Joyeaux Noël!

It's finally here. My absolute most favorite time of year, and even with finals looming around the corner I couldn't be happier. How anyone could be unhappy at Christmas is beyond me. Not to mention, it's been snowing for the past 2 days and it's suppose to continue until the end of this week. I've never had a snowy Christmas season before, but it just makes everything even more wonderful. I started playing Christmas music today and I probably won't listen to anything else until after New Years.

The Christmas market opened in Brussels last weekend. Downtown literally looks like a Dickens Christmas Village. Every where I look reminds me of the little buildings my grandmother sets up on the buffet in her dining room every Christmas since before I was born. It also makes me a little home sick, but I'm going to soak in all of the Brussels Christmas magic I can for the next week and a half!

Grand Place at Christmas!

DJ was here last week so he got to see the Christmas market with me. We spent Saturday drinking vin chaud (spiced hot wine, delicious!), Christmas shopping at the little chalets, watching the ice skaters, and looking at the lights. It was really cool because earlier in the week when he first got here they were just setting up the tree and thatching the roof for the nativity set- yes that's right, I said thatching the roof, and when we returned at the end of the week we got to see the finished product. It's absolutely beautiful, and pictures definitely don't do it justice. Saturday was also DJ's last night in Brussels and of course I couldn't let him leave Belgium without eating mussels and frites, so we went to one of the super touristy mussels places and then ended the night with the Christmas light show in the Grand Place (I posted a video of it on facebook if anyone wants to check it out).

The ice skating rink and ferris wheel in St. Katherine

I think the nativity scene is one of the coolest parts of the Grand Place decorations. They have live animals (donkeys and sheep), statues of Mary, Joseph, the wise men, and baby Jesus, and a star of Bethlehem on top. I was so impressed with their inclusion of a religious aspect to the decorations (even if Mary does have blonde hair...), especially considering that the majority of Belgians and other Europeans I've met here are not religious at all. America tries so hard to leave religion out of Christmas so as not to offend anyone, but it's a religious holiday! Christmas is meant to be a time of happiness, joy, and cheer for everyone as we celebrate the birth of Christ (hence CHRISTmas). If a nativity scene was put up by a public group in a public place at home, it would become of a matter of national attention, which leads me to another observation about Europe in general. Everyone here is so much more willing to speak their mind here. P.C. is not a term the Europeans are familiar with and I like it so much better that way. People have conversations about what they really think and no one takes it personally or gets offended. Definitely a trait I'm hoping to take home with me.

nativity scene

Friday, DJ and I went to Amsterdam. I had been once before, but it was with People to People so I didn't get to see much besides Anne Frank's house and the canals. Deej and I toured the Heineken brewery, which was actually really cool. They teach you how to do a proper beer tasting, you get to see how beer is brewed, and then they basically brainwash you into thinking that Heineken is the greatest thing ever made, but I guess that's their job... We spent the rest of the day just walking around Amsterdam. It's a much prettier city than I remembered it being or thought it would be, but that could partially be due to the fact that last time I was there I was being shuffled around in a big group and it was pouring rain. This time it was sunny all day. 

                                              

                                                           DJ stirring the brewing beer

canal in Amsterdam

The highlight of the Amsterdam trip, though, was definitely the 2 guys that sat across from us on the train on the way home, Angelo and Armando. The train was set up so that seats were in groups of 4 with two facing forward and 2 facing backward. We sat down and then shortly after 2 Italian men sat down facing us. The first incident with the Italian men occurred when they came to collect tickets, and the Italians tickets wouldn't work because they were bought at a different station. They didn't speak any language other than Italian so the ticket taker got very frustrated with them as he was yelling in English and they were yelling in Italian, and DJ and I were cracking up. Eventually, the ticket taker drew them a diagram and explained why the tickets were no good and they bought new ones. After he left, Angelo looked at me and DJ and started ranting in Italian, which of course we didn't understand and Armando started smacking him in the head. 

Apparently, Angelo is some type of racing driver and Armando is his Moroccan manager. They were back and forth on the phone the rest of the trip and yelling at each other in Italian about something really important that Angelo had clearly screwed up and Armando was trying to fix. At one point they ordered a can of pringles and offered some to DJ and I. After they finished the pringles, the can became Armando's new tool to hit Angelo with and he would squeeze the can so the top would pop off and hit Angelo in the face as he repeatedly told Angelo how stupid he was. I seriously felt like I was watching a sit com about the Italian mafia. It was hysterical. Angelo kept trying to talk to us while Armando kept making signs calling him crazy. We couldn't do anything but laugh because we had no idea what he was saying. We thought we were getting somewhere when Angelo asked if we spoke French and I told him I spoke a little he said he didn't speak any at all except "Je m'appelle Angelo," so we were back to square one. DJ and I eventually gave in and just started nodding and saying ci. After what felt like a very long game of Italian cherades, we understood their life story and parted ways in Brussels. It was a very entertaining 2 and a half hours. I wish we had taken a picture of those two. 

