My Pilgrimage to Provo!

I have been TERRIBLE at blogging the past few months; so much has happened since Belgium, but I've been too busy/unmotivated to blog about it! I thought my trip to Utah though was far too big to miss. It was simply amazing. I don't think there was a single thing that I would have changed about it. Except of course for me staying longer! We packed so much into three days and Kaley was such a wonderful host making sure I saw everything and kept asking me if there was anything else I wanted to do or see because she would take me there. It was so nice to meet all of her friends and her awesome ward - everyone was so welcoming and I instantly felt at home there (which didn't make it any easier to leave!). I was so happy to see that Kaley has a wonderful situation there and is having such a great time; she deserves it.

I had no idea that I was like this, but BYU showed me that I am such an easy crier! I would hit Kaley and point out every little thing around me - from the Y on the mountain, to the BYU flags all over campus, to a particularly nice stretch of sidewalk - and burst into tears. I don't think I've ever cried that much in my life! Kaley was a good sport about it and would humor me and say "Oh wow yeah that's great!" but literally I was pointing out each pebble or tree in sight. Everything was so wonderful and must have struck a certain chord in me that brought on the water works. I was just touched by the great Spirit that the school holds and everything seemed so special to me. I loved it. (even if my face was drying out from crying so much)

Well, there is just too much to write down every little thing, but here is a little summary of my awesome trip!



Friday night:
Kaley and I took a quick trip to Temple Square right when I arrived to see it all lit up. It was FREEZING but so much fun! It was so beautiful and I felt the warmth of the Spirit just looking inside the Conference Center and taking one step on the temple grounds.
Side story: When I arrived at the Salt Lake City airport, I think I half expected angels to greet me playing trumpets and everyone wearing white robes. Turns out Utah is a normal state just like any other! Although I was disappointed, I was sitting next to a man reading his scriptures in the airport so I knew I was in the right place :)



Saturday:
-Started off with a delicious Belgian waffle from The Awful Waffle with Cougar blue whipped cream for homecoming week! Enjoyed it while watching the Homecoming Parade with tons of floats and free candy
-Hit up the bookstore (where I bought WAY too much BYU apparel) and toured campus
-Saw a boy setting up a proposal for his girlfriend (usual)
-Went to Clayton's baptism which was just wonderful. It reminded me of my own baptism and just how lucky I am to have the church in my life. During the service, I suddenly had a great feeling of peace and had no doubt in my mind that being there, as a member of the church, was exactly where I was supposed to be.
-After the baptism we went to Pizza Pie Cafe! It was so much fun and of course an endless pizza, dessert, and salad buffet helped :)
-To end the night we went to (drum roll please)...the BYU football game vs San Jose State!! It was so awesome seeing thousands of members there cheering on the Cougars. It took a little bit, but now I'm a pro at all of the cheers. Another Cougar....FIRST DOWN!




Sunday:
Although it is hard to choose, I would have to say that Sunday was my favorite day. I think I literally cried the whole day. From the start, it was a wonderful day. While we were walking to church, I looked around me and saw at least a hundred (and that was only in my immediate sight!) other college students in their Sunday best walking to church to feel of the Spirit and worship together. The meetings that followed were so special and I felt the Spirit so strongly; the testimonies were so sincere and it was wonderful to hear the steadfast testimonies of the truthfulness of the Church that all of these people had.
Afterward, we had a wonderful dinner at Dustin and Moriah's (their house is so cute and homey and they're only college students!), and then Kaley I went to Temple Square! I wasn't sure if we'd be able to tour the Conference Center on a Sunday, but Kaley asked one of the volunteers and they said, "of course!" I was ecstatic. The tour blew me away. Although I have seen the Conference Center on TV numerous times, it is completely different to see it in-person. I walked into the auditorium and was instantly struck by its massive size. I hit Kaley on the arm as we walked in and the tears started pouring. I just envisioned 21,000 saints gathering in this room to learn from a prophet and apostles, and thought that this number wasn't even a fraction of the viewers around the world. It was just so powerful and truly incredible to see. The rest of the tour was very neat with the original paintings from the Book of Mormon and other church portraits and artwork, and the view from the multi-ACRE roof was incredible. We then finished off by visiting the Vistor's Center at the temple and looking around the Tabernacle and temple grounds. It was really nice.
Later that night, I was able to catch up with some friends from high school and it was so fun! I love that we can go months without seeing each other and then chat like it was just yesterday. I love those girls. We were cut a bit short by ward prayer, but it was so worth it. I hadn't really heard of ward prayer before, but essentially the ward gathers together outside on Sunday night, socializes a little bit, sings a hymn, someones shares a spiritual thought, and then we close with a prayer. It was incredible for me to see a group of college students on a weekend night singing a hymn loud and proud for all to hear. The Spirit was so strong and it just seems like such a good way to fellowship and grow together. I was really really touched.


