November 2014: One for the Books

Okay, I’ve got a lot of ground to cover in this post so I’m just going to jump right in. Some trips will be covered quickly because others deserve some discussion. Hang onto your hats/socks/other clothing items that may be lost in the event of traveling at high speeds. Ready…..GO!!!

Nov 1-2

Amsterdam, round 2! This time, we traveled in a pack of 10, which meant we could get super cheap train tickets because of group rates (score!). We left Maastricht much later than expected on Saturday thanks largely to the fact that we had to print our tickets at the library on the other side of town. Not great, but we took it in stride. We rented an AirBnb apartment to stay in for the weekend, which turned out to be a beautiful plan that resulted in us having a real oven and refrigerator for the first time abroad. Saturday night, we made a feast of baked ziti, garlic bread, salad, and chocolate brownies. Thoroughly stuffed, we headed back into town to get another taste of the Jamsterdam nightlife.

Sunday, we awoke, made a large breakfast, and headed to Slamsterdam to roam and once again visit the Rijksmuseum. I know I’ve said it before, but I love the Rijks with a burning passion. I returned to Maastricht completely and utterly satisfied with my last visit to the wonderful city of Hamsterdam.

Nov 8-9

The second week of November, a group of CES students headed to Luxembourg. Obviously, the city was beautiful and clean as it is an extremely wealthy place (and very overweight as a country, according to my little brudder). Our journey began at 6am, and lead to an amazing pizza lunch at an authentic Italian restaurant. We then toured Notre Dame Cathedral before touring the main brewery of Bofferding, a classic Luxembourgish beer. We walked around the Lux City valleys at night, finding a fun pub to drink and dance at. The next morning, after a huge breakfast at the hotel, we did a walking tour of the city. The autumn colors were vibrant in the city and getting to see many important EU buildings made for a great day.

Nov 15-16

Okay. This is where things get a little wild. In order to fly to London from Eindhoven, I was forced to accept the fact that I would have to stay Friday night in the Eindhoven airport (my flight was earlier than trains from Maastricht to Eindhoven). In order to minimize my time in the airport, I took the last train from Maastricht on Friday night. After falling asleep and being woken up by someone on an otherwise empty train, I realized that my research had failed me and there were no more busses from the train station to the airport until the morning (much too close to my departure time). I decided to take an pricy taxi to the airport only to realize the airport wasn’t open for another 4 hours (I arrived at 1:30 and it opened at 5:30). I watched Shawshank Redemption on my computer, listened to pump-up music, put on most of the clothes in my bag, and avoided numerous mice, but nothing could shake the cold that accompanied a rainy November night outside. To make a long story a little shorter, I then arrived in London, battled with a customs officer that refused to let me into the country, roamed around for near an hour looking for my friends, then finally met up with Tony, Colin, and Megan to venture to the Tower of London & London Bridge. That evening, we roamed around Camden Town where we enjoyed the many street vendors, international foods, and hip bars. Camden was probably one of the coolest areas I’ve seen all semester.

On Sunday, I was completely by myself and spent the morning viewing Big Ben, Palace of Westminster, the London Eye, and Westminster Abbey. I then met up with Erin, a friend and fellow townie studying in London, and she showed me around the National Gallery where I saw the most incredible collection of art that I’ve ever seen. Priceless. We then headed back to her neck of the woods where we pub hopped and caught up a bit. She is cool. London is cool. I caught my bus and headed back to Maasticht.

Nov 22-23 

Rest. Sleep. Breath. Recuperate.

Nov 25-27

After class last Tuesday, I skipped town to Brussels to catch a flight to Dublin (no classes Wednesday and Thursday). I spent my first evening relaxing at the hostel, but I was a little hungry so I went to a neighboring supermarket. I thought juice sounded pretty good to pair with my cheese and pretzels, so I find this bottle of “summer fruit” juice. Sounds delicious, no? Double concentrate, no sugar added, must be flavorful. I start drinking it: holy cow that’s strong. It’s comparative to the strongest drink I’ve ever drank x100. It almost hurts to drink. I drank probably a third before realizing you’re supposed to dilute it in water and it’s supposed to make 40 GLASSES OF JUICE. I was more or less drinking straight sweetner and went to bed with crying taste buds and a burning mouth. Man, I got off topic.

