eating rice and veggies every day for dinner and it would be nice to finally have some real food.

The trip was only an hour long and a pleasant ride. The Belgium countryside is beautiful. It's mainly flat with lots of green open land and a few rivers and canals and cities along the way.

From the train station, it was only about a 15 minute walk into the city center. Surrounding the city is a wall and a canal. Immediately when you enter the city, cobblestone greets your feet. (A note about cobblestone: it is not good for your feet and hurts after you've been walking on it for 8 hours!) The city brought me into its fairytale right away. For one couple, it was just too romantic to handle and they absolutely had to stop in the center of the sidewalk and make out to express their overwhelming love. That's just what Bruge makes you do!

To get to the market (the center of town), you must walk over bridges and by churches and by chocolate shops and each is more delightful than the previous. When we finally got to the market, we were hungry and there was a little store that said "cheeseburgers". We had all been craving some beef so we went over only to discover it was a Quick. Quick is like the European McDonalds only less good and a lot more expensive. I was unimpressed because as people from Califorina know, nothing beats and In n Out cheeseburger.



After eating, we went on a walking tour of the city as per Celeste's guidebook. After walking for about 15 minutes, we realized there was a couple to seemed to be going the same direction as we were. We noticed the book in their hand was the same as Celeste's which we all found amusing. We helped each other travel through the guidebook's tour. The tour took us to the fish market, to various status, along the canal with city views and charming stores, through a couple churhes, and finally we ended up back at the market.

With all this walking, we set out to get a snack.....and not just any snack...a waffle!! We found one rather quickly and I immediately studied my options. Chocolate, whip cream, ice cream, fruit, sugar, etc. I decided to go with the fruit and whip cream. AGHHHHHH soo good! It was a little hard to eat, but sooo soo good. Did I mention it was good?

After eating, well actually before eating we had gone shopping. I bought a sweater as Pinkies and a scarf at H and M. I also rain the rain jacket that was stole at H and M, but it wasn't worth buying it again.



We went back to the Market again and walked 366 steps up to the top of the Belltower for a superb view of the city. I was actually surprised on how big the city was. Every roof has a red roof and you can even see to the flat areas around the city!

After this we went into a few churches. In one we saw the Madonna and Child statue. It was the only one of Micheangelo's sculptures to be removed from Italy.



Next, we went back to the train station to see if we could catch an earlier train. We had only written down train times for after 9pm. When we were walking back to the city, we walked around the wall and next to the canal and stumbled upon the most beautiful place! I was in love. I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.



Finally we grabbed a drink at a bar and then set off for this Egyptian/Mediterranean place we had seen during the walking tour. When we arrived we were the only customers. We all tried the Tajine which is meat and veggies and sauces cooked in this special pot (where the name tajine comes from). It was delicious!

After that we walked back to the train station and took a train back to Brussels. It was a wonderful day!

Life as an Intern

I finished my second day interning at the European Parliament and I must say it isn't quite as exciting as I imagined. The parliament is a lot less modern than what I thought. Our ID badge pictures come out in poor quality resolution and my colleagues still use internet explorer.

My office is rather small. I work in a room with my supervisor, Pesska, and in the adjourning room is my MEP (member of Parliament). She is quite nice, but it doesn't seem like either my MEP or my supeviser really have any idea what they want me to do. So far, I've been to a committee meeting on investment in green energy and I've written about the effect Obama's presidency will have on foreign policy in regards to Europe. It isn't the most exciting, but I have to remember it is only my second day.

Working with all Finnish people can be a little difficult too. We had lunch today with some people in our group and some Swedes that live in Finland (I guess they are a small minority) and they spoke in Finnish 90% of the time. I felt a little left out. I wish I was working with an English speaking country so at least I would understand what they're were saying. I feel like my supervisor's directions are poorly directed partly because he doesnt really know what he wants me to do and also because it's hard to explain it in english. I hope it gets better. This is not really making me that excited for politics, but I guess like anyway, an experience is what you make it. Once I get settled in a little more I think it will be better.

