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Dear Ma Mere, I forgot to mention this earlier, but Kate says hi! Love you and miss you, Janice
Monday, January 24, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Belgium vs. USA
Weird differences about Belgium:
1. Teachers use sponges to erase blackboards
2. Houses want you to wear slippers in their houses
3. You have to pay to use the bathroom in public places
4. Sales are only twice a year: January and July
5. Dogs aren't on leashes
6. Dogs shit everywhere
7. There's no stop signs, just whoever is on the right has right of way
8. There's a sink in every classroom
9. There are no water fountains
10. Beer is cheaper than water
11. Toilets have two flushers: a small one and a big one, you can understand why
12. Shops close at the latest 8pm
13. You can still smoke in public areas such as bars and restaurants
14. Dogs are allowed in public areas such as bars and restaurants
15. The sun never seems to come out
16. Men profess their love to you all the time. They use the phrase "I love you" in every sentence
17. Can't make eye contact
18. No public transport between 3am and 5am
19. Cars and roads are tiny compared to USA
20. Cars park on sidewalks
21. Buildings are narrower and taller.
22. They sell beer at McDonalds
23. Kabob stores seem to be everywhere, along with car repair places
24. Light switches are flat, instead of protruding out.
25. Shops have to close 2 days every week.
1. Teachers use sponges to erase blackboards
2. Houses want you to wear slippers in their houses
3. You have to pay to use the bathroom in public places
4. Sales are only twice a year: January and July
5. Dogs aren't on leashes
6. Dogs shit everywhere
7. There's no stop signs, just whoever is on the right has right of way
8. There's a sink in every classroom
9. There are no water fountains
10. Beer is cheaper than water
11. Toilets have two flushers: a small one and a big one, you can understand why
12. Shops close at the latest 8pm
13. You can still smoke in public areas such as bars and restaurants
14. Dogs are allowed in public areas such as bars and restaurants
15. The sun never seems to come out
16. Men profess their love to you all the time. They use the phrase "I love you" in every sentence
17. Can't make eye contact
18. No public transport between 3am and 5am
19. Cars and roads are tiny compared to USA
20. Cars park on sidewalks
21. Buildings are narrower and taller.
22. They sell beer at McDonalds
23. Kabob stores seem to be everywhere, along with car repair places
24. Light switches are flat, instead of protruding out.
25. Shops have to close 2 days every week.
First Full Week in Belgium
Day in the Life:
Monday, January 17th : first day of classes. Went to European Economy, my first ever econ class, and got my educated mind whipped when I was asked to correctly name all the countries in Europe. Funny story, that is hard to do! I missed a whole 26 countries! Sorry Europe, on the plus side, I now know where ya'll are at. Then, I went to an internship interview with Accessible Art fair. Next, it was time for class again, this time in the form of political science. It was Introduction to the EU, similar to not knowing my geography of Europe, it turns out that I don't know anything about the EU. I suppose living in the heart of the EU, I will probably have to learn a few things about it, right? Class ended, and by now it was dark out, cold, and rainy. Awesome Europe, you are nothing like those sunny pictures you have in your travel books. By then 7:30pm had rolled around which can only mean one thing: Dinner with the host family. As always delicious food, probably the best food that I've ever had in my life, but it comes with a price. Some of the most uncomfortable silenced dinners I've ever had. And that is coming from a person who thrives off awkward situations. After dinner, I went upstairs, read a little, and went to sleep.
Tuesday January 18th: Went to get more minutes on my phone since I ran out calling my father back in the good old US of A. Then I took the metro to get some sweet passport sized pictures of me. After that, I ate lunch at a little cafe near the school, since I am terrified of eating at home since my home stay mom is a little possessive about the kitchen. Tuesday was also day 2 of classes. So I got the luxury of attending a lovely little 3 hour class de francais 103. Man, a 3 hour class is a long time to be in class for. Luckily, we get a whole ten minutes of break! I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but in Europe, at least Belgium, they don't really get sarcasm. That's just dandy for me, ain't it because I'm never sarcastic. Ever. After that long class, I went out to City 2 and bought the book for the class with Maisah. I just went home and uploaded pictures from the weekend before when I went on that ART class field trip around Brussels. As always, there was family dinner, where they asked me what I learned in French class, and there was an awkward pause, as I could not think of what I had learned sitting through that 3 hour class. I knew I had learned something, I just couldn't remember what!
