One Week Left

I have just over one week left in Europe. Krissy keeps telling me that I should stop counting down and enjoy my time left here, but it is hard when I am so ready to come home. As I have wondered why I am so homesick, I have come to the following conclusion: during my entire time here I was always looking forward to my next trip. Even the weekends I spent in Brussels, I was trying to experience everything. I have managed to stay so busy hanging out with friends, studying, and going to my internship that I never made Belgium my home. So now, when the next trip is home, I realize all that I don't have here.
Brussels has never felt like home, even though technically I have lived here longer than I have lived in Pandora. But Pandora is my home because I made it that way. I put down my roots and made a place for myself there. I even joined Grace Mennonite Church back in March because I found in the congregation a welcoming home. EMU is also another home I have built for myself. I put down roots there with a community of friends and mentors that will always be there for me and are awaiting my return. But being here in Europe, I never put down any roots. I saw this as an adventure of which I would come home from. I don't know if it is a good or bad thing I did not make a home here. Part of the problem was that four months is not a long time and I know once I leave I am not coming back, at least not for a long time.
Even though Brussels is not my home, there are several things I am going to miss. These include people watching on my commute to school and internship, traveling to a different country as a weekend excurision, dressing European without standing out, attending different concerts and performances, meeting new people from all over the world, eating waffles all the time, seeing hundred of year old buildings on a daily basis, eating frites as a complete meal, having class with ten different nationalities, and probably most of all I will miss my roommate Krissy, who has become my best friend in the last four months. As much as I am looking forward to going home, saying goodbye will be hard and bittersweet, as most goodbyes in life are.

Nearing the End

I only have 16 days left in Europe! It is so hard to believe that this semester is almost over! In some ways it feels like this semester has completely flown by, but in other ways it has been a long three and half months. However, I have to admit that I am ready to go home. Since I have not written in a while, here is a quick catch-up of my life in the last few weeks:
The weekend after I got back from Ireland, I went on a class trip to Amsterdam. Our first stop was a tour of the port of Antwerp, which I found to be really interesting. While in Amsterdam we visited a LOT of museums! I think the total count of museums was 5 in the two and half days, plus a lot more guided tours of other places in the city including a fun boat tour on the canals. Amsterdam is a beautiful city, but all the tours and information and lack of sleep from Ireland made me really tired and kind of crabby. I also did not appreciate how the entire city smelled like marijuana and there were prostitutes on every corner!
The week after Amsterdam was very busy as the BCA president visited and took us out to eat on Tuesday night, then Thursday night was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving day was very odd as I went to my internship as usual and to everyone else it was just another day. I was very jealous of my friends back home who got three days off of school. After work, I took a train to Antwerp, where Kathleen and her husband prepared us a Thanksgiving feast. Although it was good, it just made me homesick because it was not the same.
Last weekend, Krissy and I visited Brussel's Christmas market on both Friday and Saturday nights! The Christmas market is amazing with the downtown completely decorated for Christmas and little stands selling all sorts of crafts and good food! There is also a ferris wheel (on which we are planning to go tomorrow) and an ice-skating rink! Sunday morning we also went to the Midi-market which is a HUGE market by Midi train station which sells all sorts of cheap clothing and food. The rest of the day was devoted to homework.
Schoolwork is taking up much of my life right now.... In the next two weeks, I still have one presentation, four papers, and three exams! Yikes! However, I am feeling alright at the moment. Classes have not been as good as I had hoped when I arrived here. I really don't like international law at all-- it is an extremely boring, long class, which also has really hard tests and papers. The art class has been fun for traveling, but the exam will cover a lot of material. In Amsterdam I did a presentation on the philosopher Spinoza, which was fun to research. The best class has been the peace and security studies class. Right now I am writing a peer paper about the causes of war and the best ways to make peace. It is more a series of conversations back and forth between one of my peers of what each of us thinks on the subject. I am really enjoying writing it and was excited when I got to include information I learned from my Love and Evolution class last semester.
This weekend holds hanging out with friends, going to Brugge to go ice-skating with a coworker, and seeing the Moscow City Ballet perform Swan Lake! Plus all the homework and studying. So it should be good, even if it is extremely busy. But as mentioned earlier, I am ready to come home. The best way to describe it, is Daughtry's song Home. The lyrics go "I'm going home, back to the place where I belong. And where your love has always been enough for me. I'm not running from, no, I think you got me all wrong. I don't regret this life I chose for me. But these places and these faces are getting old. So I'm going home, well I'm going home... Be careful what you wish for 'cause you just might get it all. You just might get it all and then some you don't want... So I'm going home."
I have loved my time in Europe, truly loved it. But this isn't home. Through my time here I have realized how much I do belong at EMU and in the Mennonite church and although it has been great, it is time for me to go back. My time here has been everything I ever imagined, although I didn't expect to encounter as many challenges as I did. I lived my dream of being in Europe; studying, traveling, meeting new people, making new friends, but all of it does get old and the time comes when you just need to go home.

