Lauren Omahen

Bonjour collegiettes!
I hope everyone is enjoying the semester and made it through the first round of exams without too much fuss! I too had an exam last week on the history of the European Union; it was a relatively painless process, and now I can say that I know more about the EU than most EU citizens! Watch out!
But the highlight of my weekend was my trip to Paris!

I was excited about this trip for many reasons: I had never been to Paris before, I could not wait to begin my journey on the high-speed Thalys train, and most importantly, I could not wait to see all of the beautiful Parisians and their incredible fashion sense.

So I began my trip on Friday afternoon on the Thalys train, and it was awesome! Previously, I took trains to Amsterdam and other cities in Belgium, and it was grimy and old­– not really that comfortable for a long journey. But I got on board the Thalys train and it was so chic with dark red and plum velvet seats and incredibly comfortable. I took a nice little nap on the way there in preparation for the busy days that I had ahead of me!

Hi, collegiettes!
Now that the month of February has begun, my schedule is packed with trips near and far! I hope you have enjoyed reading about my trips thus far, and you look forward to reading about my adventures to come! But first, I have to tell you about my trip to Amsterdam!

The trip began with a lot of confusion, as our group of 12 stood on the train platform waiting for adventure to begin. We waited anxiously for our train to arrive when suddenly we realized that our train had been cancelled. Bummer. But the Amsterdam gods must have been looking down upon us that day because, to our surprise, a woman with a Southern accent  (Finally, someone who speaks English!) approached us and found us an alternate route to Amsterdam! We were back on our way!

We arrived in Amsterdam later that night and immediately found our hostel, Bob’s Youth Hostel. Now, don’t be fooled by the name. The hostel is not as sketchy as it sounds! The hostel had tables and chairs for visitors to sit and hangout, the walls were covered with flags and drawings from previous guests and speakers were blasting tunes from Phish and Bob Marley- it is Amsterdam, after all! After we were settled in our room, we set out to explore the city.

Bonjour, Collegiettes!

Well, it has been a busy week here in Brussels, but I have so many great things to fill you in on! The flight to Brussels did not get my trip off to a good start. In case you did not know, the weather in Brussels is pretty awful and we had to battle storms while landing. Collegiettes, this was one of the scariest moments of my life. There was so much turbulence, I was praying that the airplane scene from Lost was not in our future! Of course, we made it in safely, but it took hours for my head and stomach to recover.

Upon arrival, I met my four roommates; Elise, Beth, Alex and Brooke, and we moved into our house! It’s a cute little two-story house with a basement, five beds and a courtyard. Perfect for when we actually get some nice weather! After settling in, we set out to explore the city and we found some surprising differences between America and Belgium.

The first surprising difference was ordering water at restaurants. Yes, collegiettes, no one in Belgium will just fill your water glass immediately when you sit down. Also, it’s expensive. Our group sat down for dinner and ordered bottle after bottle of water (they only serve bottled water, not tap) and our jaws dropped when we looked at the bill and found that our tasteless, seemingly cheap beverage choice actually cost us six euros per bottle!

Hello, Collegiettes! My name is Lauren Omahen and soon I will be leaving my hometown of Chicago and spending my spring semester in the land of the European Union, breweries, and chocolatiers: Brussels!

Since you will be following me through my European adventures for the several months, I’ll take some time to introduce myself and explain the question many people have already asked, Why Brussels?

I’m currently a senior studying Magazine Journalism with a minor in Business at the University of Missouri- Columbia. I know what you’re thinking, studying abroad as a second-semester senior? Yes, it’s a little unconventional (but really, who wants to be conventional?).  I have been dreaming of studying abroad in a far away destination for years, but things always come up! I planned to study abroad Fall of 2011, but I was elected as Recruitment Director for my chapter, so my dreams of gallivanting around Europe quickly turned into dreams of recruitment clothing, party planning, and lots of glitter (not a bad gig, huh?)!

I’ve had an amazing time at Mizzou, and of course I’m going to miss my friends, but I’m ready to move on. Most people wish they could stay in college forever, but not this girl! I’m ready to explore Europe while I intern with Together Magazine (a European lifestyle magazine in Brussels) and then walk across the stage at graduation in May (cue tears, here). Then, after that, who knows? I’ll try my luck at one of the many fabulous magazines in New York City!