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!