I'm really starting to become frustrated with the language barriers (yes there is more than one barrier). Even something as easy as asking for milk becomes a whole ordeal because chances are the person working in the grocery store doesn't understand or speak english and I don't have that big of a vocabulary in french yet. This is why I'm taking French. But really, French only helps me half the time because the area my school is in (and the school where the classrooms are located) are in Dutch, and at work all I hear is Finnish.

This is my life right now.

School-Dutch
Work-Finnish
City-French
Home-English

I'm so confused all the time. And all I want to do is try and speak Spanish or use sign language to communicate with people.

First day of classes

My first day of class was today at Vesalius College. It's weird because Vesalius doesn't really have a campus so they mouch off the VUB campus which is a university I cannot spell, pronounce, and have never heard of. It took me a little while to find my classroom because on our tour during orientation they never pointed out where the classrooms were. Before I went to campus though, I went to the Hotel Derby, rated one of the top 10 hotels in Brussels...just kidding! I think it may be top 10 worst hotels in Brussels. I thought I was having a conversation with the manager, but it turns out it was just another guy who worked there. He called the two maids down to ask if they had seen my coats and neither of them said they had (well at least I think, I didn't actually understand anything they said). He let me go up to the room again and it wasn't there. He basically said there was nothing to do because it was a she-said, she-said thing. My program director also called (and she spoke to the manager) and said there was a miscommunication because the maids were never asked if they had seen the jackets. But I saw the guys ask the maids. Sounds a little fishy so we'll see what's up.

Back to my classes.

My first class was history of the Middle East which is taught by Professor Palo. He seems like a cool guy. We basically have a huge paper and a midterm and final. The second class was Intro to French which I'm really excited about. At first the teacher was kind of an ass to students in the class, but once she warmed up she was ok. We learned how to say what we were studying, how to order things, ask for the menu and check, and she gave us some good tips for getting along with the French.

After classes we went searching for a bank to set up my bank account and although I didnt have the correct documents, we did run into some cute Belgian bankers. :) We then went to Fat Boys, an American bar right across from the EU to watch the inauguration. It was nice enjoying the whole ceremony with fellow Americans and Europeans who probably just for off from the EU. I thought it was a pretty good speech...not sure what the soundbites will be. I'm very impressed with Obama. I think that he is very humble, yet very steadfast in his beliefs and his goals. He knows what he needs to do and he is set on doing them.

First week

I’ve almost been in Brussels officially a week, but it seems like much longer. In only a week, I’ve learned a couple important French phrases: “je ne comprends pas” and “parle vou Frances?” and I’ve also recognized a few words on menus. I still have a long way to go but hopefully I will learn how to at least pronounce French words in my French class that I start on Tuesday. On our first night in our new apartment, the owners were telling us how to pronounce our street name and none of us could pronounce it correctly! Our new apartment is super nice! It is a four story brick house in a residential area. The family that lives there has two kids and they take up the first 2 floors and their little children live on the third floor. Our group of 4 takes up 2 rooms and the bathroom on the third floor and on the fourth floor there are 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living area/kitchen. We live about a five minute walk from the metro, and it’s only about 15 minutes from our school and 20 minutes from the European Parliament.

We’ve done a little more sightseeing since I last posted. On Saturday (after being an hour late because we got lost), we went on a walking tour of Brussels. We saw a view of the city (it’s actually very hilly, but not as hilly as San Francisco), a few churches, the Grand Place, Galeries Royales Saint Hubert, and a few other important buildings. It started raining halfway through our tour (you would not find that all too surprising if you lived here-we’ve only had one day of sun) so we left at lunch. For lunch we had Pumpkin Soup that was delicious! It was perfect for a chilly day!

