Rivers & Roads

     On Sunday there was a big cycling race here in Belgium, the Ronde Van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders)! The race is 256km (~159 miles) all throughout Belgium starting in Bruges and ending in Oudenaarde (the town that Simon was born in!). Lucky for us though the race was going right through Simon's home town, so we went there for the day to catch some of the race! It was really fun to see everyone lining the streets waving flags and cheering all the cyclists on. We rode our bikes over to a steep hill near his house to watch the race, its a little more fun to see them on a hill because they ride by a "little" bit slower and you get to see them really working hard. This race is really famous because Flanders has so many cobble stone streets and hills it makes for a pretty difficult race for the cyclists. Another fun part that I didn't realize until the day before the race but someone I know from high school, Taylor Phinney, who is now a pro cyclists was in the race! He did very well, he was in the break for most of the race which was exciting to see!

In other news, I have gotten a few requests to talk a bit more about my life here with Simon and show a few more pictures of him. He is an illusive character who does not allow his picture to be taken very much, but I will do my best to start including some more shots of him; I snuck in a couple this weekend at the race. But as most people reading this know, this is the first time I have ever lived with a boy let alone a boyfriend! Coming here I was a little nervous about how it was going to be living together, whether we would fight over who does the dishes or who takes out the trash, just stupid roommate quarrels. I was also nervous about the fact that since I am not working and am at the apartment a lot that we might get sick of being around each other so much, I mean everyone needs their alone time. But everything has been going really well! I feel like our living styles are pretty similar, we are not crazy neat freaks but we also don't like things getting too dirty. Simon is a much better cook than I am so he has been making most of our dinners while I do the dishes! During the week Simon goes to work everyday from about 8-6 (his schedule varies a bit) and I usually try to find a coffee shop or somewhere nice to study for a while, explore the city a bit, and then maybe do some laundry or go for a run. Having my class to do has been a really nice way to keep me busy. I am so used to having to go to school and work at the same time, having so much free time is very different for me but I am trying to take advantage of it. It can get a bit lonely not knowing many people here, but I am trying to reach out to some of Simon's friends, I went out with a few of his girl friends last week which was fun. I also think once I find a job and start feeling a bit more stable and permanent here I'll start making some of my own friends. It is hard right now not knowing how long I will be able to stay in Belgium, not knowing if I will be able to find a teaching job or any job and get a working visa. But we are just taking it one day at a time and I am enjoying everyday that I have here!

p.s. I am hoping I fixed the problem with the pictures being so small, you should be able to click on them to enlarge them now! Someday I'll go back and fix the other photos...
 



 
 

Well I have made it to my one week mark here in Gent! For some reason it feel like I have been here a lot longer than that, but in a good way! Living here is much different from my experience of living in Barcelona also. When you don't know how to speak or read the language everything just takes a little more time and effort than you think it will. For example, yesterday I went to the grocery store (which I thought would be pretty simple) but when you can't read any of the words on the packaging you feel like a kindergardener looking at all the pictures trying to put together the pieces of exactly what kind of meat you're looking at. Here are a few more things I have noticed:

- No one walks around with head phones in their ears! This is a weird thing to notice, but in the US it seems like most young people at least are always walking around with headphones on. But I have seen barley anyone doing that and it is kind of nice, it creates a friendlier more social atmosphere even if you are just walking down the street.

- There are far fewer traffic signs or lights on the streets here, they are all about the roundabouts. Also, bikes have the right of way here, so cars have to stop and let bikes cross the street before they can go.

- The street names are impossible to remember. Most of them are really long with what seems to be about 10 vowels right next to each other. So as much as I want to ride my bike around, walking has been easier so far because stopping on your bike to look at your phone to make sure you are on the right street going the correct direction gets kind of hard.

- The US is huge. I know this is a very obvious statement and granted Belgium is particularly small (it fits in Colorado over 8 times...) but seriously its huge. Most of the students here go to school in a city like Gent but on the weekends they take the train home which is only about 30 minutes away. They hang out with their friends from Gent during the week and then their friends from their hometown on the weekend. While in the US if you go to school out of state, you only go home a few times a year. Even if you stay instate often you only see your friends from home a few times a year. You end up with friends scattered around the country who you really don't see very often. I think there ups and downs to both, but it does seem nice to be able to just hop on a train to go see your parents or some old friends for the weekend.

-Also Gent has a laundromat that is also a bar. I am sitting in it right now and it is a pretty fabulous idea.  Every town should have one of these.