Wednesday January 19th: This was a busy day let me tell you now. I got up at 8am for my 8:30am class. Now I know that I live close to the school, but that's ridiculous! Some kids have 45 minute commutes and I have a sweet little 10 minute walk. But when you wake up 30 minutes for class, and need to get dressed, eat, and go to a building you've never gone hmmm....rough morning. Well luckily, I made it to class only a minute late. But, half of my class is composed out of other study abroads from the University of Missouri. They got lost and didn't end up showing up until 9:10am. Class ended at 10, ouch. Anywho, I booked it from the art class then over to my Intro to EU class where I learned more about why we study the european union. From that class, I rushed over to the Auderghem commune to get myself all registered like my visa paper work told me to do. After that trip to what is like an American DMV experience, I went to meet with Martine about how the home stay is going. After that, I chilled over at the college trying to figure out what class to drop for my internship. At Vesalius, you can only take 5 classes, and internships are considered a class. So, I need to drop one, but its very tricky figuring out which one during your first week of classes. This is also the day that I found out that for every class I take in Belgium I only get .75 units of Beloit credit. Aka for my full course load of 5 classes, I am getting 3.75 units. Ruh roh! But the good news is that I have 21.25 units just from my first 2 years at Beloit, and you only need 31 units to graduate, so I should be fine. I sure do hope so! Anywho, so I got to deal with all the drama that came with classes and the internship and etc. Then, I got to go to my Econ class again. This time it went much better than before, I felt much more prepared. Emotionally and physically: because I was almost fully over jet lag and because I had read all the materials needed. When class was over, I went home. After dinner, I went out with Cayla and the other kids doing the CIEE program and we saw the film, "Un Nom des Gens." Let's just say this, it was a very French kind of film about politics. It was all in French, no subtitles, so it was a little difficult to understand what was happening. I think it was about a liberal girl who sleeps with conservative men to try and get them to change views. I THINK.
Thursday January 20th: I didn't have any classes, so I went adventuring! I started off by myself on the beautiful sunny day wandering near le Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, Place des Martyrs, Musee Marc Sleen, Banque Nationale de Belgique, the Cathedral of St. Michael, and some other cool monument type things. Then I came home for a while, convinced Jiemin to come explore, and then wandered Brussels for another 3 hours until it was time for dinner. After dinner, I was tired, so like the scholar I am, I did homework, skyped with my mom, and went to sleep.
Friday January 21st: I had my Marketing and Advertisement class at 8:30am. Originally i had thought that I was going to drop this class since I could probably take the same class back in the US, until I went to the class. I loved it! I really enjoyed talking about marketing internationally, in Belgium, and in the US. We had a great talk about how to market foreign films in the US and how the title of a movie means everything. And from the title, comes the question of when you release a foreign film in the US or vice versa do you change the name to better appeal to audiences? Also, does that then change the audience's perspective of the movie? It was awesome. I didn't even care that it was 3 hours. After class, I talked to Anna about my internship which should be starting sometime this week (24th to the 28th), and then set up to take a French placement test over at VUB. I think French will be the class I drop at Vesalius. Then I came home and did some EU readings for I knew it would be a busy weekend, then I met up with Maisah and went to City 2 to get her a phone. After that, home for dinner, then out to a Vesalius College meet and greet at the KK, then over to some Missouri kids apartments to explore the night life of Ixelles, a district of Brussels.
Saturday January 22nd: Got up early to catch a train to Antwerp, northern Belgium. Cayla, Jiemin (my roommates) and I had been talking about touring more of Belgium, so we decided to do a day trip to Antwerp, the Diamond Capital of the World. Alison and Elana came too! It was super fun, despite the kind of gloomy weather that seems the norm in europe. We started off my marveling at how beautiful the train station was, then we did some shopping. We went shopping mostly because Belgium has sales twice a year in January and July, and January is almost over! So got some shopping in, found a little sandwich shop to eat at, walked along side the sandy beaches, saw the Cathedral, saw the giant hand, went to the market place, saw town square, went to the Musuem of Fashion (where we learned all about hats) I got my waffle, and we got to try some local Antwerp beer at a local pub. We then left Antwerp to go back to Brussels to meet up with some friends at a club called Fuse. Those friends never ended up showing up and it was just us, but it was a fun time. By the time we left the club at 2am, all the night buses had stopped for the night, so we ended up taking a cab home instead of aimlessly wandering the streets of Brussels.
Sunday January 23rd: Today! I woke up late. I finally got to sleep in! Then I ate lunch, went to a protest at the Cinquantenaire, and went home to do laundry. The protest was about how Belgium hasn't had a government in 7 months and people either a) want to divide the country based on language and cultural differences or b) they want to keep it one country just with a working government which they currently don't have. This was a peaceful protest where the overall consensus was let's just get our act together and be one country. It was a very cool thing to witness all these Belgians coming together for a common goal.
Monday, January 17th : first day of classes. Went to European Economy, my first ever econ class, and got my educated mind whipped when I was asked to correctly name all the countries in Europe. Funny story, that is hard to do! I missed a whole 26 countries! Sorry Europe, on the plus side, I now know where ya'll are at. Then, I went to an internship interview with Accessible Art fair. Next, it was time for class again, this time in the form of political science. It was Introduction to the EU, similar to not knowing my geography of Europe, it turns out that I don't know anything about the EU. I suppose living in the heart of the EU, I will probably have to learn a few things about it, right? Class ended, and by now it was dark out, cold, and rainy. Awesome Europe, you are nothing like those sunny pictures you have in your travel books. By then 7:30pm had rolled around which can only mean one thing: Dinner with the host family. As always delicious food, probably the best food that I've ever had in my life, but it comes with a price. Some of the most uncomfortable silenced dinners I've ever had. And that is coming from a person who thrives off awkward situations. After dinner, I went upstairs, read a little, and went to sleep.
