Calling myself out.

After my last post I glanced down the column on the right side of my blog and realized I wrote a whopping 5 entries in the month of October. I am ashamed! Thus, the purpose of this post is to not only increase the number of October blog entries, but also to apologize for keeping all my readers (ha) so poorly informed on my whereabouts.

"I don't speak it."

"Ik spreek hem niet."
"Non lo parlo."
"Ich spreche es nicht."

Nope, I don't speak Dutch. Not Italian. Not even German. Every time someone ran up to Dad in the streets of Europe asking if he spoke English, he would look at them with stern eyes and bark "I don't speak it" in German. Just the mere thought of my Dad doing that in Paris is hilarious to me. It makes me laugh out loud, I must confess. On Monday at work Eddy handed me a story and asked me to translate it from Dutch to simple English. After eight weeks of work surely Eddy realizes that I don't speak Dutch, right? Ha. All I could think at that moment was Dad saying "I don't speak it." I did surivive the translation project thanks to freetranslation.com (I owe them a little promo after all the pickles that website helped me dodge in these past couple weeks). Anyways, today I prepared two articles, one in Italian and one in German to send to the translators. By "preparing" I mean converting the file from a pdf to a word document and then correcting all the errors made in the conversion process. I did not translate a word, because "I don't speak it!" (clearly)

After work today I met up with some friends at Ralph's for Happy Hour and then I "studied" while watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off with Alayna and Evelyn. It was some much needed chill time after a hectic three days! Or as Ferris says, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and take a look around, you just might miss it." The Duomedia office party is tomorrow night in Antwerp so after class I am riding to the party with two of my coworkers wives and my guest (tbd) to the party. Oh and there is a pirate theme so everyone will be running around in costumes. If the evening is anything short of hilarious and "blog-worthy" I will be extremely disappointed... The only bad news is that we have to work a full day on Friday.

HOWEVER, 3:15 on Friday marks the beginning of my HOLIDAY! Yep, no school or work for 9 days. On Friday evening a group of us fly to Milan to begin our 5 day tour of Italy. This tour consists of starts in Milan (clearly), with stops in Florence and Venice before heading back to Milan. We come home on Wednesday and leave Thursday morning with the Furman group for 4 days in Amsterdam and Antwerp. Honestly, I am ready to be the "snappy happy" tourist again (if you don't know what I mean by "snappy happy" ask Shelley Prevost how many pictures she took in Europe). I am ready for all the adventures, the crazy/ridiculous/unbelievable stories, and the fun with friends.

I hope everyone is well! Love and miss you all! Keep the emails and letters coming, you have no idea how much it means to me.

Taking Brussels By Storm, Griswald Style.

The Prevosts re-invaded and conquered Brussels on Friday evening. After a week of traveling Paris and Amsterdam Mom and Dad returned to Brussels on Friday to spend the weekend with me before flying home on Tuesday. I am so jealous of their trip and all the fun they had last week. Too bad I actually have to work and attend class here! Last Wednesday a coworker informed me of a planned strike in France held by all employees in the transportation sector. That meant that the metros, trams, buses, and even some international trains would shut down completely for 3 days. Worried about "my ducklings," (I now officially feel like a parent after showing my Mom and Dad around, giving directions, selecting restaurants, etc.) I tracked them down at their hotel in Paris. Thankfully, their train was not affected by the strike and departed on schedule.

I met Mom and Dad at their hotel on Friday night and we went to Falstaff, a restaurant with Belgian cuisine decorated in Art Neveau style directly across from their hotel. Dinner was excellent. Last weekend we made big plans to go travel Belgium or go to Aachen, Germany but all of us were exhausted and decided to spend the weekend relaxing in Brussels. On Saturday morning I met up with Mom and Dad at their hotel and together we headed towards St. Michael's Cathedral. My favorite part about this Cathedral was the sculptures of each of the twelve disciples lining the columns. Under the sculpture was their name and a verse explaining who they were. After visiting St. Micheal's we went to Le Pain Quotidien for lunch, then wandered Avenue Louise, shopping. We stopped by an Irish Pub called McSweeney's that I absolutely loved before going to a little Italian place for dinner. The food was incredible and according to Dad it was one of the 5 best meals he has ever tasted. We plan to go back there tomorrow night before they leave on Tuesday. The Rugby World Cup Championship between England and South Africa was last night and we watched from their hotel room.

