One of my highlights of those three days was a visit we took to a local brewery called Le Cantillon. My knowledge on beer (and how it's brewed) was certainly not extensive, so I'm sure most of what I learned was way beyond me. Yet, I was still very appreciative of the integrity this place has; they've been keeping up the brewing business for more than a
century and have made little to no changes to the process along the way. It was
quite refreshing considering the corporate, greed driven world we live in today.
On the subject of beer, I've already gotten a few chances to get a taste of the night life here. As I was warned it is nothing close to scenes in the U.S. of skimpy dresses and huge keggers, and the differences may take some getting used to. Things do move at a much slower pace
here (how many people can say they've experienced a five hour meal?) which I am definitely starting to appreciate. I'll take enjoying a beer in front of the Grand Place over a frat party any day (no offense to my sisters back home - I'm definitely going to miss the apartment crawls and themed parties!).
So now that all the craziness of the past week is finally over, I now have the chance to relax in my own room in Europe. . . now there's something I never thought I'd be saying. I finally moved into an amazing house just south of downtown that I'll be sharing with a Moroccan, an Austrian, a Frenchman, and a Belgian - talk about diverse roomies in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to start my year in Belgium.
Classes start on Monday, so maybe you'll be hearing from me a bit less. Good luck to all my friends back home starting up the rigors of university life once more! We will share the same pain soon, I promise. But before all the stress comes, be like the Belgians: have a beer, relax, and eat some good food :)
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