Day 11 - Never a Dull Moment

Saturday turned out to be one of the gloomiest days I have seen here yet! It was overcast all day, it rained most of the evening - actually woke me up in the middle of the night, and to top things off, the girl I was supposed to go exploring with had to cancel because she got called into work. So, I slept late and made my own adventure. Since the morning was overcast I went to the Place Jordan to visit "the best frites stand in Brussels." It's true that I did not need to know the name because there was a line outside. I was very proud of myself because I managed to order and pay for my frites without speaking any English!! The frites were good, maybe not "the best" I've ever had, but I think I need to try them with the spicy mayo or something else on top.

Since it was so gloomy outside, I decided it might be a nice day to see a museum. I passed through Park Leopold - right behind my house - on my way between the Place Jordan and the Museum of Natural Science. It was a nice museum, but after a few hours in there, I got pretty tired of looking at stuffed animals and dinosaur skeletons - I decided I like live animals better. I was thinking "rocks, trees, grass, spike" while I was there because there were lots of rocks, petrified trees, maybe not any grass, but plenty of dinosaurs (apparently the 3rd largest collection in Europe). There was actually an interesting exhibit about the history of the museum, how it was once a zoo in Park Leopold and that the museum gained the building after the nuns who were building it as a convent ran out of money. The most exciting part of the museum was the fact that I got to use some of my chemistry knowledge. Amidst all of the rocks and minerals there was a display that was labeled in multiple languages (not English), but it had the element symbols, so I used my periodic table knowledge to figure out what they were - yay chemistry!!

Saturday night was my first real night out in Brussels. One of my coworkers was having a birthday party and nearly the whole office came out to celebrate. The plan was to have a nice dinner at a tapas restaurant, but after waiting for over an hour and being very hungry - we went to McDonalds (pronounced "mack-donalds") instead. The fries are still the same, but the burgers are different - I had an NYCrispy - those don't exist in the US. After dinner we went to a bar/club close by and partied the night away Belgian style. The music was actually pretty American, although there was a song now and again that I did not recognize. There was a bar in the center of the place (not that where they served drinks) that people danced on. I was told it was my initiation for the AmCham EU to dance on the bar, so I did.

After a gloomy Saturday, Sunday was "warm" and sunny!!! It was really the first time I had seen an extended period of sunlight. I rode the bus and tram to get out to St. Paul's church that morning and got to enjoy some of the countryside. While I was on the tram I almost felt like I was on the train at Dollywood - lots of trees and small hills. St. Paul's was a relaxed anglican church with really friendly people. I met people my age and actually went to their youth group meeting that night (it was more high schoolers than college kids, but it was nice to be interacting with young people). On Sunday afternoon, my neighbor, Angela, and I walked around the city a bit. It was nice to walk around in the sunshine and get my bearings on the city a little bit more. She showed me a grocery store that is close by and is actually more like a small American grocery store with some variety and even rotisserie chickens!!

We saw more shops and restaurants around the Grand Place and visited the Mannequin-Pis. The Mannequin-Pis is actually just funny because it is so small and yet such a big attraction. The story goes something like he extinguished a bomb that was going to blow up the city by peeing on it...or something like that. I saw the Brussels Lush (yay) which is right across the street from The Body Shop (it's sale time here too). I also had a chocolixir at Godiva - they are just as good here as they are in the US.

On Monday morning, the new intern, Kate, started at the AmCham. She is from Mizzou along with about 20 other people in her program. It is so nice to have her there!! She is excited to meet and hang out with people who don't go to Mizzou and to do lots of exploring. She and her classmates have started planning some trips that I am going to go on - so now I have people to travel with!!! It's really nice to have another American and to have someone sitting at the desk next to me - it makes the office even more fun. Speaking of fun in the office, we are hosting a cocktail for the US Ambassador on Thursday night - I'm excited.

I wanted to share with you all a few cultural notes:

1. Everything is smaller - from stairwells to trams to washing machines to packages of things at the grocery store, everything is smaller. It is not anything that is impossible to adjust to, just different and interesting. I have not seen a container of milk larger than 1 liter. Speaking of laundry - I did my first load the other day, after I spent about 30 minutes on google translate translating the directions on my detergent (literally in 5 other languages, but no English).

2. People here do not always wear their wedding ring on their left hand. In fact, a lot of times they wear it on their right hand. This means it usually takes more than a simple glance to figure out if someone is married or not.

3. People here rest more - or at least they work less. Many businesses close by 6pm and are not open on Sunday at all. There are a few grocery stores open on Sundays, but as a general rule it is good to have what you need to eat before Sunday. Banks are only open from 8am-3pm, so you either have to go before work or during lunch and don't expect for it to be a fast trip if you have to go inside. They do have ATMs that can be used almost anytime (5am-11:30pm).

4. Many people speak English, but it is an English that includes hours like 17, warm temperatures like 32, and words like lift, cinema, queue, uni (short for university), and jumper. It is really fun to see the differences that exist in the same language, just different countries.

Oh, one more thing!! This weekend I am going skiing in the French Alps with the St Paul's youth group. We are staying at the chalet of a church member which promises picturesque views and makes the trip quite affordable. Although my skiing experience is limited, I've been told that the slopes are great, even for beginners. The name of the town I am going to is Praz sur Arly, near Geneva. Check out http://www.prazsurarly.com/en/ to see more. I am sure I will have lots of pictures and stories after I get back on Sunday. Until then (unless work is phenomenally exciting for some reason) - I love you all!!