Hello collegiettes!
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and the first couple weeks of the semester have not been too stressful!
This week I went to visit the Universite libre de Bruxelles where I will be learning about Belgian culture! The campus was very different from what you typically see in America. It was very small and did not have the ‘grand’ features that we are accustom to. Our professor is this fascinating woman who actually looks like Meryl Streep when she played Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.
She talked to us about the cultural differences that she noticed between Europeans and Americans on her most recent trip to Chicago. Take note: when you are eating, you have the fork in your left hand and the knife if your right; you cut your food, put the knife down, switch the fork to the right hand, put your left hand on your lap and then eat. Sound about right? Well, you might as well have a theater marquee hanging over your head that says ‘I AM AMERICAN”, because the locals will notice, and they will judge you.
This was my first lesson on Belgian culture. It should be an interesting semester.
On Saturday, I went with some friends on a trip to Ghent, Belgium! It’s a thirty-minute train ride from Brussels and is one of Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Cities in the World. Seriously, this is one of the most underrated destinations, located in the incredibly underrated country of Belgium.
Ghent was absolutely beautiful! Everywhere you look there is a magnificent cathedral or medieval castle. A river splits the city and creates picturesque views of the city that looks as if it is floating on water. It was stunning.
In our search for the Design Museum, a local pointed us to an alley decorated with graffiti. It wasn’t just a wall; it was a tunnel that stretched an entire block with vibrant colors and pictures. It definitely added some edge to the medieval town.
We stopped at a restaurant for lunch, and I was stunned when my chicken soup arrived, and I could fit my entire head into the bowl! Forget what you have heard about European food portions; in Belgium, the portions are huge! Then, as I dug into my soup, I found an entire chicken leg and breast in my soup! This was chicken soup on steroids! I had never seen anything like it, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Another bit of news for this week: I began my internship with Together Magazine! Together is a lifestyle magazine that is aimed to inspire people to reach for their dreams and features travel, technology, art and culture, and fashion. I was so excited to start because I heard so many amazing things from previous interns and so far it has met my expectations! I started on Monday and I have been helping the magazine upload content onto the website, writing about a luxurious resort located in Morocco, and developing a newsletter for subscribers. This week I will be attending the preview for the new movie “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” which will be officially released in Brussels in early February. So the job has its perks!
Well collegiettes, everything is off to a great start. I’m so excited to see what this internship has in store for me! Also, I’m anxiously awaiting my trip this weekend to Amsterdam! I have a busy week ahead of me, but I look forward to the amazing memories and stories that await me.
Until next time,
Lauren