When all is said and done.....

As I sit here on my last night (completely exhausted, but trying to stay up so that I sleep for most of my long flight tomorrow), I have plenty of time to think and reminisce about everything I have learned and experienced since coming to Leuven over three and a half weeks ago.

We've all heard the joke about "going to Europe to find yourself"... I myself have humorously referred to that line many times. But after only being in Europe for over three and a half weeks I can now personally vouge for that saying. These past few weeks have been exhausting, starting when my flight was canceled on May 17 due to the volcano in Iceland. I've been going 110mph since that day and have truly had a life changing experience while being here on my own. Up until now, I have only traveled with family, close friends, and people that I feel MORE than comfortable around. My time in Europe pushed me outside of my comfort zone.... so often I was overwhelmed with a million different emotions, homesickness, and anxiety, but I survived. Over the past few weeks I have grown in ways I didn't realize I still needed to grow and learned more about the person I have become. I have been pushed and challenged in so many ways while being in Europe, whether this be through interactions with people much different from me, my course work, being alone in a foreign country, the list could go on..... but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Here I am on the last night, getting ready to come home in the morning. Three and a half weeks have flown by.... I have seen things I have only dreamed about, met people who I will never forget, and have had experiences that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I couldn't possibly be more blessed. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I did all I could to make the very most of it.

And now, I return home with so many memories, countless stories, a billion pictures, and a carry on bag full of souvenirs. I can't wait to show you my pictures and tell you about my experiences while being in Europe.... I won't know where to start! I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to be able to do this. I know that everything that I learned throughout these past few weeks are lessons I will take with me forever.





"You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it---I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of... And if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again" --the curious case of benjamin button--

Last Day in Leuven :(

The last day is finally here and it will definitely be one of the busiest. I started my day early, wanting to go through my notes one last time before my oral final exam at 10:45. I'm not exactly sure how an oral exam is going to work, I'm just used to multiple choice, true and false, and the occasional essay exam. But, if you are going to do the whole European study abroad experience, you might as well finish it all off with a typical European style final. The up-side to this format though is I'll be done in fifteen minutes, leaving me all afternoon to get stuff done and enjoy my last day in Leuven.

After my exam, the day will be filled with last-minute shopping, souvenir buying, and enjoying the sunshine in the Oude Markt. ---I haven't talked much about the Oude Markt but it is definitely my favorite part of Leuven. It is this whole area in town where the streets are lined with bars and cafes and tons of outdoor seating. The Oude Markt is unlike anything I've ever seen and you'll find people sitting outside and enjoying a drink or meal at all hours of the day and night. I will definitely miss it when I'm back in the States.

We also have our closing, goodbye dinner tonight. As always, when the entire group gets together things will surely get interesting. It will be weird to have to say goodbye to all of these wonderful people that I've seen day in and day out for 3.5 weeks. Being in a foreign country and out of our comfort zone reallly brought us together as a group--it also probably helped that we see each other 24/7 haha, but nonetheless we have all grown together as a group and formed a special "Leuven bond".

.....Then there's the issue of packing, which fortunately for me I finished most of it yesterday! Now all that's left is packing up a few more things I left out and I'm good to go! Just cross your fingers my suitcase is under 50 pounds ;) However, I am looking forward to dropping off my gigantic suitcase in Brussels and not having to deal with it again until I get to Chicago. And by "ME" dealing with it... I mean KENNY haha. ;) (Though it definitely is entertaining to watch me try to manage my huge suitcase along with 2 very full carry-on bags)



I'll be beginning my long journey home at 7:30 tomorrow morning! It will be a long day of traveling with a flight from Brussels to Amsterdam around 11:30.... then the "SHORT" NINE hour flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis.... before finally making it into O'Hare around 8:30pm tomorrow night! Everyone pleeeease pray for smooth, safe traveling - no VOLCANIC delays - and any other unforeseen obstacles that would make my journey home chaotic! See you all so soon!

Tot Zien!

((a picture of the oude markt))

TOP TEN

Top Ten Lessons Learned From My European Adventures:

10. Never decide at the last minute to use CHEAP, DISPOSABLE razors..... I have the battle wounds to prove it. Why again did I think my normal razor was so heavy and would add soooo much extra weight to my suitcase?!