Tuesday January 18th: Went to get more minutes on my phone since I ran out calling my father back in the good old US of A. Then I took the metro to get some sweet passport sized pictures of me. After that, I ate lunch at a little cafe near the school, since I am terrified of eating at home since my home stay mom is a little possessive about the kitchen. Tuesday was also day 2 of classes. So I got the luxury of attending a lovely little 3 hour class de francais 103. Man, a 3 hour class is a long time to be in class for. Luckily, we get a whole ten minutes of break! I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but in Europe, at least Belgium, they don't really get sarcasm. That's just dandy for me, ain't it because I'm never sarcastic. Ever. After that long class, I went out to City 2 and bought the book for the class with Maisah. I just went home and uploaded pictures from the weekend before when I went on that ART class field trip around Brussels. As always, there was family dinner, where they asked me what I learned in French class, and there was an awkward pause, as I could not think of what I had learned sitting through that 3 hour class. I knew I had learned something, I just couldn't remember what!
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| Please enjoy the photos that I took for the Belgim commune that I am living in, aka these are my new ID pics. Don't I look snazzy, aka unhappy. I wasn't allowed to smile, wear my hair up, wear glasses, or a hat! Man, in essence, I wasn't allowed to be me. Oh well, c'est la vie! |
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| Me at UGC, the movie theatre to see "Un Nom Des Gens." |
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| The metro stop next to my host family: Hankar |
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| Sweet Belgian graffitti |
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| Place des Martyrs |
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| Theatre Royal de la Monnaie |
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| Banque Nationale de Belgique |
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| Cathedral of St. Michael |
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| Belgian Stock Exchange |
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| Me on my adventures! |
Saturday January 22nd: Got up early to catch a train to Antwerp, northern Belgium. Cayla, Jiemin (my roommates) and I had been talking about touring more of Belgium, so we decided to do a day trip to Antwerp, the Diamond Capital of the World. Alison and Elana came too! It was super fun, despite the kind of gloomy weather that seems the norm in europe. We started off my marveling at how beautiful the train station was, then we did some shopping. We went shopping mostly because Belgium has sales twice a year in January and July, and January is almost over! So got some shopping in, found a little sandwich shop to eat at, walked along side the sandy beaches, saw the Cathedral, saw the giant hand, went to the market place, saw town square, went to the Musuem of Fashion (where we learned all about hats) I got my waffle, and we got to try some local Antwerp beer at a local pub. We then left Antwerp to go back to Brussels to meet up with some friends at a club called Fuse. Those friends never ended up showing up and it was just us, but it was a fun time. By the time we left the club at 2am, all the night buses had stopped for the night, so we ended up taking a cab home instead of aimlessly wandering the streets of Brussels.
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| Train station in Antwerp |
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| Me in the Antwerp Hand. |
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| At the waterside |
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| Antwerp man |
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| Townsquare |
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| Mode Musse, hats |
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| Alison, Jiemin, and I at club Fuse. |
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| Belgian protest at the Cinquantenaire |
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Getting lost in Europe...Awesome!
Well, for those of you who have ever ridden in a car with me to a place I have never been before, you know what I am about to say, and for those of you who haven't yet had the pleasure, I tend to get lost. And, not just a little lost, but SUPER LOST! So sending me off to Brussels, Belgium where all the signs are posted in either Dutch or French probably wasn't the best of ideas, but I'm here and alive so I guess it can't all be too bad.
Long story short, I have been getting super lost in the city, but as many people have told me, "you have to get lost to know where you're going." I suppose, but at the same time I wish I just knew where I was, so I could be that awesome girl who was confident in where she was going, opposed to that American girl, who has to ask police officers in broken French where she is headed.
Anywho, here are some pictures of famous things in Belgium I've seen so far.
Long story short, I have been getting super lost in the city, but as many people have told me, "you have to get lost to know where you're going." I suppose, but at the same time I wish I just knew where I was, so I could be that awesome girl who was confident in where she was going, opposed to that American girl, who has to ask police officers in broken French where she is headed.
Anywho, here are some pictures of famous things in Belgium I've seen so far.
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| Palais Royal de Bruxelles |
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| Atomium (Jeimin and Janice) |
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| Atomium |
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| Manneken Pis (Emily and Janice) |
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| Everard 't Serclaes |
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| Grand'Place |
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| Grand'Place |
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| Grand'Place |
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| Grand'Place |
Saturday, January 15, 2011
BELGIUM BOUND!
Ok, kids the post that I know we've all been waiting for is finally getting written, right here--right now!
The story of how I made it to Brussels, Belgium and all the fun that's been going on since I've been here.
Well let's see, I suppose I have to tell you the story of the plane ride first, huh?
Ok, well the story starts on Tuesday January 11th, 2011.
