After I finished my semester in Besancon, I embarked on my well-deserved holidat vacation! For my christmas vacation I spent it in the beautiful palm-city Barcelona. My friend and I were so excited to spend time together and enjoy the plesant weather and indulge in the delicious spanish cuisine. The first meal we had when we arrived at Barcelona was seafood paella and a pitcher of sangria. If you don’t know what paella and sangria are then you are missing out!!! If you want to taste authentic paella and sangria you have to come to Spain for it, no ifs or buts!  Besides eating amazing spanish food, we also explored the busy streets of Barcelona and saw the entire city in a cable car! I was a bit afraid to get on the cable car because I am scared of heights but I overcame my fear! It was worthwhile when I saw the view of Barcelona. It was avery sunny day, the sky was blue and the wind was very mild. Basically the perfect day for exploring and getting our eyes lost with beauty.

Another city I visited after my semester had finished was London. At first I wasn’t too excited to go to London because basically everyone told me it basically rains all the time and it gets dark earlier. But it only rained the first day of my arrival and then I was lucky to seehow beautiful London was for the next few days because it was sunny! It felt like a miracle was upon my friend and I. We took advantage of the beautiful days we had been given to stroll down the streets of London. We saw the famous landmarks in London which included:the London Eye, Big Ben, the Shard and Buckingham Palace.You know I have to mention food because I love it so much! But seriously when you come to London or any other city in England, trying Indian food is a must. I’ve heard from many people that the Indian cuisine in London is very close in taste to that as in India. And I can attest to this statement because it was heaven on a plate. My lamb tikka massala was so tender, juicy and the sauce was very flavorful. We can’t forget about naan, it was so buttery and soft, one of the best foods on this earth.

Visiting Barcelona and London was a great way to end my holiday vacation and my time in Europe. I definitely plan to come back to England and Spain to explore other cities and their cuisines of course!

Orientation Day 1: Tonight’s post is going to be short and sweet — and without visuals, sadly. Today was the first day of Orientation at Vesalius College, an American style university that is part of the larger Flemish university: Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Up until today, and I believe I can speak on behalf of most study abroad students here, we were a bit confused on the specifics of this college known as VeCo. So, after a few hours of general academic information and such, we were introduced to the campus food options. I will admit, they are much better than the campus options at New Paltz (sorry New Paltz!) We were then given information on Brussels life and tips on how to adjust. Once our academic portion of the day was finished, the entire group of students was led to the on-campus bar. That’s right, at around 5pm our large group of about 100 people were led to the on-campus bar called ‘t Complex. As unusual as this was, I will admit that it is a much better way to get students (and professors!) to mingle, more so than the freshmen orientation we’ve all gone through — of song and dance routines with people we hardly know.

Well that’s about all for today. There is much to be done in the days coming and I shan’t drone on about the specifics of our first academically geared day.

I will make mention, though, that the first Belgian beer I tried is called la Chouffe and that I enjoyed it very much. It was strong, but bitter and sweet altogether. Très bon!

Today was what some (chocolate fanatics) might consider a fairy tale… This morning, we awoke to a slightly sunny sky and found ourselves walking through very chilly and windy streets. [Thank you Mom for telling me to bring my winter jacket!] Having (somewhat) mastered the metro and buses — we have  yet take the tram — Ema, Dommi, Erica, and I set out to Media Markt in search of a camera for Ema. We got a little bit lost and confused along the way, which is to be expected, and eventually found our stop and location as to where the electronics store was located. This location was even deeper in the center of Brussels and if we hadn’t any obligations, it would have been a wonderful place to explore. But Ema, Becca, and I had a date with Betti, so we will have to head back another time! Who is Betti, might you ask? Betti is Ema’s Mom’s friend’s sister — also currently known as our savior/Belgian Mom. Ema, Becca and I all met at Betti’s beautiful apartment and from there, headed to the Neu Haus chocolate factory.

Yes, those are rows and rows of chocolate behind us.

…This was a dream and nightmare all in one. I now understand why the Romans stuffed themselves at feasts and then threw up right afterwards so they could eat more. Of course, we didn’t throw up, but this chocolate factory visit was a taste-all, savor-all trip. Visitors were allowed to taste any piece of chocolate in an opened box — every single type of chocolate had an opened box in the front… As you can see, we tried A LOT of chocolate..

After this we felt a little sick of course, but it was all worth it because free Belgian chocolate is a dream come true. Betti and her lovely friend Carol then took us to a shopping plaza to show us the ins and outs of grocery shopping and other such buys. Ema purchased her camera and is as happy as can be, as we will all want to capture our journey in color throughout these next four months.

Our decidedly favorite bus ride so far is the 71 Bus, which brings us through what seems to be a business area of Bruxelles. On this bus we ride through the cobblestone streets of the city with views of the magnificent Palais de Bruxelles, Palais de Justice, and other unnamed architecturally beautiful establishments. There is so much to see and explore!

Above is a photo that I forgot to share in my previous post.

Tomorrow, we start our orientation at Vesalius College. These two obligation-free days have been exciting, but I am interested in seeing what else is in store for us. I cannot wait to begin my introductory French class so maybe I will be able to understand the chitter-chatter going on in the streets around us!

