exciting parts of an otherwise boring week

Hello, world!! It's a disgusting, rainy, windy Friday here in Leuven and I'm here to tell you about some highlights from my not-so-exciting week...


First things first, IT'S OCTOBER. Seriously, it just came out of nowhere. Did it surprise anyone else? No? Maybe just me. But it also means that I have little over three months left here, which really is a long time when you think about it. But I've started planning out travel adventures and things like that, and there's just not as many weekends as I thought there would be! So yeah. It's October now, and I think that's exciting.


Secondly, we had a fun Sunday afternoon! We met with some friends at the only Irish pub here in Leuven and watched the Irish Hurling finals. So, I'd never heard of hurling before.. but by the end, I'd say I understood it pretty well! And I got a real, Irish beer - Guinness! So that was a good start to the week!

Friends!

Thirdly, I got a bike! It was an adventure getting there too, let me tell ya. It was probably a thirty minute or so walk from my house, and I got lost a couple times.. oops. And I thought it would be really smart to try and rent a bike an hour before I had class, so I was worried about being late.. But then I found it! And I found my bike. And it was love at first sight. Well not quite.. it was just the first one that I saw, and it was the right height for me, so I just went for it! Take a look...

Isn't she pretty?!

It was INCREDIBLY intimidating being in this bike shop. Everything was running like such a well-oiled machine, and I knew I was just messing up all their structure and seamless action. And I don't speak Dutch, have I mentioned that? Always seems to get in the way...


Fourth, I went grocery shopping and invested in this DELICIOUS spread called "speculoos." It's. Awesome. Even better than Nutella. It's made from speculoos cookies, which are the equivalent of something like a Biscoff cookie in the States. It's sometimes referred to as "cookie butter." Is your mouth watering yet? It was a fantastic find. I'm pumped.

Fifth, I'm officially registered for classes! And this week I actually just finished my first full week of class. It probably seems insane to everyone at home, but that's just how the semesters work here. Students in Europe don't actually take their finals until after Christmas break, in January. I'll have to take my finals in my last week of class before I leave, which is unusual. But yes - I have official classes! I'm an official registered student! For all who care to know, these are my courses...

Introduction to Islam

Globalization, Culture, and Identity: Theories and Application to Asian Cultures

International Marketing

Persuasive Communication

Human Rights

Performance Management

Hooray! Actually, half of my classes are Masters, or graduate, courses. Which is slightly intimidating.. but I can do it! Right?

Sixth, I MIGHT BE JOINING A CHOIR! Yes, that's real life. Last night I went to the first rehearsal for the Leuven University Choir.. it was a call-out meeting of sorts, and we learned music that will be used in the tryout next week. Ah! Want to know something crazy? All the announcements, instructions, and everything were in Dutch. Ha. Awesome. I guess I had this mindset that there would be a bunch of international students there, so most of the talking would be in English. NOPE! All in Dutch. Luckily, I was sitting next to a girl who was really nice and translated important stuff for me. 

The music was in foreign languages, but that's fine. I'm used to that from home. Dr. Batchvarova - if you're reading this - I think every choir has a designated "shusher," because there were certainly a couple in the choir last night :)

It was comforting to be singing again. I may not have understood anything coming out of the choir director's mouth, but the actual music is an international language that I understand despite what everyone around me speaks. 

Seventh, WE BOOKED OUR PLANE TICKETS, HOSTEL STAYS, AND TRANSPORTATION TO DUBLIN/GALWAY. If you couldn't tell by my all-caps statement, I'm a little bit excited. I'm going to Ireland!!! We'll be there for about four days, and we've got big plans. More to come on that once it gets closer.. still like a month away, but I'm glad we're planning ahead and getting ready for it!! Quite exciting. 

Finally, we're going to Luxembourg tomorrow! I can't remember if I already posted something about that.. but it's exciting! Our first on-our-own trip to a new country! We picked up our train tickets and everything today. Hooray! I'll post about it next Monday or Tuesday, I'm sure. 

So, I apologize for this rambling post.. Nothing really big happened this week, just a lot of little stuff that was kinda sorta a little bit exciting. So I thought I'd share :)

Have a happy weekend! Sending love from Leuven.. and Luxembourg!!