9. Though they may look like MONOPOLY money.... Euros are 100% real money and should not be spent as if it is fake..... and watch out for the exchange rates.

8. Always figure out how to use public transportation if you are going to be somewhere for an extended period of time.... whether it be the metro in paris, the tube in london, or a bike from the 70s in Leuven. It makes your life 100X easier.

7. Panos = love. Panos was one of the first restaurants we found in Leuven and it was definitely our subway/jimmy johns replacement. We have frequented many Panos while traveling through Belgium. (It's a nice change from the double fried french fries and everything else fried and covered in thick sauce)

6. Don't forget your passport when trying to go register with the city of Leuven. They don't care if you have your driver's license, a credit card, debit card, a COPY of your passport, and 10 other forms of identification. THEY WANT YOUR PASSPORT.

5. Check your flight status before you leave in the morning --- who knows when some Iceland Volcano will decide to disrupt your travel plans.

4. Leave plenty of time when traveling on the high speed train to London. Unlike when going to Paris, you have to check in, go through security as if you were in an airport, fill out paperwork, and then get harassed for 10 minutes by the border control about your travel plans. (apparently I look suspicious). Oh and you should also check your train tickets when you get them just to make sure the date is correct on them. If you don't you are in for a terrible surprise when the date on the ticket is for YESTERDAY and you then must run through the station and pray that the guy at the ticket counter is nice enough to fix it for you. So save yourself the hassle and just check the date.

3. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, ask old grumpy belgian men if they serve "just" french fries in their 100000 year old restaurant. They will proceed to yell at you for 5 minutes and lecture you about the difference between a restaurant and a "frituur".

2. Learn the first time not to blow up your electrical appliances. After blowing up a converter, blow dryer, and straightener within the first 3 hours of being in Belgium I think I FINALLY learned my lesson. Be careful and aware of the electrical voltage differences!


.....and finally the number 1 thing I learned in Europe.....

1. Everyone knows you are American from a mile away. Whether this be due to how we dress (apparently shorts aren't common in Belgium), how we talk (English isn't the language of the world?! who knew), or the fact that we are obnoxiously LOUD... they always see us coming. Embrace it. But then be prepared for the rude and irritating gestures and remarks as you walk by. European guys think its ok to be creepy and make inappropriate comments every time they see you. We haven't exactly figured out why they think this is actually going to get them anywhere with us.

Blackhawks!!!!!!!!!

As many of you know last night was game six of the Stanley Cup finals.... the Blackhawks went into the game leading the series 3-2 over Philadelphia, so if they won this game it would all be over and the Hawks would be the Stanley Cup Champs! I was devastated that I was going to miss the game and all the celebrating and festivities that go along with it but I made the best of the situation and managed to find that I could still listen to the game thanks to the radio broadcast on the internet. Not exactly an ideal way to experience your team winning the Cup, but sometimes you just gotta take what you can get.

.....another important consideration to keep in mind: the SEVEN hour time difference. Which means that at approximately 2:30am my time the game was just starting. Long story short... three hours later around 5:30, the sun was starting to rise, the birds were chirping, I had to leave for class in 4 hours.... aaaaand the Stanley Cup found a new home in Chicago. I was filled with mixed emotions. Of course I was beyond excited and happy that they won, but it was still sad that I wasn't back in the States to REALLY experience this. This moment is something I had been hoping and wishing for all season. (Thank goodness for DVR. I'll be able to watch the final minutes of OT and my beloved Blackhawks receiving the Cup).

My 2009-2010 season came to a close with a total of 2 games with Kenny, a game with Kate, and a playoff adventure to Nashville with Kenny to see game 3. (So I guess it is pretty cool that Kenny and I can say we went to a play off game the year they won the Cup---I'm sure we'll be talking about it forever haha).


So even though I am an OCEAN away - on a different CONTINENT - dealing with a SEVEN hour time difference - and going on way too little sleep today... I would have NEVER missed this moment for anything. The Chicago Blackhawks are the 2010 Stanley Cup Champs.... and as the guy on the radio said "Blackhawks' fans worldwide let's celebrate!"




