Ik hou van Belgïe

After my very short arrival in Paris, and lovely dinner with Paul and Nicole, I quickly sped off to Belgium - my home away from home. I went to Belgium for two very important reasons, one, to see my amazing cousin/aunt Janice and two, to go to PUKKELPOP.

Seeing Janice was so wonderful. Now, this was my second time meeting her, but I can honestly say that I really feel like I have known her my whole life. I am so glad that we met each other and have started to build this really great relationship. Long story short- Janice is cousins with my Grandma, and I found out that she and her husband (Hendrik) lived in Belgium and instantly wanted to meet her.

Being with her and Hendrik was really relaxing and wonderful. We went to the lake, I watched Janice make beads from glass (really cool) and we ate yummmmmmmmyyyy home-made moule-frites - Hendrik's specialty. Now you might be wondering, what is this Pukkelpop thing I mentioned above. WELL. Pukkelpop is one of the best music festivals in the entire world (160,000 attendees)- and it just happens to take place less than 2km from where Janice and Hendrik live =)

Pukkelpop was such an amazing experiencing. I went with Dorus (my 2nd exchange student) and his friend Ben. We did it big, really big. It was all of our first time at the festival so I think we were really happy to be there. We camped with about,oh, what felt like 20,000 other people and it was seriously nuts - but in a good way. The festival lasted for 3 days and I have not had that much fun since Rock Werchter in 2006. I found lots of new DJs to become obsessed with and met some really amazing and interesting people.

But after 3 days of intense Belgian partying (multiply American party standards by 3),no sleep, and eating frites (french fries, but I will never call them that)- I was spent. I had to wake up very early on the last day of the festival and catch the train back to Paris so I could make it back to Paris in time for an orientation and meet all of the other CSU students at the hostel.

All in all, Belgium was fantastic - without going into too much detail, and I can not wait to go back!

My Arrival to Europe

Well I have just arrived in Europe. I am sitting at a quaint café in the Dublin Airport. The sky is cloudy and it looks rather windy outdoors. But I am quite comfortable in the café, only wishing that there were wireless Internet available. I have about a four-hour layover, and I am not really sure what I am going to do. Unfortunately I am confined to the terminal- c’est la vie. My flight was overall, pretty comfortable. I sat next to this attractive man from South Africa who now lives in Delft (Holland). We chatted for a while, and I learned that he went to Rock Werchter this summer…so that was a fun thing to talk about. I watched two movies. The Boat that Rocks and Gran Torino- great movies. I also used some time wisely and finished a book that I have been trying to read for about 2 years now. That was a huge accomplishment in my eyes. I slept for about half of the flight but unfortunately I slept during the wrong half, so my guestimate would be that I have been awake since 4 or 5 this morning. Basically I am going to be very happy once it is time for bed.

My departure from the San Francisco Airport was kind of bizarre. It took me probably 20 minutes to check in and re-arrange some baggage (silly Irish workers unions and their rights). So after I checked in, I assumed that my parents and I would go sit and grab a bite to eat- BUT NO. The security line was obscenely long-probably a quarter mile long. So we waited in line and said our very quick good byes. I always hate that part. It’s never easy for me. But I held it together and got on my way.

I am really looking forward to seeing Paul and Nicole today. It will be good to catch up with them. I am really looking forward to the yummy meal that Nicole might have possibly cooked too =) But my top priority is buying my train ticket to Belgium and getting a good night’s rest. Well I think this is it for now. Until next time…