So many places... too little time!

I have been in ten countries in the last three weeks... ten! The traveling has been amazing and the places and people I have seen will stay with me forever! So much has happened, it is really hard to write it all down, so hopefully I will give you a glimpse of some of my favorite places of the past few weeks.

During my time in Paris, Krissy and I went to a late night mass at the Sacre Coeur, then listened to a guy doing covers of some of my favorite songs including Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. Another night, my friend Lauren and I went to the best bookstore in world! It is a little English bookstore across from the Notre Dame where we read for an hour in the upstairs library before listening to a book reading and jazz concert. Then we got crepes, where the crepe guy declared his love for me within five minutes! (He was cute and only 22 :)) We also saw classic Paris museums such as the Louvre, Modern Museum of Art, and the Orsay.

After Paris was the epic field trip with my family. During the week, we got to be guarded by a an Italian with a machine gun, get rescued by an Italian on a scooter, drive on tiny crazy Italian coast, eat amazing seafood spaghetti, dip my toes in the Mediterranean Sea, tour the castle Disney World is modeled after, do a little hiking in the Alps, sing songs from the Sound of Music in Austria, pet a Saint Bernard in Switzerland, See the bears and clocktower in Bern, and drive through the exciting little countries of Liechtenstein and Luxembourg. It was so great to spend time with my parents and brother Ryan and also show them around Brussels a little bit.

From Thursday to Tuesday I was in the magical land of Ireland. I have to admit I fell head over heels in love with Ireland. It was so beautiful and everyone is so nice and all speak with the greatest accents in the world. I first explored Dublin for a day with my friend Johnny before taking a bus to Derry in Northern Ireland. Friday through Sunday morning I attended the BCA conference on divided societies where we listened to experts talk on conflicts, watch a deeply moving testimonial, and had great discussions with new friends. I then visited my friends Peter and Jenna Martin in Belfast on Sunday. I loved talking to them and spending time with people from back home. On Monday I caught a very early morning bus back to Dublin where I took a day bus tour of the county Wicklow. Here I saw breathtaking beauty and places where movies such as Braveheart and P.S. I Love You were filmed. After the long day, Johnny and I spent the night at the airport before arriving back in Brussels.

Right now I am incredibly stressed and just sick of school. Honestly, I am not enjoying my classes and the work just makes me feel literally sick. I really just want to get back to EMU. I realize now how blessed I am with my professors there and classes I just love and want to do the work. If I had more time or just weekends to do homework, I think it would be a little better, but right now it is hard. I do not regret my decision to be here and take these classes, but it is really hard right now and I am tired. And this weekend I am once again leaving, this time for a class trip to Amsterdam. I am sure it will be fine, but right now I don't want to go and take time to just relax.

Fall Break

Life here in Belgium has been so busy lately... I feel like I barely have time to breathe. And the problem is that it is only going to get faster from here, not slow down like I wish. Last weekend was amazing as my BCA program (with Krissy and my friend Kristen) went to Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands which houses the second largest collection of Van Goughs in the world. Afterward we went back to Belgium where we spent the night at an abbey. That night has been one of the highlights of my time so far! We went to prayers and dinner with some of the monks of the abbey, then saw the oldest replica of Da Vinci's The Last Supper which was partly painted by Da Vinci himself, got served beer which was made by the monks at the abbey, and stayed up late having really great conversation with my group about religion. That was really neat because we all come from completely different backgrounds but were able to have a really meaningful conversation with each other.

