Antwerp

This has been quite the exciting week/weekend. I finally feel settled in to my internship - I figured out how to take the train to and from Groot-Bijgaarden, which is the area in which I work. This makes it a lot easier for me to come and go to work everyday, I know I'll get home at a reliable 6:30. I've also gotten to know my coworkers fairly well, and we all get along great. I'm also very excited for the upcoming week, as I have two articles that will be published (one in Flanders Today on Tuesday and one in The Bulletin on Thursday).

Other than that, we spent the weekend doing a plethora of things! It was quite the whirlwind, but it was worth it! Thursday night, we were able to introduce our guy friends to Waff, the bar in the area near us. It was a fun time, and definitely one of our favorite spots in our side of town. Friday was spent wondering around Brussels, and that night, a couple of friends came in town from London to visit the group. We took them out to a couple of different spots in Brussels and hopefully made them jealous that Brussels is awesome. Saturday, four of us took a train to Antwerp around 11 am. The rest of the group joined later. They had decided to sleep in a little bit, and tour later. Antwerp was a great city - there's a lot to see there, for sure.

We were able to check out the MoMu (Mode Museum) which was full of clothing that I would never wear. It was an interesting museum, though, to say the least. We were able to check out the Grand Markt, the port, the Cathedral, and some other local tourist attractions. Mom - I'll definitely be able to tell you what to see while you're there.

As for now, we're looking up where to go to next! Any ideas are more than welcome...!

It's Electric!

What an eventful weekend! Though we didn't pursue any day trips or anything too exciting, we found life here in Brussels to be a heck of a good time. It was nice to finally spend some free time in Brussels, and not have to worry about work, school or anything else, for that matter.

Thursday night was spent with a large group of us finding fun in Brussels. First we went to Goupil le Fol, was a former brothel-turned cute pub. We sat for about an hour, and just relaxed. The great part of this was just getting to experience something totally European.  We spent the rest of the evening at Celtica, which is a dance place, and especially fun when you're with a group of 14 all going together.

Friday night, our small group of six girls went exploring in our neighborhood. One of my work colleagues had been excited to hear that I live in Ixelles, as that was where she had lived during her university years here in Brussels. Nina, who is an editor at The Bulletin where I work, recommended some places that might be well suited for our group of friends. Trying to find one of Nina's old favorites, we explored an area near where we live. As we explored our area, we found Waff, which our friend Erika (who studied abroad in Brussels the semester before us) had recommended. This was one of the most fun pubs we have been to yet. It was very off the beaten tourist path - at least we think it is.

Unfortunately, after all of the fun of the past two nights, I woke up Saturday morning to find that I had no electricity in my "flat". After all, this is Europe and as cousin-in-law Becky says, electricity is still a luxury! Still, out of all the people on the trip, I do personally think it was best to happen to me. Instead of giving up, I decided to drag my mattress down five floors and sleep on Patty's floor that night. I got a great night sleep, seeing as I was sleeping on my own mattress. The bad news is that all of the food in my fridge went rotten, there was no power until mid morning today. Regardless, my lack of electricity made for an adventurous weekend and I actually had fun sharing rooms with others.

Saturday night, Patty, Sara and I all met up with a couple of Patty's coworkers. Joining the local crowd out was definitely different than going out with a group of Americans, but it was a great time and we enjoyed meeting a lot of new people.

By the end of the weekend, we decided that it was time for us to do something on our list of 'must-sees' for Brussels. So, mid-day we hopped on the metro and went all the way across the city to see the Atomium, which is the big metal structure designed to look like an atom. It was built for the 1958 World's Fair, and is said to be Belgium's response to the Eiffel Tower. In my opinion, France is still winning big. But it was definitely cool to see, and a fun day trip for us.

Today, I was able to turn the heat back on in my apartment, though it's not going to be needed for much longer, now I just turn it on at night. The weather here beats Chicago by tenfold...it's a brisk 50 degrees outside now. I can see warm weather in my future, too!

