Hello Bruges!

The Erasmus (exchange) Student Coordinators organized a day trip to Bruges for most of the exchange students here this past Friday. Bruges truly took my breathe away. I had been warned it was a small, cute, very picture-esque city and those words could not have been more accurate. The very dutch speaking city of Bruges was welcoming, and friendly to tourists. It became evident as the day goes on that tourists are their main source of income. Every few steps there was another souvenir shop, handmade lace shop (something they are famous for in Bruges), and Belgium chocolate shop.

We started out our day at a brewery, a really old building with tons of little staircases. It was neat seeing how beer is actually made, but my favourite part of the tour was the view from the top.

Next the group split off and we were free to do whatever we wanted. So my group headed for a canal tour that was worth every penny (or euro I guess..). We were shown the most spectacular sites, little markets, towers, and at one point we went through this part of the canal that was filled with swans. Since the boat was so close to the water I could almost reach out and touch them, it was something out of a dream.

 

The rest of the day we went to the Chocolate Museum, a cathedral, and wandered the street of Bruges just enjoying the small cute buildings. I have no doubt in my mind as to why people call Bruges the Venice of the North. Enjoy!

Colours Festival

This past Saturday a group of about 30 of the exchange students who are studying at ULB got together to go to the annual Colours Festival in Brussels. I had seen things similar to this before, most notably the Holi Festival in India. Traditionally coloured powered dye is thrown into the air at certain countdowns and of course thrown at other participants. However, Brussels’ colour festival also had a lineup of great dj’s playing throughout the day.

It was about as messy as it looks. The dye took a while to scrub off my skin but washes out of most clothing, of course wearing a white shirt makes the colours stand out even more (most people were wearing white).

One of the most interesting things I noticed was how different the crowd was here. Everyone was super laid back, but I suppose that’s to be expected if they’re cool with getting colour thrown at them. While dancing/listening to dj sets I was amazed at how friendly the crowd was. Everyone had their own space, was respectful and there wasn’t any pushing to get up front. It was quite a comforting feeling to be in a crowd in a festival setting, something about swaying in the sunshine to great beats feels very much like home to me.

However the great weekend did come to an end and I went to the hospital again today to get my results and it turns out I have mono. Something I was hoping wasn’t the case because there really is no quick fix, it’s something I kind of have to let run its course. Obviously I’ll be trying to get as much rest as possible and take care of myself but it’s going to make going to Bruges, Belgium this Friday a little less fun considering we’re doing a brewery tour and I can’t have any alcohol.  I hope you enjoy the pictures, and if you ever come across a colours festival GO!

The Reality of Fairy Tales

Hi everyone!

Sorry I don’t have any pretty pictures for you this time. I mentioned in my last post about me feeling under the weather, this mainly being from having very swollen lymph nodes on the sides of my neck that have been huge almost since the day I got here. I thought it was something that would pass with time, but it didn’t. Messing around with your health is not something I recommend when you’re far from home so I made an appointment, first with the doctor at ULB, and then was referred to the ear, nose and throat specialist at the hospital.

My appointment yesterday was quite a wake up call as the doctor seemed quite concerned (and was leaning towards me having mono). She ordered blood work and an ultrasound on my throat to really figure out what was going on. After having almost passed out while getting blood work done, the worst was over and now I’m really just left to wait for results on Monday. Fingers crossed its nothing serious.

All this to say, not everything about travel is a fairy tale. My inexperience with going to different countries and even travelling itself had created this perfect image of The Year Abroad. For years I had been dreaming that everything would be so much better, so much cooler, and easier somewhere else. Navigating the health care system here has proved to me that life continues no matter where you go. The good, the bad, and the average days still happen.  For anyone reading who is thinking about going abroad to study or work this is by no means me saying not to head out on your own adventures, but be realistic with your expectations.

I’m grateful that I still feel okay, and am not bed ridden unable to go out. This has also been a great opportunity to practice my french, (speaking to lots of hospital admin) and I still plan on having a fun weekend (of course sans-beer).

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday and weekend! 🙂

Highs and Lows

Since my last post our orientation week had its wrap up, and now I’m moving into the first *official* week of classes (even though most of them don’t start until next week).

The rest of last week consisted of more pubs, academic orientation and getting my room all set up. Last week to wrap up the welcome week we had a traditional Belgium dinner of Meatballs and fries (healthy eh?). After we had some fruit tarts that were delicious!

At the academic orientation

 

Unfortunately for the past few days I’ve been feeling a little under the weather and decided to ‘take the weekend off’ and get some rest. However, the rest didn’t last long as today was the first day of classes while trying to arrange doctors appointments at the same time. The way the school system works for exchange students here is that we get to test drive courses for 3 weeks and see if we like them (most exams are 100% of your grade anyways so missing a couple classes isn’t the worst thing in the world). I think this a great approach to registration, if only it were like that in Canada.

