My Little Slice of Leuven

Week 1 of class is in the books y'all. It's been a crazy, but productive week. I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of things around here, and pretty soon I will hopefully know all the ins and outs of the city!

Updates. I am taking 5 classes here. They include:

-Cold War History
-International Relations and European Integration since WWII
-Genealogy of North African Cultures
-Institutions and Policies of the EU
-Flemish Art & Culture

I am definitely appreciating my time here, but let me tell you - I MISS THE STRUCTURE AT HANOVER. Quite a lot. It's not similar at all. Here, we sit in a lecture hall and the professor talks into a microphone for a couple hours. You take notes, and hope you retain all the information you need. It's very intimidating as well. I am enrolled in two masters level courses, and the rest are provided through the program. It's fascinating to hear professors talk about the United States, to hear their views on current events, and to simply learn about life from a European perspective. I will hopefully snap some pictures of my classrooms soon so you can get a taste for what it looks like, but I will say, I am so happy I chose to go to a private college.

Celebratory First Day of School Waffle - the best in Leuven. 

This week, we had to go to our town hall to get residence permits which was a nightmare. We ended up waiting for almost 3 hours to hand in a couple papers and to get a signature signed. Biggest hassle of my life. I don't do well with patience, and this experience definitely tested me. We did meet a nice guy who was studying abroad from the United States as well, so it made the wait a bit more bearable. Mal also sent me the loveliest note in the mail that I got to read while we waited - it included a "list" of things to do for the month of February - she's the greatest.

What else what else. We spent some more time exploring the city. I have found two coffee shops I want to try: "Le Moustache" and "Koffie Onan". I don't have class on Mondays which is fabulous, so I feel like one Monday when I need a study break, I will be able to stop by.

The nightlife in Leuven is awesome (and very different) to experience. It's just such a unique culture here. They had an orientation party for all the students attending KU Leuven this semester that night, so there was tons to experience. The main strip where you can find Leuven's nightlife is called "Oude Markt". Here there are tons of places to explore - it's so much fun to even people watch just to take it all in.

Finally, after a long week of class - we decided to spend the weekend relaxing and preparing for the week ahead. Today, we made a trip to our library to explore a bit. We had planned on going to a market that is supposedly in front of the building, but there was nothing to be found by the time we got there (market is still MIA).

Okay. So this place is spectacular. It truly feels like I am exploring Hogwarts as I walked throughout the building. In order to get to the main common room, you must walk up these massive marble staircases. You open large grandiose wooden brown doors that lead from one room to the next, and it's just remarkable. All I needed were my robes and a wand and it truly would have felt like I was transported to the wizarding world.

Can't wait for cozy afternoons studying here. 

Can you point me in the direction of the Great Hall? 

We were going to head up to the library tower where you can see some amazing city views of Leuven, but we decided to save it for another day when the rain wasn't our enemy. All in all, a fantastic first week. Next weekend may bring an overnight to Germany (?) and the following we've booked flights to Budapest!