Monday, February 23rd 2015
I then had Organizational Decision Making and Change. I think this is my favorite course, because it is really making me think about myself and my personality. It has become one of those classes where it affects the way you think about things, like while making a decision I think about how I made that decision. We spent the time in class discussing our results on the personality questionnaires in our groups. My group is one American (Megan from Loyala) and two Belgian students (Lotte and Serafien). They are a really fun group to chat with and be around. If you were curious about my personality quizzes here is a quick summary: I am assertive, conscientious, and an extravert. I am very logical about my decisions and like to have decisions made. I got a very very high score in the interpersonal relations test, so I need support and close connections to other people.
That night I went to Colruyt, my last possible supermarket here. It was overwhelming with choices and had some nice things. But, after trying every supermarket, my favorite is Aldi. Aldi is very cheap, doesn’t have many options and is quite simple. When you just want to get in and out of the supermarket and everything is in a foreign language, simplicity wins. But, I did get some nice things and had food for the week (what was really important)
Tuesday, February 24th 2015
We had a really nice, but quite cold Frisbee practice. I felt better running around, but it was a chilly night. It rained a bit but we kept playing. We were doing a drill when all of a sudden it started hailing. Yes hail! Out of the sky came these perfectly round little balls of ice/snow. It was so cool, I was completely distracted from the drill that I was doing. We finished practice (actually the scrimmage was really fun) and I went home for a hot shower.
Wednesday, February 25th 2015
I dropped my bike off at the bike shop to get fixed (the brakes were broken), ran some errands and then went to my placement to meet with Chrisje (the advisor of my placement). We had lunch with a lot of people from the office, which was very nice because everyone was chatting in English. I did quite a good job this week packing and preparing meals. Afterwards I told her about my conclusions and she was very happy with my work. She gave me a few more tasks, including writing a formal report about my conclusions.
Thursday, February 26th 2015
Friday, February 27th 2015
Saturday, February 28th 2015
through the chaos of the ending carnival to see the station and center square. We took a walk around the ring to the see my kot. They said that it has character… although at some point they used the words roughing it to describe how I was living. They were shocked by my codex and I described to them all about the Belgian cantus. It is really fun to share in inter-cultural experiences that we are each having with each other. It is interesting to share what I’ve learned with other Americans and hear their American viewpoint on the cultures they are experiencing. We then walked through the city park and down Naamstraat to the Oude Markt. They were pleasantly surprised by the stretch of bars and cafes that the street had to offer (and relieved by the squarness of this market compared to the other ones in Leuven). We enjoyed a pizza dinner on Munstraat before saying bye after a wonderful afternoon and evening together! I have to say, it is such a treat to see them and have this friendship. Most of my friends at Olin see them as professors where I have always seen them as friends, and I’m very glad that they feel the same way about me. It is a very unique friendship that I cherish and I am so excited that I get to share my abroad experience with them. |
Sunday, March 1st 2015
We then headed to Montagne De Bueren. It was just a huge huge staircase. I prepared for the long climb. I felt like Rocky making my way up the stairs. It reminded me of the stairs up the mountain in Haifa. Lining the stairs were some very cute houses and pets. Actually throughout the entire day we saw the cutest dogs. Most of them were really really tiny, but almost none looked like the types of dogs that are common in America. I don’t even know how to describe them all. There were a lot of stairs to climb, but we made it to the top and it was quite rewarding. The view of the city was amazing. We thought we had gone as high as possible but then we saw a monument that was even higher, so we climbed up to it and the view got even more spectacular. Now there were no buildings blocking it at all! We enjoyed just relaxing at the top and the incredible view before winding down the streets to the train station to head home after a great day. |
Monday, March 2nd 2015
Tuesday, March 3rd 2015
Today I spent working on my placement, and had the opportunity to chat with two of the students in PPIEE. You can check out in my education blog under Talking with Two Great PPIEE students to read about it. The rest of the day, I went to class, did work, relaxed and prepared for my upcoming trip! I do want to talk about the weather here. It rains almost every day, even if it is sunny and beautiful. Most of the time I get lucky, and it is pouring when I wake up but stops raining by the time I go outside. It has also hailed quite a few times here for a few minutes! It is all very weird and surprising. Today there were a bunch of showers, even if it was partly sunny (mom was confused because all day it said partly sunny with an 85% chance of rain). I did get caught biking in the rain today, but I had the pleasure of seeing a beautiful rainbow! |