I left Tallahassee, FL around 7:20am headed to Orlando, FL. Jenny and I stopped at Chick-Fil-A for my last American meal on the way there. Around noon, we made it to the airport and I got all checked in with printed ticket and checked bags. Next, I said goodbye to Jenny (I am so tired of saying goodbyes, I hope I won't have to say anymore for a long while!) and then went through security. But, being the joke that I am I left my laptop, external hard drive, and travel adapter all in the bag, so of course I got questioned for a little while, then I realized I was no threat so let me go off on my adventure. Then, I chilled in the airport for a good long while, chatted it up with the Carver family (Kate and Luke), called my parents, and pretty much anyone who would pick up. Then, I bought myself a classic Seventeen magazine and word find.
Reasons for purchase:
1. At heart I am a 17 year old girl
2. I love word finds, they don't take skill, just patience.
Ok, well then at 3:35pm my flight left from sunny Orlando, FL to cold chilly New York City, NY. I ended up sitting next to a man from Amsterdam so for a better part of the flight we chatted it up about Amsterdam and how he was was so surprised that I was going by myself. At the end of the flight, he gave me his business card, he is both a Realtor and the owner of a limo service in the Netherlands. In essence, if I got into trouble in Amsterdam he wanted me to call his company and they would drive me around for free, which frankly was really generous of him. But, he wasn't dodgy because I met his kid and girlfriend, and they all seemed genuinely concerned about my well being. Either way, after the flight I never saw them again despite the fact that they were on my flight to Brussels. The reason for this had to do with because of the mix up in that my original flight got canceled do to snow in Atlanta. Since Delta had to change my flight for me, by the time they got around to doing that, they were all out of economy class seats, so I got bumped up to First Class.
That's right ladies and gentlemen, I GOT TO SIT FIRST CLASS.
A few things about first class, at least on my flight:
1. I was the only female.
2. I was the only person under the age of 30.
3. Its AWESOME.
4. You get a giant seat that reclines in every way you could ever dream of.
5. You get to put your stuff away and people help you put your carry-on luggage into the overhead providers.
6. They take your coat and hang it up for you.
7. They offer you drinks in actual glasses.
8. They don't just give you a blanket, they give you a comforter.
9. They offer you hot towels all the time, which frankly I took but really had no idea of what to do with.
10. You get a personal TV to watch anything from movies to HBO.
11. They offer you a 3 course dinner meal. I went all pretentious and had the Filet Mignon with the smoked salmon. Then for dessert I had the cheese tray and the ice cream sundae!
12. They ask you if you want to be woken up for breakfast.
13. Eventhough you may be wearing a turkey leg shirt and sweats, they have to be nice to you!
14. Overall, its the best thing ever!
Now that I'm done ranting about the joys of first class, I suppose I could finish telling you my tale.
So, I ended up sitting next to a pilot who was off duty, so all the flight hostesses knew him. Also, he was kind of a creeper and wanted to talk to me. Also, when I was done with the conversation and started watching a movie, he watched the same one. He is a 45 year old pilot with kids, who just out of the blue decided to watch Going the Distance, I think not! But whatever.
Our flight got in early, so we arrived in Brussels at 8:45am on Wednesday January 12th, and it was supposed to get in at 9:15am. I got off the plane, and went through Customs. It was a little confusing at first because everything was in Dutch and French, and at the time I wasn't recalling any French besides "Bonjour" and "Merci." But alas, I made it through. Then, I went to baggage and got my gear in check. Stopped by an ATM to get some euros since all I had was US money, which is worthless in Europe, and went off to the Relay store in hopes of finding the taxi driver that Vesalius College had set up for me. Eventually after a much stressed out 10 minutes or so, he found me and we found Alison another girl who is studying abroad at Vesalius. The taxi took us over to my host family's house, the Piette's, and I got a quick introduction not even 5 minutes in length to have Mme Piette drive Alison, Jeimin (my other roommate who was already at the house), and myself over to orientation on time. Shockingly we made it and early at that!
Not going to lie, orientation was rough. I was so tired and simply fatigued from all the traveling that I kept falling asleep. I'm sure I made a great impression, being a little smelly, looking not too good since I came right off the plane, and I was falling asleep. To be honest, I am shocked anyone even talked to me. Oh, by the way, it was cold and rainy! Not sunny and warm like I had come to expect from Orlando, no Belgium is a cold, dark, European place where you are told not to look or talk to strangers, aka I now have to break myself of everything that Disney taught me to do.
Orientation started at 10am and ended at 3pm. I then walked back to my family stay, its about a ten minute walk from campus, and met the family. So its just M. and Mme. Piette they are a retired couple who have 3 daughters, all older, and 5 grandsons. Also, they have two cats, Mozart and Indy. Turns out I have really missed cats. I live with Jiemin, another study abroad student originally from China but she goes to Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. There is another student who is living with us, Cayla, and she is from Vermont. She is very lucky because she has her own room on the third floor, whereas Jiemin and I are living together on the 4th floor. After we settled for a while, Jiemin, Cayla, and I went exploring in search of shampoo, soap, etc. Also, we were looking for the KK, a club on campus, because there was supposed to be a meet and greet there, but alas we ended up on the other side of campus instead of at the location right next to us. Then, we looked at the time to realize that Mme Piette wanted us home for dinner at 7:30pm, and it was getting awfully close to that time, so we returned home. Mme Peitte made us spaghetti because "everyone eats spaghetti." So, the Piette's are providing us breakfast everyday, and dinner Monday through Friday, all other meals our on us. Dinner was good, but a little strained since M. Piette speaks fairly good English, but Mme. Piette speaks very little, and Jiemin and I speak a little French, but not much, and Cayla doesn't speak any. After dinner, I showered and unpacked a little. I was so tired, so by 10pm I was soundly asleep. There you have it, my first day in Belgium!
