A Blizzard in London....That's Brussels!

I just got back from an amazing weekend in Brussels, Belgium. My first real traveling experience while I am abroad. And, as you would expect, it was awesome. I have to say though, it was awesome in a way I didn't expect. The city of Brussels is actually kind of a dump. Outside of the Grand Place (center square in Brussels) there really isn't that much to the city, or at least that much to the city. It was dirty, with a lot of graffiti and walls and back alleys. This prompted one of the people I was traveling with to turn Brussels into an adjective to describe something that sucks or is dirty or smells. For example, Little Chute, the UofMinnesota, and Luke are all very Brussels. This leads to one of the reasons why this trip was so great. The people that I have been lucky enough to meet and become friends with are so great. You could have put the group of people I was with in a cave in Peru and we would have had a blast together. Its exciting because everyone on this trip is so different, has such a different story that there is NO possible way I would have been able to meet anyone like this back home. I'm getting to see and do so much here, but without a doubt the most rewarding part of this trip is getting to meet people. Not just from the program but the random people from all over the world. I've met people from 5 continents now, I just need to find an Australian and a Penguin and I'll have the last two.

Anyway, on to the trip. This was my first time ever not speaking the native language in the place I was visiting. I rode down with Megan and Kelly as we planned to meet up with everyone else when we got there. We got off the train and everything is written in French and Dutch...I am instantly overwhelmed and slightly scared to death. We make our way onto the subway and it is the most pathetic excuse for a train I have ever seen. We packed our way on to this thing, practically stacked on top of each other and as the train starts to move it rocks back and forth instead of moving forward. I was so tired and cranky that I hated Belgium before I even stepped outside. After a few seconds to calm down we went and checked into our Hostel...

I was expecting a room about the size of a shoe box with 3 bunk beds stacked up with a locker. Instead I got a kick ass room that was honestly nicer than 90% of hotels that I've stayed in before. We got situated and headed out to explore. We quickly found out that there ain't a whole lot to see. (Check out my updated pictures for what there actually was to see in Belgium...also note that anything that looks cool prolly wasn't taken in Brussels, and was actually taken in Brugges.) We walked around, bought some chocolate (awesome), Belgian French Fries w/ mayo (awesomer), and the world famous Belgian Waffles w/ strawberries, bananas, chocolate, and whip cream (most awesomest thing ever). We explored a little bit more and that's when things kinda started to go wrong:
1. I literally walked right through the sole of my shoe, it just plain fell apart, so im walking down these dirty streets with one shoe, and what amounts to a slipper.
2. Belgium is made for tiny people, the stairs are about 6 inches wide, and the sidewalks are 8 inches wide, needless to say I didn't fit that well and spent half of the first day tripping over my self.
3. Because it is made for tiny people when I went to the shoe store to buy some shoes, they honestly laughed at me when I asked for my size shoe (its a size 50 in Europe). The biggest shoe that they had was a size 45, so I had to walk around like I was all weekend
4. I'm a moron and never transfered money into checking from savings before I left. I get there go to the ATM and find out I have a grand total of 20 dollars for my whole trip.
5. I didn't charge my camera battery so I got about a day and a halfs worth of pictures and then my camera was gone.

Even with all that going wrong it was still fun. In brussels we saw the peeing baby, the Grand Place, The Atomium, The Palace of Justice, and did a tour of a brewery. We were all Brusseled out so the next day we went to Brugges, which is probably the most amazing place I have ever been. It is definitely not a place i can describe in words so you really will have to check out the pictures for that.

The nightlife was fun on the first night. We all went to a bar called Delerium. It had boasted over 2000 different types of beers. I didn't manage to try them all but I most certainly tried ;) The night was capped all of us bursting out into a singing Varsity! The next night everyone was exhausted and decided to be boring except for Kelly and I. We went out to this Karaokee/Dance Bar/Club. It was actually a pretty relaxed place and we had a good time. Kyle met up with us a bit later and we hung out for a little while before heading back to the hostel. Sunday night was of course the Super Bowl. It didn't start til about 1AM Monday in Belgium, but we all stayed up found it on TV and watched start to finish on that TV. It was a great chance to just relax hang out and be Americans!!!!

I got a grand total of about 12 hours of sleep all weekend so when I finally got out from the chunnel (the train that runs under the English Channel) to see England completely covered in snow, I was NOT pleased. Apparently while we were in Beligum, London turned into Wisconsin and there was a snowstorm. Everything was covered in snow....that just doesn't happen. Everything was shut down, classes were cancelled, it was nuts. There is so much more to tell, but I just can't think right now. Just to sum it up: I just simply love it here. The places are unbelievable, and the people are even better, the only thing that comes close is fishing at sunset on North Twin. Take care everyone.