On Wednesday, I was up and on a bus at 7am. I had booked a bus tour along the western coast of Ireland, and the first stop was at the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs offered probably the most breathtaking landscape I’ve seen in my life. Dropping into the Atlantic, the Cliffs reach 214km at it’s highest point and are 8km long. Amazing. I spent two hours hiking along the edge and testing my fears by glancing down into the sharp rocks and crashing waves at the bottom. After the Cliffs, we drove along the coast and stopped at the rock landscape of the Burren. Also amazing. Cows were grazing everywhere, there were cottages with mud/hay roofing, and the sea air was refreshing. Next stop: the small Irish town of Galway. Overall, the tour allowed me to see a different side of Ireland and learn more about its amazing history. That night I ventured to a few Irish pubs, enjoying good beer (not as delicious as Belgian, Dutch, or German beer) and live music.

On Thursday, I treated myself to a Thanksgiving meal of real Irish stew, featuring lamb so fresh it was probably killed the day before. 10/10. I walked through a few photography exhibits and the Irish Film Institute before joining a walking tour at 2pm. The tour allowed me to see much of the city of Dublin and continue to learn about Irish history (including celtic heritage and vikings). After venturing by myself to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I hopped on a plane to continue my adventures in Budapest, Hungary.

Nov 27-30

Arriving in Budapest late Thursday night, I had to figure out my way to the hostel. This is the first time in my travels that language has been a barrier, and this resulted in me guessing which busses I needed to take, hopping off the bus before security could realize I had no ticket, and roaming around Hungary with a dead phone and no idea where I was going. Finally arriving at my hostel, I was able to Skype my family for Thanksgiving (bless them for taking time out of their feasting to talk to me).

On Friday (only had to skip one class to make this 5 day trip), I spent my morning lounging around, reading, drinking tea, and generally waiting for Tasha to show up in the afternoon (FRANDS!). After she arrived, we roamed through Budapest’s Christmas Markets and tried some Hungarian street food which was delicious. We ended up at a ruin bar called Szimpla Kert. Ruin bars, to my understanding, are old abandoned buildings/warehouses that are left as-is but fitted to house many bars and lots of visitors. This was undoubtedly the coolest bar I’ve ever experienced. Here we made friends with a few 30 year-old British men who insisted on buying us mojitos and talking our ears off (shout out to you, Kosh). Then Tasha ruined all the fun by almost freezing to death, forcing our return to the hostel. Nice going, Tash.

Saturday morning, we tried to join a walking tour but were deterred by the 50 other people doing the same. Instead, we took off on our own and saw the same sites, leaving enough time to sit and have a nice lunch. We saw the Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthais Church, the Chain Bridge, St. Stephen’s Basilica, Hungarian Parliament Building, and the Buda Castle. Then we ventured to the thermal baths, which Budapest is famous for, where we relaxed and enjoyed the warmth of the water in contrast to how cold we’d been all weekend (for me, since Tuesday). We ended up walking around until midnight when we went back to the hostel to call it a night. Sleeping for a few hours, I departed at 3:30am to catch my 6am flight back to Brussels. It was an incredible, intimidating, fun, and exhausting 5 days.

As I write this, I have only 17 days until my return to the US, Indiana, my family, and Taco Bell. As excited as I am to be home for the holiday season, the 20th of December also means saying goodbye to new, incredible friends and a country I have grown to love. I guess this is what some scholars may call “mixed feelings”. Oh well. I plan to make these next 17 days count and worry about the end of my indescribable semester abroad when the day comes.

-MAC

UPDATE: I’m still alive

So things have been busy. Really busy. So I’ve got some catching up to do on this thing so you all know what I’ve been up to this past month or so. I solemnly swear to be better for the rest of the semester if you’d just give me another chance. I hope I can make it up to you.