Working Woman

Monday was the first day of my internship. I was nervous about it pretty much all Sunday night, but it turns out I really had nothing to be worried about, and Monday night I slept so soundly that I woke up confused - thinking it was the middle of the night, when it was in fact 7 am.

My internship is at a Brussels based magazine called "The Bulletin." There is a staff of about 10 that work in the office that I am in. Everyone there has been very friendly so far. I have my own small desk with a computer, and there is a free hot chocolate machine in the office (this might be the best part, their cheap hot chocolate is about 10 times better than the best kind in America). So far, my major project is to re-vamp "Newcomer" which is a magazine that The Bulletin publishes twice a year geared towards individuals who have just moved or are about to move to Belgium. I basically go through the magazine article by article and look at what is good and what is bad about it, then rewrite and reconfigure things. It's especially nice for me, because I am a newcomer to Belgium. For example, yesterday, I found out all about the public transportation system (you can get an 8 euro train ticket to Antwerp from Brussels if you buy a "shopping" pass).

The only downside to my job is that it is about an hour out of the city, so it takes some commute time. Right now, I get a ride in the morning from the Editor-In-Chief of The Bulletin, and I get a ride home at night from whoever is leaving first and can drop me off at a Metro station or at my apartment. Still, it does take a while to commute, so I'm trying to work something out with Gareth to see if there is some easier way to do it.

Today, I had the day off of work because this afternoon we have a major conference about agriculture with all of the students from Missouri and 30 more Mizzou kids who are traveling through on their winter inter-session trip. Our Chancellor, Brady Deaton, will also be there. I think it will be pretty cool, but there's a slight chance it's the most boring thing I do while in Belgium...

After only a week, I'm really feeling like I know my way around Brussels, and I am a real part of Belgium. I am finally feeling moved in to my apartment, and I know my way around the area. I went shopping for groceries today, and people addressed me in French (which I was really excited about, I felt native, and it was the first time they didn't speak English to me right away). Now, I'm ready for visitors, I think I could show them around.

Lastly, if anyone is wondering, my Skype name is susanparsons1, and I've finally figured out my address, so you can ship me things if you want... ;)

Susan Parsons

Bvd du Triomphe 151 B111

Room 1525

B-1050 Bruxelles

Belgium

In Bruges

First, let me start with the fact that Bruges is an incredibly beautiful city. A group of 14 of us hopped the train this morning to do some touring. The ride there was only about an hour, so we had plenty of time in the day to look around and do the things we wanted to do. Luckily, it was a pretty small city, so we found our way around easily.

We started by wondering up to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerkhof, also known as Notre Dame of Brugge. Inside is Michelangelo's "Madonna and Child," which was absolutely amazing. The church itself was beautiful too. After looking around in there, we decided to cross the street to the Hospital Museum, and check out some of the oldest medical tools I have ever seen. Let me just say that I am glad I never had to have eye surgery in the early 15th century. It sounds like the worst, most painful thing ever. 

After the Hospital Museum, we took a short break and got some hot chocolate. At this point, the 6 of us girls that were traveling together split up from the boys, as we wanted to do some shopping at a little more sightseeing, and they had other plans that included filling their belly's with liquid. After our hot chocolate, we decided to climb the tower, all 366 steps up to the top. The view from there, however, was absolutely phenomenal and made the journey worth it. Still, it was tiring so we decided to do some shopping. All of the shopping was fun, there are a lot of lace and chocolate stores. Everywhere. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Salvadore Dali exhibit in the tower. It was one of the coolest art exhibits I have ever seen. There was so much to look at and soak up. It was very inspiring. However, a long day of touring made all of us pretty hungry, so we decided to find a restaurant to eat at and it is true: the mussels in Belgium are so delicious. 