So just how was I feeling today?! I was actually feeling okay when my alarm went off much too soon at 9am this morning. However, by the time 2pm rolled around I was starting to fade fast. But now after a nice nap, I'm ready to finish up my time here in Belgium. Tomorrow is my last day here and it will be filled with a final exam, last minute shopping, spending time with my friends, and a closing dinner which I'm sure will be filled with heartfelt goodbyes and many laughs. This has been a great experience and I've made memories that will last forever. But I also can't wait to get back home (but I'm sure that feeling won't last long once I actually do get back and have to go to summer school haha)

See you all very very soon!

Tot Zien.

Class Poem :)

The other day in class we had a really boring guest speaker. None of us could focus or pay attention to what he was saying. It didn't help that it was pretty difficult to understand his English.... and nobody could read his chicken-scratch all over the chalk board. We all found different ways to preoccupy ourselves during the 2 hour lecture.... my roommate Anastasia decided to get creative and wrote a poem about our class. I thought it was pretty great and wanted to share it with you guys! You may not understand all of the inside jokes right now, but I'm sure that once I get home and tell you all of my stories and put names with faces it will make a lot more sense. But still, it's funny... so enjoy and be so proud of us highly intelligent U of I students in Europe. haha.

Roses are red violets are blue,
Belgian guys are kind of hot
and Luxembourg soldiers too.

I love this damn country of beer, waffles, and frietes,
but Pizza Sole Mio's chicken kebab is all I want to eat.
The Oude Markt rocks because the bars never close,
we get lots of attention, we're American, everybody knows.

Swice is the best he's just like a dad,
he really cares about us
and tells me which beers are bad.

Stella & Duvel, Hoegaarden, La Chouffe,
give Sarah some Kriek and she'll be raising the roof.

We all love each other
I'll always stick by your side,
even with issues like leaving Corrina behind.
We all help each other
like Tiffany's first flight,
but she hit the ground running and even went out in her pjs at night.

Liz, Sandy, Emily Katie, like to party on too,
we had the best night in Ghent,
we are the Double Duvel Crew.
We started with hot shirtless soldiers and a game of swinging hammers with might,
but it ended in snake dances, a proposal, and a fight.

Aggie's our grad student and we all love her a bunch,
she bought us a meter of Stellas and we may have had too much.

Ugh, I forgot we're still here for school,
Hannah let's get going on our project,
but stop at the bars first for fuel.

After that Kaitlyn, let's get a mojito or two,
that was the best drunken taco dinner,
sorry I got pepper juice on you.

The only boy in the group I call him "Saint Ryan",
he claimed to be the navigator, but lost the position because he was lyin'.

We have one more week being all together,
I love all these people
and it couldn't be better.

*I love my group! I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to go to Europe with!*

tutt--tutt. looks like rainnnn.

good morning!

unfortunately I woke up to rain today. not a great way to start off one my last days in Leuven. we were hoping to go on a bike ride later after class.... boo. but at least this way I will be forced to HOPEFULLY get my last paper done.

*T-minus 3 days!!!*

Lions & Tigers & Bears... oh my!

Groeten!

I am just a few short days from being HOME!!! But that doesn't mean that my remaining days here in Belgium are going to be relaxing and uneventful! I have a week full of last minute traveling, souvenir buying, finishing (and starting) homework, studying for my final, and last but certainly not least, packing.

....it all started today with my last traveling adventure: the Antwerp Zoo.



After class, Anastasia, Sarah, and I used our last train passes and made the short trip back to Antwerp. If you all remember, we went there a couple weeks ago, but only to shop, so this time our travel plans were dedicated to getting to the zoo!

Luckily for us the weather wasn't too awful and we only had to deal with some rain showers on and off. When we got to the zoo we weren't entirely sure what to expect, but we all hoped it would be your typical zoo. Fortunately that is exactly what we got. It was a small, ordinary zoo filled with lions, tigers, a million different types of birds, monkey, chimps, a reptile house, aquarium, zebras, penguins, the list could go on forever. But all in all, we had another great day.

Once we got back we headed for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants here in Leuven (Di Rector) and put off coming back to the Irish College for as long as possible---we had homework to do, of course. But as you can see, I am currently procrastinating as I write this post. Oops. However, I think I would much rather work on papers than start my next impossible task..... fitting everything back into my suitcase. Yikes. I am definitely not looking forward to that.

