The Red Light District is Super Awkward

A decent amount has happened since I've last updated this blog so I have quite a bit to write about.  I have two main things to talk about, my internship at the Parliament, and my trip to Amsterdam!

I ended up getting the position working with European Parliament Member Riikka Manner whom I originally interviewed with.  This past week was my first week, and I didn't really know what to expect.  Some of my other classmates had already started their internships the week before, but everyone had different experiences.  First and foremost, has anyone ever been in an elevator where six different conversations were happening in six different languages, none of which were English?  Well that's one of the first things I experienced, and it's quite the culture shock.  Although everyone speaks English, everyone also speaks 4 other languages as well.  It can get kind of annoying, because someone will assume you speak French, and begin talking to you in French, and every time you have to say "I'm sorry, I only speak English."  Oh well, maybe by the time I get back I will be fluent in 5 other languages.

The office is comprised of the MEP, her two assistants, and another intern from Finland. This week is called "Strasbourg Week," because all of the MEPs are in Strasbourg, France, so everything is really quiet.  My first two days went well, the project that I was given was that Riikka wanted to write an article for the EuropeanVoice Magazine about the Clinical Trials Directive (legislation that was passed in 2001 regarding the regulation of clinical testing of medicinal products), so they asked me to research the topic and draft an article.  So basically I'm writing an article that will be published in a magazine, maybe.  Other than that, the other assistant and the other intern are really nice.  Yesterday the assistant and I went out for a few drinks after work and got to know each other, which was nice.  It should be interesting to see what kind of things I will be exposed to in the coming months.

Last weekend three friends and myself visited Amsterdam for two days and a night.  Amsterdam is a really cool city, very beautiful.  I had no idea that there was such an elaborate canal system that goes throughout the city.  We basically used the canals, and a map to help us navigate.  The first day when we got there, we found our hostel, and then went on a tour of the Heineken Brewery.  However, unlike the Stella brewery, the Heineken tour never actually shows you them making the beer, it's more like a Heineken Museum more than anything else.  After that we wandered around the city a little bit, went out to dinner, watched a random street show of break dancers, and then headed to the Red Light District once it got late.  I will describe the red light district in one word: Awkward.  Basically it's these narrow streets that people walk down, on either side there are tall windows lined with red/pink neon lights, inside the windows are girls standing/sitting/posing in lingerie.  Meanwhile a bunch of scumbags walk by and give them a look up and down.  I was curious so I would look, but at the same time I would feel so awkward, like I shouldn't be there, so I would look straight ahead.  Overall it was just an awkward experience, but I suppose you gotta see the red light district if you're in Amsterdam, right?  Because we had left Leuven really early that day, we were all fairly tired from traveling, so we were in bed back at our hostel around 1am.  Surprisingly our hostel was very clean, and we all had a private 4 bed room, with two bunkbeds, so that was nice.  The next day we woke up around 10am and went to the Van Gogh Museum.  I remember when I was younger and my mom would drag me to the exhibits at the Art Institute in Chicago, and all I would do is whine and complain (Sorry Mom).  But I really enjoyed the Van Gogh Museum, we were there for about 2.5 hours.  After that we went to the Anne Frank House and took a tour of that.  That was a very powerful tour, let me tell you, but very cool as well.  Overall my time in Amsterdam was a lot of fun.  Although we were only there for two days, I think we really took advantage of our time and saw a lot of things we wanted to see.

I have a very busy month coming up.  Tomorrow morning I will be leaving for Paris for the weekend, the weekend after that I will be in Berlin, the weekend after that I'm planning on going to Stockholm, Sweden, and the weekend after that I'm going to Rome.  LOTS OF TRAVELING!  I'm very excited for it!  We do still have class and homework though, our midterms start next week so I figured I would study to and from Paris!  Stay posted for my next post about my time in Paris!

The Stereotype of Belgians Making Good Waffles is True.

It's been a few days since I've been able to update this blog because we have been very busy.  Classes are in full swing, and we've already been given homework and whatnot.  Since this program revolves around an internship with the European Parliament, all of the classes revolve around the EU and/or Europe in general.  I will be taking classes on European History, European Law, European Economics, and European Culture.  All of our classes are in classrooms on the first floor of the institute we are staying at, which is convenient.  However, the majority of the professors are from the major university in Leuven, KU Leuven.  The classes don't seem too difficult, but at the same time it will be a bit of a struggle going forward considering I am not used to political science type classes, but rather business classes.