September 25-28

I feel pretty strongly that one cannot be in Europe in the fall and fail to go to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. To make sure I didn’t make a huge mistake, I booked a trip, along with many of my friends, with Yes-Trips (a youth travel group from Amsterdam). Yes-Trips offered overnight bus rides to and from Munich, two full days at the festival, and a tent to sleep in for a night. So on the 25th, we departed at 8pm for our 9 hour bus ride (here is where I complain about busses being the most uncomfortable means of transportation, but I’ll spare you). Arriving at the festival, we waited for hours to get into the Hofbrauhaus tent (which housed nearly 7,000 festival-goers). When they opened the door, everyone stormed in and grabbed tables and German women started bringing out armfuls of 1-liter steins. People stood up on tables left and right and received crazy applause from the crowd as they chugged their beers. After a few hours in the tent, we attempted to move tents and a friend and I got lost in the transition. So what does one do when lost at Oktoberfest? Pass out in the Graveyard (a big hill where people stumble out of the tents to take a nap). Needless to say, the rest of our day was pretty uneventful.

After a chilly night in a tent, we put dressed ourselves in lederhosen and dirndl’s once again and headed for the festival. This time we headed to the Hacker tent which housed 9,300 occupants and had a “Bavarian Heaven” theme. Here we spent the whole day drinking, eating huge pretzels, and singing German drinking songs. Very fun. After a long time in the tents, some friends and I hiked to the other side of the festival grounds to ride the famous “Olympia Looping” roller coaster (has 5 vertical loops). I know you’re probably thinking that this was a terrible decision after a full day of beer and unhealthy food, and at the time I disagreed. Let me tell you, I was wrong. The roller coaster was a blast and from there I was completely satisfied with my trip. I rode the 9 hours home on the bus in pure post-Oktoberfest bliss (still very uncomfortable).

October 1

On the next Wednesday, we took a class trip for my Dutch literature class to Damme and Bruges. Damme was a beautiful, quaint little town and was quiet. Bruges, I had been to, but I really enjoyed taking a boat tour this time and trying more chocolates. Not a ton to say about this day trip except that it was cool. Bruges is nice.

October 4

Friday of the same week I came to a realization: my best friend, Natasha, was going to be in Brussels for the weekend and my parents were arriving in Brussels on Sunday morning. So on Saturday morning, I rose early and embarked on my trip to the capital of Belgium. It required the navigation of trains, some metro rides, and some walking, but I finally found Tash at her hostel. REUNITED! We spent our day viewing the Atomium, the Manneken-Pis, and eating Belgian waffles. We witnessed some beautiful architecture and really just got lost in the city for an afternoon. Finally, we had a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant in which we sat and talked and drank tea for nearly 3 hours. It was a great time. We capped of our night with a few beers from the famous Delirium Pub and called it a night. 

October 5-11

This is when my parents visited! On Sunday the 5th, I rode a few more metros in trains in order to meet my parents in the Brussels International airport. It was going to be a surprise since they thought they’d be traveling from Brussels to Maastricht by themselves. Sure enough, I nabbed them when they showed up and it was great. I was so glad to get to finally see them and show them some of Europe (they’d never been either). After a few trains, we were back in Maastricht and checked into their centally-located hotel. We pretty much spent most of our week together walking around, exploring Maastricht while sampling its food and drinks. Maastricht is a great place to get to know and I was so glad to share that with my parents. They loved it.

On Wednesday of that week we went to Aachen, Germany for a day trip. It was neat to get over to Germany with my parents, and we walked around all day exploring. The highlight came at the end of the day when we finally happened upon the beautiful cathedral. It is probably my favorite cathedral that I’ve seen and it wouldn’t have been a European experience for my parents if we hadn’t seen a few cathedrals.

On Friday, after touring Maastricht’s incredible market, we went back to Brussels to spend the afternoon before my parents flew off in the morning. We saw some of the same sites Tash and I had the week before, but I really wanted to help my parents experience Belgium as well. We ate chocolate, waffles, and ended up once again at the Delirium Pub. American beer isn’t going to taste the same for them again. We crashed in a nearby hotel and headed to the airport early the next morning. It was sad to see them off as we know I have two more months here. However, having this European experience with them was really special and I hope they had as much fun as I did. Can’t wait to see them and the rest of the fam when I get back.