The next morning after spending the night in our separate rooms, we went to mass then had time to take a lot of fun pictures together (see my facebook page). After lunch with the monks, we were picked up by my resident director and headed to a castle in the province of Liege before heading back to Brussels for a dinner of frites. This week has been full of writing a paper (on the very interesting topic of criminal jurisdiction of foreign vessels in American ports :( ) and also having a really fun game night with my host family and attending my roommate's church's bible study.

Tomorrow I head back to Paris for a four day field trip with my art class. Then my parents and brother Ryan are coming!!!!! I am so excited to see them and experience more of Europe. We are renting a car and heading first to Italy, spending one night in Genoa, then two nights in Cinque Terre. Afterward we will drive to Germany, stopping in Verona, Italy and Innsbruck, Austria. Touring the Neuenschwander castle then heading to Switzerland before driving through France and Luxembourg back to Belgium. We arrive back next Monday. They will be around until Thursday of that week, when I will also be going with them to the airport, but flying to Ireland when they head back to America.

So until then, I wish everyone a happy Halloween and I will write of my adventures when I get back!

Half-Way Point

Today marks the half-way point of my trip to Europe... I arrived here on August 17 and leave on December 17. It is weird to think about because I feel like I haven't been here much at all and at the same time I feel like I have been here forever. Honestly, I think I will be ready to come home. But I know I have already learned so much and there are things here that I will hate to leave. So as my midway reflection, I thought I would list my likes and dislikes of Belgium and Europe.

Likes

-Speculoos Spread: My favorite thing in possibly the entire world! It is like peanut butter made of cookies! The best way to eat it is on crepes!

-Waffles: Totally cliche, but really Belgium waffles are amazing! I often eat them from little packages and was eating one per day before I realized that I really need to cut back!

-Using public transportation: Although sometimes a pain, I love the hustle and bustle!

-Taking long walks: My favorite is my walk through Brugge to my internship in the park with the canal on one side and medieval buildings on the other. I also love walking in Brussels with gorgeous houses all around.

-Getting to know people from all around: Among friends that I have made include Dutch, Polish, Belgium, Turkish, Kazakhstanian, Mexican, Guatemalan, and others. Classes are especially interesting to hear all the different perspectives.

-Dressing fashionably: I like that everyone dresses up here and that looking cute is pretty much required. (Although sometimes I wish I could just wear sweats).

-Playing games with my host family: Teaching my family Dutch Blitz and playing Settlers of Catan are becoming some of my favorite activities.

-Cheese!: So many good cheeses that are inexpensive and great on sandwiches.

-Having random conversations with people: The other day on the bus in Brugge, I had a great conversation with a Flemish fourteen old boy who had never met an American before.

-The "liberalness" of Europe: I love how socialist the society is and Europeans seem to care about their people and even people of other continents (although this might seem more so to me since I am working for the UN).

Dislikes

-Bread and cheese molding long before I can eat them: Oh how I miss the preservatives of the US! (Never thought I would say that!)

-Mean train ticket takers: Not all are mean, but mostly they are grumpy.

-Lack of smiles: I believe I mentioned this in my first blog entry. Though I have become used to it and now I really notice and appreciate it when someone smiles at me (which really does happen). So maybe this should be a like, since I notice and appreciate smiling more.

-Lack of privacy: As much as I like my roommates and host family, sometimes it would be nice to have some space of my own.

-No Mexican Food!

These are just a few that come to mind, but I will expand the list as I think and reflect this week. Blessings to all!

Gentle My Desperation

The past weeks have been really hard on me. My hopelessness from last week has only intensified this week with the death of Goshen College professor, Dr. Miller. Midterms were also this week, adding more stress and depression to my life. Especially on Wednesday night, I felt completely surrounded by sadness and depression for no particular reason. The last two days have been a lot better, but in the pit of my stomach I still feel an overwhelming feeling of sadness and hopelessness that I try to ignore because I just want to feel happy, or at least just ok.

This feeling has pushed me into praying a lot. My relationship with God has really gone through ups and downs the last few years, but this week I have felt the need to communicate with God and do some soul-searching. I have been reading In the Sanctuary of Women by Jan L. Richardson, a prayer book given to me by Rachel, the pastor of San Antonio Mennonite Church. I would highly recommend the book to anyone... it is filled with prayers and reflections of women in the Bible. One part that I have been reflecting on is the idea of hungering and desiring. A prayer in the book goes, "May your longing lead you far and farther still toward the place where what you desire can be met only by God. May your hungering bring you home by another way."

