Greetings from Bruxelles everyone!!

I made it here in one piece this morning at 7:50 a.m. (1:50 a.m. for everyone back in the states). My flight was great! We left on time, arrived on time and had minimal turbulence along the way. I have to admit, I was skeptical about flying with Jet Airways, as they were not exactly the most helpful over the phone when we were inquiring about flying without a return ticket. However my flight was most enjoyable, complete with dinner, breakfast, my choice of in-flight movies on a nice touch screen in front of me, comfortable seating, and hot towels! I watched Surrogates with Bruce Willis, which was an adaptation of a graphic novel I own, and was severely disappointed by the poor transition from the page to the big screen. I also watched The Informant! with Matt Damon and enjoyed it more than the first movie, though it wasn't anything spectacular either. The food was better than I expected, and the hot towels that came before the meals were very refreshing! The Indian flight attendants were very friendly and helped make the experience as pleasant as it was.

Once I got off the plane I had to go through customs where I was hassled about my stay here in Belgium. I told the man who was questioning me that I was here for travel and that I was staying with my girlfriend. He proceeded to ask me for proof of my return ticket, to see my credit card, how much money was in my account, and proof that my mother would be depositing money into the account (200 dollars is not enough for 2 months here and he thought I'd be working illegally to support myself). Just uncalled for, considering three girls with no return tickets home and no student visas were simply flirted with and sent on their way by another attendant. 

Eventually the man at customs let me go, but not before lecturing me about working illegally in a pub or some malarky. I got my luggage, found my taxi driver and met three other girls who had just arrived and are also going to be attending Vesalius for the semester. I rode with one of them to her apartment in the taxi before I was taken to my host family's place. They don't live too far from where I'm staying and we might all meet up tomorrow night to do some stuff around the city. 

The Piettes are the family I'm staying with. They're an adorable older couple who have been married for 43 years now (and they were engaged for 3 so it's technically 46!). Mrs. Piette only speaks French and Spanish and a little bit of English. Mr. Piette is much more fluent than she is in my native tongue, and he is always translating what I say to her in French, it's funny. They have two cats who are lots of fun to watch jump around everywhere! Mr. Piette let them out in the snow and they were climbing up trees and jumping on each other... very entertaining! My room is nice and spacious, about the size of my dorm room at school but without all the excess furniture, and I'm in it by myself! The two girls who are supposed to be living in the house with me had their flight canceled due to weather, so they won't be here until tomorrow.

I used the metro for the first time today! I took line 5 into Central Station to meet up with Toni and get a beer after her first exam this morning. I still have no phone so trying to find her was kind of a crap shoot, and was a little nerve wracking since I got to the station almost an hour before she did, but we found each other as soon as she got there and all was well. We walked around Brussels and saw some BEAUTIFUL architecture. We went into this one very nice cathedral that I hope to return to for Sunday mass at some point. I got a "Lucifer" beer at this pub called Delirium that has 2004 beers to choose from! It was a tasty brew, and at 8% alcohol got me feeling a heavy buzz after just one. At least drinking for me will be cheap here! After my first beer in Belgium we walked around the cobblestone streets and found a waffle place where I had my first waffle in Belgium! But not before checking out the famous Mannequin Pis statue that was right next to the shop. The bronze naked little boy peeing into a fountain was put in place around 1618 so it's all historic and junk. After our waffles we did a little window shopping and more exploring. Toni took me to this spot that offers a breathtaking view of the city! I took some pictures but they didn't come out too well so I will have to return on a day with some better weather.

After my short tour of the city it was time for Toni and I to go our separate ways, leaving me all alone to hop on the wrong train home! I accidentally got on line 1 because it shares the same path as line 5 for a while. Once I split off in the wrong direction however, I noticed it and quickly hopped off and put myself on the right train home. Dinner at the house is at 7:30 each night, and the Piettes have a doorbell kinda thing that they ring to let everyone in the house know that food's ready, it's neat! We had some chicken, salad and french fries for dinner, followed by a rich chocolate pudding for dessert, all of which was delicious.

I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep from the past 22 so it's high time I turned in for the night... I have no plans or obligations for tomorrow so hopefully I'll get a chance to explore the city a little more. I need to learn French really bad, everyone here speaks it and I feel way too much like an outsider! I'll be back tomorrow with more fun stuff to write about I'm sure.