But on a completely different note, I'll be home 11 days from today. It still hasn't really sunk in with me that I'm leaving Brussels. I'm beyond excited to get home to see my family and friends, but I'm going to miss Brussels so much. I've met so many amazing people here and had such a wonderful experience! It's going to be so strange not to be able to just hop on the bus and go wander around downtown or to a museum when I have free time, and I'm definitely going to miss the city in general. There's always something to do or see here, and unfortunately that is far from the case at home, but all the people I miss at home make up for all of that. 11 days left, and finals or not, I intend on making the best of them!

Go, Go, Go!

What a busy 3 weeks this has been! I've been a little behind on the blog, but school work calls. As my roomie Devi said yesterday I really don't like the study part of study abroad, but I guess I had to  take a break from the trips at some point...

So week before last was fall break and my mom and grandmother came to visit me! I was so glad to have a little piece of home in Brussels for a little while! I absolutely love it here, but I would be lying if I said I don't miss my friends and family at home like crazy!

My mom and grandmother's plane arrived at 7:30 Sunday morning, so I picked them up at the airport and we hopped straight on a train and headed to Cologne, Germany. Needless to say, after 9 hours of flying and an hour and a half on the train, they were more than a little out of it by the time we got to Germany.

I really didn't know much about Cologne other than that I'd heard it was an absolutely beautiful city, so I was very excited to see what all was there. When we arrived my grandmother decided to take a nap at the hotel and my mom and I went out to explore the city. Amazingly, my mom still remembered a little German from when she lived there a long time ago, which proved to be very helpful in getting around.  While we were out we saw the Dom Cathedral and decided we would go back the next day to check out the inside, and instead opted on sitting at a cafe for a little while and then going back to get my grandmother at the hotel for dinner. My mom was determined to find authentic German food that night, and that is exactly what we did. Saturday night was schnitzel for all and it was absolutely delicious!

They're here!

Monday was All Saints Day, which is a big holiday in Europe so of course most of the shops were closed. We spent most of the day wandering the city and we toured to Dom. Such a beautiful cathedral and it's absolutely gigantic! 

German lederhosen in Germany!

Tuesday morning we hopped on the train early for our ride to Paris! As soon as we got there my mom and I knew we had to head to Montmartre! It's our favorite place in Paris, and since my grandmother had never been before, We were very anxious to show her the beautiful mountain that is Montmartre! We stayed there for a few hours, walked around, and had dinner and then we began our decent back down the hill....

Wednesday was our busy day. We had to fit all the sites of Paris into one day. First stop was the Champs Elysee and Arc de Triomphe. We walked all the way down the Champs Elysee and decided we would just walk over to the Eiffel tower. After the Eiffel tower we made a quick stop by the Louvre just to see the outside and then headed over to Notre Dame. When I was in Paris a couple months ago, the line to get into Notre Dame was ridiculous and I had been inside before so we skipped it, but this time it was night so there weren't many people there at all except for the people attending Mass. I had forgotten how absolutely stunning that cathedral is. The stained glass really is immaculate. After Notre Dame, my mom and I were on a mission for escargot so we found a place to eat and had dinner then went back to the hotel for the night.

Thursday we returned to Brussels. My mom and grandmother got to meet Carmen and Jose Thursday night so that was fun for everyone and then I had mussels for the first time in Brussels. I still can't believe I managed to live her for a full 3 months before ever having mussels. (FYI, mussels and frites are pretty much the national dish of Belgium... and waffles too of course!)

Friday, I toured my mom and grandmother around downtown and showed them all of the tourist sites (the grand place, mannekin pis, etc.) and we pretty much hung out there all day. It's weird how accustomed I've become to seeing things like the Grand Place all the time. I loved getting to see their expression after seeing the Grand Place for the first time. It really is gorgeous.

Saturday, we went to Bruges! I'd been to Bruges before but it was on a bus tour and I was only there for a few hours so I didn't get to really see the city, but it is such a cool little town. It was a medieval fortress, and most of the old buildings and gates are still standing, along with the canal that flows through the city. There really isn't anything else like Bruges.

Sunday, was back in Brussels. My mom and I got up and went to Mass Sunday morning and then I took her to some of the antique markets. We met up with my grandmother later and I showed them my school, the palace, and a few other parts of the town.

Then Monday, they had to leave... I was quite sad to see them go, but I'll be home in 3 weeks! I still can't believe how fast this semester has flown by. I love love love Brussels, but it will be nice to be home.  I turn in my last assignments this week, and after that all that's left is finals, but DJ will be here tomorrow so of course I'm incredibly excited about that. We're going to Amsterdam on Friday and just hanging out in Brussels for the week. I'm going to get better about blogging my last couple of weeks here, and I'll update again after he leaves.