Having come to the end of my classes once and for all here in Granada and so being just a matter of weeks from the end of my YA once and for allI think I am now in a good position to be able to write this blog about studying on the year abroad. The study/work placement/language assistant debate is one that every languages student goes through when making their plans for the year abroad, and everyone has their own reasons for the decisions they make. I personally didn't want to be a language assistant as I really wanted to split my year between the two countries without having to spend my summers away if I didn't want to. Also, as a French intensive student my French tutor advised me that teaching would not be the best way to improve my French and strongly recommended that I studied. I think she was right with her suggestion as the language assistants spend most of their time in school pretending they only speak English, meaning they have to find other ways of getting out and practising, which of course is fine for some people, but for those like me that as I said on a previous blog seem to have regressed into their shells somewhat this year it probably isn't ideal. The other choice was to find a work placement, but I decided I didn't want to do this and was told repeatedly that placements in both countries would be very hard to come across anyway. So the decision was made that I would study.
When it comes to French we had Brussels, Geneva, Lyon, Rennes, Poitiers or Montpellier, the first two are specialist translation schools which appealed to me and so I opted for Brussels. Let's talk about that decision first, the main thing I'd not really considered when it came to Brussels was how international it is. I'd considered the bilingualism with Dutch but did my research and found that French was the dominant language in the city anyway. What I guess hadn't occurred to me was that with the presence of so many international organisations everyone spoke English, it didn't matter if you spoke to them in French because 7 times out of 10 they'd reply to you in English, usually thinking they were being helpful not knowing they were being quite the opposite. The other thing with ISTI was that because of the size of the school in comparison to the amount of Erasmus students they took on I found that I was in a lot of classes with just Erasmus students and it was very hard to integrate with the Belgian students and get any language practise. I signed up for a tandem programme and met up once a week with a Belgian girl where we would speak for the first half in French and then in English, but in honesty this probably was no where near enough.
As far as Lancaster is concerned we don't have a huge amount of choice when it comes to where we can study for Spanish. We can go to Mexico, Bilbao, Granada, Girona and Lleida. So, that leaves you with the choice of going thousands of miles away, to two Catalan speaking Unis, to the Basque country where you may be faced with a second language as well or Granada. I toyed with the idea of Bilbao but settled on Granada in the end. My concern about Granada was that it is known as a really big party city because of the amount of Erasmus students and that isn't really my thing, but this hasn't really been a problem, I've found it's been easy enough just to do what I want instead. Although there are lots of Erasmus students in Granada there is also a huge amount of Spanish students so I wasn't ever in classes with just foreign students. You do however have a totally free choice of what you take and there isn't really any guidance on what is too hard for Erasmus students so I have found that two of the courses I've taken haven't really been suitable and I'm sure that is going to show in my exam results- it's a good job that they don't really matter!
Studying does have its pros and cons. The good thing is that even if you're not speaking the language as much as you'd like you are hearing it, taking classes in it and writing in it all the time which has to be good practise. It also keeps you busy, for me I need to keep doing things so I don't feel too homesick, so having a good amount of contact hours and work to do outside of that time kept me going and it wouldn't if I'd been teaching for instance. The cons obviously are having to take exams, not really knowing what courses to take and the difficulty of integrating with native speakers. It is also worth considering your unis rules on exams, as far as Lancaster is concerned we have to take them and the marks count towards our grade for the year, but we don't have to pass them, this works in two ways. It is first and foremost a really good thing because there is no need to panic and stress about the exams, what happens, happens! The problem with this is that my motivation to revise is pretty scarce so I find myself half heartedly revising and just wishing away the hours until they are over, possibly not the way I should be spending my final weeks here, but that's how it is!
Sometimes I do wish I'd worked, it would have given me a different experience for the year and I might have felt like I'd achieved more, but the issue with that for me is that I'd potentially be totally alone and unsure of how to meet people, especially other students because it is important to have that sort of "homely" contact from time to time. I did however work for 6 weeks last summer in Valencia, I met all sorts of people and really enjoyed myself, but the work was boring because there just wasn't much of it so I spent a lot of time doing nothing. That's the hard thing about picking what to do and where to go, unless you know someone that has done the exact same thing before it is all very much unknown. I couldn't have spent the whole year, or even 6 months in that job, but it was good for the summer and to give me an experience of working in Spain.
So what am I concluding? I'm not really sure if I'm honest with you. Hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it? And maybe with it I'd have seriously looked into finding work placements that interested me and would be relevant to what I want to do in the future, but this time last year I didn't know that, and we had to make decisions in the November before we left! For any future YA students reading this, it is important to remember that YA decisions are all about you, don't feel influenced by what other people are doing, and why they are making that decision, because they're not you!
Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brussels. Show all posts
Friday, 1 June 2012
Monday, 6 February 2012
A series of unfortunate events. Cancelled trains, flat car batteries and Danbury Hill...
Let me say, first of all, that despite everything I am about to tell you we had a really good weekend, just a few hiccups along the way shall we say?
Bad thing number 1: On Friday afternoon I get a phone call from Katy My train has been cancelled...luckily this was followed by an explanation of her plans for alternative trains via here there and everywhere it seemed, but she arrived with us, all be it about an hour and a half later than she should've done.
Satuday afternoon after lunch we headed off to London, we went in the car so that we could leave any bags from our retail therapy at Westfield Stratford in the car whilst we were at the 02 Arena seeing Olly Murs. Good idea you'd think? I bet you think you know what is coming next don't you? I bet it's not what you think, well...not immediately anyway! We headed back to the car before the show to drop off the one bag we had managed to acquire (disappointing shopping trip!) and [Bad thing number 2 coming up...]the boot wouldn't open. This wouldn't have been too much of a worry at that moment in time if we could've got into the rest of the car, but the remote was having no effect at all. After my genius suggestion of trying to get into the car the old fashioned way and actually using the key we were in, but now came the task of working out what was going on, was it just the remote? One quick glance at the dash and it's flashing lights told us that wasn't the case, it looked like the alarm had been going off. I hopped out of the car to take a look to see if there was any damage to the car, but there was nothing. Meanwhile Mum had attempted to start up the car and all that did set off the alarm again, and you could only stop it by keeping your foot on the brake...Brilliant! Time to call the AA out now then? Whilst Mum was on the phone to the AA the realisation hit her of what had happened, she'd left the headlights on for the last 3 hours and the battery had run flat...(On hearing this news my Dads first reaction was didn't you hear the beeping?...) We were very lucky though, after first being told that the AA were very busy in the area and it could take up to two hours the man arrived with us within 20 minutes, telling us that the roads were dead and there was nothing going on- interesting! So after sitting in the car running it for a while we headed back into the 02.
We had a great time, Olly even came right out into the audience and walked right past the row in front of where we were sitting (I have a video but it's really not worth posting it!). At about 10.30 we headed out of the arena into a good few inches of snow... fantastic. Bad thing number 3, not too helpful when you've come in the car I'm sure you'd agree. Thankfully when we got back to the car it unlocked and started up fine so there was no issue there. The thing is the M11, M25 and A12 didn't appear to have seen any grit, despite the overhead signs that were telling us other wise "Salt Spreading" they said, but bearing in mind the road was totally covered I really fail to see how we were meant to believe that one! There were cars slipping and sliding everywhere, and as usual the idiots who over take you thinking they can do better and then are inevitably the ones that cause you problems up ahead. The real issue comes when you want to get back to Maldon, given the choice between the back roads or going through Danbury you're not really left with a suitable option! In hindsight we'd have gone for the back roads though I think! After already having been stuck and pushed once near the start of the hill we had to slow down after the car in front got stuck, predictably leaving us stuck too. We struggled for quite some time, but we eventually saved by a lovely couple that live in one of the houses on the hill. They had been going out for the past 2 hours helping people and we were just one of the cars they'd helped on their way that night. With 4 of us pushing the car we eventually made it to the top and were on the way home once more. It wasn't until we were turning into our own road that we got stuck again, but we dug ourselves out with the shovel Dad had sent us off with earlier on and got Dad to come and give us a hand and we eventually made it home. From all the news reports we were the lucky ones, there were people stuck on the M25 for 6 or 7 hours that night, and people stuck in the 02 overnight because the underground had ground to a halt. The extra hats, gloves, scarves and socks I'd taken with us don't seem so silly now, we may have needed them!