For the internship, we have to interview for our positions with the MEP's (Member of European Parliament) of the different countries.  I had an interview with an MEP from Finland, it was a very quick interview (maybe 10 minutes), and I am competing for the position with another girl in my program.  The person who doesn't get it will have to interview with another country, probably later in the week, so here's fingers crossed that I will get it the first time!  Although, I am at a disadvantage that I'm a Finance major, and the rest of the students are politcal science/international studies majors.  However, this particular MEP is on the Budgets Committee, which I believe I'd be well suited for.

We've finally been able to do some exploring here in Belgium.  I've witnessed the greatness that is the Belgian waffle.  I assure you that if you're anywhere in America and the menu says "Belgian Waffle," that it is false.  The waffles that I have had here are unlike anything I've tasted in America.  They don't use batter to make the waffle, but it's more like dough.  There is some type of sugar in the dough that when they press it with the waffle maker it carmalizes(I don't know how to spell that), so that there's this thick syrup like texture, so good!  We also went to this Italian restaurant that supposedly has the best pizza in town.  It's no Chicago Style deep dish, but it was really really good, probably because the people who owned the establishment were real Italians.  I've gotten into a few arguments with the other kids I'm studying with about pizza, considering some are from Boston and others from Washington DC.  They are obviously misinformed on the best pizza since they've never had Chicago style deep dish.  I've also explored the Belgian beer scene.  A few of the beers that I've tried that I really like are Stella Artois(of course, although that's comparable to Bud Light here), Leffe, Duvel, and Delirium.

We've also been able to do some sightseeing outside of Leuven.  I'm not sure if I mentioned in any of my other posts yet, but we went and did a tour of the Stella Artois Brewery, which was very cool.  My favorite part was the 20 minute open bar at the end.  It's different to see bartenders here pour beer, to them it is an art.  For instance the bartender at Stella first takes a Stella glass, cleans it in one sink filled with soapy water, rinses it in another sink filled with hot clean water, pours the Stella into the glass, lets the beer form a head, then takes a knife and cuts off the head above the glass, dips the glass back into the clean sink of water to rinse off any beer that got on the sides, and then gives it to you.  You won't find that in America.  Five other friends and myself traveled to Ghent this past Sunday to visit Gravensteen Castle.  The castle was huge!  We did a walking tour and it took us about an hour to see everything.  It was definitely cool to see all of the artifacts and how historical everything was.  After seeing the castle we took a boat tour of Ghent, because there are small rivers that run throughout the city.  Above is a picture of the castle that I took while we were on our boat tour.  Below is a picture of a friend and myself in front of a church in Ghent.

I have plans to travel to Paris in two weekends.  Today I believe that I will be booking a trip to Dublin in 3 weekends, because a flight there will only cost 26 euro, CHEAP!!

Although I am having fun here in Belgium, I still miss my family and friends back home!!

My Apartment/Dorm

This post is going to be dedicated to where I'm staying, which is called the Irish Institute for Europe in Leuven.  The building is an old monastery that was built in the early 1600's that was recently completely renovated into this institute.  All of the rooms are multi-level 3-4 person rooms, except for mine.  They decided to take a 1 person room, throw another bed in it, and call it a double.

So Cesar(my roommate) and I are living in a pretty cramped room.  I'd say it's about the size of, if not slightly smaller, than my freshman year dorm room.  I guess it's not a terrible thing though since I don't expect to spend much time in there.  The good thing, is that it is all new!  The beds, the bathroom, the floors, everything.  They haven't put in ethernet ports for the internet in our rooms yet, which is supposed to come today, but in the meantime we have wi-fi in our lobby area.  The cool thing is that they kept sustainability in mind when renovating, everything is really efficient.  All of the lights in the entire building are motion sensored, so they won't turn on unless someone is walking down the hallway, which is cool, except for late at night when the hallways are pitch black and you have to wait for the lights to turn on while walking down them.  Then in our room, the lights won't turn on unless you take your room keycard and put it in this slot where the lightswitch is, and leave you keycard there.  Basically so you don't leave the lights on when you leave, because if you do, you will be locked out because that means your keycard is still in the wall in your room.  The toilets are all dual flush, meaning they have separate flush functions if you went #1 or #2, and the shower dials have different options for 25, 50, 75, and 100% flow of water so you don't waste unnecessary amounts of water if you don't mind taking a shower with half the water pressure.  We sleep here, take classes here, and also eat here.  Our rooms are all upstairs, and we have a few big classrooms on the first floor where we take our classes and then there is a cafeteria where there's a few full time chefs preparing every meal for us.  They're not here for just us, but this institute is open to all students, from undergrads to Phd's, that are traveling here to study for however long to stay, so it's a hotel of sorts.  There are groups who stay here for a few days, a week, and then our group who is here for a few months.  It's rather cool though because it is an Irish institute, so all of the staff are Irish.  A pretty cool place to stay and the building has a lot of character because it is so old.