The author describes how life is about going on quests and how each road leads us different places and teaches new lessons. Part of the scariness and blessing of journeys is that we are never quite the same when we return. The same is when we truly experience God - we can never be the same. I am hoping that the deep longing and pain that I am experiencing now will teach me valuable lessons and make me a stronger person. I hope that it will bring me closer to God and help me to use my life to help alleviate the pain of those around me. My mom sent me a prayer the other day that described perfectly how I have been feeling. I leave it with you below.

Come, Lord Jesus,

Touch me

with love, life-giving as light,

to quiet my anger a little

and gentle my desperation,

to soften my fears some

and soothe the knots of my cynicism,

to wipe away the tears from my eyes

and ease the pains in my body and soul,

to reconcile me to myself

and then to the people around me,

and then nation to nation,

that none shall learn war any more,

but turn to feed the hungry, house the homeless

and care compassionately for the least of our brothers and sisters.

Reshape me in your wholeness

to be a healing person, Lord.

Come, Lord Jesus,

expand me

by your power, life-generating as the sea,

to accept

and use my power,

to do something I believe in

and be something more of who I mean to be

and can be,

to inspire me to dream and move,

sweat and sing,

fail and laugh,

cuss and create,

to link my passion with courage,

my hope with discipline,

my love with persistence,

to enable me to learn from difficulties,

grow in adversities,

gain wisdom from defeats,

perspective from disappointment,

gracefulness from crises,

and find joy in simply living it all fully.

Release me through your power

to be a powerful person, Lord.

Come, Lord Jesus,

startle me

with your presence, life-sustaining as air,

to open my heart

to praise you,

to open my mind

to attend you,

to open my spirit

to worship you,

to open me

to live my life

as authentically and boldly as you lived yours.

Come, Lord Jesus,

be with me

in my longing;

come, stay with me

in my needing;

come, go with me

in my doing;

come, struggle with me

in my searching;

come, rejoice with me

in my loving.

10 Years

Today marks the ten year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Ten years of fighting with not much of a foreseeable end. I hate to think of how many people have suffered and died in this "war on terror" and how many more people continue to suffer. Wednesday in my European Peace and Security Studies class we watched a Wikileaks video title "Collateral Murder." The video found on youtube is absolutely terrible and shows footage from an US helicopter in Iraq shooting at civilians. It is debatable if it was really an accident or not, and the US tried to cover up the scandal which included the deaths of two Reuters reporters and injuries of children. After class I fell apart while talking to my dad on the phone. I had already been down from my experiences on Monday, and this, along with today's anniversary, killed something inside of me.

I also go an overwhelming feeling that going to Iraq or Afghanistan is in my future. I have been considering joining Christian Peacemaker Teams since probably junior high, but in the last couple of days, I now know that I have to go. It is not just a goal of mine to go try to make peace in the world, but it is a part of who I am. I know that at my core, I am meant to go to these war-torn areas and become an advocate of peace. I have never felt anything else more strongly in my entire life. Right now, I am looking into joining a CPT delegation to Iraq sometime in 2012. But really, it is not a matter of choice, but rather doing what I need to do. I have to sign release form saying that I recognize that I may be kidnapped, tortured, or killed, but I realize that I am more than willing to lay down my life if it means that I am helping bring an end to the cycle of violence in this world. I really do not know what the future is going to hold, and it might not be a pretty one, but I know that God will be with me and that hope exists even on days such as these.

The Martyr's Mirror

I have to admit that the last couple of days have been hard. I was extremely homesick on Friday, but then had a fantastic day in Antwerp on Saturday. I was there first for my art class field trip, visiting different museums, then to Kathleen's house (my resident director) for dinner and the night. I loved being back in the room where I stayed when I first came to Belgium. It was a little like coming home. We had a huge delicious dinner of pumpkin curry soup, rabbit, baked pears, tator-tot like things, and cake dessert. Krissy also came along, which was great to have some time to hang out with her and the guys.