October 12-present

Exam week was this past week (20-24), so I spent the week before preparing and working on getting my brain ready! On the 13th, we had a presentation over our final project for Brand Management  and it went swimmingly.Then I spent a ton of time preparing for the Brand Management exam which was on the 20th and consisted of 3 hours worth of essay questions…very different than tests at IU. The rest of my week was spent composing a 10 page paper arguing the insanity of the main character in Hugo Claus’ Wonder for my Dutch literature class. Now, I have the weekend off and I am using it to relax and have some fun before our second block of classes starts up this week. I will still be taking Dutch language, but I’m adding Strategic Marketing and European Economics. Should be a blast! If you read this far, you’re a saint and you’re probably someone I like very much. And it means you’re a good reader, so bravo!

Until next time.

-MAC

Adoro o Porto

That’s me in the picture. I know you probably forgot what I looked like, so I’m glad I could provide a recent picture of me and my hungry face.

Anyways, on Friday night my friend, Erik, and I flew out of the Maastricht Airport to Porto, Portugal. It was a 10pm flight so we got there early to make sure we had time to get through security and fraternize at the airport bar. Finally, it was time to board on RyanAir flight. If you do not have any experience with this name (I hadn’t), it is a discount airline that provides cheap flights for people who don’t mind flying with their knees tucked under their chins, late take off, and walking across the tarmac in order to board your plane. Maybe it was just the pair of beers I consumed before departing, but I had the most relaxed, enjoyable flight of my life.

We arrived in Porto and faced our first challenge: finding a taxi driver who spoke English and could take us to our hostel. Luckily, I’m an amazing communicator and we succeeded, finding a woman who not only knew where the hostel was but was the best driver I’ve ever been in the car with. She raced through traffic without even having to use a turn signal while we clutched our bags in the backseat, checking to make sure we were indeed wearing our seat belts. Finally, around midnight, we arrived at the hostel and checked in.

We spent the rest of the night drinking Sangria and people watching in the street outside our hostel where there were tons of rowdy youth drinking outside the surrounding bars. It was fascinating and at 3am we decided we’d had enough for the evening and called it a night.

The next morning, we arose and hit the hostel breakfast around 9:45. At 10:30 we departed for a walking tour led by guides who lead tours for many hostels in the area. This kicked off a 3.5 hour span of walking that included chocolate cake, a great train station, and some amazing views of the river. I can honestly say this was probably the most gorgeous place I’ve ever been.

 

After the tour we stopped by Santiago Cafe to enjoy a Portuguese delicacy: francesinha (“little frenchie”). Basically, if you care about your cholesterol, this is not the sandwich for you. Here’s the list of ingredients from the bottom of the sandwich to the top: bread, two different sausages, ham, cheese, bread, fried egg, more melted cheese, and some kind of fancy tomato/beer sauce. Oh yeah, and fries. Porto knows the fastest way to my heart is through my stomach.After gorging myself, I needed a disco nap to prepare me for the night.

Later that night we joined a group of people from surrounding hostels in a bar crawl. We met a man from Japan, talked NBA basketball with some Germans and Aussies, and discussed pandas with Belgians. At 4:30am we made our way back to our hostel after nearly falling asleep in a dark club. Porto nightlife was bumpin.

The next morning, I climbed to the top of a tower in the middle of the city for one last look over Porto. I really loved my time spent there and met a lot of cool people. I also realized that traveling in a small group (2 in this case) has major benefits in terms of how many things you can accomplish in one weekend trip. I left for the airport a little before noon, but Erich stayed behind for one more day (I have those darned Monday classes).

I once again flew successfully with minimal anxiety. Then I caught three different trains before finally arriving in Maastricht tired, hungry, and excited about going to class the next day (alright maybe not the last part). I’m becoming a pro at traveling alone. Overall, my thoughts on Porto can be summed up as so: 10/10, would recommend.