 

One thing I do miss is the efficiency if I dare say of public services in Canada. Having been born and raised in Canada, I never knew anything different when it came to regulations, rules, procedures but here is it such a confusing system. Just for a silly example to prove to the city where you live, you let them know your address then a police officer comes to your house to see if you really live there. Personally, for me it seems a bit far fetched as to why this is necessary (among many other administrative road blocks I’ve encountered, but I digress..).

Culturally the differences between Canada and Belgium are becoming much more apparent to me, the language (the french here is quite different than the Parisian french taught in Canada), sense of time,  the grocery stores, pharmacies are practically full service here.. and the list goes on and on. It may sound like I’m only pointing out faults but its just observing, it’s different and that’s the whole reason I’m here. Experiencing different things is one of the best ways to grow as a person.

Thanks for reading! 🙂

 

Move-Ins and Pub Crawls

Since my last post I’ve moved in to my new room, gotten settled, and immersed myself in the orientation week ULB is holding for exchange students. In short it has been a blast. Also, it has been rainy and cold the last few days so fall is definitely here!

Unfortunately for me my landlord is very European and his concept of time isn’t exactly north american. My move in time got pushed 2 times and ended with me waiting in the rainy cold Belgium weather for 2 hours. Once all settled I got ready and headed out with the university for our pub crawl where we explored 4 Belgium pubs. I’ve been lucky enough to meet quite a few awesome people from different countries (Italy, France, Switzerland, and many Canadians!)

Here is a peak at my new room! 🙂

yes that is a bottle of wine on my shelf – it was only 3 euros at the grocery store!

I Have a Home!!

I know I posted kind of a lengthy post yesterday but I wanted to share a bit about my awesome day.

It started by exploring the ULB campus for the first time (pictures below) the big green building is where most of my classes will be and across the street happens to be a park with tons of walking paths, it is absolutely beautiful.

Next I strolled around my new neighborhood. There happened to be some sort of flea market and festival happening so I enjoyed looking at what people were selling and grabbed a beer and some bbq while wandering around ( I also had my first Belgium Waffle!!) . I know it is starting to sound like I have beer with all my meals but it is really hard not to when its so present everywhere you go.

Next on the agenda of my very stressful day (haha) was to sign my lease for my new place! I don’t have pictures of the inside just yet but here is a sneak peak at my new digs (I’m on the top floor) It is so beautiful!!

After that I met up with some girls from Carleton back in Ottawa and grabbed some dinner and chatted. It was very reassuring to see some familiar places in a city that has been so foreign to me these past 48+ hours. Thanks for reading!

The Journey Here

It might seem a little dramatic to call getting over here a journey but it was. I was hoping to post yesterday but between the almost 12+ hours travelling and the 6 hour time difference I was exhausted after doing a little walking around.

My first flight went well. From Montreal – Paris the flight was very smooth, and take off and landing were less hard on my ears than I was expecting. However, my layover in Paris took a little longer than expected because my next plane was delayed about an hour. The next plane (Paris-Brussels) was much smaller and unfortunately we were lucky enough to be flying through the beginnings of a thunderstorm (needless to say when there was not turbulence it was a rare moment).

Once landed I was introduced to a new maze AKA the Brussels Airport. I finally figured out how to grab a bus to the center of town and then caught a cab to my hotel from there. After a very emotionally and physically exhausting it was hard to believe I was really here, and all the planning was over, I was left to live it.

After a long nap I needed to get out and explore the city a bit. I walked down to the Grand Palace and had a traditional Belgium dish with my first Belgium beer (which was delicious!)

Today I had more luck. I got my cell phone plan figured out, and saw my first apartment which is amazing and looks like I will be signing the lease tomorrow. It is a huge comfort to know I might finally have a permanent place to live. Hope you all enjoy the pics! Brussels truly is a beautiful city.

On y Va! (let’s go)

Well, today’s the day!

My bags are all packed to the brim! I’ve been waiting for this day for two years knowing about my upcoming exchange and to be honest it still doesn’t feel real yet (I’m hoping it will when I’m on the plane). This will be my first time flying since I was three, so pretty much my first time flying in recent memory.

Family and friends have all given me advice on having a smooth flight, so fingers crossed everything goes seamlessly.  I can’t wait to post some more exciting photos once I land and get settled in.

Some crucial part of pre-departure planning I found was booking ahead. My school abroad (ULB) doesn’t leave room for students in residence, so accommodation is up to students themselves. In anticipation of this little speed bump I’ve been actively making appointments with landlords in Brussels. This alone is a huge comfort knowing I’m one step closer to finding a place.

Until I’m across the pond!

My packed-to-the-brim suitcases (of course all under their weight limits 😉 )