Mes Vacances d'Hiver: Une Reussite
It's Monday and I'm done class for the day, and I actually had a productive break. Even though Aachen, Germany didn't happen because of the bus break down, everything else went fairly smoothly. That is everything, except for getting back from Brussels. What was supposed to be a trip of about an 1 hr and 15 minutes, turned into an hour and 45+ minutes, despite the fact that we left on time. Therefore, I missed the last metro home. I figured I'd walk one metro station down because there are usually cabs waiting there. There was only one and it was taken. So I called someone who didn't live too far away (although it was a hell of a walk with all of my luggage) and I stayed at their place until 6:30. The metros actually start running again around 5:20, but I decided to give myself a chance to sleep. So I go to their place at 1 a.m. and made it home at 7:10 a.m. at last. It was hell getting home given that I was carrying one full purse inside another bag, my lap top in it's case, my stuffed seal, and I was dragging a very large suitcase. Luckily Lille is a safe city.
So like I said, break was very productive. I've contacted many people looking for internship and co-op opportunities for my areas of specialization at home and I completed my newly formatted resume, as inspired by the formats at my friends at Drexel, since everyone's back on the co-op cycle at the end of March. Also, despite the fact that this isn't a good time to get a co-op because of the lack of opportunities thanks to the economy, I have really smart, successful friends. Elena got the co-op she wanted with a German company, Inga's working in chemical engineering with Merck, Alex is doing something computer-y as usual and was pretty much guaranteed a job with facebook next cycle. And they're all being paid a ridiculous amount for people our age. So I figure maybe there's opportunities out there for a trilingual girl with 4 majors and a minor and a 3.81 GPA even after taking 18 credits worth of classes in Chile all taught in Spanish (as opposed to something like a 3.9 I would have otherwise). I contacted the appropriate people at PSU and am now awaiting their responses. As previously mentioned, I have my eyes on a co-op in Philadelphia, but it's directly related to what I study now, but more like what I wanna do. Plus they need bilingual speakers of English and Spanish and I'd get to do legal casework while getting paid $2,800/month. *sigh* I can dream, non?
Sooo, I went to Antwerp on Saturday and I love Belgian transportation. It helps that the country is small, but we took a 45-min train from Brussels to Antwerp for 7.40 euros roundtrip and the best part was that that ticket allowed us to get from Brussels to Antwerp and back any time between Friday night and Sunday night. I think you could even make multiple trips, given that as I recall they didn’t mark anything, and there is no specified time on the ticket. Pretty cool. Although our Friday was aggravated, we still made something of it and went to see Manneken Pis and the Chocolate Museum. We just generally walked around Brussels and did grocery shopping, a task that needs to be done so often in Europe because things spoil more quickly and buying in bulk just simply isn’t an option. I also discovered that I love seafood pizza, even with the little squids on it. Now that I think about it, mussels on pizza is very Belgian. I also love student discounts everywhere. We ate at a very reasonably-priced Italian restaurant in Antwerp and they take 20% off the price of the meal for any students. Pretty much every museum and anywhere you go has a separate price for young people, unemployed, and students. All over Europe, the discount line begins at under 26. This makes me realize how much I have to do before I’m 26, although I’m sure I’ll also have much more money at that age.
I think one thing that gets to all of us about Europe, however, is that nearly every food place is closed on Sundays. This includes restaurants and food stores. This was true in Chile as well, but I didn’t really have to do much grocery shopping as my host family provided my meals and I rarely ate a restaurant. Here the fact that food distributors shut down can be very problematic as many of us forget all the time and we live off of scraps and tea on Sunday. Kebab places remain open, however, and they’re very popular here. Expect to hear about frites and samurai sauce. Also, museums and tourist-y places are still open on Sunday. They’re not open on Monday for some reason though.
The other good thing that happened for the past week and a half is that I normalized my sleep schedule. Even with waking up fairly early each day, I got enough sleep each night. I haven’t slept so consistently well in the longest time. I’m used to starving myself of sleep, even when I don’t have to. So now I can easily fall asleep around midnight and definitely before 1. Previously, falling asleep before 4 a.m. was a struggle. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to handle going out now, but we’ll see. The thing is, for everyone else who stays up so late, they sleep all day the next day and might just skip class because they’re too tired, but for me this is never an option. I refuse to miss any class, especially for such a silly reason and I can’t bring myself to sleep into the afternoon.