-MAC

The One Where Mac Starts Classes

This post could’ve easily been named “The One Where Things Get Crazy”, but I figured there would be more than one of those. Things have gotten hectic here, as shown by the extensive gap between my posts. I guess I can try to organize this post in a way that won’t be confusing, but who knows how much good that will do. Organizing my thoughts is not always easy for me.

TRIPS

Brugge – Friday, Aug. 29 

We spent our day off roaming the streets of Brugge, shuffling between chocolaterie, Belgian waffle stands, and beautiful canals. It was so nice to be in a quiet little town where we had no plans. We got lost in the city and really got to know what Belgium was all about.

 

Amsterdam/Zaandam – Sept. 6-7

We finally got to go to the largest city in the Netherlands this past weekend and it was everything I had hoped. The city is beautiful. I thought I liked Berlin a lot, but after being in Amsterdam I now have a new favorite. As opposed to Berlin, Amsterdam is not as spread out which made walking places extremely easy. We spent a little over 24 hours there and that was not near enough time. I will have to go back. Aside from the Anne Frank Museum and an all-you-can-eat Dutch buffet aboard a boat, my favorite part of Amsterdam was the Rijksmuseum. Here I saw priceless pieces of art by famous Dutch painters like Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Vermeer. We were at the museum for a little over 2 hours and I don’t even think we made it through half of the exhibits. I definitely look forward to returning in the near future.

 

On Sunday of our Amsterdam trip we visited a small town called Zaandam. Here, we indulged in a traditional Dutch lunch (soup and sandwiches), toured farmland, tried Dutch cheeses, viewed Windmills (finally!), and watched as wooden clogs were made. These were obviously the most stereotypical Dutch circumstances I’ve found myself in since arrival back in mid-August. It was amazing to get a sense of the past and the rich culture that the Netherlands holds so dear. 

 

CLASS

On Sept. 1st, we started school here as my friends back home celebrated their day off for Labor Day. In the past week I’ve begun to engross myself in my three classes: Brand Management, Dutch for Students, and Going Dutch: Literary reflections of the Low Countries in the 19th and 20th Century. So far, so good. The class structure here is amazing and I believe much more conducive to learning. All three of my classes meet in groups of no more than 14 students and discuss the materials we were supposed to have prepared for class. Participation grades are given every session as you are expected to contribute to the group discussion. I showed up to my classes this past week as prepared as I’ve ever been for a class, having read all of the chapters and answered all of the discussion questions beforehand. It felt a lot better than melting into the back of a few hundred person lecture and spending an hour on Facebook! But I look forward to seeing how all of this progresses in the future. 

I’ve started going to the gym and practicing with the local ultimate team. I love ultimate, but I’m being reminded of why I got so into it in the first place; meeting people and building relationships is just as much a part of a sport as the rules. 

Welp, I’ve got to go. I’ve put off buying groceries for far too long and don’t feel like eating plain pasta again tonight. Hopefully this post was not as confusing as it felt. Much love.

-MAC

Trains, Trains, and More Trains

This past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling with 21 of my fellow students to Germany’s capital, Berlin. I guess we’ll call it a weekend since we were there from Wednesday to Saturday, but I suppose this is my blog so I can call it what I want. The night before we departed Maastricht we were informed that our meeting time had been bumped back from 6am to 5am since we would have to bypass some train line repair right outside of our town. We did not realize at the time what kind of issues this would cause. So at 5:15, after we had dragged a few late sleepers out of bed, we caught the first of our busses. We then took an approximate total of 6 trains, 4 buses, and several trams before we arrived at our hotel eight hours later in Berlin. We then rushed to our tour of the city given by a rambunctious New Zealander, Mike. Mike lead us to various tourist locations such as the Brandenburg Gate, Hitler’s Bunker, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Berlin Wall, and Hotel Adlon, where Michael Jackson notoriously dangled his baby over the balcony.

 

That evening we visited the Reichstag, which is Germany’s Parliament building. This was an amazing piece of modern architecture that encompassed many pieces of the old building, which was much like the city itself: a large, contemporary city rich with history and reminders of the past.

