Departure and Arrival

I have arrived in Brussels! Yesterday, my friends Shannon and Victoria spent the day taking me to O'Hare, and what an adventure it was! We left in the morning with plenty of time to get the airport so we could stop for deep dish pizza on the way! We went to Lou Malnati's and we all left feeling sick we were so full. Then we went to the airport and I proudly directed us to Terminal 5, the international terminal! We got out, lugged all my baggage into the terminal and began looking for the United Airlines check in desks. We looked and looked, but United was no where to be found. Finally, I asked an employee, only to find out that United only flies out of Terminal 1.

Good thing we got there way early! We drove around the airport again, found the short term parking for Terminal 1 and made our way inside O'Hare with all of my luggage... again. Our next set back arose when my large suitcase weighed in at 58 lbs. We found a space to set everything down and begin to repack. We moved things around and weighed all of my bags three more times before getting things worked out. We had all worked up a sweat and were flustered trying to rearrange my things and stay calm, but I was finally able to check in--and avoid a $200 fee for having an overweight bag. Thank goodness my friends were there to help me stay calm and be strategic with our organizing strategies. We said our goodbyes, and my tears started flowing! I cried all the way through security, during the two hour wait at my gate, and until the plane took off. The flight was not full, so I had an entire row of three seats to myself. When my Dramamine finally kicked in and I was able to sleep for almost all 8 hours of the flight.

Once I arrived in Brussels, I made my way through customs and stopped at the ATM before getting in the very long taxi line. It was pouring down rain outside! When I got in the taxi, the driver could not understand my French when I told him where I wanted to go, so I had to show him the address of the youth hostel. I was too stressed to be upset! I arrived at the hostel after a 15 minute ride and was happy to finally be there!! I checked in, and put my bags behind the reception desk since I couldn't get into my room until later in the afternoon. I hung out in the lobby and took advantage of the free wi-fi to email my family and friends and let them know of my safe arrival!

Next I ventured into the city in order to purchase a Belgian SIM card for my iPhone. I found the Base store with no problem and the employees here were able to understand my French quite well! Yay! They put the SIM card in for me, but I was unable to use my phone because I had not called Verizon ahead of time to ask them to do an international unlock. I had to take out the Belgian SIM card and use my Verizon one until I can get a hold of the Verizon store in the U.S. I was frustrated with my phone situation and the pouring rain--I was drenched after thirty minutes of walking to and from the Base store in the rain. I came back to the hostel lobby and started crying again! After sending a few more emails to friends and family, I regained my composure.

A very long day of goodbyes, tears, and thousands of miles of traveling really wore me out. However, I am very happy to finally be in Brussels. I have gotten myself this far, and it can only get better from here. Tonight I have plans to go out to dinner and drinks with other members of the program who are here. I can't wait to start making friends and getting settled in.

Packing Packing Packing

Brussels, Belgium for five months. The adventures and opportunities are endless, but what on earth do I need to bring with me? While I would love to take all of my favorite things from home, including my friends, family and cat, I have narrowed it down to four bags. One huge suitcase, a carry on size suitcase, a weekender bag, and a backpack. Since I started packing a week ago, I have repacked my big suitcase three times, put everything into space saver bags, then taken it all back out, and then I readjusted my heavy items until both of my suitcases were finally under 50 pounds. My inventory includes:

10 sweaters                                 2 pairs of pajamas
2 blazers                                      4 scarves
1 dress                                          1 coat
5 tank tops                                  5 pairs of shoes
9 tops                                           3 purses
2 skirts                                         cosmetics
3 pairs of leggings                      snacks
5 pairs of paints                          1 French/English dictionary
1 sweatshirt                                 gifts for my host family
1 pair of sweatpants                   my unicorn pillow pet

This list seems long, yet both of my closets at home still seem to be full, along with all of the drawers in my dresser. My athleticism will be put to the test when I make the journey through the airport and to the youth hostel in Brussels!

Although I have spent the last few days deciding what to pack and figuring out how I can make it fit in my suitcases, I have also been thinking about what my goals are for my study abroad experience. Ultimately, I am going to Belgium to learn French. I am a French major at Illinois Wesleyan University, and would love to be fluent in the language and possibly pursue a career in French. While in Brussels, I will be studying at L'Université Libre de Bruxelles and I will take all of my courses in French, including my business classes! Learning in French will definitely help my language abilities, but in order to truly master the French language, my goal is to make friends with Belgian students--despite how hard everyone has warned me that will be. I am also determined to laugh at the mistakes I will make in my efforts to speak French. I am a pretty serious person, but I think that being lighthearted while learning the language will be the only way to make it through.

My second goal is to become more independent. I have never done anything on my own before. I am terrified to be away from my friends and family, whom I will miss dearly, but I know that it will be a positive experience in the end. Being alone has always been my biggest fear. I have been dreading saying goodbye to everyone whom I love, but I am starting to realize the reason I am dreading the goodbyes so much is because I have so many wonderful people in my life. I am blessed to have such an amazing group of people to cheer me on as I pursue my dream of learning French in Belgium, and I could not be more thankful. I am not going to be alone, I will just be far away, and I couldn't do it without all of the support and encouragement I have received!

I'm bringing 4 hefty bags and two goals that are even heftier with me to Belgium. I can't wait to see what the semester has in store for me.