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!!
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