Monday:
Monday was another great day! We...
-started off by going to a class about Joseph Smith from a famous BYU professor, Sister Black, and it was amazing; she has a photographic memory and knew so much information! Great way to start the morning.
-Hiked the Y! I made a special request to do it at the beginning of my visit and Kaley was nice and took me even though it's a straight uphill hike! The views were well worth it though and we had a lot of fun
-Ate a delicious lunch at J-Dawgs and we even put the special sauce on our hot dogs; bold I know
-Toured the spots on campus we missed and ran into JIMMER FREDETTE!! We were walking through the fieldhouse and Kaley looks to her left and goes, "Oh, there's Jimmer," in casual conversation. I almost fell over I tried to look so fast! See, BYU students see Jimmer all the time so it's not that big of a deal, but I was so excited! He was working out so I didn't want to interrupt to get a picture (I was a bit devastated but I was a good sport), but it was exciting :)
-Went to Cafe Rio with Dustin, Moriah and Christine! nom nom nom
-Had Family Home Evening which was so fun for me because I never get to have it. Basically a small group from your ward is put together to make an FHE group and you have a mini lesson, socialize, do some sort of activity, and of course have dessert. We made Halloween cards for a nursing home and told some scary stories; it was great. Again, it really touched me how a group of college students was getting together to do a service activity instead of the millions of other things they could be doing. Just so cool
-Played night games! This is unique to Kaley's ward and it is so fun! A group of people get together, wear all black, and play a game throughout campus where you have to touch certain "bases" without the person who is "it" seeing you. We would run past students coming from the library and just duck and dive behind trees and buildings like it was just a normal thing to do! For one round, we made a random guy walking through campus a base so we all had to sprint up to him and tag him and he had no idea what was going on. It was great.
-Went to the Creamery on Ninth! Yes, more food, but I was told I had to hit up all those famous places, so I did! It was delicious.

Overall, I loved everything about BYU. It is the most amazing institution in the world. There is a special spirit there that I have never felt before-30,000 faithful college students striving to live life as best they can and be active disciples of Christ, has the power to create such a sweet spirit. The majestic mountains that jut into the sky all around the university are a perfect metaphor for what the school is - a holy place protected from the world and a light on a hill for all to see and strive for. It is truly the Lord's school! I hope to one day (grad school please!) be lucky enough to go to such an amazing place. I could not have asked for a better trip.


(The mountains are so beautiful!)

Until next time...

Well, after a month, my little escape from reality is about to come to a close. I can't even believe how fast in went by. It's kind of strange because it feels like I just got here yesterday, but at the same time I feel like I've been here forever. Kind of a weird paradox that I can't really wrap my head around, but it's true. I'm really really excited to be coming back home, but it's kind of bittersweet! Belgium earned a special little place in my heart and it's sad knowing I won't really be able to come back again. I guess I'll just have to plan another trip to Europe so it won't be so sad :)

So, since it's the end, I wanted to summarize my trip and go over the important things like what I learned, what I will miss, etc. So here we go!

Things I will miss:
-The food: I decided to make this one category to keep things simple (didn't want to take up the whole list with all the different delicious foods!), but I will definitely miss the food: waffles, chocolate croissants, fresh bread, pastries, fries, croque madames...you know, all the healthy stuff! We have most of these good foods in the US and (except for the breads) they taste just as yummy, I just no longer have an excuse to eat them all the time! So they will be missed.
-Coke light, being a mere train ride away to all of Europe, exploring Brussels during my lunch break, seeing the hundreds of kids ride their bikes to school through Leuven's streets every morning, enjoying a meal outside in a European square, giving English help to my coworkers and having the best English around, club dance and Zoomba classes at the gym, exploring a new city every weekend, the freedom from not having a phone, walking past a royal palace on my way to work every day, and of course all my lovely EASA coworkers.


Things I'm looking forward to back home:
Free refills!, COLD drinks, free ketchup!! (it's like 0.40 euros a packet! Devastating), being able to understand the people around me, not being stared at when I run through the city like it is the strangest thing in the world to actually exercise just for fun, dollars, a wardrobe bigger than a suitcase, a washer/dryer I can use all I want for free, sleeping more than 4 hours a night, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, not feeling inadequate because I know only one language, being able to watch all my shows online and not be blocked my international copyright laws, movies in theaters, walking on paved streets instead of cobblestones, playing basketball, and seeing my friends and family/reuniting with LUWB!!

The best part:
My internship. I got to work and meet with people all over Europe on a daily basis; whenever I stop to think about it, that is pretty darn cool. My coworkers were from Bulgaria, the UK, Greece, the Netherlands,and Romania, and I got to interact with and learn from them every day. It was awesome to see how although we all came from different places, we could connect with each other and gain a new perspective on things. These are kind of intangibles that you can't really fully describe, but it just helped me understand the world a little better and opened my mind up to things outside my little bubble in the US. It's things you can only really learn outside the classroom and actually going and immersing yourself in another place. I know it was only a month, but it was pretty amazing how much I was able to learn. This was definitely an experience I will never forget.

Closing thoughts:
Belgium is great country. It unfortunately lives in the shadow of it's brothers to the south and north, France and Germany, but it can hold its own against those two. What I particularly liked about Belgium, even its biggest city Brussels, is that it is very liveable. There are hundreds of small cities that are filled with families, safe, historic, and charming. Brussels is the capital of Europe and has all the things you'd want in a city, but it also has the nice, quiet side streets and isn't overcrowded with tourists like the other big European cities. It's also hard to complain about the hundreds of waffle stands and chocolate shops.