Me with Manneken Pis; at the Chocolate Museum in Brussels with a statue made entirely of chocolate; with chocolate dresses that people have actually worn
The Fortress in Antwerp; At the Fashion Museum in Antwerp, Belgium; Eating delicious Italian food;
Josh's neighborhood in Brussels by Parc du Cinquantenaire; Belgitude
So like I said, break was very productive. I've contacted many people looking for internship and co-op opportunities for my areas of specialization at home and I completed my newly formatted resume, as inspired by the formats at my friends at Drexel, since everyone's back on the co-op cycle at the end of March. Also, despite the fact that this isn't a good time to get a co-op because of the lack of opportunities thanks to the economy, I have really smart, successful friends. Elena got the co-op she wanted with a German company, Inga's working in chemical engineering with Merck, Alex is doing something computer-y as usual and was pretty much guaranteed a job with facebook next cycle. And they're all being paid a ridiculous amount for people our age. So I figure maybe there's opportunities out there for a trilingual girl with 4 majors and a minor and a 3.81 GPA even after taking 18 credits worth of classes in Chile all taught in Spanish (as opposed to something like a 3.9 I would have otherwise). I contacted the appropriate people at PSU and am now awaiting their responses. As previously mentioned, I have my eyes on a co-op in Philadelphia, but it's directly related to what I study now, but more like what I wanna do. Plus they need bilingual speakers of English and Spanish and I'd get to do legal casework while getting paid $2,800/month. *sigh* I can dream, non?
Sooo, I went to Antwerp on Saturday and I love Belgian transportation. It helps that the country is small, but we took a 45-min train from Brussels to Antwerp for 7.40 euros roundtrip and the best part was that that ticket allowed us to get from Brussels to Antwerp and back any time between Friday night and Sunday night. I think you could even make multiple trips, given that as I recall they didn’t mark anything, and there is no specified time on the ticket. Pretty cool. Although our Friday was aggravated, we still made something of it and went to see Manneken Pis and the Chocolate Museum. We just generally walked around Brussels and did grocery shopping, a task that needs to be done so often in Europe because things spoil more quickly and buying in bulk just simply isn’t an option. I also discovered that I love seafood pizza, even with the little squids on it. Now that I think about it, mussels on pizza is very Belgian. I also love student discounts everywhere. We ate at a very reasonably-priced Italian restaurant in Antwerp and they take 20% off the price of the meal for any students. Pretty much every museum and anywhere you go has a separate price for young people, unemployed, and students. All over Europe, the discount line begins at under 26. This makes me realize how much I have to do before I’m 26, although I’m sure I’ll also have much more money at that age.
I think one thing that gets to all of us about Europe, however, is that nearly every food place is closed on Sundays. This includes restaurants and food stores. This was true in Chile as well, but I didn’t really have to do much grocery shopping as my host family provided my meals and I rarely ate a restaurant. Here the fact that food distributors shut down can be very problematic as many of us forget all the time and we live off of scraps and tea on Sunday. Kebab places remain open, however, and they’re very popular here. Expect to hear about frites and samurai sauce. Also, museums and tourist-y places are still open on Sunday. They’re not open on Monday for some reason though.
The other good thing that happened for the past week and a half is that I normalized my sleep schedule. Even with waking up fairly early each day, I got enough sleep each night. I haven’t slept so consistently well in the longest time. I’m used to starving myself of sleep, even when I don’t have to. So now I can easily fall asleep around midnight and definitely before 1. Previously, falling asleep before 4 a.m. was a struggle. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to handle going out now, but we’ll see. The thing is, for everyone else who stays up so late, they sleep all day the next day and might just skip class because they’re too tired, but for me this is never an option. I refuse to miss any class, especially for such a silly reason and I can’t bring myself to sleep into the afternoon.
Me with Manneken Pis; at the Chocolate Museum in Brussels with a statue made entirely of chocolate; with chocolate dresses that people have actually worn
The Fortress in Antwerp; At the Fashion Museum in Antwerp, Belgium; Eating delicious Italian food;
Josh's neighborhood in Brussels by Parc du Cinquantenaire; Belgitude