It was a great, though tiring day, and it inspired me to want to travel around more. It was nice to do something besides sit around our flats all day. And for those of you thinking of heading to Belgium, I would definitely recommend a day trip to Bruges. And yes, you can do the whole city in just a day.

As the days go on, I'm feeling more and more adjusted to life in Belgium. I'm getting a better at finding my way around and knowing where I am in the city. We've done a lot of exploring - both intentional and unintentional.  The group has also been about to get out of Brussels and do some touring in the town of Mechelen, which is about 20 minutes away from Brussels.

A few days ago, in Mechelen, we went to a Holocaust museum and heard what role Belgium had in the Holocaust. The building the museum is in was once actually a building where they held individuals who were about to get shipped to Auschwitz. It was a very sobering experience, and very interesting.

After the museum we explored around Mechelen, which is a beautiful old town. All of the buildings were beautiful to look at. We grabbed lunch and then made our way back to Brussels via train. I also got my first Belgian waffle at the train station. It was delicious - they are way better over here than the American imitation.

That evening, the 5 other girls that I have become very good friends with and I went out for a night in Ixelles, which is the neighborhood we live in. We met some local students and tried Kreik which is a cherry flavored beer, popular among women. I would definitely recommend it, it tasted like cough syrup that you would actually want to drink.

Yesterday, we got a tour of Vesalius College, which is technically where we are taking classes. It's a nice school, all of the facilities are very nice and its only about a 2 minute walk from our apartment building. I had the afternoon free, while the other kids on the trip had a French lesson. Gareth (our program coordinator) said that it would be a waste of time for all of us who know French. Knowing the language comes in handy, again!

Afterwards, we went out for dinner for "machine gun sandwiches" which are basically huge sandwiches and have fries in them. They weren't the best sandwiches in the world, but you have to experience what they eat here. Afterwards, a large group of students in the program went out in downtown Brussels, and went to some touristy pubs. One of them was Dilerium, which is one of the most famous pubs in Belgium. It was an experience, but definitely a fun time. It was great getting to know the group better. We definitely have a dynamic going on, and I can see all of us getting along throughout the trip.

This evening, all 16 students are heading to Gareth's house for a social gathering, just to break the ice a little bit more and get to know everyone.

So far, everything overseas is going so great, I can't wait to see what lies ahead.

Days of Arrival

Well, it took long enough but we finally got here and settled in. After catching a connection in Washington D.C. and flying 7 hours to the airport in Brussels, it's a relief to know exactly what's going on, for the most part at least.

Yesterday was a long day, as we had basically nothing once we arrived to what could nicely be called glorified dorm rooms. Sara, Lindsay and I were able to catch the metro and stop at a Carforre (somewhat like Europe's response to a WalMart). It only took us about an hour to figure out how to catch a metro (it's harder to find the locations of entrances than it seems). Luckily, my broken French in combination with some English-speaking Belgians was able to get us by and we got there just fine.

That night, it was incredibly hard to sleep, with my internal clock still being set to USA time, I woke up about four times over the course of the night. It worked out ok in the end, because at 4:30 a.m. this time, I was able to check Facebook and see that Patty, a new friend, was awake as well. I ventured down to her glorified dorm and we chatted for about 45 minutes. At 5:30 a.m. this time, I was able to Skype chat with my mom and sisters. After that, I got back to sleep for an hour and a half. 

This morning we had an orientation with Gareth Harding, our coordinator over here. We found out all of the things to expect on this trip, what we will be doing, etc. It was nice to have someone there to answer all the questions we had remaining. The best part of this orientation was the Belgian lunch we got afterwards, frites and beer. Both were delicious. After lunch we ventured over to the boys flats, which make our housing arrangement look like the slums.The afternoon was spent touring around the city center and buying a cell phone...to get in touch with the others on the trip, and to connect with others when needed.

All in all, it was a pretty great day, and I'm starting to feel adjusted to Brussels. I'm thinking I'm very much so going to enjoy this semester abroad.