On Sunday, after a huge breakfast, we headed in a van to the west of Belgium where we first went to World War I trenches. After the trenches, we went to a cemetery of World War I soldiers, a bunker, then finally a museum in Ypres, one of the main cities attacked in WWI. We also attended a ceremony honoring the fallen soldiers that has occurred everyday since WWI ended with the exception of WWII. The realities of the war were just so terrible. One reporter/artist of WWI wrote, "I have seen the most frightful nightmare of a country more conceived by Dante or Poe than by nature, unspeakable, utterly indescribable... Evil and the incarnate fiend alone can be master of this war, and no glimmer of God's hand is seen anywhere."

I don't know if I have just been trained to hate war, but the whole day was really hard for me to take and I am still upset over it. I think the worst part of the experience was at the end of the museum when they mentioned that since 1918, there has not been one day without an armed conflict somewhere on the planet, and the number of wars keeps increasing. And our country still glorifies war and the soldiers fighting for "our freedom." It makes me so mad and often I just lose all hope in humanity.

To make matters more depressing, yesterday I began my research on Anabaptists in Belgium and read of all the people who were killed in this country in the 1500s. There used to be thousands of Mennonites here, but were persecuted so badly, that the ones who didn't die fled to Holland. Many of the stories are recorded in The Martyr's Mirror. For those who don't know, The Martyr's Mirror is a HUGE book filled with stories of Anabaptists who were persecuted for their faith. It used to be that every Mennonite household had a copy and the stories would be shared often.

I think it is sad that we have stopped this tradition because although the stories are gruesome, they showed what it meant to truly live what you believe, despite suffering. The stories are our heritage and still can have so much meaning today. Ypres has a ceremony everyday honoring soldiers and in the US, celebrations honoring soldiers are not uncommon. As pacifists, I believe we need to also honor those who have suffered for Christ. We need to know these stories and share them with our kids so they know that war is not the only way.

Even though I have been quite down lately, I try to think of the positive and the work that is being done for peace in the world. I listened and talked to a worker from the United Nations yesterday and the work the UN is doing in the Central African Republic. Although the country is a mess, I found hope that programs are in place to try to solve the conflict and problems happening in that area of the world. And I have been listening to the song "One Day" by Matisyahu which expresses quite accurately, what I have been feeling.

"Sometimes I lay under the moon and thank God I'm breathing. Then I pray don't take me soon cause I am here for a reason. Sometimes in my tears I drown, but I never let it get me down. So when negativity surrounds, I know some day it'll all turn around because all my life I've been waiting for, I've been praying for, for the people to say that we don't wanna fight no more, there'll be no more wars and our children will play... one day. It's not about win or lose cause we all lose when they feed on the souls of the innocent blood drenched pavement. Keep on moving through the waters raging. In this maze you can lose your way, it might drive you crazy, but don't let it faze you no way. One day this all will change. Treat people the same, stop the violence, down with the hate. One day we'll all be free and proud to be under the same sun singing songs of freedom like. All my life I've been waiting for, I've been praying for, for the people to say that we don't wanna fight no more, there'll be no more wars and our children will play. One day."

The Infinite Abyss

Many of you might wonder about the title of my blog, "Exploring the Infinite Abyss." The title comes from the movie Garden State. At one point in the movie, the main character visits a man who lives in a junk yard right in front of this huge crevasse in the earth's surface. The man's job is to make sure people do not go down because it has not been explored and for all they know, it might go down forever. However, the junk man himself goes exploring at night. So at the end of this scene, the main character is saying goodbye and says to junk man, "Good luck exploring the infinite abyss." The man answers back, "You too!" I love the thought that life is all about going out into the world and exploring the deepness and profoundness that life has to offer. Life itself is the infinite abyss and we get the privilege to explore.

The more time I spend here in Europe, the more infinite the world seems. I have been reflecting this past week on how much of the world I have no idea about. One example is that I have spent my whole life in a Mennonite community. I know the Mennonite community in the US really well and love it. However, I come here and nobody has ever heard of a Mennonite. How many other little groups must there be in the world that have their own unique culture and history that we have never heard of? Belgium itself is full of so many different cultures and within Brussels, it is common to hear ten different languages in the metro. Brussels is such an international city that there are literally thousands of different cultural groups. On my block alone exists probably at least 10 ethnicities.