It really is remarkable how many languages Europeans know, especially in Belgium/Brussels. Basically everyone knows English and most know French, apart from their native language. While I think Americans should do a better job of teaching/learning languages, it's a million times easier to learn different languages here where they actually use them. Their movies (for the most part) are normally shown in English, they use multiples languages in day-to-day life with all the different nations/cultures so close, and they often have multiple national languages so even their own countrymen speak many languages. That would make it all a million times easier! We do not have that luxury in the US. Plus, English is essentially the international language, so we are spoiled in being able to use it everywhere and not really have a need to learn another. I still wish I knew another though. On the train from London to Brussels, there was an adorable little French girl sitting in front of me who was about three. She kept turning back and waving and smiling at me, and I of course returned the favor. At the end of the trip she turned to me and said "Au revoir!" I said "bye bye!" And then, realizing I was American, she started speaking to me in English! I looked at her and said "You know more languages than me!" Her parents laughed and I was being shown up by a three year old. I was alright with it though because she was so cute!

My trip to Belgium was amazing! Much more than I expected and it really turned out to be a special trip. I'm so lucky to have had such an experience (thanks mom and dad!) and I like to think I came out a better person because of it (or at least I had a darn good time). Tomorrow it's back to the states and back to real-life! Well, I do have a week of vacation with my parents on the beach in Maryland to ease my way back :) Goodbye Europe! Until next time...

Living like a Royal

Well, the most anticipated weekend trip is now over: London!! Home of the Royal Wedding, David Beckham, Harry Potter, the Queen, Love Actually, and Emma Watson - doesn't get much better than that!

And the weekend definitely lived up to the hype. It started at 506 AM (let me emphasize AM) when I frantically woke up to my alarm realizing that I pressed snooze one too many times and had 9 minutes to get myself and my things ready to leave. Talk about a way to start the morning. Once I had made it to the lobby (while still putting my hair up and shoving things in a bag), we started walking to the train station where we realized it was taking a bit longer than we thought to catch our 537 train, and we finished by RUNNING to the platform from about half a mile away with bags flying and sweat pouring down my face. We jumped on the train just as the little worker blew his whistle and shut the doors. By this point I looked like I had jumped into a pool which was really attractive, but we made it!

After that little adventure, the rest of our travels was smooth sailing. We got into London about 8am and had the whole day to enjoy the city. It was Friday morning during rush hour when we arrived and I don't think I have ever seen so many people in suits and ties! Those Londoners are definitely all about business. I fit right in with a messenger purse around my chest, a plaid shirt and capris, and a duffle bag that I fashioned as a backpack by putting my arms through the handles. Oh well, if I really am a tourist, why not look like one?

We don't have access to the printer at our institute except for certain hours, so we used my hand-drawn map to find our way - needless to say we got a bit lost. After about a half hour though we found our way to the hotel which was literally a block away from the famous Tower Bridge and we got a full apartment with a kitchen and living room! Living like queens in London. Perfect :)

Although we had been up since five, we went out and explored the whole day; we were in London for heaven's sake! No time for resting. We did the same Saturday and took full advantage of the lovely weather - I got tan AND sunburned in LONDON - by being out all day. Here are some highlights and stories from the trip:


1) They were getting ready for the 2012 Summer Olympics and doing a total cleaning/transformation of the city. The Underground was spotless and everywhere they already did was all spiffed up and amazing, but otherwise caused a whole lot of traffic and mess- I had to use my map skills to find different metro routes multiple times and must admit I did a pretty fine job. I should be a cartographer.


2) I'm a tense bit (aka majorly) obsessed with the royal wedding/will and kate/the british monarchy/the british in general, and all I wanted from this trip was one of those wonderful British flags with the heart-shaped picture of Will and Kate on it that everyone was waving around on April 29th. I thought for sure I'd be able to find it at one of the little side stands they have all around, but they were nowhere to be found! I was so devastated. We got to another stand about halfway through the day and I grumpily looked up at it and mumbled something mean under my breath when Emily said "is that what you were looking for?" I looked up and there it was waving in the wind!! I was ESTATIC. I ran (literally started jogging) up to the stand and said I'll one of those please! I asked how much it was, not caring what he said because I was going to buy it anyways, and he said £10. I didn't think anything of it and just ranted to him about how I'd been looking for this everywhere and how happy I was. I felt so accomplished and was walking around with my head held high, holding my prized flag. This was until literally the next 10 stores we passed had the same flags. For £2. 2! I was totally talken advantage of and I was so nice to him! It also dawned on me that £10 is in fact not 10 dollars, but about $16, and I bought two of the darn things. Yep, I spent $32 on cheap flags. But, I love them so much that I'm alright with it :)


3) This is my third time being in London and every darn time the queen is not in Buckingham Palace. All those visits probably added up to about a week and not one day was the queen in residence. This trip she was there the day before and left the morning we got there. Come on! It's so disappointing seeing the British flag waving above the palace instead of the royal flag - I need to have a chat with her about her too frequent visits to Windsor castle...

4) My love for England makes me worry that back in the day I might have been a royalist. I'm all about America and love that I am an American, but I just have some doubts about my Colonial era self


5) I want to find out the story behind those big black hats-they sure weren't going for practicality. I'm thinking Marge Simpson impersonators.


6) Seeing the entrance to Westminster Abbey and being inside the church made me instantly feel warm and fuzzy inside. I got chills and it made me so happy. I got to see first-hand all where all the magic of the royal wedding happened! It was magical. I had a dorky half grin on my face the rest of the day.


