Today we started off the day with a meal of "Lost Toast" aka Belgium's idea of french toast (they obviously don't want to give any credit to the french), and it was pretty tasty. I rushed off to the metro in my usal morning routine and pushed my way through all of the school children to get a spot on the train.
I had my first ART class this morning and my teacher described each of the trips we are to be going on, and explained the sylabus etc. It was a pretty good class and I think the trips are going to be alot of fun.
After class, Matt and I rushed off to meet up with Ryan, Els, and Iria who were working on Els' sons apartment in the middle of Brussels, in hopes to get it renovated for the spring. We spent about four hours hauling debris out of the apartment, taking apart furniture, and lugging the debris to Els' car. It felt good to help them out and do some physical labor to work off all of the waffles, beer, and chocolate! Iria and Els promised us that they were going to suprise us for the help, and sure enough when we got home there were three bottles of rare Belgian beer waiting for us in our apartment. They are too nice! Also, they said that once they finish it (3 or so weeks), that we can stay over there on the weekends if we miss the last metro home. This is sweet because the metros tend to close early, much earlier than the night is done, and a cab ride home costs a lot of money. Therefore, they are letting us use this as a place to sleep until the morning when we can get back on the metro!!!
After that we all had our French class together, where we were put into teams of five and given an assignment to cook a 3 course traditional Belgian meal. We haven't been told what we are making yet, but will be assigned it next week. It should be pretty fun.
For dinner we had spaghetti carbonara, a familiar food that I have made at home, and it was also very good.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Yup, I ate them...
So tonight at dinner we had a cauliflower dish with cheese and eggs, it was delicious. It was accompanied with wine, and a delicious tiramisu dessert :).
However, for an appetizer, what laid before me was just plain gross. Anchovies. Yeah yeah yeah. Tiny little fish. I tried to keep an open mind and try them, so I opened my mouth, dropped in the fish, and began to chew. At first it wasn't too bad, slightly salty, slightly vinegary, but then the fishy taste hit me. It was disgusting. Not to knock Iria's cooking, but I don't even think that these things could be prepared in any satisfying way. They aren't good. Period.
At dinner we met the woman named Geraldine and her daughter who live up stairs from us. She was a very nice french lady who asked us if we wouldn't mind babysitting her daughter a few times a month for 5 euro an hour. No problem, I will do anything to make some extra loot. We spent a few hours talking about soccer, tennis, America, and the subject I try to avoid, politics.
Well anyways, this morning I had my first history class. After taking a few minutes to find our actual classroom (Ryan and I), I was happy to see that I recognized a few faces from orientation, and a few friends that I made while on my adventures through Brussels. The teacher seems to be stuck in the 70's however, so we will see exactly how fun this class will be.
It is weird going to classes now as I am still caught up in the awe of being in a foreign country. I mean, I have only been here a week and I already have to fall into routine. Oh well, I have four more months of this so I am pumped. This afternoon Matt and I decided to just take the metro to a random stop and explore, and we ended up re-tracing our steps from the tour the other day and I took some cool pictures that I will post in a few days. We also stopped by the bakery and had an eclair..mmmmmm.....I love eclairs.
Anyways, tommorow I have two classes and then I plan on getting some rest because all of this experience is tiring!
Lesson of the day...do not eat anchovies.
However, for an appetizer, what laid before me was just plain gross. Anchovies. Yeah yeah yeah. Tiny little fish. I tried to keep an open mind and try them, so I opened my mouth, dropped in the fish, and began to chew. At first it wasn't too bad, slightly salty, slightly vinegary, but then the fishy taste hit me. It was disgusting. Not to knock Iria's cooking, but I don't even think that these things could be prepared in any satisfying way. They aren't good. Period.
At dinner we met the woman named Geraldine and her daughter who live up stairs from us. She was a very nice french lady who asked us if we wouldn't mind babysitting her daughter a few times a month for 5 euro an hour. No problem, I will do anything to make some extra loot. We spent a few hours talking about soccer, tennis, America, and the subject I try to avoid, politics.
Well anyways, this morning I had my first history class. After taking a few minutes to find our actual classroom (Ryan and I), I was happy to see that I recognized a few faces from orientation, and a few friends that I made while on my adventures through Brussels. The teacher seems to be stuck in the 70's however, so we will see exactly how fun this class will be.