On Sunday Katy headed to Witham with her brother, she was meant to be seeing all of her family, but the roads were just too bad for them to be able to head down from Norfolk. Once she'd gone we had a lovely walk down to the Prom in the snow and I think now our series of unfortunate events is over. They do say things come in threes don't they?
Scarily enough this time next week I'll be in Granada! Mum is coming with me for the first few days whilst I get settled in, but by Thursday I'll be on my own again and truly starting the second half of my year abroad. I'll be out there until the end of June, and unlike when I was in Brussels and could easily hop on the plane or the Eurostar I don't plan to come home, it would take too long for it to be worth it bearing in mind I'd have to leave on a Friday and be back for classes on Monday morning. I've already got plenty of weekend plans though so the time should fly, I've hopefully got a friend coming out to visit in March, and then I'm planning on going to Gibraltar, after that I've got a holiday booked in Majorca with some of the girls from Uni, following that 2 trips to Cordoba and Seville before my parents and my Nana come out for the week that covers my Mums birthday and my 21st! After that it's just something like 6 weeks to go and I know at least 1 or 2 more people that want to visit Granada as well as having exams to do. I've not even gone anywhere yet and I have planned out most of my time right up until the end!
Sorry for the long post and that some of it may have bored you to death! But to be honest...lets think about what sparked you to read this in the first place? Is it your boundless interest for what I'm up to or just mindless procrastination any way?!
Bad thing number 1: On Friday afternoon I get a phone call from Katy My train has been cancelled...luckily this was followed by an explanation of her plans for alternative trains via here there and everywhere it seemed, but she arrived with us, all be it about an hour and a half later than she should've done.
Satuday afternoon after lunch we headed off to London, we went in the car so that we could leave any bags from our retail therapy at Westfield Stratford in the car whilst we were at the 02 Arena seeing Olly Murs. Good idea you'd think? I bet you think you know what is coming next don't you? I bet it's not what you think, well...not immediately anyway! We headed back to the car before the show to drop off the one bag we had managed to acquire (disappointing shopping trip!) and [Bad thing number 2 coming up...]the boot wouldn't open. This wouldn't have been too much of a worry at that moment in time if we could've got into the rest of the car, but the remote was having no effect at all. After my genius suggestion of trying to get into the car the old fashioned way and actually using the key we were in, but now came the task of working out what was going on, was it just the remote? One quick glance at the dash and it's flashing lights told us that wasn't the case, it looked like the alarm had been going off. I hopped out of the car to take a look to see if there was any damage to the car, but there was nothing. Meanwhile Mum had attempted to start up the car and all that did set off the alarm again, and you could only stop it by keeping your foot on the brake...Brilliant! Time to call the AA out now then? Whilst Mum was on the phone to the AA the realisation hit her of what had happened, she'd left the headlights on for the last 3 hours and the battery had run flat...(On hearing this news my Dads first reaction was didn't you hear the beeping?...) We were very lucky though, after first being told that the AA were very busy in the area and it could take up to two hours the man arrived with us within 20 minutes, telling us that the roads were dead and there was nothing going on- interesting! So after sitting in the car running it for a while we headed back into the 02.
We had a great time, Olly even came right out into the audience and walked right past the row in front of where we were sitting (I have a video but it's really not worth posting it!). At about 10.30 we headed out of the arena into a good few inches of snow... fantastic. Bad thing number 3, not too helpful when you've come in the car I'm sure you'd agree. Thankfully when we got back to the car it unlocked and started up fine so there was no issue there. The thing is the M11, M25 and A12 didn't appear to have seen any grit, despite the overhead signs that were telling us other wise "Salt Spreading" they said, but bearing in mind the road was totally covered I really fail to see how we were meant to believe that one! There were cars slipping and sliding everywhere, and as usual the idiots who over take you thinking they can do better and then are inevitably the ones that cause you problems up ahead. The real issue comes when you want to get back to Maldon, given the choice between the back roads or going through Danbury you're not really left with a suitable option! In hindsight we'd have gone for the back roads though I think! After already having been stuck and pushed once near the start of the hill we had to slow down after the car in front got stuck, predictably leaving us stuck too. We struggled for quite some time, but we eventually saved by a lovely couple that live in one of the houses on the hill. They had been going out for the past 2 hours helping people and we were just one of the cars they'd helped on their way that night. With 4 of us pushing the car we eventually made it to the top and were on the way home once more. It wasn't until we were turning into our own road that we got stuck again, but we dug ourselves out with the shovel Dad had sent us off with earlier on and got Dad to come and give us a hand and we eventually made it home. From all the news reports we were the lucky ones, there were people stuck on the M25 for 6 or 7 hours that night, and people stuck in the 02 overnight because the underground had ground to a halt. The extra hats, gloves, scarves and socks I'd taken with us don't seem so silly now, we may have needed them!
On Sunday Katy headed to Witham with her brother, she was meant to be seeing all of her family, but the roads were just too bad for them to be able to head down from Norfolk. Once she'd gone we had a lovely walk down to the Prom in the snow and I think now our series of unfortunate events is over. They do say things come in threes don't they?
Scarily enough this time next week I'll be in Granada! Mum is coming with me for the first few days whilst I get settled in, but by Thursday I'll be on my own again and truly starting the second half of my year abroad. I'll be out there until the end of June, and unlike when I was in Brussels and could easily hop on the plane or the Eurostar I don't plan to come home, it would take too long for it to be worth it bearing in mind I'd have to leave on a Friday and be back for classes on Monday morning. I've already got plenty of weekend plans though so the time should fly, I've hopefully got a friend coming out to visit in March, and then I'm planning on going to Gibraltar, after that I've got a holiday booked in Majorca with some of the girls from Uni, following that 2 trips to Cordoba and Seville before my parents and my Nana come out for the week that covers my Mums birthday and my 21st! After that it's just something like 6 weeks to go and I know at least 1 or 2 more people that want to visit Granada as well as having exams to do. I've not even gone anywhere yet and I have planned out most of my time right up until the end!
Sorry for the long post and that some of it may have bored you to death! But to be honest...lets think about what sparked you to read this in the first place? Is it your boundless interest for what I'm up to or just mindless procrastination any way?!
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Am I really half way through my year abroad?!
So that's it, the first half of my year abroad is over, I'm done in Belgium, I've finished studying at ISTI and I won't be going back, it's scary to think how quickly the last 4 months or so have gone! Our journey out of Brussels wasn't without trauma as the Sat Nav decided that it just didn't want to work! So we started off somewhat following our noses before remembering that I had a couple of Brussels maps in one of my bags. We eventually got out of the city and from there it is very straight forward all the way to Calais. Today was spent unpacking everything, not a quick task I must say! I'm back in England now until the 13th of February when I head off to Granada until the end of June. I think my time at home is going to fly by seeing as this weekend I'm off to Lancaster from Friday to Monday, the following weekend Katy is down from Lancaster and we're off to see Olly Murs in London and the final weekend we have a party of a family friend to go to up t' north. I've set myself the target of conquering DELC 310 in the time I'm home, it's do-able seeing as I've done a lot of the preparation for it, but it just seems so far away.