7) So I realized during this trip that our mighty American dollars really aren't worth that much. London completely drained my bank account. I took out £100 from an ATM and it took $164 out of my bank account without an transaction fees! That's almost 2 to 1! What happened America...


8) Fact: fish and chips really are delicious in London


9) To end our trip with a bang we decided to see Les Mis on the West End!! It was SO much fun and I just couldn't go to London without seeing a Broadway show for my mom. We got super cheap tickets for only £15 (what a steal right? Go straight to the box office the day of for tickets - they're the cheapest)BUT they were "very limited view" so I had a lovely railing in front of me that blocked the entire stage if I were to sit properly in my seat. No worries though! As long as I leaned forward on the ledge the whole time, I could see the entire stage really well with only a few cricks in my back and both legs asleep by the end: a price I'm willing to pay for such a good play! Only drawback was they sang EVERY word. There was no normal talking even between songs. Every once in a while I would think: just talk to the darn person! Then I started to think how it would be kind of fun if we went a whole day just singing our conversations and that happy thought made me less annoyed.

So, all in all, like all my other trips, London was awesome! I can't decide if Paris (with a real Paris apartment, the best host ever and a charming city) or London was better. I suppose I don't need to officially decide, but I might have to give London the edge. I just can't help how much I love the royals and seeing all of that in person was amazing. Not only was Westminster Abbey home to the royal wedding, but also hosted the coronations for every British monarch for the past 1000 years, act as the resting place for the most notable Brits (including Queen Elizabeth I, Jane Austen, and Isaac Newton), and hosted Princess Diana's funeral. London just has so much living history that I find so fascinating. I just can't get enough of this place.

Well, after the fastest month of my life, my last week is finally here! It's a bit bitter sweet because I was just getting into the swing of things at work and living here, but I'm excited to come back to the glorious US of A! It's been a fun ride, but I suppose I should come back to reality. Chip chip cheerio!

Bienvenue a París!

Bonjour bloggettes! Sorry this post is a bit delayed, but I have just been EXHAUSTED these last few days. Maybe it's the traveling across Europe, walking across cities all day, and then waking up at 7 every day to go to work for 8 hours. Yeah, maybe that's it. BUT, it's hard to complain when I am living it up in Europe!! And this last weekend was another successful one-it's pretty hard to go wrong in....Paris!

Not only did I get to visit the most romantic city in the world, but I got to stay in a real Parisian apartment. I know, so amazing. Rose's aunt, Christine, was born and raised in France and has an apartment right in the city that she very graciously let us stay in. It was super cute and she was honestly the best host ever-I think if we had asked to borrow her left arm, she would've chopped it off right there for us. We had a meal ready for us at any hour and anything that we could want. I don't think she sat down for more than two minutes before jumping up to get us something again. The first night we got there (it was around 930pm mind you), she had a full dinner prepared for us and we somehow found a way to fit it in even after already eating around 6. She had just gotten back from traveling and lives by herself so she isn't used to all the company, but she did all she could to please us. The last time Rose visited her in Paris she was 10 years old, and Kris said in her French accent "All I remembered you eating as a girl was meat and potato; so, tonight I make chicken and potato!" It was indeed delicious, but every meal was based exactly on what we mentioned in passing that we liked. Breakfast the last day was: chocolate croissants, chouquettes (little croissant-like pastries with sugar crystals on top), Coke, cherries, and cookies. No joke. She was so cute putting all our favorites out, but even my stomach didn't know how to tackle the carbs on carbs.

But other than the Michelin man diet, everything was amazing. Kris insisted she sleep on the futon in the living room and gave the other two bedrooms to us, with me getting my own bed (Rose and Emily kind of tentatively came up to me and said, "well, we know each other a little bit better and we were just wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind sleeping in the room by yourself?" Hmmm sleep in a queen size bed all to myself for three nights? I think I might just be able to manage). It was the perfect set-up in the middle of Paris and made the trip so much more homey and special. It was just perfect.

Now to talk about the city! This is my third time being in Paris (I know, I know, super spoiled, but not rotten I promise!), so I had already seen all the sites and didn't think I'd enjoy the city too too much, but it was even better than I remember it. Every day was a beautiful 70 degrees and it was as charming and cute as Paris could be. The city really is special-you can just feel as your walking around that artists, philosophers, writers, musicians, and some of the greatest thinkers the world has even seen painted, thought, wrote, and played right where you're walking. Pretty neat. (Right as I wrote that, the Beastie Boy's "No Sleep 'till Brooklyn" came on my iPod to snap me back into my less-dignified American reality. Oh well, one can dream!)

Onto the touristy stuff. And we definitely did the touristy stuff. We went from the Effil Tower to the Louvre to Versailles to the Arc de Triumphe and everything in-between. It was exhausting, but so worth it in Parí! Some various thoughts and stories from the trip:


1) Why is Mona Lisa so darn famous? I'm still not quite sure-she's tiny, not that detailed and frankly not that pretty. Beats me what made her smile so fascinating.



2)Napoleon sure thought a lot of himself. Everywhere you look that darn little guy pops up. He put a few statues of himself and thrones with N's on them in Versailles, built himself a whole apartment in the Louvre (look how short his little bed is! Hey there little fella!), and built a Roman arch in the middle of the city to commemorate a victory on the battlefield. No wonder they call it a Napoleon complex...