On Thursday we went to visit the European Parliament for a tour. We saw their debate chambers and a lobby area. The EU is actually a fairly complex government system that I won’t go into detail about, but I will let you know who I’ll be working for. My MEP (member of parliament) is Anneli Jaatteenmaki from Finland. She was the first prime minister of Finland from April to June of 2003 (although I’m not sure why this period was so short), she had been a member of the Finland parliament, Minister of Justice, and the leader of the Centre Party of Finland from 2000 to 2003. She is on the EU committee for women’s rights (when she was Prime Minister, half of her cabinet members were women) and she has also battled breast cancer. She seems like an intelligent, caring woman.

We’ve also had a chance to experience the nightlife. On Wednesday, the student government took us on a tour of some cheap bars in the center of Brussels (which would never have happened in the US). That is one BIG difference I’ve noticed between Europe and America. In America, drinking is this big taboo for anyone under 21 years old, but everybody seems to do it. We discourage drinking at all costs, yet we’re secretly pounding back beers in dimly lit bars. We constantly judge people who drink too much or not enough. However, this is a staking contrast from Belgium culture. I’ve seen more bars than I have grocery stores. Every restaurant serves alcohol and they will serve it anytime of the day and to just about anyone. There’s no stigma associated with drinking because it’s a way to come together with people, discuss politics (or religion like we did last night), and just hang out. We met some Irishmen the night of my 21st birthday and they thought it was ludicrous the US made us wait until we were 21 to start drinking legally. They joked about how they had been drinking since they were 14. Also the night of my Birthday, I was sang to in eight different languages. Lindsay sang to me in German, Judith sang to me in Hebrew, Emily sang to me in Spanish, these two guys sitting next to us in the restaurant sang to me in French and Dutch and I think also in Spanish...lol, two Morracan guys at the bar sang to me in Arabic, the Irishmen said happy birthday in Gaelic, and there should be one more, but I can't remember right now.

The Belgians also take their drinking very seriously. Duvel (which means Devil) seems to be the most popular beer and is considered a blond beer. Fruit beer is another Belgium specialty which I personally love. On Wednesday we went to a bar with over 2000 different beers. They included Trappist beers made by monks, Abbey beers which try to imitate the Trappist beers, and Lambic which is wheat beer and has its own subcategories. I could go on, but if you want to know more I would suggest looking at the Wikipedia page.


a chocolate shop

Another thing I’ve noticed about this city is the delicious smell arising from certain metros and streets. Usually on the subway in New York City you try to keep from breathing because it’s so disgusting, but here I find myself breathing in deeply trying to devour the smell of waffles covered with chocolate, ice cream, whip cream, and other sweet toppings. The desserts are also beautiful. Chocolate shops literally shine with gold decorations and chocolate displays and I always find myself drooling a little when looking into them. I have not yet had a piece of chocolate, but I’m sure it will get an entire post when I do.



The jackets that were stolen


The only bad things in my trip so far has been anything to do with our hotel, the Hotel Derby. First, the beds are super uncomfortable; the springs hit you all over your body and it’s hard to sleep. Second, the staff is stupid and rude. There is one man who looks like Peter Pettigrew with an orange comb-over and bushy eyebrows. I wouldn’t be surprised if this man had claws and pointy teeth too. He cost us 14 euros for a cab we didn’t need because he didn’t bother listening to us when we said we needed a cab for 3:30 and not 2:30. Finally, and this is the worst, is that the maid stole two of my favorite jackets and both that I got the weekend before I left. When we checked out Friday I forgot to look in the closet, but I realized I forgot my jackets after uploading pictures to my computer. I immediately called the hotel and asked if they could check the room. The man said he could not leave his position, but would ask the maid. The next day I go to the hotel again and check the room myself. I didn’t see them there and the man (the one that looks like Peter Pettigrew), said the maid wasn’t working that day. I called them again today and they said the maid didn’t find them. That really only leaves one conclusion: the maid took my jackets after cleaning the room either Friday or Saturday because no one else was even in the room. I’d love to be wrong about this and have the jackets magically appear in my closet, but they are not there. I know she took them and I intend on going to the hotel Tuesday morning to speak with the manager. It is outrageous that someone would steal something like that and I have no problem calling the police as well. I hope it’s just all a big misunderstanding and I get my coats back.