T-minus 4 days! Can't wait to see you all.
Tootsies!!!

Traveling is all very well and good, as long as you know there's a person or place you can call HOME.

--Jodi Picoult--

L O N D O N

Groeten!

It's hard to believe another weekend is here and gone. London was amazing! I had no idea I would enjoy it as much as I did. The time I got to spend there was definitely not enough, so hopefully one day I will make my way back to London.

It ended up just being Sarah (my roommate) and I that made the trip to London, but we had a great time! We left around 1pm on Friday, right after class. Starting from the time we stepped foot into the Brussels train station until getting on the train to come back home from London it was an eventful experience (to say the least).

Friday:
We had taken the train to Paris the weekend before and didn't have to go through any sort of security to leave the country, so we just assumed we wouldn't have to go through security to get to London either..... we were wrong. Luckily we were early getting to the station because we had to go through customs, be harassed by the border patrol about why we were going to London, why we were in Belgium, etc, etc, and then rush through the station to make it on the train literally two minutes before it left. What a great start to our trip! Once we got to London things started to smooth themselves out and we immediately felt much more at home.... gotta love the English language. It was such a relief to be able to figure out our way around an unfamiliar city just by reading the signs or asking for help. We got ourselves Tube passes (the underground metro) and found our way to the hotel. After getting settled in we set out and began our London adventures... which started with a Thames River tour. The tour didn't last long and once we reached the end point we explored a little and took entirely tooooo many pictures by the Tower of London.... oops. We ended our night with a late dinner at a local British pub near the hotel, where I had a London specialty... Fish and Chips.

Saturday:
We started off bright and early for our "Big Bus Tour" (one of those stereotypical double-decker red buses you think of when you picture London). We took the bus all over the city, getting on and off as we wanted to explore on our own (and again, have way too many photo shoots). In the course of just a few hours we managed to see every tourist spot you could imagine...... Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Gardens, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, the list goes on and on. It was an exhausting day to say the least.

The highlight of the day (and visit) was definitely going to see "Grease" at the Piccadilly Theater. The show was great and we couldn't have asked for better seats. The one down side was the lack of A/C though. Temperatures usually don't get into the 80s too often in London, and while we were there it was definitely warm.... so it was quite uncomfortable in the crowded theater --- but we survived and I loved the musical.

Sunday (Today):
We again had to get up way too earl.y in order to catch our train back to Brussels (where we met up with our class for a day trip). But of course, things just couldn't go 100% as planned. Fortunately for us, we planned ahead this time and left even more time for security at the station (even though it wasn't even any where close what we had to go through to get into London). However, when we got into the check-in desk, the attendant realized my ticket said it was for YESTERDAY! I couldn't believe it! Somehow, the company we bought it from had screwed up the date when they printed it off --- all of the other information was correct just not the date. We had to sprint across the station to find the ticket office... and then explain what happened. We were so lucky this happened in London, we all spoke English and it made things go a lot easier. Luckily, everything worked out and the guy at the ticket office was super helpful and nice and fixed it all. We ran back across the station and managed to somehow make it through security lines, grab a quick latte, and get on the train with a few minutes to spare. PHEW! What a morning (and to think, this was all before 9am!!!).

Needless to say, we made it to Brussels safe and sound and met up with the group for another wonderful day trip! (even though it did rain on and off all day!)

I can't believe that I am starting my last week here in Belgium! It has all went so fast (especially these last 10 days or so, starting with a trip to Paris - then Gent - and finally London and Brussels --- it's been a blur!) This week will be spent mostly in Leuven, catching up on homework, starting to pack and finishing up and last minute things we want to do here.



Tootsies,
Kait

Adventures in Gent

On Monday through Wednesday evening we took a class trip to another Belgian city, Gent. From the time we left Leuven on the train.... to returning home it was quite an experience. We should have known that when we missed the first train to get to Gent it was going to be an interesting three days, but we really had no idea what we were in store for.....