3)I forced Rose and Emily to climb every church, hill, and monument Paris had to offer, including the 700 steps up the Effil Tower-towards the end of the trip Emily told me she felt like she was on The Biggest Loser. Hey, if that makes me look like Jillian Michaels, I'd be alright with that. With views like this all those steps are worth it!







4)I would just like to make it clear that I am 100% team British Monarchy - With Versailles and all that, King Louis and the rest of the French are a bit much for me. Will and Kate all the way.



5)I love America. We were wandering around and randomly ran into the American embassy! I got so excited seeing our stars and stripes blowing in the wind and said "look guys! look!" They thought I spotted a celebrity or something, but it was just our embassy :) I really love our country ok? I miss it! I saluted and snapped a pic.



6) This is about five "lanes" of the heaviest traffic in Paris in a free-for-all. No lanes, no stop signs, no lights, just chaos. We find ourselves outside the circle. We want to go inside the circle. What is our brilliant plan to get across? Find a group of male Spaniards, convince them to cross with us (power of numbers), and play human frogger while I scream "This is so dangerous! This is so SO dangerous! That's it, I'm gonna die!" After several honks, a few French profanities (which I returned with a "hey, watch it jerk!" I showed them), and a close encounter with a Vespa, we made it!












Basically, Paris is amazing and it is definitely a city you need to have on your bucket list. There's too much history, culture, and things to see to not experience at least once. Brush up on your French though; people hear are not as willing to speak anything but their prized language. So I'll give it a go: Adieu mes amis, jusqu'à la prochaine fois...

(Doesn't get much prettier than that)

Day trip #3: Brussels!

So yesterday was the last day of my first weekend extravaganza in Europe and we had a very nice day! Emily and I went into Brussels for the day to explore and see all the sites that I don't get to go see when I go into work every day. And, of course, lots of delicious food was involved! I apologize for this essentially being a food blog-it's rather disgusting but the food here is just so amazing that it needs to be talked about. Last night one of my roommates, Amy, was going through her photos from the trip and I heard from upstairs: "this is disturbing. EVERY picture of me has food in it. I'm either eating food or standing with it in my hand...did I do anything else??...oh look there's me with a waffle....op there I am eating chocolate fondue!" It is unfortunately true. Hopefully the walking and trips to the gym will help counteract it-if not, we should live it up while we can and go on a detox back in America! So worth it.

Anywho, Emily and I got into Brussels about 1 (had to sleep at least ONE day this week) and had lunch in the gorgeous Grand Place. If you haven't noticed by now, every city in Europe has one big beautiful square that everyone sits in and enjoys a cafe latte or a nice meal outside. It's quite lovely. I hadn't gotten a fresh waffle from a restaurant yet and they had some delicious ones on the menu, so I caved and had to get one. Great decision. Then we finished our meal, snapped some pics in the square and went down to see Mannequin Pis, the little peeing boy statue that is very famous in Beligum-they stick him on postcards, dress him up, it's a lot of fun. Growing up I also remember playing with a little knife that had him on the handle that was my grandpa's that he got in WWII in Belgium so there's a personal connection there too. I was going to see that little boy pee no matter what!

On the way, we passed all kinds of cute little shops that sold Belgian lace that they are famous for (it's all over there darn windows), little trinkets/magnets, and rows of chocolate shops with free samples! Yum. But then, then we saw the most wonderful waffle shop in the world. I was floored at the delicious little boats they filled with a warm waffle topped with strawberries, bananas, chocolate, jam, or any topping of your choosing. Emily turned to look at me with a "well we have to get that" grin and I just said I can't! I can't possibly have TWO waffles in the span of an hour! Turns out I can. And I did. I'm ashamed to say it but don't worry I didn't eat dinner AND went running/did P90X abb ribber so I probably worked off, oh, 1/4 of the waffle calories. Fair trade. That thing was the most delicious thing I've ever had though. Waffle paradise. I'm kind of proud to say I had TWO Belgian waffles, in Brussels, in an hour :)

After we got our waffles we were walking along and I see this gray fountain area to my left that barely catches my eye. I turn and after squinting my eyes I can just make out a little boy statue peeing into a fountain. The darn Mannequin Pis that I was so happy to see was about the size of a cabbage patch kid. Talk about anti-climatic. Emily looked at me and said THAT'S what you wanted to see?? We got a good laugh out of it and I still insisted on taking a pic with the little man though and even his larger cartoon counterpart at the waffle place. We spent the rest of our time strolling through the park outside the Royal Palace and enjoying the sunny weather! Great times in Brussels!

View from our lovely lunch spot in Grand Place

Waffle #1 of the hour

(words cannot properly describe the deliciousness so I must leave it blank)

Mannequin Pis and our waffles just chilling...nbd

And there he is ladies and gentlemen! The no-bigger-than-a-cabbage-patch-kid most mischievous little peeing boy in Europe! Good times

Such a wonderful weekend that I'm sure will be matched by Paris next weekend! Five of us are staying in one of the girl's aunt's APARTMENT IN PARIS!! SOOO excited for that. Yay Europe! Love you all! au revoir!

Day trip #2: Amsterdam!