On Thursday morning, we split up into our areas of study to each group visited a different site. I was part of the Business & Economics group, so we visited one of Berlin’s top startup companies, 6WunderKinder. Their product, Wunderlist, is an Evernote-esque application that allows users to create lists of tasks that can be shared with employees, coworkers, family, etc. The app has been so successful that it was named Mac App of the Year in 2013. We were able to sit on couches in a small apartment, drink cappuccinos, and talk to an American who had moved to Berlin to be a part of this company. He gave us insight into their day to day jobs, life in a startup, and the benefits of international business experience. Overall, this was one of my favorite experiences of the trip. That afternoon, we used our free time to visit the Topography of Terror, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Cathedral, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism, the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism, and mosey around Museum Island.

 

We kicked Friday off with a lot more public transportation in order to get to a neighboring city to visit the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, which was fascinating. You spend so many years learning about things in history books, but to have the ability to see something like this really put it into perspective.

 

Then, a group of us decided to spend out free time searching for a restaurant recommended to me by a friend called “Berlin Burger International” (or BBI). Our adventure took us to Neukölin, a burough known for its high Turkish, Arab, and Kurdish populations. The restaurant itself was extremely hip and trendy, as were the workers and patrons. The burgers were well worth the voyage. Even my vegetarian friend ate a burger and cried a little as he did.

 

After the burgers, we went back to Museum Island and hustled through the Alte Nationalgalerie where we saw countless pieces of priceless art. The gallery even included a few Monets which were fun to appreciate.

 

Friday night was spent having a ton of fun at Hofbräuhaus München, where we enjoyed traditional German cuisine, music, and beer. We stayed at the restaurant for hours dancing and eating and drinking. It was the most enjoyable experience of the trip (this time for real) having everyone together at the same place having a good time. Later that night, a few of us who had not fallen asleep yet followed some of the chaperones to some trendy bars in the Little Turkey sector of Berlin. We had great conversation until we couldn’t stay awake any longer and had to venture back to the hotel.

 

Saturday was our last day, and we spent the morning at the Stasi Prison Museum, which was fascinating. After so many days of learning about the history of the Nazi regime, I was excited to get more insight into the acts of the Soviet Union. It’s pretty wild to think that this prison was operating just 25 years ago. 

After trains and trains and busses and busses, we arrived home late Saturday night utterly exhausted. My trip to Berlin was a success and it was officially the first trip I’ve taken since coming to Maastricht. I loved getting to bond with the group of Americans I travelled with and now consider them all close friends. It was a wild ride, but we did it together. 

Classes here start on Monday, and I look forward to getting into some kind of routine. We have lots of meet and great events this week as many are just arriving to campus, so I look forward to meeting more people from various countries. Friday many of us will be taking a day trip to Bruges, Belgium and next weekend will be traveling as a group to Amsterdam. Seems like I won’t be escaping trains anytime soon.

-MAC

Disco Naps and Stroopwafels

I have been living in Maastricht for nearly 5 whole days now and I already feel that I’ve learned so much. I’m starting to better understand the city, pick up useful Dutch phrases, and pick up on important cultural differences between the Netherlands and US. But most importantly, I’ve learned the important of a “disco nap”. A disco nap is a nap taken in the late afternoon to prepare one for a night out with friends. Thanks to the combination of late nights, early mornings, and jet lag, these naps have proved extremely useful in maintaining functionality. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s just the best term ever.

Over the weekend, we were led on a tour of the city in order to become better acquainted with our surroundings. We visited many sites around Maastricht, including cathedrals, university buildings, and the amazing Selexyz Dominicanen Bookstore. Many of you know this building from its recent Buzzfeed fame, and it definitely lived up to the hype. The Selexyz Dominicanen is a 13th century church that has been converted into an incredible bookstore. Here we shopped and grabbed espresso from the cafe inside the store. It truly was beautiful and probably a 10 minute walk from where I’m staying.

 

At the bookstore, my friend Sophia and I got a bit distracted taking pictures and became separated from our tour group. And so began our own adventure! With little knowledge of the city, we began wandering around aimlessly looking for the group. We eventually made it to the River Maas that divides the city of Maastricht.