As ever we spend one stage of our lives thinking of the next, and although I'm off to Granada after this- and really looking forward to it too- I'm spending my time umming and ahhing about what on earth I'm going to do in the summer! It's all about weighing up the value of experience vs earning money, going away vs staying at home. It's all a bit of a nightmare, but I'll let you know when I've got more of a clue what is going on!
As ever we spend one stage of our lives thinking of the next, and although I'm off to Granada after this- and really looking forward to it too- I'm spending my time umming and ahhing about what on earth I'm going to do in the summer! It's all about weighing up the value of experience vs earning money, going away vs staying at home. It's all a bit of a nightmare, but I'll let you know when I've got more of a clue what is going on!
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Did the last 4 months even happen?
I realise it's been quite a while since my last post, but seeing as I've been at home there hasn't been anything year abroad related to write about. I had a lovely Christmas and then for New Years Eve 4 of my friends from Uni came down and we went into London to see the fireworks which was nice. Since then I've been quite unfortunately revising for the exams I have to take when I go back to Brussels, and my return to Brussels is what I want to write about today...
The idea that I'm going back currently seems very odd to me, I think the problem is that this is the longest amount of time I've been away from Belgium for, yes I've been away for 3 or 4 days travelling or visiting Lancaster but never for more than that, now I've been here for 2 weeks and I'm not leaving until Monday. I think I've got used to being here, it's not that I don't want to go, it's just that the whole idea feels very odd! I think my mind has decided that I've moved out of the flat in Ixelles and won't be returning to ISTI again, especially not to take exams, and that the next move for me is to Granada. In fact, to be totally honest, coming back here has just totally wiped my memory, the last 4 months seem so distant that it's hard to realise I've not just imagined the entire thing! I think it's just because the time is passing so quickly, and it is only now that I am beginning to wish it would slow down a little! When I go back to Brussels I will be there for just 12 days before my parents come out in the car to take me and all my stuff home, at that point I really won't be going back...! (Well not as part of my YA anyway, I'm not psychic, who knows about the future?)
Being home has given me a chance to have a good think about the last few months, what I wish I'd done differently etc, but I'll tell you all about that later, I'll write a Bye-Bye Brussels blog or something and bore you all with it then.
Whilst I've been home I've started up on the 365 (although this year 366) project, which means taking and uploading a photo every day for a year. I have no idea if it will last but I didn't think that I'd manage to keep up this blog and well- so far so good eh?!
Here is the link to the project-
Facebook
365
The idea that I'm going back currently seems very odd to me, I think the problem is that this is the longest amount of time I've been away from Belgium for, yes I've been away for 3 or 4 days travelling or visiting Lancaster but never for more than that, now I've been here for 2 weeks and I'm not leaving until Monday. I think I've got used to being here, it's not that I don't want to go, it's just that the whole idea feels very odd! I think my mind has decided that I've moved out of the flat in Ixelles and won't be returning to ISTI again, especially not to take exams, and that the next move for me is to Granada. In fact, to be totally honest, coming back here has just totally wiped my memory, the last 4 months seem so distant that it's hard to realise I've not just imagined the entire thing! I think it's just because the time is passing so quickly, and it is only now that I am beginning to wish it would slow down a little! When I go back to Brussels I will be there for just 12 days before my parents come out in the car to take me and all my stuff home, at that point I really won't be going back...! (Well not as part of my YA anyway, I'm not psychic, who knows about the future?)
Being home has given me a chance to have a good think about the last few months, what I wish I'd done differently etc, but I'll tell you all about that later, I'll write a Bye-Bye Brussels blog or something and bore you all with it then.
Whilst I've been home I've started up on the 365 (although this year 366) project, which means taking and uploading a photo every day for a year. I have no idea if it will last but I didn't think that I'd manage to keep up this blog and well- so far so good eh?!
Here is the link to the project-
365
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
♫ Driving home for Christmas ♫
Within what can have only been an hour of posting yesterdays blog it was already out of date. The problem being that I found out that the Belgians are going on strike tomorrow and bringing pretty much the whole place to a stand still including cancelling all Eurostar between London and Brussels. Cue me flying into a rather large panic about how on earth I was going to get home. Thankfully Eurostar were allowing people to exchange their tickets for another day and so...here I am.
I was due to have 2 classes today, including making a presentation in one of them, dedicated as I am I made it into ISTI, early in fact, only to find that the teacher couldn't make it in, so my last day in Brussels was spent watching DVDs.
All in all I am back in England, ready for Christmas and that is about all I have to say for myself!
I was due to have 2 classes today, including making a presentation in one of them, dedicated as I am I made it into ISTI, early in fact, only to find that the teacher couldn't make it in, so my last day in Brussels was spent watching DVDs.
All in all I am back in England, ready for Christmas and that is about all I have to say for myself!
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
"Attention all passengers, there are meercats in this station"
This weekend, as many of you know, was my last weekend in Brussels before I go back to England for Christmas (2 more sleeps!). I could've spent it making the last minute finishing touches to my coursework or doing some proper work on my essay for Lancaster but instead I got to be a tourist again for the weekend showing Henry everything that Brussels has to offer. On Thursday I wasn't even sure he was going to make it with the snow in the UK and the meltdown it seemed to be causing at Manchester airport, as per usual! Luckily, seeing as I had to make the epic journey out to Charleroi airport armed with magazine, kindle, tea and cereal bars- the flight only came in a little later than it was due to.
This weekend the snow arrived in Brussels too, it wasn't that impressive but I wanted to have proof of it. Apologies for the awful photo but there is only so long you can keep the window open for- it was freezing!
On Saturday we went to the Atomium, tip: don't bother going to Mini Europe when you can just see the whole thing from the Atomium!
I don't know the area around there very well but we decided to have a wander, we were just looking for somewhere to stop for a coffee but actually what we found were the following:
[Oh yeah, and about the meercats (and lets face it the only reason a number of you are bothering to read this), it was just a simple case of misunderstanding on Henrys part when there was an announcement at Midi station warning about pickpockets. Have to say the meercats would be a lot more fun though!]
This weekend the snow arrived in Brussels too, it wasn't that impressive but I wanted to have proof of it. Apologies for the awful photo but there is only so long you can keep the window open for- it was freezing!
On Saturday we went to the Atomium, tip: don't bother going to Mini Europe when you can just see the whole thing from the Atomium!
I'm not sure if I wrote about the Atomium the last time I went so for those of you that don't know it was built in 1958 for the world Expo, so that basically makes it Belgiums answer to the Eiffel tower.
I don't even know what this is I'm afraid...
The Chinese pavillion, and opposite this.....
The Japanese tower. Not the sort of thing you'd usually expect to stumble across in Belgium.
Saturday also brought with it a bit of a navigational fail. We headed to Place Saint Catherine for the Christmas Market and were very disappointed when we got there and just found a few stalls, a creepy looking carousel and a little band playing. We were sure we were in the right place though, after all there was a sign that said Place Saint Catherine... Jenny then told us later that if we'd have just carried on walking we'd have made it to the real market which I must say was significantly more impressive than what we'd seen!
We were going have a look around but there was a service going on at the time, I can't believe I've not actually been in there yet!
