Classes, Battle of the Cities, and Antwerp

Bonjour Everyone!

This past week has been considerably busier in regards to school work. Firstly, French courses are up and running so Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6-8 pm I get to indulge in the language here. I absolutely love that class. It is truly one of those that feels like no work at all despite the homework and quizzes. I just feel like a sponge soaking it all in. If I could, I would drop out of HEC (the management/economics faculty) and just take French full time. A girl can dream...


My other courses are really starting to get into the thick of things. Actually I guess that really depends on the course. I have one course, entrepreneurship, that is scheduled to finish next Thursday. No exam but we have a business plan due that is worth 70% of our mark. Pretty hefty! My marketing course is just delving into the group work. It can be a little tricky to coordinate things when two of your group members are native Belgians and the other two are Spanish. Three of the four girls speak decent enough English (keeping in mind this is an English language taught course) but there are still language barriers to work through. The interesting and frustrating thing about my courses here are the complete lack of instructions in regard to projects. We all feel like we're more or less guessing at what we're supposed to be doing. The professors don't hand out actual paper copies of assignments or marking rubrics. Suffice it to say I am very grateful that these marks will only show up as Pass/Fail on my transcript.

On Thursday night I had the opportunity to participate in an event known as, "Battle of the Cities". This event, sponsored by Nike, pins Belgian cities against one another in a competition to see which city can run the most kilometers. Each city hosts one night and as many runners as possible make it out to run their choice of 5 km or 10 km. I went with my Taiwanese friend and running companion, Kevin Chang. We had a lot of fun! Some other Erasmus students joined us - Liga (Latvia), Martina (Germany), Ola (Poland), Matteo (Italy), Jose (Spain), and Salman (Iran) - as well as a good number of locals. Only Teo, Kev, and I opted to do the 10 km but at least the others came out. Nike supplied us with really nice "Battle of the Cities" t-shirts and other sponsors provided granola bars and water. Just little perks that added to the fun. It absolutely has raised my enthusiasm for running events. I can't wait to do another!

I know it is dark and kind of hard to see but that's me running in between Matteo and Kevin Chang =)

Friday night Bryanna, Steffen, Kiersten and I set out to hit up a concert. My brother had recommended a band to me, Caravan Palace, that had a tour stop in Liège so we wandered over to the other side of the river to check it out. Upon arrival we learned that the band we wanted to see didn't start for another 4 hours and was going to be 23 euros to get in. Urgh! No thanks. We wandered over to the Maison du Peket where the house specialty is literally peket (a type of alcohol) that is lit on fire and stays on fire while people drink it quickly through a straw. That was interesting to see. Afterward, we walked over to the October Fair that is presently occupying the middle of Boulevard D'Avroy. We choose to rides to go on. One made me feel slightly ill as it was fairly spinny and the other one made me terrified for my life. I don't think I have ever screamed so much on a ride. The ride tops out at 110 km per hour with 4.5 Gs and makes you feel like you're headed face first for the ground. I need to go take a picture of the ride as describing it is proving a little tough. Regardless, it was exhilarating and I was so pleased to get back on the ground.

Today Vicki, Bryanna, Kiersten, and I ducked over into Antwerp. Of course we did the usual sight seeing of the main square and what not but honestly we spent a good portion of the day shopping and having a really nice lunch. It was just so pleasant to jump on a train for two hours and get out of Liège while wandering around somewhere new.

Antwerp Station with Vicki and Bee

What I received when I ordered mint tea - so much fun to play with!

Check out all the creeping ivy on the building behind them

A umbrella vending machine? Why not.

It was just a silly girls trip. But hey. Those are always good too.


Love and light,

Jacqueline