I have really enjoyed observing the different cultures, as well as hearing about the different European stereotypes. The history here is so deep and much more complicated than I had ever realized. Belgians are not nationalistic, but rather find their identity in their different communities. They are tolerant of each other, but do not always seem to like each other. The Dutch and French speaking populations do not normally mix, except in Brussels. This is part of the problem of why Belgium still does not have a government after a year and a half. Even more interesting is that Belgians do not seem to like the actual French or Dutch. This comes from the fact that both countries have invaded Belgium. The Dutch are often viewed as loud and slightly obnoxious, while the French are seen as snobs.

Another interesting observation is to see how recent World War II actually was. I am living right now in what was just 70 years ago was occupied territory. My host dad's father was actually born under occupied Holland and his grandfather fought in the resistance army. Hatred for the Germans still exists, even though it is slowly dying out with the younger generations. I will eventually get to visit some of the battlefields of World War II while I am here, although this weekend holds a class field trip to Antwerp, then a BCA field trip to WWI battlefields and museums.

Last weekend was an amazing trip to Brugge with my art class where we visited many different museums and statues, then Krissy and I stayed later and went on a boat tour and a walk to my internship. Saturday, I went hiking in southern Belgium. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I was able to see cute villages, Belgium farmland, and even a couple of castles! Yesterday, I had the privilege to listen to a famous Brussels author, Geert Van Istendael, speak of the problems facing Belgium today and tomorrow I hear a lecture from the CEO of Fair Observer, a new multimedia journal. As you can probably tell, I am staying incredibly busy and really trying to make the most of my adventure!

Settling In

I have now been here over one month, which means I am twenty-five percent done. This is crazy because I feel like I have not been here long at all although I have already experienced so much in the last month. Often, I feel like I am in a dream because people in normal life do not just go to Germany for a weekend or get to walk along a canal in a medieval city twice a week.

This weekend has be absolutely fantastic! Friday night I went with Krissy and my friend Kristen to an Owl City concert. Owl City is an American band who is most famous for their song "Fireflies." They put on a great show and then afterward we waited by their tour bus until they came out and got to meet them and get pictures/autographs. While we waited, we also made friends with a Belgium guy and a French guy. It was really fun getting to know some Europeans and fellow Owl City fans.

After a late night downtown Brussels, we had an early morning bus ride to Cologne, Germany with our Art History class. In Cologne, we had tours of the cathedral, a Roman museum (including looking at the sewers and praetorium), another church, and an art museum. The tours were really interesting and I feel like I learned a lot. Saturday night after a meal at a local German pub, some friends and I went and spent time looking over the Rhine River then ended up at the cathedral where a candlelight vigil was going on. We all lit our own candles and spent some time praying and reflecting. Afterward, Krissy and I had a heart-to-heart about faith and spirituality, something that I have been missing a lot since I have arrived.

The next day, along with tours, we climbed to the top of one of the cathedral towers... 533 steps! After lunch, we drove to Aachen, which used to be the capital of the Frankish empire under Charlemagne. We saw several different relics and even the box where Charlemagne still remains in the cathedral there. On the way back to Belgium, we watch Gladiators. Since then, I have been trying to make up sleep and stay ahead on my readings.

Classes and internship have been going really well. I truly enjoy it all, even if sometimes I feel I am in over my head. I cannot believe that midterms are already three weeks away! I feel like I still have so much to do! This weekend holds a dinner with friends, field trip to Brugge, and a hike in the Ardennes. I feel like my time here is flying by and I really wish it would slow down a bit so I could get some time to rest and be able to take it in. Love and miss you all!

Busy Beginnings

The last two weeks have been extremely busy for me! I have now had two full weeks of classes and internship. I must admit that I think I am taking on too much and might end of dropping a class. I would hate to do this because so far I have really enjoyed everything I have been learning. My schedule is not the greatest since I am not a morning person... I have to get up at 6:30 two times a week and 7:00 two times a week. I also have class until 6:00 pm three days a week. One highlight from classes this last week was attending a debate in European Parliament on Human Security and the Responsibility to Protect. Several of the speakers were from the UN and other important organizations.