Usually when you stumble across some road blocks and a significant police presence including helicopters, a water canon and riot shields your first reaction probably wouldn't be to investigate would it? Well we did, on the basis that curiosity only killed the cat so we should be pretty safe.(For any worried parents/family members reading this, don't worry! We wouldn't have been stupid enough to get into the thick of it, we just wanted to know what was happening...) From what we could tell there wasn't much going on, just a small group of protesters so the police reaction seemed to be a little OTT. I asked a man if he knew what was going on, annoyingly he did tell me in English after having asked in French... but he told me something that roughly adds up to this. Clearly there was a lot more going on than we had seen. As I write this I have seen a lot more police around again today and more road blocks and things so it must still be going on. On our wander we stopped for a chat with the king...
We went and watched the light show on the Grand Place, we were going to hang around and see a woman dressed as a butterfly do something but it was wet and cold, I'm not sure we missed out on much anyway.
On Sunday we went to the Christmas Market (the right one...) in the afternoon. I totally forgot to take any photos, I think I was somewhat distracted by the huge hot dog I was eating. We got to see some people showing off on the ice rink and look at all the stalls. Before we headed there we went to a museum, I've already been but if we hadn't gone Luke probably wouldn't have spoken to Henry for about a week so we had to really. I will happily admit that I didn't enjoy it when I went on my own, but I now realise that was just because I had no clue what I was looking it, when someone else is telling you what it is you're looking at it makes it a lot more interesting. Can't promise I've retained much of it though, other than something about why the edge of some guys hat was folded up...
Yesterday we went to see the Palais de Justice, considerably more impressive than the equivalent in the UK.
This photo was just taken outside, the inside is worth looking at too. It's a shame that I'm not going to get to see it without scaffolding though.
Seriously, how hard is it to find somewhere to eat in Brussels that isn't a tourist trap? Very, I'm telling you. Vietnamese food however = good (although I could've had the exact same thing in a Chinese...)
That basically brings us to the end of my last long weekend in Brussels for 2011. It's been a bit of an epic blog today but I thought including the photos rather than just telling you to look on flickr was kind of me. I really am on countdown now though, I have my suitcase here ready to pack, I've been cleaning the flat and doing the washing- I just want to go home! Wish me luck I have a presentation tomorrow, or at least should do... fun times!
[Oh yeah, and about the meercats (and lets face it the only reason a number of you are bothering to read this), it was just a simple case of misunderstanding on Henrys part when there was an announcement at Midi station warning about pickpockets. Have to say the meercats would be a lot more fun though!]
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Just 6 more sleeps to go.
Being just 7 days (and 6 sleeps) away from heading home for Christmas I thought it was about time for a blog. Since getting back to Brussels from Lille nothing particularly noteworthy has happened other than having now got everything lined up for Granada, the deposit is paid for the room, the flights are booked and Mum is coming with me for the first few days. One of the best things about having the room sorted is that I have a nice 3 weeks to spend at home after my exams are over in Brussels and before I head off to Espana. (Lancaster, beware, I'll be heading up on the last weekend in January!)
The weather here has been terrible for the last few days, and it's a great time to discover a lack of shoes that are watertight, indeed it was actually my Uggs that kept my feet dry the most effectively, but I'm not sure the rain did them much good...I'm not actually sure where the rain is worse, Brussels or Lancaster, either way attempting to use an umbrella is futile.
Tomorrow sees me once again making the epic journey out to Charleroi airport and I'm not even leaving the country. Please cross your fingers that the weather will be ok tomorrow because I really don't feel like hanging round in an airport that is pretty much just a shed on the edge of a field. There is only so much reading I will be able to get done and work I will be able to do sitting at arrivals.
Today all the students in my now to remain unnamed department (although it hardly takes a genius to work it out) received a Christmas Greetings email. Two problems with this, one was that they actually managed to get our departing Vice Chancellors name wrong, he is no longer Wellings but Wellington it seems, he has clearly had a great influence on the staff of the department. They also mentioned a piece of work this is apparently optional but they say they advised us to do- no one has a clue about it, interesting!
Any work that hasn't been done and doesn't get done tomorrow will now have to wait until Tuesday afternoon (and lets face it, with only 2 sleeps until home at that point nothing particularly productive is going to get done) as I will be spending the weekend showing Henry the sites of Brussels, although if the recent weather continues we may have to swim everywhere.
Sorry that this post hasn't been very interesting, I'm sure I'll have another one or two posts to share with you before I head home for Christmas, then I'll go quiet for a while as I presume you don't want to hear all about my Christmas/New Year celebrations, revision and essay writing!
The weather here has been terrible for the last few days, and it's a great time to discover a lack of shoes that are watertight, indeed it was actually my Uggs that kept my feet dry the most effectively, but I'm not sure the rain did them much good...I'm not actually sure where the rain is worse, Brussels or Lancaster, either way attempting to use an umbrella is futile.
Tomorrow sees me once again making the epic journey out to Charleroi airport and I'm not even leaving the country. Please cross your fingers that the weather will be ok tomorrow because I really don't feel like hanging round in an airport that is pretty much just a shed on the edge of a field. There is only so much reading I will be able to get done and work I will be able to do sitting at arrivals.
Today all the students in my now to remain unnamed department (although it hardly takes a genius to work it out) received a Christmas Greetings email. Two problems with this, one was that they actually managed to get our departing Vice Chancellors name wrong, he is no longer Wellings but Wellington it seems, he has clearly had a great influence on the staff of the department. They also mentioned a piece of work this is apparently optional but they say they advised us to do- no one has a clue about it, interesting!
Any work that hasn't been done and doesn't get done tomorrow will now have to wait until Tuesday afternoon (and lets face it, with only 2 sleeps until home at that point nothing particularly productive is going to get done) as I will be spending the weekend showing Henry the sites of Brussels, although if the recent weather continues we may have to swim everywhere.
Sorry that this post hasn't been very interesting, I'm sure I'll have another one or two posts to share with you before I head home for Christmas, then I'll go quiet for a while as I presume you don't want to hear all about my Christmas/New Year celebrations, revision and essay writing!
6 sleeps until home!
Monday, 5 December 2011
Brussels video number 3, and the last of 2011
My last video instalment of 2011, I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think!
Sunday, 13 November 2011
A weekend in Luxembourg- we did a lot of walking!
Walking. This seems to have been the theme of our weekend, and don't get me wrong, I enjoy wandering round and discovering places but I have a limit, and I think my legs have found it this weekend as they are no longer functioning at full capacity I must say....
The journey to Luxembourg city from here isn't too bad, just over 3 hours on the train. It all went swimmingly, until the little screen on the train started saying "Terminus Arlon" (a town in Belgium...) and we started worrying just a little! Luckily it must have meant that Arlon was the last stop in Belgium as the train soon continued onto Luxembourg. Phew! We arrived in a rather cold Luxembourg in the early afternoon and headed off to the hotel to dump our bags. After filling in a form that seemed to want to know everything but my inside leg measurement we got into our room. We decided that the best thing for us to do first would be to go to the tourist information centre to get ourselves a map (as you will later learn it obviously wasn't good enough...). Seeing as it was still mid-afternoon we wanted to wander over to the European area and see everything over there and it made sense to get it over and done with first as it was on the other side of the city. So off we went, in the direction that according to our map and the signposts would lead us to the area with all the EU institutions in it. After a while we were faced with a long path, leading uphill, through the trees. For some reason this didn't strike us as odd, I just remarked that they must send the tourists the scenic route as presumably all the people that work in the EU institutions don't walk this way! So up we went...it didn't take too much longer for us to realise that we clearly weren't going to get there that night. The problem was this being abound 4.30-5pm in November it was starting to get dark and we were on a rough path, through the woods and round an old fort, with no lights. Brilliant. The choice being either to turn back where we'd come- hardly a short distance, or continue we decided to march onwards. Eventually we ended up at what you could loosely term as civilization. I hesitate in calling it this as there seemed to be no people, shops or anything of the sort. By now it was too late to be heading for the EU stuff and about time to be searching for food. Problem. Luxembourg is basically on 2 levels, the high town and the low town. They aren't very well linked-other than by a great many stairs and you'll have a job locating them. So this is how we spent a large part of our first evening in Luxembourg, trying to "escape" the Ville Basse and get back where human life could be found. We managed this - via an epic flight of stairs and a series of rather steep hills. Nice relaxing welcome to Luxembourg.... Food was soon located, and you know you're in a posh expensive restaurant when they take your coats and give you some pea-mousse thing whilst you look at the menu. It was a fish restaurant and all the food looked (and tasted) very nice. We did feel a bit like (bad pun coming....) fish out of water though as we were most certainly the youngest people in there.