After just barely missing the first train out of Leuven, we finally got to Gent late in the afternoon. The entire class was exhausted to say the least. We had all gotten back late Sunday night from our long weekend trips and were definitely not ready to set off on another three day adventure. But here we were in Gent... ready or not. When we got to Gent we were welcomed with a cold, dreary day (definitely didn't help the whole exhausted thing)... and after figuring out the tram situation, made it to our hostel. This was my first hostel experience and I can now say after having actually stayed in a hostel in Europe that I will stick to my hotels from now on. I know the hostel could have been much, much, MUCH worse... but I wasn't exactly happy with the living situations, the weird handprints on the walls, the sketchy blankets, and the nasty bathrooms that you had to hold the button down on the shower in order to keep it on (not exactly a great place to stay). And then there were our creepy neighbors to top it all off. I was definitely happy to get back to the Irish College in Leuven.

Once getting settled into our new "home" for the next few days we headed back out and found a little restaurant for dinner. This restaurant seemed to have been around for decades and the old owner guy and I were not exactly friends. I apparently made the mistake of asking for "just" french fries (since I had eaten only a couple hours before) and offended him to the extent that he felt the need to yell at me for five minutes about how "you must go to a different place if you want JUST french fries! You can't have JUST french fries IN MY restaurant. blah blah blah". Oops. But really, he was just a grumpy old man. (Oh and this was after he made the oh-so-cheerful statement of how he better explain the menu to us because WE do not understand HIS language, but HE understands OURS.) It was quite the dinner to kick off our 3 day stay in Gent and not exactly the greatest first impression......

Day two in Gent started with class.... and surprisingly the lecture was even fairly interesting. We were lucky enough to have a guest speaker from the university in Gent (Bart Van de Putte) and he lectured on the social history of Gent and the welfare state there in comparison with other European countries and the US. After class we took a tour of the city (and still weren't all THAT impressed with the city.... but this could have something to do with the sleeping situation the night before and the cold, miserable weather). Once we were through with the tour we split off into groups and headed out on own ways.... we went shopping (which helped put us in a better mood of course) and on a tour of the castle that is in Gent (I took pictures and videos---don't worry). The highlight of the entire visit to Gent was dinner on the 2nd night---which was in a Turkish neighborhood. I had never had Turkish food before so I was excited to try something new. It was absolutely wonderful and the best meal we've had since being in Belgium (at least I thought anyways).

Finally day 3 got here and we were more than ready to head back to Leuven. We had class again in the morning with another lecture from Bart Van de Putte. This time we heard more about the immigration patterns into Gent (which again, I was surprised was a fairly interesting topic). After class we had a couple hours of free time to explore the rest of the city. The sun FINALLY decided to come out and we had a MUCH better time walking around Gent and it actually is a really pretty city, full of life and things to do (a complete 360 turn-around from what we thought of it just a day or two before).

Our experience in Gent ended with a group visit to a local mosque. I had never been in a mosque before so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. It was definitely different than a "normal" church that I am used to being in but it was a great way to tie together everything we had learned in the past few days in class.


The trip to Gent started off really rough and none of us were 100% certain that we would actually make it to Wednesday, but now that it's all said and done and I've showered and got a good night's sleep I can easily say it wasn't THAT awful! I'm heading off to London for the weekend tomorrow and won't be back until late Sunday at some point. I'm sure I will come back with many more stories and pictures for all of you! It's hard to believe that I am a little over a week away from being home. It's crazy how fast this has all went!!!! But I can't wait to see you all and tell you more about my adventures!


Tootsies!


--the picture is of me in the castle!!--

ZZZzzzz...

I made it back from a long threeeee days in Gent. It was definitely quite the experience. I think all this traveling is starting to catch up with me though.... I am exhausted!

I'll update you with all the details of Gent tomorrow!


Tootsies!

Gent

Hello All!

I'm off to Gent today for a three-day adventure with my class! Sounds like it's going to be an eventful three days with city tours, guest lecturers, exploring yet another new city, dinner at a Turkish restaurant, and ending it all with a tour of a Mosque and discussion on Islam in Belgium.

I'll update when I get a chance on Wednesday once we get back to Leuven!

Tootsies!

amaaaazing weekend :)

Finally back from a long weekend in Paris! I don't even know where to start! I don't think it's really hit me yet that I was IN Paris and saw the Eiffel Tower, Arc Di Triomphe, The Louvre & the Mona Lisa, Notre Dame, Champs Elysees, the list goes on and on. I have over 150 pictures (and some videos at the request of Kenny) and a million stories to go along with all of them! It was an adventure to say the least... but most importantly it was a SUCCESSFUL adventure!