My First Observations About Belgium/Europe

I finally made it to Belgium two days ago at around 7:30am (Belgian Time).  I didn't really sleep on the flight so I was awake for almost 40 hours straight.  I'll tell you what, you know when you're no longer in Kansas when all of the signs surrounding you are in Dutch.  It's rather frustrating coming from a city such as Chicago which I know my way around fairly well, to a city that I've never been to, have no idea where anything is, and can't read any of the signs.  I've noticed a few key differences between the states and Belgium so far, including:

• Think about a standard luxury car in the U.S.  Such as BMW, Audi, Mercedes.  Well all of those are used as Taxis.  Think about that, a car that costs about $60,000 in the U.S....a TAXI!
• When taxi's stop to pick you up, the driver get's out and loads your luggage for you (if you have any), and opens the door for you.  It will be a cold day in hell before a taxi driver in Chicago does both of those things.
• It's hard to walk on Leuven roads.  Many of the streets are cobblestone, and I cannot even guess how many times I've stumbled on an uneven stone already.
• Nobody wears gym shoes.  I have yet to see anyone in a pair of gym shoes other than myself.  Not only does this make me stand out as an obvious tourist, but also makes me wonder how uncomfortable Europe's feet must be?
• Some middle aged European men love to pop their collars.  Not only did I spot a few on my flight, but also walking the streets of Belgium.
• I love paying for a beer with a coin.  We went to a festival and a Stella Artois was only 1.80 euro, luckily I had a 2 euro coin in my pocket and tossed it to the jolly man behind the stand.

Other than that, it's going to take me a while to adjust to the new time zone, new surroundings, new people, and new lifestyle.  AMERICA.

The Story of an All American Kid Living in Belgium

*Exclaimer:  In naming this blog "Apple Pie in Belgium," I am in no way referencing "American Pie" the movie, or the associations it makes with apple pie.  I am simply referring to apple pie as being an "American" desert, a desert that I very much enjoy.  In doing so, I am making the connection between apple pie, it's "American" reputation, and myself.  That being said, continue reading below:

First and foremost, I think some thanks is in order for whomever you are, for taking the time to read my random thoughts, rants and quirks.  I'd like to apologize right away, for I am not a writer; never was, never will be.  Chances are you will find many sentences that have no structure, no organization, and also some grammar errors sprinkled in there as well.  I am new to this blog thing, but figured that since I will be hop scotching across Europe, I should try and document as much of it as I can.  Let this blog post act as the "before" in a series of events that will take me to numerous countries in the next 3 months and ultimately land me back here in Chicago.


As of right now, I leave in 2 days.  My thoughts and feelings are mixed.  I am very excited for the near future and many of the adventures that await, seeing as this will be the first time my feet will have landed in foreign soil.  Not only have I never been out of the country, but I also have very limited exposure to flying in airplanes.  If I remember correctly I have only needed to travel by plane 3 times in my life.  Therefore, not only am I excited, but nervous.  I have never strayed far from what I consider home for an extended period of time.  I have always kept my support network, such as friends and family, at close reach.  To most I may seem like a fairly independent person, however that sense of independence will be tested when I find myself 4,000 miles from my home, my friends, and my family.

When I first began tossing around the idea of studying abroad, those who knew me best told me, "That would be a great experience, but do you think you can handle being away from home?"  Or they would say, "That may not be the best idea."  Don't get me wrong, I did have support in my decision, it's just that I definitely went the opposite way that the "day-to-day Kevin" would have gone.  I tend to play it safe generally in my everyday life, so when I was thinking of stepping outside of my comfort zone by spending three months in a foreign country, many of those closest to me were initially surprised.

It still seems surreal to me that not too long ago I was debating whether or not this would be a good decision, and here I am, 2 days from departure.  At first, I did not know if I should graduate early and get a head start on my career, or if I should take that extra time I had and use it to study abroad, even though I'm getting credit for classes that I don't need.  I am very happy with my decision, and I am wishing, hoping, and expecting it to be a life changing trip.  I intend to share this experience with all of you via this blog and through the pictures I post.

I will post as often as I have enough things to blog about.  Whether it be every few days or once a week, I do not know.  It will depend on how interesting my day to day life is while I'm in Belgium and whether or not I feel it worth my time and yours to tell you about it.  Here goes nothin...