On our second day trip, we went to Amsterdam! Although I am normally a huge rager and like to get my drink and party on, I kept it PG for this trip and refrained from the normal Amsterdammer activities. When we first got to Amsterdam, we walked right out of the train station into a smoky tourist trap with mobs of people and funny smells drifting through the air, and the first thing I thought was holy smokes what have I gotten myself into! But as we got away from the crowded main canal and the scores of tourists, I found out Amsterdam is actually very nice. It is definitely a very liberal city, I'd place it somewhere between San Francisco and the Woodstock concert, but also has it's own historic charm with it's cobblestone streets tucked in between glistening canals and lines of townhouses. Definitely a place to visit for at least a day and if you're up for the challenge even a weekend.

We started off by going to the Anne Frank house which was absolutely amazing. Walking through the secret annex and standing where those three families lived for two years is incredibly humbling and powerful. The annex is empty of furniture now because that is how Otto Frank wanted to keep it, but there were a few pictures on the walls of what the rooms looked like when they were living there and I could kind of flashback to what it must have been like and instantly got chills and was just floored by it all. They had the original wallpaper with marks on it that Anne and her sister Margo used to track their growth, and the cutouts of celebrities and royals that the girls taped onto their bedroom walls; after all this only happened 70 years ago! I still cannot fully grasped how they lived through such fear, racism and violence, and did it so bravely and even found a way to find happiness! Anne Frank and all of her family and people that went through this time are truly remarkable people and I am so happy to have had the chance to see that firsthand.

After that awesome experience, we walked around the city for a bit amidst the noisiness and wackiness that is Amsterdam. We got a little bit lost (later learning that had we chosen to go left on a particular street instead of right, we would've stumbled right into the red light district-close one!), but stumbled upon a perfect café in a little secluded square that locals visited. I'm sure they were thrilled to see us Americans walk in, but we enjoyed it nonetheless-see sometimes it pays to get lost! After a two hour lunch (meals are never short here in Belgium as I said earlier), we went on to probably the highlight of my trip thus far...

A bike tour!! We met up with about five other people in our group and it was so much fun! What better way to see Amsterdam than ride your bike around? You know what they say, when in Rome...(sorry I just really wanted to work that expression in and I think I nailed the usage). Since we were only there for a day it was the perfect way to learn all the history about the city and get to see it all from a local tour guide. And in our case, I mean a local tour guide. If you were to look up the word Amsterdam in the dictionary, there would be a large smiling picture of Petra, our lovely tour guide. She was something else! I will do my best to describe her, but I doubt I can fully give her justice. Petra was born and raised in Amsterdam and has lived there all her life (if that doesn't tell you enough already I don't know what will), and she looks it! She is in her late 20s I'd say, is white, has long dreads, a lip ring, a nose ring, a tattoo of her cat on her right leg (which she showed us after asking us-in the red light district mind you- "hey do you want to see my pussy?"), and the most psychodelic personality you could imagine. Basically she is the perfect person you want to take you on a tour around Amsterdam. We loved her!

Right when the tour started I knew it was going to be great; Petra lead the way in her bright orange bike with a giant orange flower on the back, and as I was going I have to bat all these bubbles out of my face. As I look up I see Petra carelessly waving a bubble wand around while she is riding along. She was great. At first I feared that I would 1) get hit by/run into a car sharing the busy street with me, 2) get hit by/run into another bike on the street, or 3)take out several pedestrians along the path. None of that ended up happening however and I survived with one bus and car honking at me as I hightailed it across a busy intersection (I was NOT about to lose the group-we were in the darn red light district! If there was a gap in between those cars, I was finding it) and only one pedestrian that jumped out of the way to avoid my bike as I tried to spit my gum into a garbage can while still pedaling (I made it by the way-I AM a basketball player).

Bikes are definitely the way to go around Amsterdam-it was great! We hit up all the main areas of town - Van Gough museum, Rijcksmuseum, red light district (I felt a little bit dirty), Anne Frank house, central station, etc. etc. - and even explored through the main park that is apparently one of the last in the world that you can legally consummate in publicly; Petra told us she was conceived here. Figures. The tour took about three hours and was only 16 euro and totally worth it! Got a great taste for the city from someone who knows it best and it was all in all a great day. We boarded our train back to Leuven around 8 and successfully traveled to two cities in two different countries in two days! Success. Enjoy the photos!

Stylin and Ridin


This is Petra's staff description from the website-pretty much sums her up in a nutshell



Cute little houses along the canal-very Amsterdamesque!


The bike crew! With Petra and all..see, I really do have friends!

Amsterdam was indeed a success! I'd say I'm having a pretty good time on this trip :)

Day trip #1: Antwerpen

Sorry for the temporary blog delay, but it has been a busy weekend with three different cities in two countries in three days! So much fun though.

Our first stop was Antwerp, an old seaport and diamond city in western Belgium. I wasn't expecting too much (since who has heard of Antwerp?) but it was awesome! The city had the same mixture of city life and cafe spots as Paris, with the feel of Florence with it's charming orange rooftops...all with a Belgian touch of course! It was just very clean and safe and had lots of fun things to do.

We started the day at the zoo! It's one of the oldest in the world and was only 17 euros to get in so we couldn't turn it down. They had the traditional tigers, elephants, penguins, etc., but they also had some different animals too which was fun to see. I couldn't tell you what kind of reptiles they had because as usual I avoided that section at all costs! Made the mistake of wandering into the rainforest area and didn't figure it out until I turned to my right and came face-to-face with an IGUANA. Needless to say I jumped back about 10 feet and ran for the nearest exit leaving Emily behind to find her way. Other than that, the zoo was a success and well worth it!