Over the course of 3 days we saw every major tourist attraction, ate crepes--eu claires--baguettes--etc, watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night, met creepy french guys, took the typical "Eiffel tower" picture, experienced RUGBY madness and super fans, dealt with the language barrier, mastered the Metro system, took way too many pictures, ohhh and almost got pick-pocketed (long, funny story). It was a great trip to say the least! Like I said before, I have no idea where to start... so I'll just give you all a brief, quick summary of what we did... and I'll share more stories when I get home!


Friday night: we took the train from Leuven to Brussels and caught the High-Speed train from Brussels to Paris. The trip from Brussels to Paris only takes about an hour and a half so it wasn't a bad train ride at all. Once we got to Paris we met up with Katie and Sandy (and Katie's friend Michelle who is studying in Paris). Our afternoon/evening in Paris included a quick tour of the city and our first siting of the Eiffel Tower, Arc di Triomphe, and a few other landmarks. We went for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant on Champs Ellysees (one of the most famous streets devoted to shopping and dining). The best part of the night? Going to the Eiffel Tower at night. Each night, on the hour, every hour, the Eiffel Tower sparkles---literally sparkles. We were lucky enough to experience the sparkling while UP IN the tower... and also from the ground. (I got a really cool video of this).


Saturday: We got a good night's sleep and started the day at full speed. Our first stop was Notre Dame. So we hopped on the Metro (which we ended up mastering by Sunday afternoon) and headed that way. The Notre Dame Cathedral was beautiful (which may be an understatement). But personally, I found it weird and rather disrespectful to have thousands of tourists interrupting a legitimate mass. (maybe that's just me). From Notre Dame we went for lunch (crepes) at a little restaurant famous for crepes and sandwiches. After lunch it was off to Arc Di Triomphe. It was cold and rainy so we made a quick trip to the top to take some pictures before heading to the Eiffel Tower. Today, there was a special show going on at the Eiffel Tower (some guy was attempting the longest freefall and then skating down a ramp--well, something like that--Sarah and I got tired of waiting and decided to go take the "usual" Eiffel Tower pictures) From the Eiffel Tower it was time to get dinner (which was at a restaurant near Michelle's dorm).... after dinner we got on the Metro and made the trip back to our hotel. Here's where the story gets interesting....

*I really really wanted some candy. So I went to the vending machine while waiting at the metro station. I put my euros in and pushed the numbers for a Twix.... then we watched in amazement as both a Twix and a package of cookies fell down! It was definitely my lucky day... or so I thought. We were all excited and laughing about it as we got on the metro.... we sat down and waited while other people got on... all of a sudden some guy passing by reaches into our train and tries to grab the candy from me!!!!!!!! I grab back and luckily he was unable to get it... and then he just creepily smiles and me before running away. I couldn't believe it... he tried to STEAL MY CANDY BAR! He didn't care about my friend Anastasia's designer sunglasses, our purses, etc... he wanted my Twix! We were just in shock at this and couldn't help but laugh. The one time we almost got pick-pocketed it was over a candy bar!!!! How crazy... and funny!*


Sunday: Our last day in Paris didn't have much planned. We started our morning at the Louvre (which is absolutely GINORMOUS).... and I got to see the Mona Lisa. (which by the way... is actually really small! I was pretty surprised) We wandered around the Louvre for a few hours... (as I secretly hoped some "Dan Brown novel" experience would unfold--- "The Da Vinci Code" author--- unfortunately nothing happened haha) Another interesting part of the museum was the section devoted to ancient Egyptian art and artifacts---I took a lot of pictures, don't worry. After the Louvre we didn't have much to do so we finished up some souvenir shopping, stopped to have a eu claire *yuuummm* and made a quick visit to the "statue of liberty"---looks just like our statue of liberty except MUCH smaller. From there it was time to head to the train station to make our return back to Belgium.

This is just a veryyyy brief description of everything we did in Paris.... I can't even begin to go into detail on everything! I can't wait to tell you all the rest of the stories and show you pictures (trust me, I have plenty!)