I have no idea what you're talking about!

After being here for three days now (it's Wednesday the 14th), I'm surprisingly not that jetlagged. Our first night, 5 of us went out to a bar and I had my first Belgium beer. It was called Fromaige which is the good fruity beer. I was surprised to find out that Belgium doesn't have any laws against smoking in bars and restaurants. After going to the bar we came home and slept.

Tuesday we wandered around a little bit in the central area of Brussels and saw the Grand Palace and the Minnekin Pis. We just missed him dressed up as Elvis. If you thought Rochester had bad weather, you should come to Brussels. It rained the whole day and was freezing! Apparently it snowed all of last week (a rarity), but it feels cold enough to snow. We also went to a bar and had lunch. The food so far has been pretty good. I had a ham and cheese sandwich warmed up and it was delicious. We also went down this one alleyway (Rue des Bouchers) and it had cute fancy restaurants where all the hostesses would stand outside and try and get you to come inside. There were piles of seafood outside on ice on display. They all looked way too expensive for college students on a tight budget. What was nice though was their outside seating had heaters so it actually felt really good to walk by them because they were so warm.

We also saw our first chocolate shops in the Galeries St-Hubert which is a really expensive mall with a domed glass ceiling! The cholcolate shops all look like they should be right out of the movies! They all look warm and inviting and in one shop they even had their truffles on glass shelves. I haven't had any chocolate yet, but I'm sure there will be plenty to come.

Tuesday night we went to this Italian place that had very good pasta and pizza. The guy must have liked us because he brought us cups of vokda+ grapefruit juice or that's what we thought he gave us. The food was really good and we will probably go back tomorrow night.

Today (Wednesday) we had orientation at Vesalius College. Classes look like they will be pretty easy.I register Friday for my classes but I'm thinking I am going to take French 101 and the History of the Middle East.
Vesalius College is also part of a much larger university-VUB which is a Dutch university in the city. For those of you who don't know Brussels is split between French and Dutch speakers so while most of the city speaks French, some people speak Dutch( ver ver confusing). As for dealing with the language barrier I definitely hope to learn enough French to get me around. Some people know English, but a lot of people know very very little english if they know it at all which can be frustrating but there are 7 of us in a group so it's nice that we are all experiencing the same thing.

So far I really like the people in my program and we've had a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to the next weeks!

I'm here

It's 6:25am Cali time but 3:25pm in Brussels where I currently am.

Some updates:

There are 7 people in my program (only one boy).
I will be living with the three other Rochester girls. We move in on Friday.
I am working for a Finland representative in the EU parliament. She is on the committee on women's rights and the delegation to the US. I have to schedule an interview with her sometime next week.
Tomorrow if free time so we might do some sightseeing.
Wednesday is orientation for Vesalius.
Thursday is a tour of parliament.
Friday is move in day.

well i am going to take a shower and get some sleep (I haven't slept in 24 hours).

Tomorrow is the big day

Before yesterday my mind was completely tied up in whether or not I would receive my Belgium passport in time and now that it is actually in my hands, I am starting to get nervous about my trip! I leave tomorrow afternoon and won't get in until Monday afternoon. Unlike my east coast counterparts, I will get to sit through a double digit hour flight and enjoy lovely entertainment by Northwest Airlines (who knew they flew internatonal?) Luckily my coworkers at the LAB made me a little going away care package with a couple magazines, games, and some DVDs. I am also bringing my LSAT study books and hopefully I will find motivation to study!

Today is also my last day at Forever21 and one of my managers offered to buy me some pizza.I'm really thankful for all the cool people I've met working both at the LAB and Forever21.




Grand Palace