The story of how I made it to Brussels, Belgium and all the fun that's been going on since I've been here.
Well let's see, I suppose I have to tell you the story of the plane ride first, huh?
Ok, well the story starts on Tuesday January 11th, 2011.
I left Tallahassee, FL around 7:20am headed to Orlando, FL. Jenny and I stopped at Chick-Fil-A for my last American meal on the way there. Around noon, we made it to the airport and I got all checked in with printed ticket and checked bags. Next, I said goodbye to Jenny (I am so tired of saying goodbyes, I hope I won't have to say anymore for a long while!) and then went through security. But, being the joke that I am I left my laptop, external hard drive, and travel adapter all in the bag, so of course I got questioned for a little while, then I realized I was no threat so let me go off on my adventure. Then, I chilled in the airport for a good long while, chatted it up with the Carver family (Kate and Luke), called my parents, and pretty much anyone who would pick up. Then, I bought myself a classic Seventeen magazine and word find.
Reasons for purchase:
1. At heart I am a 17 year old girl
2. I love word finds, they don't take skill, just patience.
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| Goodbye Disney and Goodbye America, See you real soon in June! |
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| Me and my ticket! I'm off to see the world! |
That's right ladies and gentlemen, I GOT TO SIT FIRST CLASS.
A few things about first class, at least on my flight:
1. I was the only female.
2. I was the only person under the age of 30.
3. Its AWESOME.
4. You get a giant seat that reclines in every way you could ever dream of.
5. You get to put your stuff away and people help you put your carry-on luggage into the overhead providers.
6. They take your coat and hang it up for you.
7. They offer you drinks in actual glasses.
8. They don't just give you a blanket, they give you a comforter.
9. They offer you hot towels all the time, which frankly I took but really had no idea of what to do with.
10. You get a personal TV to watch anything from movies to HBO.
11. They offer you a 3 course dinner meal. I went all pretentious and had the Filet Mignon with the smoked salmon. Then for dessert I had the cheese tray and the ice cream sundae!
12. They ask you if you want to be woken up for breakfast.
13. Eventhough you may be wearing a turkey leg shirt and sweats, they have to be nice to you!
14. Overall, its the best thing ever!
Now that I'm done ranting about the joys of first class, I suppose I could finish telling you my tale.
So, I ended up sitting next to a pilot who was off duty, so all the flight hostesses knew him. Also, he was kind of a creeper and wanted to talk to me. Also, when I was done with the conversation and started watching a movie, he watched the same one. He is a 45 year old pilot with kids, who just out of the blue decided to watch Going the Distance, I think not! But whatever.
Our flight got in early, so we arrived in Brussels at 8:45am on Wednesday January 12th, and it was supposed to get in at 9:15am. I got off the plane, and went through Customs. It was a little confusing at first because everything was in Dutch and French, and at the time I wasn't recalling any French besides "Bonjour" and "Merci." But alas, I made it through. Then, I went to baggage and got my gear in check. Stopped by an ATM to get some euros since all I had was US money, which is worthless in Europe, and went off to the Relay store in hopes of finding the taxi driver that Vesalius College had set up for me. Eventually after a much stressed out 10 minutes or so, he found me and we found Alison another girl who is studying abroad at Vesalius. The taxi took us over to my host family's house, the Piette's, and I got a quick introduction not even 5 minutes in length to have Mme Piette drive Alison, Jeimin (my other roommate who was already at the house), and myself over to orientation on time. Shockingly we made it and early at that!
Not going to lie, orientation was rough. I was so tired and simply fatigued from all the traveling that I kept falling asleep. I'm sure I made a great impression, being a little smelly, looking not too good since I came right off the plane, and I was falling asleep. To be honest, I am shocked anyone even talked to me. Oh, by the way, it was cold and rainy! Not sunny and warm like I had come to expect from Orlando, no Belgium is a cold, dark, European place where you are told not to look or talk to strangers, aka I now have to break myself of everything that Disney taught me to do.