That seems to be all for now, so until tomorrow perhaps! Au Revoir!

Katie

     So far my exploration of Bloomsbury and London has been a blast. Getting a hang of the tube took a few days, but it’s really been so easy to maneuver. We’ve eaten out a bunch of times and I’ve enjoyed all of the food, but I realized we’ve been naturally wanting to go to American food places– places where we can get a burger and fries or a slice of pizza. I started to wonder why we would always end up at places like that, and then I realized it’s just because they’re everywhere. There are some cute small local cafes and diners, but there are a surprising number of American-type chain places like Dominos, Subway, McDonald’s, and Starbucks. So I’ve definitely been trying to avoid any of that, because why study abroad to eat crappy things you can get at home? Definitely my favorite place we’ve gone to so far is an adorable little tea shop called Tea and Tattle. I had my first real British scones and delicious tea. I plan to go back!

Every time I’m walking down the street in a familiar or new place, I find myself constantly amazed by the architecture. The buildings are absolutely gorgeous. There are two lovely parks on either side of our building, and they’re so nice to walk through. Even just strolling down the road in this city is a treat. Several times when I’ve walked out of a London museum or gallery, I felt like the art didn’t stop when I left the doors, because I’m surrounded by it outside, too.

We’ve seen some fascinating and thought-provoking theatre. My favorite has been a modern, dark and horrifying production of Macbeth at the Young Vic Theatre. So far, it’s been pretty clear that London theatre is quite different from America. They seem to rely much less on the spectacle, and more on the raw acting. I really appreciate that. But what is so fabulous about London is that the major theatres are subsidized by the government, the tickets are actually affordable to the public, and most museums are FREE! The U.S. has a lot to learn from them.

We get to see 7 shows in total, plus I may see 1 or 2 on my own, so we really are totally immersed in theatre. This whole experience has been surreal so far.

Since arriving here Sunday morning, it has been a whirlwind of activity. I will try to recapture some of these thoughts and feelings before they are lost.

Sunday, 3rd January, 2016:

With two small bags, I departed from JFK to Heathrow, my first time overseas. It was the biggest jet I had ever been on. The instructional safety video provided amused me as it portrayed a “Western” style cartoon to illustrate. The British idea of an American accent is hilarious. I’m sure they feel the same way about Americans attempting to imitate a British accent. Slept most of the way; high speeds and high altitudes have a way of making me drowsy. There was a lovely little family seated beside me, a mother and daughter, obviously returning to their home from New York. In a way, the little girl reminded me of my own little girl. As I had the aisle seat, the attendant would pass me the food first — I always let this little girl choose which one she liked better before taking mine. The mother thanked me in a way that suggested her surprise.

We arrived, sweaty and haggard, collected our bags and went through customs. There was an excellent bus driver named Dave who escorted our entire two classes (London Art and London Theatre) to our flats — taking the long, scenic route through London. I marveled at how different the trees are… more complex. Covered in moss. Fog rolling through lush green fields right alongside the busy highway, speckled with shaggy cows and horses. The ancient, magical Shire still exists alongside the contemporary.

Dave showed us a neighborhood called White City, where the houses have these particular chimneys, and informed us that was where Mary Poppins was filmed — specifically, the scene where Dick Van Dyke sings the chimney sweep song and does a terrible British accent. We arrived at our flats in a better mood.

It turns out the plane ride wasn’t 8 hours, it was only 6! It didn’t exactly fly by (bad joke) but I found it fascinating that my train to get to another point in New York took considerably more time than transportation across the world. The flight itself wasn’t the worst– we got to watch movies and were fed well. I wouldn’t have called it comfortable, but seeing that incredible London view miles below us when we first arrived made the whole thing entirely worth it. It was BREATH TAKING, and one of the most magical experiences of my life. It was 7:30am, and the city was lit up like beautiful jewels. It was an experience that a picture couldn’t quite capture (but I took one anyway).

We got lucky when we arrived at our flats, because our rooms were just about ready for us, meaning we didn’t have to wait 5 hours to get in like originally planned. We were all exhausted but hyped up on so much adrenaline that everything was a crazy wonderful scary fascinating blur. Our flats are awesome. I’m living with a nice girl from SUNY Purchase, and next to us are the three guys in a triple. We share a nice big living room and kitchen. So far we’ve all been having a great time together, learning each other’s quirks and interests.

Last night a few of us purchased our Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio tour tickets! Words can’t begin to explain my excitement. Aside from our itinerary, that was the number one thing I wanted to do during my time in London, and I’m ready to cry all the way through. We’ll take a quick tube ride to Victoria station, and take a bus from there right to the Studios. I’ll definitely give an update after that.

Adjusting to the London lifestyle has been exciting so far. The city reminds me of a cleaner, prettier version of NYC, and I feel right at home. I was in awe of how clean the tube was in particular, and how much less angry most of the people seem than in the Big Apple. The food has been great, (especially the fish and chips!!!) and the prices really aren’t bad, even with the exchange rate. I’ve met a few really pleasant and interesting people here so far, and it’s only been a couple days. I cannot wait to see what the next 2 weeks bring!