Saturday-
On Saturday we had to head to the European area, after all the mess of the night before we had worked out where we'd gone wrong and how we'd ended up underneath the bridge we'd actually wanted to be crossing. As it turns out it is probably for the best that we'd not made it there the previous night as there was a lot to see, it took us a good hour or so to walk round and wouldn't have been so good in the dark. The geek in me wants to go and see the rest of it in Strasbourg now seeing as I've seen the European Commission and all the other bits here and now (here comes the list...) the European Investment Bank, European Court of Justice, European Court of Auditors and the European Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg. I'm pretty sure we also saw where the main translation centre is too. I've been looking into all the types of translation jobs they need in the EU, I'd love to translate for the Court of Justice but that would involve some form of Legal qualification which I don't have, well I can dream can't I?
After this we did a hell of a lot more walking! I've put some photos on Facebook but for those of you not on there I'm about to stick them on Flickr too so I'll give you the link, just give me a chance to get them up there.
2 observations about transport in Luxembourg- there are loads and loads of Audis, especially in the European area where at least I'd say 1 in 3 cars were Audis. Also Luxembourg, despite being tiny seems to be the European Capital of busses or something, there were hundreds of them, often with the very useful destination on the front of "Luxembourg".
After exhausting all the views and monuments of the city, writing postcards and drinking expensive (but very nice) coffee we went to the restaurant next to the one we'd been to the night before. Whilst we were looking at the menu outside the waiter from the other restaurant came past and said hi, 2 young female students were probably a rare occurrence for that place, must've been easily recognisable or something! When we were inside we were offered the English menu and caused some confusion when we asked for the French, and one of the waiters clearly wasn't sure as he insisted on speaking to us in English each time, although the others did at least stick to the French. When we ordered the waiter asked me if I was sure that was what I wanted, did I know what it was? I thought I did having read the English version of the menu outside but evidentially it was a different thing entirely. What I was ordering, the internet now tells me, was part of a pigs large intestine.... yuuummmmm :S I'm glad I didn't go for that in the end then... As the exciting, party-animal, Erasmus students we are, we then returned to the hotel, got into our PJs and watched Danse avec les Stars.....
Sunday- To round off our trip we headed to the Museum of the History of Luxembourg City, presuming that the museum would be some what relative to the size of the city itself, it was surprisingly big though but a nice way to spend our last morning before heading back to the station and returning to Brussels.
I know I've already told you how much we walked, but seriously, my legs really really ache now. I've had my exercise for the week. Maybe I don't need to climb the stairs every day?!
My Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bexnobes/
The journey to Luxembourg city from here isn't too bad, just over 3 hours on the train. It all went swimmingly, until the little screen on the train started saying "Terminus Arlon" (a town in Belgium...) and we started worrying just a little! Luckily it must have meant that Arlon was the last stop in Belgium as the train soon continued onto Luxembourg. Phew! We arrived in a rather cold Luxembourg in the early afternoon and headed off to the hotel to dump our bags. After filling in a form that seemed to want to know everything but my inside leg measurement we got into our room. We decided that the best thing for us to do first would be to go to the tourist information centre to get ourselves a map (as you will later learn it obviously wasn't good enough...). Seeing as it was still mid-afternoon we wanted to wander over to the European area and see everything over there and it made sense to get it over and done with first as it was on the other side of the city. So off we went, in the direction that according to our map and the signposts would lead us to the area with all the EU institutions in it. After a while we were faced with a long path, leading uphill, through the trees. For some reason this didn't strike us as odd, I just remarked that they must send the tourists the scenic route as presumably all the people that work in the EU institutions don't walk this way! So up we went...it didn't take too much longer for us to realise that we clearly weren't going to get there that night. The problem was this being abound 4.30-5pm in November it was starting to get dark and we were on a rough path, through the woods and round an old fort, with no lights. Brilliant. The choice being either to turn back where we'd come- hardly a short distance, or continue we decided to march onwards. Eventually we ended up at what you could loosely term as civilization. I hesitate in calling it this as there seemed to be no people, shops or anything of the sort. By now it was too late to be heading for the EU stuff and about time to be searching for food. Problem. Luxembourg is basically on 2 levels, the high town and the low town. They aren't very well linked-other than by a great many stairs and you'll have a job locating them. So this is how we spent a large part of our first evening in Luxembourg, trying to "escape" the Ville Basse and get back where human life could be found. We managed this - via an epic flight of stairs and a series of rather steep hills. Nice relaxing welcome to Luxembourg.... Food was soon located, and you know you're in a posh expensive restaurant when they take your coats and give you some pea-mousse thing whilst you look at the menu. It was a fish restaurant and all the food looked (and tasted) very nice. We did feel a bit like (bad pun coming....) fish out of water though as we were most certainly the youngest people in there.
Saturday-
On Saturday we had to head to the European area, after all the mess of the night before we had worked out where we'd gone wrong and how we'd ended up underneath the bridge we'd actually wanted to be crossing. As it turns out it is probably for the best that we'd not made it there the previous night as there was a lot to see, it took us a good hour or so to walk round and wouldn't have been so good in the dark. The geek in me wants to go and see the rest of it in Strasbourg now seeing as I've seen the European Commission and all the other bits here and now (here comes the list...) the European Investment Bank, European Court of Justice, European Court of Auditors and the European Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg. I'm pretty sure we also saw where the main translation centre is too. I've been looking into all the types of translation jobs they need in the EU, I'd love to translate for the Court of Justice but that would involve some form of Legal qualification which I don't have, well I can dream can't I?
After this we did a hell of a lot more walking! I've put some photos on Facebook but for those of you not on there I'm about to stick them on Flickr too so I'll give you the link, just give me a chance to get them up there.
2 observations about transport in Luxembourg- there are loads and loads of Audis, especially in the European area where at least I'd say 1 in 3 cars were Audis. Also Luxembourg, despite being tiny seems to be the European Capital of busses or something, there were hundreds of them, often with the very useful destination on the front of "Luxembourg".
After exhausting all the views and monuments of the city, writing postcards and drinking expensive (but very nice) coffee we went to the restaurant next to the one we'd been to the night before. Whilst we were looking at the menu outside the waiter from the other restaurant came past and said hi, 2 young female students were probably a rare occurrence for that place, must've been easily recognisable or something! When we were inside we were offered the English menu and caused some confusion when we asked for the French, and one of the waiters clearly wasn't sure as he insisted on speaking to us in English each time, although the others did at least stick to the French. When we ordered the waiter asked me if I was sure that was what I wanted, did I know what it was? I thought I did having read the English version of the menu outside but evidentially it was a different thing entirely. What I was ordering, the internet now tells me, was part of a pigs large intestine.... yuuummmmm :S I'm glad I didn't go for that in the end then... As the exciting, party-animal, Erasmus students we are, we then returned to the hotel, got into our PJs and watched Danse avec les Stars.....