Orientation started at 10am and ended at 3pm. I then walked back to my family stay, its about a ten minute walk from campus, and met the family. So its just M. and Mme. Piette they are a retired couple who have 3 daughters, all older, and 5 grandsons. Also, they have two cats, Mozart and Indy. Turns out I have really missed cats. I live with Jiemin, another study abroad student originally from China but she goes to Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. There is another student who is living with us, Cayla, and she is from Vermont. She is very lucky because she has her own room on the third floor, whereas Jiemin and I are living together on the 4th floor. After we settled for a while, Jiemin, Cayla, and I went exploring in search of shampoo, soap, etc. Also, we were looking for the KK, a club on campus, because there was supposed to be a meet and greet there, but alas we ended up on the other side of campus instead of at the location right next to us. Then, we looked at the time to realize that Mme Piette wanted us home for dinner at 7:30pm, and it was getting awfully close to that time, so we returned home. Mme Peitte made us spaghetti because "everyone eats spaghetti." So, the Piette's are providing us breakfast everyday, and dinner Monday through Friday, all other meals our on us. Dinner was good, but a little strained since M. Piette speaks fairly good English, but Mme. Piette speaks very little, and Jiemin and I speak a little French, but not much, and Cayla doesn't speak any. After dinner, I showered and unpacked a little. I was so tired, so by 10pm I was soundly asleep. There you have it, my first day in Belgium!
Friday, January 14, 2011
My last week working for the mouse
I wrote this before I left, on Sunday, hence why it is old and written as if I'm not in Europe yet, so bear with me.
So now that my flight is delayed until tomorrow, I am finding myself with an exorbitant amount of free time on my hands. In this free time, I've been doing a compilation of three main things: packing, reading about Belgium and all that will take place once I get there, and avoiding learning about Belgium whilst obsessively checking my facebook. And while I sit here in Tallahassee bored out of my mind waiting for my next adventure to begin I realize that I never finished blogging about my last adventure: my Disney adventure. I will now attempt to finish retelling all that is left to tell. Wish me luck!
Ok, now then where did I leave off?
Ah yes, I remember now! I am basically going to tell you about my last week at the Magic Kingdom.
January 2nd, 2011: Tahmyya, Jasmine, Amanda, Brittany, Dakotah, Gina, and I went to dine at the Liberty Tree Tavern. Things started off good enough. I had gotten up early that morning to say goodbye to my fellow roommate, Cast Member Brooke, so I was at least awake for our 11:35 reservation. Sadly, I cannot say the same for some of my friends. Well, let me rephrase, it wasn't so much a problem of not being awake as a problem of not being ready. The person in question was Tahmyya. She managed to burn her hair while straightening it, so didn't want to come out to lunch with us. After about 15 minutes of convincing her and threatening to leave her behind she came with us. Lunch was delicious. I told everyone the classic story of why we now have 4 spokes on forks instead of 3. Then, I pretended like I was Ariel and brushed my hair with the fork. In essence, a great meal!
After lunch, we met up with Corinthia and we went adventuring around Magic Kingdom. We did Tom Sawyer Island, then enjoyed some Dole Whip before work.
Monday, January 3rd, I went to work. After work, we went to City Walk at Universal to see if Amanda, Gina, and Dakotah could get their tattoos there. But alas, too expensive, so we left. Ate some food at Panda Express and then went our separate way.
Tuesday, January 4th, I worked. After work, I met up with Dakotah, Brittany, Amanda, and Gina to get their tattoos. Brittany got her belly button pierced not a tattoo. But first we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for a delicious dinner. Next, we ended up going to this dodgy place in downtown Orlando that was open 24 hours, but the tattoos and Brittany's piercing turned out lovely! After we got those done, it was again time to say goodnight and go our separate ways. Just an FYI, don't worry, I didn't get anything tattooed or pierced.
Wednesday, January 5th, I got up super early, something to the effect of 6am for my breakfast reservation at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary with Hilary, Nicole, and Zhouyang. We made it on time, looking all cute, and ate some superb food! Seriously, Disney knows how to do food!! Plus, while we ate we were greeted by Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto (the Fab 5). After breakfast, Nicole, Zhouyang and I took the bus back to Vista because Hilary had to work. There the bus driver told me that I should either get a boyfriend, be more mature, be less mature, and take a cold shower all at once. It was a very bizarre bus ride. After that, I went home and attempted to pack for a while, before my last day of work. It did not go very successfully. But then I went to work, which was very sad to say goodbye to everyone. After work, pretty much everyone that could ERd, aka left early, and played in the park for a while, but it was quite rainy out. So being resourceful Brittany and I took Disney merchandise bags and made them into rain gear. Then, we met Chip and Dale and rode Big Thunder Mountain. After that, we rushed to Sleepy Hollow for a funnel cake, then over to Plaza to watch Wishes a final time with everyone who I loved from work. It was a super cute, but sad event. After Wishes, we all packed up shop and went to TGIF for some NOM NOMs. There it was even sadder. Gina's roommate decided to take Gina away a night earlier than planned so she was leaving in just a few hours. So we had to say our final goodbye to Gina in the parking lot of TGIF. It sucked, and there were a lot of tears involved in that night. After dinner, I went home to Vista, packed a little, and went to sleep.