For my internship, my advisor gave me four different tasks that I will be working on. These include (1) Assistance to Preparation of Special Issue of academic journal on “Intra-African and Africa-Europe migration," (2) Co-authoring of academic article on “Intra-African migration: Data availability and quality,"(3) Participation in internal seminars at UNU-CRIS, and (4) Other tasks related to migration-related projects of Programme 4: “Socio-Economic Dimensions of Regional Integration.” To be honest, the internship is a little overwhelming right now, but I think I will end up learning a lot from it.

Other exciting adventures in the last two weeks include going to the Atomium and Little Europe with my roommate Krissy last weekend. The Atomium is a structure built for the 1958 World's Fair. Little Europe is a little park with miniature statues of over 300 sites of Europe. On Tuesday night we went to the Belgium vs. USA soccer game, which was a ton of fun, even though the USA lost. I really enjoyed being in an American crowd because it felt a little like home. Yesterday, Krissy, Johnny, Malik, (2 of the guys in my program) and I took a train to Brugge, then rented bikes and biked 25 km from Brugge to the North Sea. It was an incredible bike ride along canals and the Belgium countryside! The ocean was nice though too cold to swim in. After relaxing in the sand for a while we rode back but got caught in a thunderstorm. We made it back safely, though by the time we got back to Brussels, we were tired, sore, and completely wet.

Today, we hope to go to the Royal Palace which is open to visitors only today, then I have a friend's birthday dinner to go to. This week I just have my busy week of classes, then on Friday, Krissy and I are going to see the band Owl City. Saturday and Sunday then is a trip to Cologne, Germany with my art class. Thanks to all who have sent letters and emails! Know that they are much appreciated!

Brussels, Brugge, and Paris

This past week has been incredibly busy for me! So many new places and experiences. Last Sunday night I arrived in Brussels for the first time and met my host family. I really love my host family and the neighborhood they live in. The house has four stories, with my room on top. It is a great space with three beds, a table, and a living room area. The neighborhood is one of the nicest in Brussels and used to be owned by all of the barons and baronesses. My host mom took me on a small tour of the neighborhood that night, and I explored it more fully the next day. I am really close to a little park, the grocery store, several stores and restaurants, and the metro. I then walked downtown (an hour walk, though only 12 minute metro ride).

Downtown, I met my director and the three BCA boys. We got our metro passes then were left on our own with a scavenger hunt. We ended up getting a little lost and had to call our director, but finally ended up at a parking garage for a picnic. The top of the parking garage has one of the greatest views of the city, but because it was raining, we ate in the eighth floor. The dinner was fantastic with breads, cheeses, grapes, and wine. The next day we had to find the college by ourselves in the middle of a thunderstorm. That afternoon we went and got waffles and beer. That evening, I met my roommates, Krissy and Erika and hung out before going to bed.Wednesday was orientation at the college which was extremely boring, since I already knew the information. I was very thankful for BCA because none of the other study abroad students had received any orientation and had no clue what was happening. Most people there seemed very lost.

Thursday, I had an internship interview in Brugge. Brugge is an hour train ride from Brussels and my internship place was an hour walk from the train station. My friend Johnny (one of the BCA guys) came with me, which made me feel a lot better. Brugge is an incredible city and I LOVED the walk! There are canals everywhere and the whole city looks like it did in medieval times. We walked through a park and I felt like I was in a movie. The interview turned out not to be an interview because they had already decided on me. I will be a research assistant for United Nations University looking into issues of migration. For more information about the organization go to http://www.cris.unu.edu/ . I am really looking forward to the internship and the doors it could open for me. I will be going twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. The commute will be interesting, but hopefully I can use the train ride to get homework done.

On Friday I registered for classes and explored Brussels a little bit before catching a bullet train to Paris. My host family had invited me and my roommates to go with them and babysit the kids for them while they attended a conference. Krissy went earlier in the car with the children to watch them Friday night. I got in around 10 then Krissy and I headed to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time. I have to admit that I imaged it to be a lot bigger, though it was still surreal to actually be there. Saturday we hung out in the apartment we were staying in the morning, then had a picnic lunch near Notre Dame. Then the parents left us and kids off outside the Louvre for the afternoon. Ten minutes after they left, the middle son started throwing a fit and ran away. I had to chase him, then hold him while he screamed and cried so he wouldn't run off and get lost in the crowd. It was horrible! Everyone was staring at us. Finally we got him calmed down and we walked to the Eiffel tower, stopping a few times for rain showers. The kids did well, but it was quite a walk and so when we got there and were waiting for their parents, the kids played in a mud puddle.