I'm beyond exhausted though and we have a full week of traveling coming up! I can't believe the trip is already halfway done! Crazy how fast it's going!

We're off to Gent (another city in Belgium) tomorrow and will be there until Wednesday night. I'll update again soon!

Tootsies!

paris.paris.paris.parisssss!

We're off to Paris for the weekend!!!!!!!!!

((update you all on Sunday night when we get back to Leuven!))

Antwerp!!!!

Groeten!!!!!

Today my roommates and I FINALLY made it to Antwerp! After a long week of class, a miserable rainy day yesterday, and PARIS coming up this weekend we decided that a day of shopping was definitely needed. So we ventured off on our own for the first time... acting like old pro's figuring out the train situation and navigating ourselves around a new city. (Well, they did. I can't read a map to save my life so I'm not exactly any help!!!)

Antwerp (or Antwerpen in Dutch) is yet another wonderful city found here in Belgium! The visit started out great in a BEAUTIFUL train station... followed by shops and stores lining the streets... amazing architecture found throughout... and last but not least a ZOO!!! (unfortunately it started to rain as we were finishing up shopping so we never made it to the zoo). Antwerp had a lot of stores and restaurants that you would find in the US... including Starbucks (which we definitely made a stop at), McDonalds, Chi-Chi's (none of us even knew those were still around!), H&M, Nike, Urban Outfitters, the list goes on and on. Needless to say, we felt right at home.

((We must admit though, Chicago and our beloved Michigan Avenue STILL has better shopping... however, this was a nice day trip and it gave us something to do. And OF COURSE we all still managed to buy a new outfit -- just what we needed to start our weekend in Paris!))

*Another funny side note* Apparently.... they don't like when you put your feet up on the seats on the train. There were three of us.... and the way the seats are situated on the train are two per bench/seat type thing... and then the 2 benches are facing each other with a table between them --- so for us...two on one side and the third person sitting across from us. I didn't have anyone sitting in front of me so I propped my feet up on the seat. I didn't think anything of it. The guy came around checking tickets.. and I sat up and started digging through my purse to find the ticket. I looked up and the guy was giving me a nasty look, I just smiled and said "hi"... he then said "english"... I was confused but getting used to people trying to figure out how to talk to us, so I said "yes". He then proceeded to yell "feet" at me... and point at the seat in front of me. I quickly said sorry... but that wasn't enough. He followed it up with "clean it off" and another dirty look before moving on to the next group. Ooops. ((Lesson Learned - haha))


Aghhh!!! Paris!!!! I can't believe I am finally going to get there! This really is something I have only dreamed about... I'm sure I will be in awe when I see the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre, The Arc De Triomphe, etc, etc. And I know I will have millions of pictures to show all of you! Although, I am a little worried how my lack of knowledge of the FRENCH language is going to work out while I'm in Paris... but I 'm sure it's nothing I can't figure out using my handy-dandy French Translation Book. (But cross your fingers that we don't end up offending tooooo many French people while we are there this weekend)

I probably won't be able to update until Sunday night when I get home --- but I'll be sure to tell you all about it! I can't waitttt!!!!!!


Tootsies!

yikesss!

chinese food..... in Belgium.... from a shady little shack of a building?!
hmmm. interesting.

i'm sure it will be fineeeeee----famous.last.words.



((the rain stopped by the way. thank goodness!))

Rain.Rain.Go Away.....

Well, we made it a week in Belgium without any rain.... we were definitely spoiled. Today we woke up to pouring rain and chilly temperatures... typical Belgian weather.

We made the walk to class in the rain, all complaining and whining, definitely not enjoying our first experience with Belgian weather. We also had to go register with the city... some weird thing they make you do if you are going to be here for more than 3 weeks. (Pretty pointless and time consuming if you ask any of us). We had to first walk in one crazy downpour to the train station to take pictures... they wanted 3 passport size pictures... such a hassle. And not only were we soaked and miserable, they also cost us 5 euros. Great. We were all so thrilled. From the train station we made a short walk to the city hall to register --- Today must really just be a day of BAD LUCK... because none of the girls of D202 had our actual passports... only the copies---so we got DENIED. We made the walk in the rain for nothing and will have to do it tomorrow at some point. After that, all I wanted to do was go back to the room and get under the covers. (Of course I have homework and reading that I should be doing on a rainy day such as this, but my procrastination was not something I left in Champaign, so we'll see what actually gets done today).