Thursday, January 6th, 2011 was another busy day! I woke up around 8:30am, having missed the bus that I was going to take to go over to Hollywood Studios with Zack, and having missed my roommates who drove to the studios. So, I did the next best thing. I took the bus by myself over to Hollywood Studios and did the Prince Caspian, Narnia dealy. Then, I went on Toy Story Mania! and despite the frightening posted waitline of 80 minutes, it ended up only being a 25 minute wait. After that I went on Sounds Dangerous with Drew Carrey, then to Beauty and the Beast with what roommates I still had left: Hilary, Nicole, and Zhouyang. Hilary simply loves that show. I swear every time we go on it she rates the performers, she knows whose good and whose not based off their appearance...yeah, she's that good. Anywho, so we did Beauty and the Beast, then went to Hollywood Tower of Terror where Nicole had made friends with an old man who worked there, who let us jump the line and go on the ride. He was so nice. In the end, he ended up giving us a free photopass picture of us all on Tower of Terror. Funny story though, all my roommates knew when the picture was coming, I did not, so they look cute and posed in the picture whereas I look more of like a hot mess who was scared of the ride. Yeah, so that happened. After that, we walked over to Epcot's France for a lunch reservation that Hilary had made at Les Chefs de France. So we booked it over there, made it, ate a lovely meal and met Remy from Ratatouille. Next, we took a boat back to Hollywood Studios where I fell asleep because frankly I was worn out. But once we got to the Studios, I awoke and we met up with Brittany. Then, we took Brittany and went to Animal Kingdom for about 5 minutes. In essence, we walked in, took a picture with the tree of life, and walked out. Then, we went to Magic Kingdom. That's right, we did all 4 parks in one day! At Magic Kingdom, I used what free coupons I had left to get some popcorn and pop, then we walked to the castle to take pictures together one last time. To be honest, I didn't really want to go back to MK after I had said my goodbye to it the night before, but I was happy that my roommates convinced me to go, it was a nice way to say goodbye to what felt like an old friend. Well, after we took pictures, I went over to Toon Town to finish up my list of things to do at Magic Kingdom, I did the Barnstormer and Donald's Boat. Also, I walked through Mickey and Minnie's houses, pretty cool if you ask me. Finally, I took the train back to Main Street, took some pictures, and said one last goodbye. When I got back to the apartments, I packed for a while, then went over to Chatham to say goodbye to Dakotah, Tamhyya, Amanda, and Brittany. There I fell asleep with Tamhyya and ended up having Dakotah drive me home. Then, I spent the rest of the night until 5am packing. Gross.
Friday, January 7th, 2011. This is the day that I got kicked out of CP housing, aka the official end of my Disney College experience. I got up early, said goodbye to Hilary and Zhouyang. Cleaned, said goodbye to Nicole, cleaned. And yes, I cleaned some more. Then I dropped off some food at Amanda's, then went off with my sister, Jenny, to Epcot for some fine dinning over in Morocco at the Restaurant Marrakesh. And from there we went straight to our Hyatt Hotel in Orlando, FL. There, we slept until about 7pm, then we went out to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. It was a lot of food! Like a whole lot of food! Then, we went back to the hotel and went back to sleep.
Saturday, January 8th, 2011, we got up and went to breakfast at the hotel. Then, we moved some more of my stuff to the hotel room, so I could repack. After a while, we decided to check out what the dealio was with my flight, and this is when we found out that my flight was delayed. Of course, at this time we only thought it was delayed a few hours, not a whole day. That part of the story comes later. So, we left the hotel in search of a Target, so that I could get a new suitcase since my old green one had decided to start ripping at the seams when I was leaving Disney and I didn't feel all that comfortable with taking a broken suitcase with me abroad. So, I got a brand-spanking new suitcase to hold together all my stuff, and we went out to lunch at Houlihan's. After lunch, I spent the day repacking and shipping some stuff home from the post office. Then we went out to dinner at Cafe Tu Tu Tango which Gina had told me to go to. That place is adorable! I absolutely LOVED it! They had dancers, live music, artists sculpting and painting, and best of all scrumptious food. When we returned to the hotel, we discovered that my flight had not just been delayed a few hours rather an entire day. With this news I got to call the parentals and let them know that plans were being changed and switched about. And with this news, Jenny and I decided that I was just going to go with her to Tallahassee, FL until Tuesday since she had to be in Tallahassee to teach on Monday and to meet with her professor. After all plans were finalized, we went to sleep.
Sunday, January 9th, 2011, I got up and quickly realized we were leaving pretty much ASAP to get back to Tallahassee, FL. So, I threw on some clothes, threw my stuff into the suitcases, wrote some thank you notes and headed to the car. We made a final stop in Orlando at Panera for breakfast, then stopped over at Vista Way to say goodbye to the lovely Miss Amanda. Soon afterward, we were on route headed to Tallahassee, FL. We ended up eating lunch at a Bento Box in Gainesville, FL, and when we got to Tallahassee Jenny went straight to work, and I went straight to repacking. After I got tired of packing, I watched some tv and dazed in and out. Because Jenny was hard at work preparing for her meeting with her adviser we just ordered in some pizza. Eventually, I fell asleep with dreams of Belgium dancing in my head.
