Nuit Blanche in Brussels

“Nuit Blanche,” translated to “White Night,” happens once a year in populous cities such as Brussels, London, and Paris. This year Nuit Blanche was held on Saturday, the first of October. The true definition of the word, “Nuit Blanche,” is to stay up all night. The night consists of contemporary art shows, fashion shows, and a series of parties. (I didn't end up taking any photos of the actual art shows since I didn't want to lose my camera throughout the night.)

Shopping

To get ready for the art shows and parties, the girls and I went to do a bit of shopping down on the strip.  

The Hero statue

Then off to touch the Hero at the Grand Place for some good luck. There's parts you can touch for good luck in life, love, academics, and for Asians! Lucky me that I'm Asian and a student, I get to touch 2 extra parts haha.  :)

Delirium Cafe

Then off to pregame at Delirium, which is this bar that has the largest variety of beer in Belgium and possibly the world. There's this large book at the bar with a list of over 2000 brands of beer from over 60 countries. 

Although the whole idea was to stay up all night for Nuit Blanche, I went to bed by 3am. I guess I'm just use to establishments closing by 2am. 

xoxo,

Amy

School is in Session. Finally.

My class schedule this semester

It’s September 30^th, and I am officially registered for classes! I’m ecstatic to finally start school, especially after having 5 months of summer vacation. I’ve been to a few preview sessions, which are classes in the first 2 weeks that give an overview of the course. Although the professors might not show up for these, you can still receive information regarding the class.

My business classes are taught in English; my art history class is taught in French. The Belgian education system is slightly different than that of the States’. I attend each class once a week for 2 hours each, which means I’m getting 12 hours of credit for 8 hours of work! Although I attend school less, I’m getting the feeling that these classes are going to be more difficult, since all the students in my business classes are a few years older, and working on their Masters.

Speaking of age, in the international pool/all the friends I’ve made, it looks like I’m the youngest. Everyone coming to study at LSM is around the age of 24 or so, which is fine because in Belgium, I seem to get along with that age best.

I don’t know if it’s in all of Europe, but people here are just more young, and carefree than people in the US. It must be the lack of stress, and the lack of work that causes the Belgian people to be more fresh and lively.

Luckily, I can assimilate well into this type of attitude ;)

xoxo,
Amy

La fête de la communauté française

The concert crowd

"La fete de la communaute francaise," translated as the "French Community Holiday," is a regional holiday in Belgium. The Belgians celebrate it with tons of free music concerts, 3D light installation shows, fireworks, and outdoor cooking.

I spent my Tuesday attending all of these festivities, and since I don't have class on Wednesdays, I celebrated it of course with a few Belgian beers! 

xoxo,

Amy

Everything Happens For A Reason

My friends have always told me I was a lucky person, since things seem to always work out. If you've been reading any of my recent posts, you would disagree, but let's see how last week's unfortunate events ended.

1. I didn’t have a housing accommodation for a few days, but then I ended up with an amazing apartment.
2. I lose my wallet, passport, and all of my money, but then someone turned it into the police in the nearby city with EVERYTHING in it.
3. I thought my camera was stolen, but in reality when I was drunk, my friend Anne had locked it up for me, because I was afraid it WOULD get stolen.

Haha my life is like a roller coaster: down, up, down, up, down up. Everything happens for a reason; all of these events were a learning experience. During the past 2 weeks (yes, it's only been 2 weeks,) I've learned to be more prepared, and less oblivious. I'm glad that I am able to learn multiple lessons, without actually being punished for it.

So, I suppose luck is on my side after all. ;)

xoxo,

Amy

In Bruges

Bruges, Venice of the North

When I was registering for classes, I met 2 girls who invited me to go to Bruges with them on Friday.  We took the train there, and walked around the city a bit.

The town center in Bruges

We decided to start the day the Belgian way, with a beer. So what a better way then by going on a brewery tour! 

Free beer after the tou

Church of Our Lady

Then off to the Church of Our Lady, which is famous for Madonna by Michelangelo. We weren't suppose to take photos, but I snuck one in. :)

If you want a workout and a great view of the city, the Bell Tower is the way to go. I climbed about 10+ flights of stairs to go to the top of the Bell Tower. The views are stunning! What I found interesting is that the ledges on this tower have these engravings in the cement pointing in the direction of popular cities in Europe. 

Paris engraving on the ledge. The church in the background.

Our lobster friend Steve.

Bruges is located near the coast, so it's quite famous for its seafood. Off to eat mussels and frites at a popular Bruges restaurant, then bars to hang out with the local youth! My new friends and I picked up an interest in botany ;) We made up a code, referring to boys as "fleurs." 

From left to right: Megan, Haven, and I sitting near the fountains.

After a full- action packed day, we called it a night and took the last train back to campus. 

xoxo,

Amy

Good luck + Bad luck = Balanced Life

Good News.

Ring, ring, ring, ring. The next day I get a telephone call from the police, delivering me the message that they found my wallet in the next nearby city. I took the train to Ottignies, and walked about 2 km to the police station. There I found my wallet with EVERYTHING in it!

I also received a great place to live, located right near the city! According to my friends, I have the best place so far. I only have 2 suitemates (most people have 8-11,) great price, and a new bathroom!

Bad News.

Over the weekend, I had left my SLR camera in a cabinet in one of the bedrooms at the temporary accommodation, and some horrible person stole it. Once my sister reads this, she’s going to be pissed.

So I apologize that my recent posts lack visual aid.

xoxo,

Amy 

It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

My first Belgian waffle with chocolate and bananas!

While everyone is signing up for classes, AND attending these classes, I’m still worried about finding an accommodation. If you want to get anything done here, it has to be done sequentially; and the first step is getting a housing contract. Without a housing contract, you can’t register with the school, or notify the city you’re in town, or open a bank account; the list goes on.

I’ve camped outside the lodgment office quite a few days already, and if anyone were in my shoes they would have probably given up already. I didn’t want to give up after putting in so much effort, so I camped out on Monday at 5pm. The services open at 10am the next day. The shocking part about all of this is not that I went at 5pm, but that there were ALREADY 6 people ahead of me when I arrived.

If you think that sounds bad, that’s not even the worst part. I was walking around town that same day and my wallet fell out of my pocket. It had about 200 euros, my passport, my credit/debit cards, and all my identification cards. Luckily, I had copies of my important documents to get the housing accommodation. 

All I need is a nice belgian waffle with some chocolate to make my day better :)

xoxo,

Amy