The big question of the day.... does Belgium have DELIVERY! (haha)
none of us are wanting to be out in this weather... and we're going to get hungry.... so pizza? Jimmy Johns? We are definitely missing you!
((We're not your stereotypical American college students at all, are we!? haha))

The rain also forced us to cancel our trip to Antwerp.... again. We have tried twice now to get there.... all we want to do is SHOP! Is that too much to ask!?! I can't even remember the last time I went on Forever 21's website... I'm going to start going through withdrawals here if I don't get some shopping in my life!---however, my suitcase was already filled to the max.... so this might be a good thing! but still.....
(by the way you should all look up Antwerp--or Antwerpen as it is called in Dutch. It looks like a great city with a lot to offer... great shopping, the cool old building and museums, and a zoo!) So hopefully we will get there tomorrow afternoon.

TWO DAYS until our longgg weekend in PARIS! I can't wait!

Tootsies! :)

week ONE.

It's hard to believe that I've been out of the US for a week now.... seems like just yesterday I was ranting about a stupid volcano in iceland canceling my flight! But after a week here in Leuven these are just a few of the things I miss: 1) FREE NORMAL water. (you have to pay for it at restaurants and no one seems to drink normal tap water! crazy! definitely missing it) 2) ICE. I like ice. Any one who is around me for just a short while can figure that out. In Europe... you are LUCKY to get a couple small ice cubes in your glass. We really take ice and water for granted in the States. 3) SALAD. You can't really find a normal lettuce salad here.... again something that is a vital component of my life. 4) the ENGLISH language. Yes, most of the people here speak English to some extent... but ughhh! why can't we all just speak a universal language... it would make my life so much easier! We were asking a waiter one night what flavor a particular beer was and asked if it was raspberry. It took us forever to explain what a raspberry actually was! And when a menu is translated into English, the translations are often rather rough and not exactly clear. If only I knew Dutch..... 5) my BELOVED chicago BLACKHAWKS!!!! hello stanley cup finals :) And even though Kenny is going to DVR all of the games for me, it just won't be the same listening to it on the radio. I expect you ALL to watch! LET'S GO HAWKS! and last but not least 6) chieffers. haha just kidding, of course I miss all of YOU. Don't forget to keep me updated on your lives!


Last night we went on a short adventure to an old castle just outside of the city of Leuven. It took about 25 minutes to walk there but it was beautiful and the scenery along the way was great! I even managed to find a house that I'm pretty sure should be my future summer home. Hope you are all ok with that :) But I'll post pictures soon of the castle!


At this point... I should probably tell you about the academic side of my experiences here in Belgium. I'm taking a sociology course through the U of I and we are mainly focusing on family dynamics and comparing Belgium (and Europe) to the United States. It has been pretty interesting and has given me quite a bit to think about! As far as school work goes there aren't too many requirements, but we do have to keep a journal of our experiences and make 8 posts on some sort of discussion (not too time consuming though so that's nice). I can't really complain too much :)


And now...finally... the BIGGEST part of my day.... I got my bike. Yes, the time has finally come. I know we've all been waiting for this moment when I would have to navigate myself around a foreign country on a bike that was probably made in the 70s. I can't even touch the ground from it. And to make things worse I have absolutely NO idea what the road signs mean or the rules of the road. YIKES. I'm not kidding... I was terrified getting on the bike for the first time. All that was going through my mind was my last experience on a wheeled object (aka my skateboard incident my junior year of high school. some of you will remember that night uptown...others will not, but needless to say, I ended up on the ground.) We've all been joking about my future biking experiences in Belgium and how you all want videos. You all are HILARIOUS. And I can't forget Kenny's words of encouragement last night... "Please don't get hurt!". I mean, I really just want to thank you guys for all the support... yah, not so much. haha But in the end my first ride back from the bike shop went smooth and I made it safe and sound. Phew!


I'll try to update again soon! Things are going to get crazy in the next week or so with all of my traveling (I'm heading to Paris this weekend!!! soooo excited!) But I'll stay in touch!


Tootsies! (One of my absolute favorite words I've picked up here!)