This morning we went to a little cafe for lunch before heading to the Military History Museum. I found this museum online, saw that admission was free, and proposed it to the parents. After we dragged Dad into shops all day on Saturday, Mom and I let him pick today's activities. He jumped at the idea of a Military History museum. At 1:30 we entered the museum. Three hours later, they kicked us out. Yep, we closed down the Military History Museum today. It was incredible: they had airplanes, tanks, a navy exhibit, a WWI and WWII exhibit, an exhibit on the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and so much more. Dad looked like a kid in a candy shop! He just ate it up, especially the airplanes. The museum looked cool online, but in reality it was just unbelievable. What I liked most was that it offered a complete picture of each war era, showing the machinery, weapons, uniforms, fashion, decor, and technology of that time. However, the perspective was very European and omitted much of the American involvement in the wars. We met up with the Kraemers tonight for dinner at a little cafe off Louise.

Sadly, I have to go to work tomorrow while Mom and Dad get to play in Brussels. I am jealous! I will meet up with them tomorrow evening after work and then head to our little Italian place for dinner. After their visit I am (1) well fed, (2) well dressed, (3) refreshed!

They're here!

Mom and Dad made it to Brussels early this morning. Thankfully, I had the day off work and could meet them at the airport! Trying to find your way around this city jet lagged and exhausted is really difficult especially with heavy luggage. We walked around Brussels all morning, to Brussels Park, the Royal Palace, Sablon antique district, Avenue Louise, and to the Rubens exhibit at the museum (which is so impressive, by the way). We ate dinner off the Grand Place tonight with Evelyn at a little restaurant. I thought about ordering mussels tonight but after further contemplation, I realized that was a bad idea. It was so much fun and I really cannot believe that I am in Brussels with my parents. Too cool!!! Tomorrow morning we plan to hop the train to Brugge for the day. This is so fun.

Alive and Kickin'

It has been a while. Unfortunately, I have 2 midterms today so this post will be brief and in bullet form.

Since October 2...
- Lane, Lauren, Reed and Russell came from Madrid for a visit! It was so refreshing see some new faces! Y'all want to come back? Tomorrow maybe?
- Gave a group presentation in French and mistakenly prepared 2/3 of the recipes for our French dinner. Oops!
- Scanned for about 15 hours at work. Do I hold a new record?
- The invasion is tomorrow. Yep, Mom and Dad come! Yay!
- 2 Midterms, 1 paper due this week. "Ain't no thing..."
- Ate at McDonald's, again. I totally hate McDonald's and have not been there since 5th grade but for some reason, nothing tastes better than McDonald's fries and a McFlurry!
- Evelyn made the best potato soup for a dinner party the other night! SO good.
- Found a Dr. Pepper at a market at the and of my street!
- Discovered a new park, Louise Park, and it is beautiful. Alayna, Austin, and I spent Sunday afternoon there (along with everyone else in Brussels).
- We had the best weather of my 8 weeks in Brussels this past weekend (low 70's and sunny).
- Missed my train coming home yesterday. Boo. No chasing involved, I just missed it by 5 minutes.
- Convinced Gary (Bar tender/Protector of the TV at Fat Boys) to put the UT game on the big screen after the rugby game. By the way, both underdogs, UT and France won!
- The leaves are changing here, a perfect excuse for me and Austin to spend the whole afternoon in the park. And that is just what we have done!
- Trading Spaces: Alayna and Austin move in my building on Monday!
- Found my new favorite restaurant. Come to Brussels and I will take you there! They have the best pain (bread) and spreads.
- Listened to a repair man sing outside my door as I type this post.

More to come, I promise!

Lessons from the Forest

Austin took me to "The Forest" this afternoon for a run. We took one of the metro lines to the very end, walked up the steps and found ourselves in a neighborhood lined with quaint houses and tall trees. A few turns and we were deep in the most beautiful, peaceful forest I have ever seen. Seriously, they carved out a pathway between the rows of trees and lush green grass and called it a park. Everything was so still, so calm, so natural. Who knew that such an incredible place existed on the outskirts of a congested city? Lesson from the Forest: some times all it takes is a little searching to find a treasure.

This past weekend I spent a lot of time in reflection, but I guess that is what seven hours in a bus forces you to do. I realized that this seemingly random group of students selected to go on foreign study is not so random. We each have a purpose, a reason to be here this fall. With that in mind, I thought about each person on the trip and what I have already learned from them. I am not saying that everyone on this trip is here to be my personal servant or teacher (believe it or not, it is not the Katie Prevost show... all the time), but that we have so much to give, so much to share with each other. That seems very profound, but it was cool to look around on the bus at each person and know that every single one has left an impression on me and some how shaped or impacted me in just these past seven weeks. Thankfully, our journey is really just beginning.