 

Eventually we met back up with the group (probably after half an hour of confusion) and got there just in time to see the city of Maastricht’s original wall of defense that was built in 1226, called “Hell’s Gate”. This kind of structure is practically unseen in the US and was fascinating to witness.

The weekend was a ton of fun. The Dutch love to shop and there is no shortage of stores in the area. The city was bustling, and those that weren’t shopping or walking their dogs were sitting outside at various cafes drinking beer and people watching. It was refreshing to see so many people able to relax and enjoy their weekends in the beautiful streets of Maastricht.

These past two days have been full of preparation for the start of our classes (Sept 1) and our 4 day trip to Berlin that departs at 5am (3 hours from now). I’m really looking forward to this group trip to Germany. We will have many planned visits to many popular tourist attractions as well as some free time to explore the famous city. I’ll continue to take pictures and hopefully I will continue to get better at it. Oh! I almost forgot. Stroopwafels. Don’t ask, just trust me when I tell you that they’re very important. You know what they say; a stroopwafel a day keeps the interglot away.

Until next time.

-MAC

Airline Meal Survivor

First, I thought my flight was at 8am rather than 8:50. Then, upon arriving at the Air Canada check-in, the nice lady behind the desk informed me that she could not find my information for the Indy to Chicago flight. In fact, she said I was not on any of the flights I thought I was taking to or from Brussels, Belgium. It seems that the student travel site I had used to book my tickets had emailed me back on June 2nd to inform me that I needed to contact Air Canada as some of the flight information had changed (The flight was now 7400 rather than 7412. Huuuuuuuggge difference). Because I could not find the difference in flight information that was sent to me, I ignored the email. This was a huge mistake. We spent what felt like forever on the phone with the barely understandable student travel agency employee while the Air Canada man, Angel, worked his magic. Finally, we got things settled and after maybe another hour I stopped feeling like I was going to puke.

Saying goodbye to my family was rough. I know I’m going to miss them a lot these next four months. But after some tears were shed and farewells were said, I began my journey to Maastricht. I was flying alone for the first time, which was especially difficult since I do not like flying. The flight from Indy to Chicago was rough and plagued with sweaty palms, a queasy stomach, and the constant fear that the stewardess would tell me my bag needed to actually fit under the seat in front of me. However, I lived to see the O’Hare Airport and continued through Montreal (beautiful airport) where I waited 6+ hours to board my final flight. I fought to stay awake so I could sleep the full 7ish hours of the the redeye flight to Brussels. However, crying babies and uncomfortable sleeping positions caused my plan to go south. Luckily the airplane meal provided took my mind off of my goal of getting rest and changed my focus to deciphering what exactly it was that I was ingesting. All in all, I made it to Belgium and met my program directors and the American students I would be living with.

After 1.5 hours on a charter bus, we arrived in Maastricht. I can’t say yet if it’s really what I expected as we only drove through some of it, but our side of the River Maas is quaint and attractive. People speed by on bicycles or mopeds and look European, which is cool. We took a group trip to the grocery store where I realized that shopping is hard when you can’t read the packaging. I think I bought useful food items, but who knows?! Maybe the carton of “melk” I bought is actually creamy buttermilk. Only one way to find out…

Now I am completely unpacked and moved into my dorm room which is much nicer than any IU dorm I’ve ever been in (pictures attached). In addition I heard a Dutch song on the radio in which I couldn’t understand a single word until the chorus which just repeated “diamonds on my neck” in plain ol’ English. So I’d say it’s been a pretty successful day overall. Tonight I will be going out to dinner with many of my fellow Americans and then hitting the town! Running on very little sleep from the amount of travel and crying babies I’ve endured. Wish me luck.

–

The communal kitchen/lounge for my floor. Kitchen complete with 4 mini fridges, a big hot plate, and some amazing Easter-egg colored plastic dishware.

My room with a special guest appearance by my roommate, Daniel. I’m fully moved in and ready to learn!

-MAC