The Infinite Abyss

Many of you might wonder about the title of my blog, "Exploring the Infinite Abyss." The title comes from the movie Garden State. At one point in the movie, the main character visits a man who lives in a junk yard right in front of this huge crevasse in the earth's surface. The man's job is to make sure people do not go down because it has not been explored and for all they know, it might go down forever. However, the junk man himself goes exploring at night. So at the end of this scene, the main character is saying goodbye and says to junk man, "Good luck exploring the infinite abyss." The man answers back, "You too!" I love the thought that life is all about going out into the world and exploring the deepness and profoundness that life has to offer. Life itself is the infinite abyss and we get the privilege to explore.

The more time I spend here in Europe, the more infinite the world seems. I have been reflecting this past week on how much of the world I have no idea about. One example is that I have spent my whole life in a Mennonite community. I know the Mennonite community in the US really well and love it. However, I come here and nobody has ever heard of a Mennonite. How many other little groups must there be in the world that have their own unique culture and history that we have never heard of? Belgium itself is full of so many different cultures and within Brussels, it is common to hear ten different languages in the metro. Brussels is such an international city that there are literally thousands of different cultural groups. On my block alone exists probably at least 10 ethnicities.

I have really enjoyed observing the different cultures, as well as hearing about the different European stereotypes. The history here is so deep and much more complicated than I had ever realized. Belgians are not nationalistic, but rather find their identity in their different communities. They are tolerant of each other, but do not always seem to like each other. The Dutch and French speaking populations do not normally mix, except in Brussels. This is part of the problem of why Belgium still does not have a government after a year and a half. Even more interesting is that Belgians do not seem to like the actual French or Dutch. This comes from the fact that both countries have invaded Belgium. The Dutch are often viewed as loud and slightly obnoxious, while the French are seen as snobs.

Another interesting observation is to see how recent World War II actually was. I am living right now in what was just 70 years ago was occupied territory. My host dad's father was actually born under occupied Holland and his grandfather fought in the resistance army. Hatred for the Germans still exists, even though it is slowly dying out with the younger generations. I will eventually get to visit some of the battlefields of World War II while I am here, although this weekend holds a class field trip to Antwerp, then a BCA field trip to WWI battlefields and museums.

Last weekend was an amazing trip to Brugge with my art class where we visited many different museums and statues, then Krissy and I stayed later and went on a boat tour and a walk to my internship. Saturday, I went hiking in southern Belgium. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I was able to see cute villages, Belgium farmland, and even a couple of castles! Yesterday, I had the privilege to listen to a famous Brussels author, Geert Van Istendael, speak of the problems facing Belgium today and tomorrow I hear a lecture from the CEO of Fair Observer, a new multimedia journal. As you can probably tell, I am staying incredibly busy and really trying to make the most of my adventure!

Settling In

I have now been here over one month, which means I am twenty-five percent done. This is crazy because I feel like I have not been here long at all although I have already experienced so much in the last month. Often, I feel like I am in a dream because people in normal life do not just go to Germany for a weekend or get to walk along a canal in a medieval city twice a week.

This weekend has be absolutely fantastic! Friday night I went with Krissy and my friend Kristen to an Owl City concert. Owl City is an American band who is most famous for their song "Fireflies." They put on a great show and then afterward we waited by their tour bus until they came out and got to meet them and get pictures/autographs. While we waited, we also made friends with a Belgium guy and a French guy. It was really fun getting to know some Europeans and fellow Owl City fans.

After a late night downtown Brussels, we had an early morning bus ride to Cologne, Germany with our Art History class. In Cologne, we had tours of the cathedral, a Roman museum (including looking at the sewers and praetorium), another church, and an art museum. The tours were really interesting and I feel like I learned a lot. Saturday night after a meal at a local German pub, some friends and I went and spent time looking over the Rhine River then ended up at the cathedral where a candlelight vigil was going on. We all lit our own candles and spent some time praying and reflecting. Afterward, Krissy and I had a heart-to-heart about faith and spirituality, something that I have been missing a lot since I have arrived.

The next day, along with tours, we climbed to the top of one of the cathedral towers... 533 steps! After lunch, we drove to Aachen, which used to be the capital of the Frankish empire under Charlemagne. We saw several different relics and even the box where Charlemagne still remains in the cathedral there. On the way back to Belgium, we watch Gladiators. Since then, I have been trying to make up sleep and stay ahead on my readings.

Classes and internship have been going really well. I truly enjoy it all, even if sometimes I feel I am in over my head. I cannot believe that midterms are already three weeks away! I feel like I still have so much to do! This weekend holds a dinner with friends, field trip to Brugge, and a hike in the Ardennes. I feel like my time here is flying by and I really wish it would slow down a bit so I could get some time to rest and be able to take it in. Love and miss you all!

Busy Beginnings

The last two weeks have been extremely busy for me! I have now had two full weeks of classes and internship. I must admit that I think I am taking on too much and might end of dropping a class. I would hate to do this because so far I have really enjoyed everything I have been learning. My schedule is not the greatest since I am not a morning person... I have to get up at 6:30 two times a week and 7:00 two times a week. I also have class until 6:00 pm three days a week. One highlight from classes this last week was attending a debate in European Parliament on Human Security and the Responsibility to Protect. Several of the speakers were from the UN and other important organizations.

For my internship, my advisor gave me four different tasks that I will be working on. These include (1) Assistance to Preparation of Special Issue of academic journal on “Intra-African and Africa-Europe migration," (2) Co-authoring of academic article on “Intra-African migration: Data availability and quality,"(3) Participation in internal seminars at UNU-CRIS, and (4) Other tasks related to migration-related projects of Programme 4: “Socio-Economic Dimensions of Regional Integration.” To be honest, the internship is a little overwhelming right now, but I think I will end up learning a lot from it.

Other exciting adventures in the last two weeks include going to the Atomium and Little Europe with my roommate Krissy last weekend. The Atomium is a structure built for the 1958 World's Fair. Little Europe is a little park with miniature statues of over 300 sites of Europe. On Tuesday night we went to the Belgium vs. USA soccer game, which was a ton of fun, even though the USA lost. I really enjoyed being in an American crowd because it felt a little like home. Yesterday, Krissy, Johnny, Malik, (2 of the guys in my program) and I took a train to Brugge, then rented bikes and biked 25 km from Brugge to the North Sea. It was an incredible bike ride along canals and the Belgium countryside! The ocean was nice though too cold to swim in. After relaxing in the sand for a while we rode back but got caught in a thunderstorm. We made it back safely, though by the time we got back to Brussels, we were tired, sore, and completely wet.

Today, we hope to go to the Royal Palace which is open to visitors only today, then I have a friend's birthday dinner to go to. This week I just have my busy week of classes, then on Friday, Krissy and I are going to see the band Owl City. Saturday and Sunday then is a trip to Cologne, Germany with my art class. Thanks to all who have sent letters and emails! Know that they are much appreciated!