Sunday- To round off our trip we headed to the Museum of the History of Luxembourg City, presuming that the museum would be some what relative to the size of the city itself, it was surprisingly big though but a nice way to spend our last morning before heading back to the station and returning to Brussels.
I know I've already told you how much we walked, but seriously, my legs really really ache now. I've had my exercise for the week. Maybe I don't need to climb the stairs every day?!
My Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bexnobes/
Monday, 7 November 2011
My 30th blog post
Well here it is, my 30th post, milestone eh? Somehow we've arrived at the second week of November and I have little to no recollection of where October disappeared to...
Before I tell you what I've been up to I'm going to have a little moan about Ryanair and their lack of geographical skills (which frankly, for an airline, is rather worrying). They fly into an airport that they call Brussels, but it isn't Brussels main airport. Indeed it isn't even in Brussels, no, it is an hours train journey followed by a 20 minute bus journey away! That's about the same length of the flight back to England! Very annoying! Especially as I'm flying from there to go to Madrid and I have a friend flying in there in December. Cheers Ryanair! Your flights may be cheap but the costs add up afterwards don't they?!
Sorry, now I've had my little Ryanair rant I'll continue...
Where did I leave off? I reckon the last thing I wrote about was probably going to Lancaster? Since then I've been spending time with my grandparents as well as trying to cram in some work. We visited Bruges for a day and also went to Antwerp. We also went to the EU Parliament visitor centre which I did in English this time to pick up the things I missed when I did it in French. Also discovered a room which we missed last time and that I actually think was one of the best bits because it explains how the parliament actually works etc.
It has actually dawned on me now that I only have 2 clear weekends in which I can do any work because for all the others I am either away or have someone visiting. Basically I need to put my foot down and get cracking with it now. The ISTI work is going to have to take priority and DELC 310 can take a back seat, but I really don't want it hanging over me in Spain...
Today I need to get some planning done for my Law essay, although not too much as I've not had the go ahead for my topic yet, and then I have a couple of classes to go to this afternoon. Then I'm off out for a meal with my grandparents.
I leave you with a photo of a common scene across our days out this week and another to bear in mind:
Before I tell you what I've been up to I'm going to have a little moan about Ryanair and their lack of geographical skills (which frankly, for an airline, is rather worrying). They fly into an airport that they call Brussels, but it isn't Brussels main airport. Indeed it isn't even in Brussels, no, it is an hours train journey followed by a 20 minute bus journey away! That's about the same length of the flight back to England! Very annoying! Especially as I'm flying from there to go to Madrid and I have a friend flying in there in December. Cheers Ryanair! Your flights may be cheap but the costs add up afterwards don't they?!
Sorry, now I've had my little Ryanair rant I'll continue...
Where did I leave off? I reckon the last thing I wrote about was probably going to Lancaster? Since then I've been spending time with my grandparents as well as trying to cram in some work. We visited Bruges for a day and also went to Antwerp. We also went to the EU Parliament visitor centre which I did in English this time to pick up the things I missed when I did it in French. Also discovered a room which we missed last time and that I actually think was one of the best bits because it explains how the parliament actually works etc.
It has actually dawned on me now that I only have 2 clear weekends in which I can do any work because for all the others I am either away or have someone visiting. Basically I need to put my foot down and get cracking with it now. The ISTI work is going to have to take priority and DELC 310 can take a back seat, but I really don't want it hanging over me in Spain...
Today I need to get some planning done for my Law essay, although not too much as I've not had the go ahead for my topic yet, and then I have a couple of classes to go to this afternoon. Then I'm off out for a meal with my grandparents.
I leave you with a photo of a common scene across our days out this week and another to bear in mind:
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
All set up for the 2nd half of my Belgian adventure.
As you'll probably know I spent my weekend in Lancaster and I had a great time. Lets get the bad bits out of the way with first:
- My Brussels-Manchester flight was delayed by 3 hours meaning I had to cancel my hairdressers appointment and waste 4 hours in the airport.
- I had to literally run from terminal 3 arrivals to the station in order to make my train.
- My Manchester-Brussels plane was showing all signs of being on time until we reached the gate and to put it technically "there is a bit of a tear in the wing, they're going to patch it up and it should be fine". Long story short we switched planes (to one 41 gates away) after being more than an hour delayed.
- Having to leave (Although as someone has quite rightly pointed out to me, I have to leave in order to be able to go back)
But aside from these 4 point I had a great time. It was 100% the right choice to have made. I feel happy now that half way through my time out here before Christmas (yes, it really is, scary how time flies right?) that I've been back and seen everyone. Spent my time well by going to Wib Wobs, seeing LUGleeC perform and going to Sugar, as well as a hair cut, Halloween party, pub lunch and an afternoon spent on the Wii (and I didn't even lose Mario Karts!). I'm sure time is going to go even quicker for this second half because I've got so much planned.
I'm spending time with my grandparents over the next few days so I'll be back with you when I have anything to report!
Sunday, 16 October 2011
So far so good (Video)
I'd originally intended to video blogs but it's not really my thing so I'll probably make this a monthly thing, let me know what you think :)
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Brussels- European capital of repetitive radio!
Come back Heart Essex, all is forgiven, I have found worse radio. I listen to Radio Contact here in Belgium but seriously, I hear the same songs everyday. 3 or 4 times. Add to this the fact that there is a hell of a lot of British 90s music (Fine at Sugar on a Friday but everyday?!) and Heart radio actually becomes quite appealing. I stick to it for the French practise but if anyone can reccomend something better please do. Having said this whilst writing I am being treated to a song I've never heard before!
This week there has been a real lack of anything interesting going on really as far as ISTI is concerned. Getting into the swing of classes and even starting to get given work to do which for now is actually a bit of a novelty but no doubt it will wear off soon enough. In the end I've taken 29 credits which is just 11 hours of classes and means that esentially I can afford to fail a few credits (namely the Law module and the English to French translation as they're the only non Erasmus modules I'm doing) because Lancaster just take our best 22.5 credits per semester.
It would be nice just to have a straight forward week or 2 without getting stressed about other things but the other day my mind turned to semester 2 and my plans to go to Granada, possibly the Uni in Spain with the most Erasmus students and the biggest "party" atmosphere. Doesn't sound exactly perfect for me does it? Why this has only just occured to me I'm unsure but I am now seriously considering starting a fan club for one of my Spanish tutors who even offered to Skype me to talk about it. I'm hoping to switch to Girona where I think I'd be more comforatable, I know someone already there and someone who would be starting at the same time and I'd get to improve my Catalan at the same time, bonus. (Another added bonus is that I would most likely be back in England in time to say good-bye to people at Grad Ball which would be quite nice but that really would just be an extra). Nothing is at all confirmed about this at the moment but hopefully I'll hear back soon and know one way or the other. I have nothing against Granada, it's a lovely place and I'm sure I'll have a great time if I do go there, I just think I would be more comfortable in Girona, despite meaning that I'll more than likely have to fly out straight from Brussels with my Mum bringing a case of "Spain clothes" to swap with me- not ideal!
I'll keep you updated with it all!
Got an exciting trip tomorrow down a mine and then around Liege, not got any exciting plans for the weekend other than discovering a shopping centre and town and hunting down a cheap but small case for my trip back to Lancaster. Wish me luck and I'll blog again soon!
This week there has been a real lack of anything interesting going on really as far as ISTI is concerned. Getting into the swing of classes and even starting to get given work to do which for now is actually a bit of a novelty but no doubt it will wear off soon enough. In the end I've taken 29 credits which is just 11 hours of classes and means that esentially I can afford to fail a few credits (namely the Law module and the English to French translation as they're the only non Erasmus modules I'm doing) because Lancaster just take our best 22.5 credits per semester.