That night, Krissy and I celebrated her 21st birthday by first walking up the Arc de Triumph (200 steps), then walking to the Eiffel Tower, eating crepes, then walking the steps halfway up (over 600 steps) then the elevator to the very top. The view was amazing and we especially enjoyed being there without the kids. Sunday, we hung out with the kids in the morning again, then in the afternoon Krissy and I walked together to the Bastille, then Notre Dame. We hung out there a bit, then walked to the train station and caught a train at 9 back to Brussels. Today, I slept in then got waffles with my roommates for lunch. I have my first class, elementary dutch (I decided to take dutch instead of french), this afternoon, which is taught by my director, so that should be fun. The rest of the week I start my other classes and my internship.

Antwerpen

Hello All! I am glad to announce that I have made it here to Belgium safe and sound. I arrived at 7:30 am on Wednesday at the Brussels airport. I flew with one of the boys that is in my BCA group. We were met by my resident director and her husband and were taken to their home in Antwerp (Antwerpen in Dutch). After the arrival of the other boy in the group (One more is joining us on Monday) we had our first Belgium meal of breads, meats, and cheeses. We then had some downtime to relax and take a nap. We cooked dinner together of vegetable soup, stew, and mashed potatoes.

Thursday, we learned about Belgium culture and etiquette in the morning, then the two guys and I explored Antwerp by foot in the afternoon. Antwerp is one of the largest cities in Belgium and was really fun to explore. Since it is in the north, only Dutch is spoken, so we really were not able to read anything or understand what we saw, but we enjoyed it none the less. That night we went out for dinner and had a great Belgium meal (I don't know what mine was- some kind of chicken in white cream with mushrooms). That night, I stayed up for a couple of hours having a great conversation with my RD, making me extremely excited for all that this semester could hold for me.

Yesterday, we had a Dutch lesson in the morning, then rented bikes and had a biking tour of Antwerp, which has been my highlight so far. We rode around for probably 4 hours before getting frites for dinner! (Frites are french fries and eaten by Belgiums in large amounts as take-out food) Today, we visited an open air museum that had three mock villages of how towns in different parts of Belgium looked in the past. It was neat to visit and see some Belgium history. Tomorrow we have French lessons, then in the evening I will go to my host family for the first time. Next week orientation is all in Brussels, which I am looking forward to finally seeing and exploring the city where I will live for the next four months!

Ready for Departure

So here is my first blog entry as I prepare to take off to Europe soon! I fly from Columbus, OH to Brussels on Tuesday, August 16th, departing at 1:28, switching planes in Philly, and arriving in Brussels at 7 am on Wednesday. My resident director, Kathleen, (from Brethren Colleges Abroad, the organization I am going with) will pick me and two other boys up from the airport and go to her house in Antwerp, Belgium for the first four days of orientation. Then, we will head to Brussels and move into our host families and have orientation at Vesalius College, where I will be taking classes.

The classes I plan on taking (to be finalized once I am there) are: International Law, European Peace and Security Studies- a Brussel's Perspective, Elementary French I, Belgium for Beginners, and a European Studies class where I study the history of Bruge, Antwerp, Brussels, Paris, and Amsterdam by going on field trips! I also hope to obtain an internship.

I really look forward to this opportunity to immerse myself in a new culture and meet a lot of new people! I am especially looking forward to living with my host family. I have an American mom, a Dutch dad, and three host siblings, ages 4, 6, and 8. I am also living with two other American girls also studying at Vesalius. One of my first weekends there, I am actually going with my host family to Paris to get to know them better and babysit the kids while the parents attend a conference.

If you would like to send me letters while I am abroad you can address it to me at my host family:

C/O Mosieur et Madame et Pouw-Roll,

Avenue Victor Gilsoul 74,

1200 Bruxelles, Belgique.

Any packages would need to be sent to:

BCA- K. Caenen (in courtesy of J. Schmidt),

Vesalius College/ VUB, Pleinlaan 5,

1050 Brussels, Belgium.

Also, any emails would also be much appreciated!