Trip To Luxembourg

   The weekend of June 15 I went on a trip to Luxembourg with other IAESTE people. It was organized by Nicolas, who is one of the IAESTE people from Belgium that plans events and stuff.

Travel

   Most people went by car, but two others and I went by train. In total, the train cost just under 15 euros to get to Luxembourg. The train was nice and comfy. Only twice we were asked for our ticket, and I never used my passport even though it is a different country. The way back was more of the same. Overall I think going by train is a good option.

Hiking

  On Saturday we went hiking. For the most part, we stuck together and waited for Nicolas to try and figure out where we were going, but at the end, only four of us were hiking (out of about 12 😕). We also explored some small caves, which I had not done before, and that was fun. There were some caves that were man made from the excavation of the rock for a purpose that I forget. Right in one of those caves was a stage of some sort, and then another cave right by it had a cool party place with a bar some lights and other things needed for a party. When we stopped for a break in a town we had a beer at a hiking inn. The owner of that inn was hilarious and once brought me a beer by mistake, but he realized that before he gave it to me 😞. 

Camping

  We stayed in a big tent in a camp yard near a small city. It was really nice, and I slept well. For breakfast, we all ate in the tent. Nicolas brought a variety of food for breakfast, so there was a good variety. We also ate supper at the campsite in the form of a bbq. It was a very good bbq, and I was quite full afterward. It was a nice camping experience.

City Centre

  On Sunday everybody went to explore the city center of the City of Luxembourg, and also a museum. The museum contained a lot of the history of the City of Luxembourg, and it was interesting to learn about how such a little country became independent. The city center had a bunch of really expensive stores. There was also some cool live music going on. In the city, there were some gardens that were really really well kept. It was quite a nice city to tour, and I plan to do it again.

It was a really great weekend, and I hope more weekends like that are on the way.

First Week

Swimming Pool

  I went to a swimming pool twice in this week. It is a nice pool, and the only thing some people complain about is that there are not really any lanes. People are swimming laps, but there is no organization, so you have to watch where you are going. I actually enjoy this, because it adds an extra challenge to swimming.

Canadian Evening

  On Tuesday I helped Katie with the Canadian evening. There was poutine made with fake gravy. The gravy turned out ok, for fake gravy, but there was way too much of it, and some had to be thrown out. There was also a presentation that Katie had prepared, and I helped with two slides. Shortly after the presentation, I left since I needed to walk 40 minutes to get home and it was already 10 ish. 

Pool 

  On Friday a bunch of people went to play pool at a local pool hall. In the goodie bag my IAESTE buddy, Sara, gave me there was a voucher for a free half-liter of beer, so that was nice. Playing pool was fun too, but since I haven't played in awhile and I am not good, to begin with, I didn't play well. 

  After playing pool, we went to get some food from a food vendor. I had fantastic food that had crisped onions, mayonnaise, some other sauce, fries, and some meat on top. It was called Julientje, and it is delicious (the link below explains more).

  After eating, we played a card game and then shortly after the card game I went home. 

https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/bmpk43/belgians-dont-need-tinder-because-we-have-fries

First Few Days

  The first few days were a bit hectic, but still enjoyable and I think there are a few stories that I found interesting.

Trip To Gent:
  To get to Gent, I flown to Vancouver then to Paris and then got on a train to go to Brussels. There was a 4-hour layover in Vancouver, so I had lots of time to sleep and have something to eat. The flight to Paris was long, and for some reason, I only slept through about half of it, so it was dull. When the plane arrived in Paris, I went to go find and get on the subway to the train station 'Gare du Nord'.

  Getting to that subway proved to be difficult however as the subway stopped selling tickets as soon as I started looking for them. This forced me and some other people to come together and split a cab. There was a person from the Czech Republic, one from B.C., and another person from some other place in Europe but works in Dubai. The person from the Czech Republic talked about the different ways people drink beer which was nice because I like beer.

  The drive to Gare du Nord was long, and during it, I realized that I might miss my train because it was taking so long. The others in the cab let me pay them before we stopped so that I could run and catch my train. At first, I started towards the wrong building, but then I realized my mistake and went towards where the trains are. I then asked a few people where my train was leaving from and found the gate they said and got on my train. I made it with about 15 minutes to spare.

  When I arrived at Brussels, I had to get on a train to Gent. I missed the first one because it listed the French name 'Gand'. That was fine though because about 3 trains are going to Gent every hour.

  The owner of the house I am staying at then came and picked me up and brought me to the house. I then had a nap and woke up at a later hour to unpack.

Friday: 

  On Friday I had to go and find where the migration office is so that I could register where I am living. The first time I attempted to find the place I walked too far down the street and got found a nice coffee place. I had a coffee and then walked back to the house and got some more directions. I found the migration office the second time and was able to register with them.

  The owner of the house told me something else I could do is go and find the castle and then get maps from a place close to there. I decided to do this, but as I got further into the city, I noticed that almost all of the buildings looked like a castle to me. I eventually found the castle and instead of getting maps I got a tour of the castle.

  It was a self-guided tour that contained a blurb about what happened in each part of the castle. There was also arrows guiding you where to go next. There was dungeons, cellars, places where people defended the castle and many other exciting things. It was an interesting and old place.

  On my way back I got lost, but it only took asking two people on the street to find my way back. The first person seemed surprised how far I had walked, and she did not even know for sure how to get there herself. I now know how to find my way around that area good enough to get where I need to go.

Saturday:

  I decided to get a Belgium sim card on Saturday so that it would be easier to communicate with people. To do this, I walked back to the city center and found the Orange shop (a mobile company). The first time they would not give me a sim card because they needed my passport, so I had to walk all the way back to the house and get my passport. When I got back they gave me my sim card, and it tested it to make sure it worked, and it did.

  After getting my sim card, I went over to a beer festival that I had just seen to get something to eat and try some beers. I went to a few of the booths and tried their beer. The both I spent the most time at was the Delirium booth, and that is because I remember reading about Delirium years ago. One of the people at the Delirium both was telling me that they signed a deal with a brewery in Canada so that they can more easily sell Delirium in Canada. Hopefully, it comes to all Sobeys Liquor places because they do make excellent beer.

  At the end there is a link to the Delirium website.

Sunday:

   On Sunday IAESTE people went to breakfast at a nice place in the downtown. It was a good breakfast and after we went to the beach. Close to the beach, there was a watchtower of sorts that we climbed, and from the top, almost all of Gent was in view. After seeing that beautiful view, everyone proceeded to the beach.

  At the beach, there was a bunch of people swimming, of course, but I did not have a swimsuit since I forgot it in Canada. I decided that I needed a swimsuit, so I left early to get one. After I got it I headed back home since my first day of work was tomorrow.



  That was the first few days of my internship. It was a fun, but slightly crazy few days. I can only hope more of these days will be like that.

https://www.delirium.be/en/age-check