It would be nice just to have a straight forward week or 2 without getting stressed about other things but the other day my mind turned to semester 2 and my plans to go to Granada, possibly the Uni in Spain with the most Erasmus students and the biggest "party" atmosphere. Doesn't sound exactly perfect for me does it? Why this has only just occured to me I'm unsure but I am now seriously considering starting a fan club for one of my Spanish tutors who even offered to Skype me to talk about it. I'm hoping to switch to Girona where I think I'd be more comforatable, I know someone already there and someone who would be starting at the same time and I'd get to improve my Catalan at the same time, bonus. (Another added bonus is that I would most likely be back in England in time to say good-bye to people at Grad Ball which would be quite nice but that really would just be an extra). Nothing is at all confirmed about this at the moment but hopefully I'll hear back soon and know one way or the other. I have nothing against Granada, it's a lovely place and I'm sure I'll have a great time if I do go there, I just think I would be more comfortable in Girona, despite meaning that I'll more than likely have to fly out straight from Brussels with my Mum bringing a case of "Spain clothes" to swap with me- not ideal!
I'll keep you updated with it all!
Got an exciting trip tomorrow down a mine and then around Liege, not got any exciting plans for the weekend other than discovering a shopping centre and town and hunting down a cheap but small case for my trip back to Lancaster. Wish me luck and I'll blog again soon!
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
"Do you have any friends in Brussels?"
Last night whilst watching Friends (yes, bad French student...watching TV in English) with my flat mate and her boyfriend she asks me a question (again in English, I'll get better, I promise...!) Now all I really heard of what she said were the words do, you and friends so excuse me for presuming that she was asking me if I watch Friends. So I proceeded to tell her that yes, indeed I do, and in fact I probably know all the words as I used to watch it after school all the time. She looked so confused and I wondered why, until she said "my question was actually do you have any friends in Brussels!"...oh dear, doesn't bode well for my French if I can't even understand English!
This morning Mum, Dad and I went to the Atomium, after braving my first solo trip across town on the tram. We spent the morning there (I'll steal some of the photos off of Mum at some point). In the afternoon we went to see the Manekin Pis, Mum and Dad were dissappointed at the size, take that as you will... Afterwards I headed off to meet James and Jenny from Lancaster and a girl I met on the internet called Nikki, coming on Erasmus from another UK uni as well as her friend Vera from Portugal. We even attempted French for a bit, even if just for 10 mins before digressing back into English! Off to ISTI tomorrow so maybe we'll get going with things, at least I hope so.
Tonight holds another proper tea with Mum and Dad and some essential Waterloo Road viewing on the BBC (Which I won't be able to watch the rest of unless someone can tell me a cheeky way of watching it without iPlayer?) before heading back to my flat.
Night all :)
This morning Mum, Dad and I went to the Atomium, after braving my first solo trip across town on the tram. We spent the morning there (I'll steal some of the photos off of Mum at some point). In the afternoon we went to see the Manekin Pis, Mum and Dad were dissappointed at the size, take that as you will... Afterwards I headed off to meet James and Jenny from Lancaster and a girl I met on the internet called Nikki, coming on Erasmus from another UK uni as well as her friend Vera from Portugal. We even attempted French for a bit, even if just for 10 mins before digressing back into English! Off to ISTI tomorrow so maybe we'll get going with things, at least I hope so.
Tonight holds another proper tea with Mum and Dad and some essential Waterloo Road viewing on the BBC (Which I won't be able to watch the rest of unless someone can tell me a cheeky way of watching it without iPlayer?) before heading back to my flat.
Night all :)
Monday, 12 September 2011
A place to call home
Lets just start off by saying that for those of you that don't yet know- I have somewhere to live!!! Yipeeeeeee!
I'm not sure there is really a huge amount to tell. This weekend I visited 2 flats, but remember I visited 8 when I came out here with Mum before. Rather than waste your time telling you about the one I didn't pick I'll tell you about this one! I'm living in a 2 bed flat with a girl from France that is working out here. I have a nice room which I have added my own touches to after a trip to Ikea! (Quite exciting getting a flat pack desk, a chair, a rug, a mirror and other bits on and off the metro/tram!) I have internet (essential!) and a dishwasher, washing machine and dryer which is great.
Going to spend some time with Mum and Dad over the next couple of days. I have to go to ISTI for a meeting on Thursday and they leave on Friday.
I'm sure there was plenty more for me to be telling you but it has escaped me so that will do for now :)
Night x
I'm not sure there is really a huge amount to tell. This weekend I visited 2 flats, but remember I visited 8 when I came out here with Mum before. Rather than waste your time telling you about the one I didn't pick I'll tell you about this one! I'm living in a 2 bed flat with a girl from France that is working out here. I have a nice room which I have added my own touches to after a trip to Ikea! (Quite exciting getting a flat pack desk, a chair, a rug, a mirror and other bits on and off the metro/tram!) I have internet (essential!) and a dishwasher, washing machine and dryer which is great.
Going to spend some time with Mum and Dad over the next couple of days. I have to go to ISTI for a meeting on Thursday and they leave on Friday.
I'm sure there was plenty more for me to be telling you but it has escaped me so that will do for now :)
Night x
Friday, 9 September 2011
♫ Adieu, adieu to you and you and you ♫
The time has come for me to write my last blog post from the UK until I come back at Christmas. Ideally I'd like to be writing this knowing that I'm off to Brussels to move in to my new home and can worry about other things like making sure I have a mobile phone etc but as you'll know by now that just wasn't to be! Instead I'm off to spend at least a few nights on the sofa at the apartment my parents are renting for the week. I have a few flats lined up, one tomorrow, one Sunday and one Monday so fingers crossed I'll be able to have one of them.
I'm looking forward to it all now, but I won't be happy about it all until I'm sorted out, I just want to get started on the basis that the quicker I start classes etc, the quicker it will be Christmas and the quicker I'll be home again (or so that is the theory).
I guess I don't really have anything much to say. I don't know when the next post will be but it will no doubt be when I actually have somewhere to live- without that there won't be much point in writing!
Aurevoir Angleterre.
I'm looking forward to it all now, but I won't be happy about it all until I'm sorted out, I just want to get started on the basis that the quicker I start classes etc, the quicker it will be Christmas and the quicker I'll be home again (or so that is the theory).
I guess I don't really have anything much to say. I don't know when the next post will be but it will no doubt be when I actually have somewhere to live- without that there won't be much point in writing!
Aurevoir Angleterre.
Thursday, 8 September 2011
♫ It's the final countdown ♪
I'm going to have that song in my head for a long time now I'm sure but never mind.
In 2 days time I will be in London waiting for the Eurostar to take my parents and I to Brussels. Luckily for my lack of housing situation my parents are coming out and staying in an apartment for a week so it at least gives me half a chance of finding somewhere and moving in without resorting to a hostel. We've (and by we I mean mostly Mum whilst I've been in Stafford-Thank you Mummy!) been looking on all the websites we can find for rooms. We've got one appointment booked up and have sent some more messages so hopefully another few should come out of it. I'll spare you from the nightmare-ish stories I've heard about other people trying to find accomodation, but just put it this way, Brussels is not that easy for an Erasmus student only staying for 5 months- believe me!
I guess I better get started on the packing tonight, very unlike me to have done as little as I have so far but I just haven't been at home enough to do it- which I'm fully aware is my own fault, but worth it because I got to see Nicola, Katy, Henry and Luke before I leave which is nice.
I'm just looking forward to getting out there now, finding myself somewhere to live, meeting people and getting on with it! The fact that I'm going to have to speak French at some point is in the back of my mind but it may come sooner rather than later as some of the adverts I've been replying to are just in French. In fact I think my only confirmed appointment is French.... wish me luck!