It is weird going to classes now as I am still caught up in the awe of being in a foreign country. I mean, I have only been here a week and I already have to fall into routine. Oh well, I have four more months of this so I am pumped. This afternoon Matt and I decided to just take the metro to a random stop and explore, and we ended up re-tracing our steps from the tour the other day and I took some cool pictures that I will post in a few days. We also stopped by the bakery and had an eclair..mmmmmm.....I love eclairs.
Anyways, tommorow I have two classes and then I plan on getting some rest because all of this experience is tiring!
Lesson of the day...do not eat anchovies.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Classes
So I am now sitting in the computer lab at school, waiting for my french class to begin. This morning I woke up early to travel to class (which wasn't all that bad), and had Managerial Accounting and Writing this morning. My managerial accounting teacher seems to be pretty cool, and we even got him to move class back a half hour so instead of starting at 8:30 we will now start at 9. I'll do anything to get a few extra minutes of shut eye. After a somewhat disorganized introduction to the school, the teachers suprisingly seem to have their stuff together, and I think that classes won't be too bad.
This past weekend was pretty fun, we had that long tour on Saturday, and yesterday we visited the market in my commune of Jette. They had tons of vendors filling the streets selling clothing, foods, flowers, and some other items. We bought a delicious loaf of bread from the bakery, had a drink with Iria at her favorite pub, and picked up some fruits and vegetables. So far it seems as though Belgians do not eat too many fruits, so the bananas and grapes we bought really hit the spot. Fending for ourselves on the weekend is kind of a pain in that ass, because food here is very expensive, and you can't buy anything in bulk, rather, you have to buy small packages of things that always seem to run out. Oh well, we managed off of bread, cheese, and water and juice.
Last night we went to an American Sports Bar called Fat Boys to watch the football games. It is sad to say but it made me realize how loud Americans are...whoops.
This past weekend was pretty fun, we had that long tour on Saturday, and yesterday we visited the market in my commune of Jette. They had tons of vendors filling the streets selling clothing, foods, flowers, and some other items. We bought a delicious loaf of bread from the bakery, had a drink with Iria at her favorite pub, and picked up some fruits and vegetables. So far it seems as though Belgians do not eat too many fruits, so the bananas and grapes we bought really hit the spot. Fending for ourselves on the weekend is kind of a pain in that ass, because food here is very expensive, and you can't buy anything in bulk, rather, you have to buy small packages of things that always seem to run out. Oh well, we managed off of bread, cheese, and water and juice.
Last night we went to an American Sports Bar called Fat Boys to watch the football games. It is sad to say but it made me realize how loud Americans are...whoops.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Trip Itinerary
We got our list of trips that we are going to be taking with my European Studies class, and it sounds pretty sweet:
1) Day trip to Bruges, Belgium --- February 2nd
2) Day trip to Antwerp, Belgium --- February 16th
3) 3 Day trip to Amsterdam, NL --- February 22nd - 24th
4) 5 Day trip to Paris, France --- March 22nd - 26th
5) Weekend trip to Trier, Germany --- April 26th - 27th
Looks like my birthday will be spent in Germany!
1) Day trip to Bruges, Belgium --- February 2nd
2) Day trip to Antwerp, Belgium --- February 16th
3) 3 Day trip to Amsterdam, NL --- February 22nd - 24th
4) 5 Day trip to Paris, France --- March 22nd - 26th
5) Weekend trip to Trier, Germany --- April 26th - 27th
Looks like my birthday will be spent in Germany!
Boy am I tired...
How is it goin' everyone? Im writing this because I decided to sit in on this lovely Saturday night because I am exhausted.
Last night, we kicked off the evening with a traditional Belgian meal called Mussels and Frites, which is a large serving of mussels served with a side of french fries. I was a bit skeptical to eat them, because in the past I have hated sea food etc, but I decided to get rid of my old reservations about sea food and try it. They were steam cooked in a buttery sauce with celery and onions. I was taught how to eat them by Iria, and they turned out to not be all that bad. I still have trouble looking a them when I eat them, as I expect that sometime I will open them and find something gross. But regardless, they exceeded my expectations.
During dinner we talked alot about the different kinds of food that we will find here in Belgium. It seems that alot of the food here contains mayonaisse, which I am not a fan of, but I made it clear to Iria and Els that I am "allergic" to mayonaisse, ensuring that they will not put it in the food they cook for us. Walking around Brussels I have seen such things as "Americaine Sandwiches", and "Americane Wraps." I was warned not to get them anywhere because Americaine is a combination of raw beef and a special sauce, ground up and spread on bread. No thank you. I will stick to cooked foods please.