Monday, January 10th, 2011, I got up and got my stuff all ready for Tuesday, watched some television, and waited for Jenny to be done with her adviser. When she finished, we went out to Chipotle with one of her friends, then we went back to her apartment, she worked some more and I began writing this blog post. Soon after, we went over to TCC where I sat in on Jenny's first class of the spring semester. Its always so odd for me to watch a class that I've already been in and just viewing the students who have no idea what they are getting themselves into! Anywho, after that we went out to an Indian restaurant and had dinner. Then, I watched some more tv wrote some more of this blog, and went to sleep.
So now that my flight is delayed until tomorrow, I am finding myself with an exorbitant amount of free time on my hands. In this free time, I've been doing a compilation of three main things: packing, reading about Belgium and all that will take place once I get there, and avoiding learning about Belgium whilst obsessively checking my facebook. And while I sit here in Tallahassee bored out of my mind waiting for my next adventure to begin I realize that I never finished blogging about my last adventure: my Disney adventure. I will now attempt to finish retelling all that is left to tell. Wish me luck!
Ok, now then where did I leave off?
Ah yes, I remember now! I am basically going to tell you about my last week at the Magic Kingdom.
January 2nd, 2011: Tahmyya, Jasmine, Amanda, Brittany, Dakotah, Gina, and I went to dine at the Liberty Tree Tavern. Things started off good enough. I had gotten up early that morning to say goodbye to my fellow roommate, Cast Member Brooke, so I was at least awake for our 11:35 reservation. Sadly, I cannot say the same for some of my friends. Well, let me rephrase, it wasn't so much a problem of not being awake as a problem of not being ready. The person in question was Tahmyya. She managed to burn her hair while straightening it, so didn't want to come out to lunch with us. After about 15 minutes of convincing her and threatening to leave her behind she came with us. Lunch was delicious. I told everyone the classic story of why we now have 4 spokes on forks instead of 3. Then, I pretended like I was Ariel and brushed my hair with the fork. In essence, a great meal!
After lunch, we met up with Corinthia and we went adventuring around Magic Kingdom. We did Tom Sawyer Island, then enjoyed some Dole Whip before work.
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| Gina, Janice, Amanda, and Tahmyya at Liberty Tree Tavern |
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| Delicious American desserts! |
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| Amanda, Gina, Melissa, Janice, Brittany, Dakotah, and Corinn |
Monday, January 3rd, I went to work. After work, we went to City Walk at Universal to see if Amanda, Gina, and Dakotah could get their tattoos there. But alas, too expensive, so we left. Ate some food at Panda Express and then went our separate way.
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| Amanda at City Walk |
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| Dakotah's tattoo: BEFORE |
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| Dakotah's tattoo: AFTER |
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| Gina's tattoo: BEFORE |
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| Gina's Tattoo: AFTER |
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| I wanted to prove that I was there so I took a picture of myself! |
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| Brittany's piercing: BEFORE |
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| Brittany's piercing: AFTER |
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| Amanda's Tattoo: BEFORE |
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| Amanda's tattoo: AFTER |
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| the sketchy place we went for this adventure |
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| The roomies, minus Brooke and Kristen at Chef Mickey's! |
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| Janice and Goofy |
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| Nicole, Mickey, and I |
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| My PAC family |
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| Sarah and Janice |
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| Janice and Christina |
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| Roy Disney and Minnie Mouse |
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| Showing off the latest threads on Main Street USA |
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| PAC family out of costume at TGIF |
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| Again, my beloved PAC family |
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| Toy Story Mania! at Hollywood Studios |
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| Toy Story Mania! at Hollywood Studios |
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| Hilary, Nicole, Janice, and Zhouyang at Tower of Terror |
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| Janice, Nicole, and Zhouyang at France |
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| Janice, Zhouyang, Hilary, and Nicole at Animal Kingdom |
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| Janice, Nicole, Zhouyang, and Hilary |
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| Walt and Mickey |
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| One last picture with Cindy's Castle |
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| Goodbye Boss Man! |
Sunday, January 9th, 2011, I got up and quickly realized we were leaving pretty much ASAP to get back to Tallahassee, FL. So, I threw on some clothes, threw my stuff into the suitcases, wrote some thank you notes and headed to the car. We made a final stop in Orlando at Panera for breakfast, then stopped over at Vista Way to say goodbye to the lovely Miss Amanda. Soon afterward, we were on route headed to Tallahassee, FL. We ended up eating lunch at a Bento Box in Gainesville, FL, and when we got to Tallahassee Jenny went straight to work, and I went straight to repacking. After I got tired of packing, I watched some tv and dazed in and out. Because Jenny was hard at work preparing for her meeting with her adviser we just ordered in some pizza. Eventually, I fell asleep with dreams of Belgium dancing in my head.
Monday, January 10th, 2011, I got up and got my stuff all ready for Tuesday, watched some television, and waited for Jenny to be done with her adviser. When she finished, we went out to Chipotle with one of her friends, then we went back to her apartment, she worked some more and I began writing this blog post. Soon after, we went over to TCC where I sat in on Jenny's first class of the spring semester. Its always so odd for me to watch a class that I've already been in and just viewing the students who have no idea what they are getting themselves into! Anywho, after that we went out to an Indian restaurant and had dinner. Then, I watched some more tv wrote some more of this blog, and went to sleep.
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