After the zoo we were famished and decided to make a bold eating move and try some food that we could never have at home-pizza! I know I know it's boring, but the pizza here is so delicious and this place was outside on a cute street and had a lot of locals so we knew it would be good. We followed up our pizza with a big dose of diamonds! Antwerp is known for its diamonds and was a big trader and cutter of diamonds during the city's golden age, and they put together an awesome museum that tells you all about it. We skipped over the chemical makeup/cutting stuff and learned everything we could about the celebrities and royals that used the diamonds! They have a crown that Queen Elizabeth uses with a honking diamond in the middle and all kinds of other diamonds used by royalty. Very neat.

The rest of our day included two other museums about the history and seafaring ways of Antwerp, some shopping, and a visit to the local castle (only in Europe). We walked no joke probably five miles to and from the train station, and had to stop at a cafe on the way back to rest up for a bit. Only thing is, in Europe you don't just rest up for a little bit. Every time you sit down at a café or restaurant it takes at least an hour. You sit down wherever you want, and then 20 min later your waiter brings you your menu. Then after another 20 min he'll come and take your order. You'll get your food after another 20, and then good luck finding him to get your check! I get the whole relaxing thing, but the American in me just sees too much wasted time and I get antsy sitting and waiting for so long. We still haven't really determined if we are supposed to go up and find him to pay, or call him over; we've seen both and can't decide. We always call them over and ask for the check and are probably really offending them but oh well we tried. One cool thing about Belgians though is they don't tip! It is offensive to them if you tip them which is a-ok with me! MAYBE that makes up for the no free refills. Maybe.

So, all in all we had a wonderful time in Antwerp! Seems to be the theme of the trip: great times! I'll leave you with some pictures from the day...

Emily and I at our lovely Italian feast in Antwerp!

Grote Markt! I seemed to love taking awkward pictures by myself this trip-I promise I have friends!

Look it's a castle! See what I mean about the awkward pics by myself? I'll be better I promise

View of the city from the top of the MAS museum! So pretty and such a lovely day :)

Tot ziens!

C'est la vie

After a week of observing Belgians (and a lot of Europeans for that matter), I have come to one conclusion: NO ONE is fat. No one. It's a bit eerie and I just don't understand it. Apparently all the doctors in America have been getting it wrong; it seems chocolate, waffles, frites, bread, cigarettes, beer, and pastries is the key to a healthy body. It just baffles me! I will see a tiny woman walking around the streets with not an ounce of fat on her eating a big ole waffle. Something's not adding up. I think Europeans are just born with special fat-burner genes that us Americans left behind when we crossed over the Atlantic. Yeah they do all that biking and walking, but it still doesn't add up in my mind. My goal is to learn their secret ways while I'm here-guess I'll have to start by getting my diet to be like theirs. How torturous!

On a different note, I had an interesting conversation with my coworker Veronika today; we share a desk and she sits in front of me to the left so we're quite close now. She's from Bulgaria and speaks about 4 languages just like everyone else here (I'm such a slacker) and is really really nice. We started talking about English/American people and I said we normally get a bad rap for being really loud and obnoxious. She told me that, not to overgeneralize, but English/Americans are just sometimes over the top. She said she has a roommate that's British, and every time the girl sees her she makes a big scene and says how good it is to see her and gives her a huge hug. Veronika said in her little Bulgarian accent: "I just vant to tell her, you know, ve're really not dat close, you don't have to make dis big deal every time I see you." So funny and it's so true! She said Europeans, Eastern Europeans in particular, are very friendly and nice too, they just show it in different ways. This must be why I always think Europeans look so grumpy-they just show emotions in different ways than we do. I could still use a smile every once in a while...She did defend us though and say that English is a language that you have to open your mouth a lot wider for to speak and enunciate more than other languages so it kind of forces us to be louder (must be why I can never understand her when she mumbles things to me in English about this or that and I just have to casually laugh and nod my head and hope that was the right response).

So I'm learning new things every day and absolutely loving being in Europe! Running a bit low on clean underwear and socks though and haven't had a towel for the past two days (I have to shake off like a dog in the shower and use toilet paper to dry myself-that's class right there), so may have to take care of those soon but c'est la vie! Day trip to Antwerp, Belgium tomorrow and then Amsterdam and Brussels Saturday and Sunday! Yay! Bonne nuit!

Life is like a box of (Belgian) chocolates...

Goede avond! Today was my third day at work and just as tiring as the other two, but still loving it! Just can't fully wrap my head around the fact that I am living and working in EUROPE; it's a bit surreal. I totally love being in Europe and feel so cultured walking around Belgium in my fancy clothes (like I'm an adult or something), but I must admit I do love my America. Everything is just very different here! For example, all I want to do with my little bagged lunch-which the lovely Irish cooks at the institute pack for all the interns before we head off to work-is enjoy it at a table outside in the Belgian sunshine (which is rare mind you); is that a crime? I think I have found a lovely table on the side of the walkway in the downtown area when a waiter comes out of nowhere and asks me what I would like since I'm not allowed to sit there because the restaurant across the way owns it. I order a glass of water so I can stay sitting there and make him go away. He brings out this elaborate glass bottle of water and puts it in front of me and charges 4 euros; $5+ for water?? Oh mon dieu! Expensive water and no free refills on soda: that's what will keep me in America.