After dinner we set out with some other VeCo students for "Brussels After Dark," aka a tour of the pubs in the downtown area. This place was ridiculous at night, as thousands of students call it their home for the evening and early morning. We first started off by dancing at the irish pub called "O'Reilly's," which was actually pretty damn fun. I met a kid named Alex from Romania and talked to him for a while, and I met some other people that I think I would like to hang out with more.
We left O'Reilly's and headed for the famous "Delirium Cafe," which offers a menu of over 1,100 different beers, some very rare beers. The place was huge, and packed wall to wall. Though the menu was impressive I couldn't handle to crowds, so we went across the cobble'stone street to the Absinthe Bar, which was still pretty crowded but not as loud and smokey.
And then I got lost...
We were taking a cab back to our side of town when I got a phone call from Susie (from Bentley), who was by herself and lost, and couldn't find a metro or a taxi stand. She read me the name of the street she was on, and it sounded familiar to me so I hopped out of the cab and attempted to find her. Well, one thing led to another, and now it turned to 3:00am and I finally got my bearings as to where I was and started to head home. But I forgot to mention that this was a one hour walk. I made it home around 4:00am and went directly to bed. Next time, I will try no to get lost.
Today was a very long day. We woke up at 8:30 so we could make it to VeCo by 10:00 for a tour of Brussels. The tour is lead by one of my teachers. We walked throughout Brussels for over 7 hours, and saw some pretty cool stuff. Because it was raining I did not bring my camera but I plan on going back to these sites in the future, after all, I am here for four months! We saw the royal palace, the Royal Museum, the Justice Center, and various other government buildings and old churches. We went into two of the old cathedrals which were amazing!
After our tour we came back home to crash, which brings me to now.
Last night, we kicked off the evening with a traditional Belgian meal called Mussels and Frites, which is a large serving of mussels served with a side of french fries. I was a bit skeptical to eat them, because in the past I have hated sea food etc, but I decided to get rid of my old reservations about sea food and try it. They were steam cooked in a buttery sauce with celery and onions. I was taught how to eat them by Iria, and they turned out to not be all that bad. I still have trouble looking a them when I eat them, as I expect that sometime I will open them and find something gross. But regardless, they exceeded my expectations.
During dinner we talked alot about the different kinds of food that we will find here in Belgium. It seems that alot of the food here contains mayonaisse, which I am not a fan of, but I made it clear to Iria and Els that I am "allergic" to mayonaisse, ensuring that they will not put it in the food they cook for us. Walking around Brussels I have seen such things as "Americaine Sandwiches", and "Americane Wraps." I was warned not to get them anywhere because Americaine is a combination of raw beef and a special sauce, ground up and spread on bread. No thank you. I will stick to cooked foods please.
After dinner we set out with some other VeCo students for "Brussels After Dark," aka a tour of the pubs in the downtown area. This place was ridiculous at night, as thousands of students call it their home for the evening and early morning. We first started off by dancing at the irish pub called "O'Reilly's," which was actually pretty damn fun. I met a kid named Alex from Romania and talked to him for a while, and I met some other people that I think I would like to hang out with more.
We left O'Reilly's and headed for the famous "Delirium Cafe," which offers a menu of over 1,100 different beers, some very rare beers. The place was huge, and packed wall to wall. Though the menu was impressive I couldn't handle to crowds, so we went across the cobble'stone street to the Absinthe Bar, which was still pretty crowded but not as loud and smokey.
And then I got lost...
We were taking a cab back to our side of town when I got a phone call from Susie (from Bentley), who was by herself and lost, and couldn't find a metro or a taxi stand. She read me the name of the street she was on, and it sounded familiar to me so I hopped out of the cab and attempted to find her. Well, one thing led to another, and now it turned to 3:00am and I finally got my bearings as to where I was and started to head home. But I forgot to mention that this was a one hour walk. I made it home around 4:00am and went directly to bed. Next time, I will try no to get lost.
Today was a very long day. We woke up at 8:30 so we could make it to VeCo by 10:00 for a tour of Brussels. The tour is lead by one of my teachers. We walked throughout Brussels for over 7 hours, and saw some pretty cool stuff. Because it was raining I did not bring my camera but I plan on going back to these sites in the future, after all, I am here for four months! We saw the royal palace, the Royal Museum, the Justice Center, and various other government buildings and old churches. We went into two of the old cathedrals which were amazing!
After our tour we came back home to crash, which brings me to now.
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