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.