In 2 days time I will be in London waiting for the Eurostar to take my parents and I to Brussels. Luckily for my lack of housing situation my parents are coming out and staying in an apartment for a week so it at least gives me half a chance of finding somewhere and moving in without resorting to a hostel. We've (and by we I mean mostly Mum whilst I've been in Stafford-Thank you Mummy!) been looking on all the websites we can find for rooms. We've got one appointment booked up and have sent some more messages so hopefully another few should come out of it. I'll spare you from the nightmare-ish stories I've heard about other people trying to find accomodation, but just put it this way, Brussels is not that easy for an Erasmus student only staying for 5 months- believe me!
I guess I better get started on the packing tonight, very unlike me to have done as little as I have so far but I just haven't been at home enough to do it- which I'm fully aware is my own fault, but worth it because I got to see Nicola, Katy, Henry and Luke before I leave which is nice.
I'm just looking forward to getting out there now, finding myself somewhere to live, meeting people and getting on with it! The fact that I'm going to have to speak French at some point is in the back of my mind but it may come sooner rather than later as some of the adverts I've been replying to are just in French. In fact I think my only confirmed appointment is French.... wish me luck!
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Now you see it....now you don't!
Yesterday I recieved a message telling me that, despite the guarantee that the room was mine, despite the phone call and despite having sent me the contract my landlady-to-be had let my room to someone else. The best part was that she said "I know you'll be dissappointed" "Good luck in your search" and sent me a link to a B&B website! As if that is going to help me for 5 months....
Angry, upset, frustrated it doesn't even begin to cover it.
So, I'm back to square one and on the search again. At least I'm making the most of my appartager membership that we paid for... Wish me luck everyone!
I will be in Brussels a week today.
Angry, upset, frustrated it doesn't even begin to cover it.
So, I'm back to square one and on the search again. At least I'm making the most of my appartager membership that we paid for... Wish me luck everyone!
I will be in Brussels a week today.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Nothing is ever quite as straight forward as it seems...
This is going to be a quick one today but just to keep those of you that are interested in the loop.
I recieved a 7 page long contract, in French, for the room. Well, I do say I want to go into Legal Translation, maybe it's a good start? All well and good I thought, but some things are a bit confusing and a bit akward, one of them being setting up a standing order, easier said than done to an international account. I also found out I've not seen a picture of the room I will actually be having, so will be waiting a little longer. The rest of what I have seen looks really nice and I've spoken to my potential landlady and she sounds very friendly. Fingers crossed all goes well, I should know pretty much by the end of the week!
As far as other progress goes I have a small pile of things to pack so far, not including anything essential like clothes. Leaving in 9 days and probably less than 50% ready!
I recieved a 7 page long contract, in French, for the room. Well, I do say I want to go into Legal Translation, maybe it's a good start? All well and good I thought, but some things are a bit confusing and a bit akward, one of them being setting up a standing order, easier said than done to an international account. I also found out I've not seen a picture of the room I will actually be having, so will be waiting a little longer. The rest of what I have seen looks really nice and I've spoken to my potential landlady and she sounds very friendly. Fingers crossed all goes well, I should know pretty much by the end of the week!
As far as other progress goes I have a small pile of things to pack so far, not including anything essential like clothes. Leaving in 9 days and probably less than 50% ready!
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
The Brussels house hunt saga
So, this weekend Mum and I went to Brussels to visit some rooms and find me somewhere to live when I start at ISTI. This came after weeks and weeks of searching a lining up appointments. We left England with 4 appointments and actually managed to see 8 rooms by the end of the weekend. However, did I have anywhere to live by the end of the weekend? Of course not. This is how the weekend went...
The first house we went to see was amazing. There are no other words for it. It was a newly renovated house (not actually finished yet) all brand new furniture, well decorated. Perfect, we thought. About half way through the viewing the landlord tells us that he doesn't accept students. So we told him that I am a student, he looks a bit taken-aback but continues to show us around and that its not really a problem. We leave the house on a high. This is the one. So, once we're back at the hotel I text and email him to say we definitely want the room and we spend the rest of the evening waiting for his reply whilst planning what we're going to do with the rest of the weekend now we don't need to keep house hunting. By the morning we still haven't heard back so we decide to call.
Over the course of the weekend we saw a room with no windows and a sofa bed to sleep on, a room where "the plants (including a large palm tree) must stay, the flat is feng shui" and a room that was barely furnished amongst others. Another really good room came along but they already has someone interested that wanted the room for 12 months. We even booked a very last minute viewing just to have him cancel on us.
Once we got back to England I checked my email, "You have a new message from an Appartager* member"
This message was from a lady I have been waiting for a reply from for over a week, I think she's been away, it was always a lovely looking house, big rooms. In short I loved it. She was offering me the chance to go and visit. Now that I was back in England. Great. I emailed her back, on the off chance that she will let me take the room without meeting her which I didn't think was likely. But.....she said yes! She is going to send me some photos this evening and then if that is all ok she will send me a contract to sign. Watch this space but I might not have to borrow a tent or sleep in a cardboard box.
Lesson: No matter how much preparation you do, you still might not find what you're looking for. Good luck to anyone else going out on their year abroad and sorting out accommodation. To those of you who had a room sorted out for you by your school/uni/employer, I hope you appreciate how lucky you are!
Now for my last 11 days in the UK, scary times!
*Appartager is the flat share site I've been using to search for rooms.
Brussels Fact: It is 242 miles away from home if you drive, that makes it 36 miles closer than driving to Lancaster. So much for a year abroad!
The first house we went to see was amazing. There are no other words for it. It was a newly renovated house (not actually finished yet) all brand new furniture, well decorated. Perfect, we thought. About half way through the viewing the landlord tells us that he doesn't accept students. So we told him that I am a student, he looks a bit taken-aback but continues to show us around and that its not really a problem. We leave the house on a high. This is the one. So, once we're back at the hotel I text and email him to say we definitely want the room and we spend the rest of the evening waiting for his reply whilst planning what we're going to do with the rest of the weekend now we don't need to keep house hunting. By the morning we still haven't heard back so we decide to call.
"Sorry Rebecca, it's not you, you're a lovely girl and I'd love to give you the room but I've got to stick to my rule of not taking students".
He was dumping me before it had even begun, "it's not you, it's me" and he hadn't even had the guts to say it to my face. With this, we were back at square one! Onwards and upwards. Didn't want your silly room with views over the city anyway...Over the course of the weekend we saw a room with no windows and a sofa bed to sleep on, a room where "the plants (including a large palm tree) must stay, the flat is feng shui" and a room that was barely furnished amongst others. Another really good room came along but they already has someone interested that wanted the room for 12 months. We even booked a very last minute viewing just to have him cancel on us.
We left Brussels without having found somewhere for me to stay. Typical.
Once we got back to England I checked my email, "You have a new message from an Appartager* member"
This message was from a lady I have been waiting for a reply from for over a week, I think she's been away, it was always a lovely looking house, big rooms. In short I loved it. She was offering me the chance to go and visit. Now that I was back in England. Great. I emailed her back, on the off chance that she will let me take the room without meeting her which I didn't think was likely. But.....she said yes! She is going to send me some photos this evening and then if that is all ok she will send me a contract to sign. Watch this space but I might not have to borrow a tent or sleep in a cardboard box.
Lesson: No matter how much preparation you do, you still might not find what you're looking for. Good luck to anyone else going out on their year abroad and sorting out accommodation. To those of you who had a room sorted out for you by your school/uni/employer, I hope you appreciate how lucky you are!
Now for my last 11 days in the UK, scary times!
*Appartager is the flat share site I've been using to search for rooms.
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