Other than my water episode, it was a lovely day. Did some good work at my internship and earned praises from my coworkers and boss and felt pretty accomplished and professional if you don't mind me saying! It was also kind of fun because I have to get some information from all the organizations in different countries throughout Europe, but I don't know the names of the contacts yet just their respective countries, so all of my drafts say "Dear France," "Dear Hungary," I should just leave it like that and see what happens. Maybe I'll get a bonjour and a baguette back from France! Oh the little things. Well that's all for now! Got over the hump day and now one more day of work until Amsterdam/Antwerp(Belgium)/Brussels weekend day trips! I'll leave you with some pictures to enjoy...tot ziens!

This little guy actually moves and rings the church bell every half hour in the little square right in Leuven-pretty cool huh?


There are two of these lions in the park that face the Royal Palace and I just think they are so funny! Here's my thought: England is normally represented by the lion right, and since England has historically been a European powerhouse, Belgium is trying to look tough by having these lions scared to see the Belgian state house. I thought it was insightful.


This is my little work station! It's not much but it is mine and it is in Belgium so I love it! I'm so official I even have my own company email address. That's right.


My first experience with Belgium chocolate! This is from Leonidas Chocolates...my plan is to try all the major chocolate places in Belgium and find out which is the best. I'm pretty excited to make this plan a reality.

My day in pictures

I'm a little bit lazy today, so I decided to just tell you what happened in my day in pictures! It's much more exciting that way anyways. Enjoy! Ciao!


I love Belgian lunches :)

I found this little gem and have already been three times! Hema is amazing. It's the Target of Belgium

Had to take a picture of the Belgian versions of HP...so cute! (note Eat Pray Love on the left too-neat!)

That's right doubters I joined the gym AND exercised there today. Side note, treadmills are not popular here. EVERYONE was on the ellipticals and bikes and not a single person was on the row of treadmills. I tentatively approached it and looked around to make sure someone wasn't going to shoot me or something when I stepped on. I bet I broke some unwritten rule or something-oh well.

I took this picture at 9pm-it stays light out for so long!

Ended the night watching a soccer game in the main square with hundreds of other Belgians! I wasn't sure if it was two Belgian teams or just one, but they all seemed happy that the blue stripped team won so yay for that! My friend Emily ordered a hot chocolate while we watched and they brought out a huge mug of hot milk and on the side was a chunk of delicious Belgian chocolate on a stick that you stirred into the milk-talk about delicious.

Well that's all for now! Good night!

A Day in the Life: I live in Belgium!

Well my first day of an internship/real job/Belgian work adventure is in the books! It was so much fun to travel into Brussels and act like a typically working Belgian. I tried so hard to seem like a local and fit in, which involves not being loud/talking in "American voices," looking at maps, or speaking really at all-at least three heads turn when you do; you just can't hide that American accent. I would've pulled off being a local too if not for two things. On the way there, when I arrived in Brussels I wanted to go the bathroom before my walk to the office and before I started my day. I knew you had to pay and so I took out my euro and the man gave me back 0,50 euros (that's how they write $0.50-crazy huh?) and I walked through the little turnstyle no problem and feeling pretty proud of myself. I casually turn the corner and run right into the men's room as the man at the front is yelling "Madam! Madam!" and ushering me to go in the other direction. Darn. I was so close to not messing up!

Work was a much smoother day and the people in the office are so nice! EASA is a non-profit organization that applies and supports advertising standards across Europe and beyond so that advertisements stay honest, decent, and trustworthy; right up my ally I'd say! The office only has about 7 people working there so they will definitely put me to use which is pretty cool that I will be contributing. There is a really cool British intern there who has been there a couple months and I instantly got along with him and he was really fun to talk to. Our boss, Oliver, is in Paris for two days in meetings, so he told David to take me out to lunch and show me some of the city. We went to a healthy food place where you picked all your food out that was already made and then paid for it. I had NO idea what anything was and after putting down a sandwich that I swear had raw meat on it with brie (BLAH), I decided to just go with what David got, which was a quiche so it wasn't too reassuring of an option. It turned out to be DELICIOUS. I've never had a quiche but the eggs were so light and tasty on a delectable pastry. Solid choice David. It was a really fun lunch hour and I always love British accents so that was fun.

I didn't have much actual work to do today and mostly just felt in the way, but hopefully I'll be able to help more as time goes on. I'm really happy I decided to do the internship and already think it's an amazing experience-I'm living and working in BELGIUM. What the?? Super amazing. My only other mishap of the day was on the way home when I had no clue which train I was supposed to get on and can understand French about as well as I can understand Mandarin. I saw a train that said it was going to Louvain, which I figured was close enough to Leuven and got on. I sat in a really nice cabin that was so comfy and not crowded at all and I was feeling very happy with my selection-at least I'd get lost in comfort! Then the ticket man came in and I confidently showed him my pass and he said "This is a 2nd-class pass. You are in 1st-class madam!" Woops! I thought he would boot me off the train all dramatically but I only had to pay the difference of 2 euros AND I found out that the train would stop at Leuven. Wasn't totally a lose-lose.

Soooo all in all it was a great day. My feet ache and I wanted to go to bed right when I got home; it's like I'm a real adult now or something. I'm excited to go back tomorrow and explore some more of Brussels and enjoy Europe!

Here's a few pictures from my walk to work:








(Just tilt your head on this one, I can't figure out how to rotate it)