Things are really picking up at school, and by that I mean we have more and more projects on the go. Aside from the Ghent cafe film (which is going really well, by the way), we have started a couple of communication plans: one is for a music festival, and the other one for a real estate project. We're working in groups and brain storming and trying to designate tasks... it's quite time consuming but great fun!

Last Thursday our class took a day trip to Brussels. The weather was quite agreable (which meant no rain for a change) and we walked around with our Professor as a guide for about 7 hours! We took some breaks along the way, enjoying coffees and beer, chocolates and ice cream... and I think we managed to see most of the important landmarks, however we will be back another time for an exclusive tour of the EU Institutions.

So I just wanted to share some pictures with you from that day. This is the view of the city from the Brussels Midi Train Station:



And the following two pictures were taken in the beautiful Grote Markt:





Here's a picture of the famous Manneken Pis! We visited on the 22nd, which marked the 150th anniversary of Baden-Powell's birthday... hence the boy scout uniform:



And here's a couple of pictures of yummy Belgian treats:




And here's some friends from class from last Friday, when we partied at the Make Up club:


Until next time, lots of kusjes! xoxox

Who needs sleep? I don't! Apparently, I can function on just a few hours a night! It's been another busy but wonderful week here in Ghent.

MOCOMA classes are going really well. We have started a few assignments and will be spending more and more time together as a class, cramped in the computer room, or in the library... I am actually looking forward to it. Our first assignment is for the Visual Literacy course, and involves making a short film on cafes in Ghent (aka bars!). Our group has decided to make a film-noir-inspired project, complete with a Femme Fatale and the dark, detached narration. We already have our cameras and we'll be starting to shoot this week.

Wednesday was Valentine's Day, and we celebrated in style at Vesalius, a student residence located (in)conveniently a few kilometers south of the city centre. It was like a flash back to my grade nine high school dances, but we managed to have fun anyway! Then we grabbed a ride back to the city, and continued partying at the Erasmus pub... You know how it ends... "and then it was morning."





Friday night, my Finnish friend and I went walking through the nicest parts of the city and took some nighttime pictures:





We ended up at this nice little bar called the White Cat. They serve a mean Mojito!





And today, Saturday, a Spanish friend and I ventured to Brussels to see a break dance competition. It was so much fun, we were inspired to take some Street Dance lessons here in Ghent! Don't laugh! I'm sure I can dance, it's in me somewhere!

Here's a shot of the city in daylight:



And here's what the competition looked like from our seats:



In other news, I finally received my Ghent residency permit! It means I can leave Belgium and come back as I please for the next five months. I'm planning to go to Warsaw for Easter! And I finally rented a bike... but the excitement was short-lived as I popped my front tire on the third day and now have to go patch it all by myself at the self-serve repair shop...

Oh, and I got Air tickets for the 28th of March. My best friend will be here to visit by then, and we plan to see them in Brussels! So excited!

I think that's it for now! Miss you guys lots and lots! Kusjes!

It's been a busy week! MOCOMA classes started on Monday, and I got to meet everyone in my program. We are a diverse group from all over the world: Romania, France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Turkey, Finland and Latvia. The professors are all Dutch native speakers, but they will be teaching in English (thank God!) and they seem to have very interesting careers and backgrounds, so I am looking forward to working with them.

My courses include: European Media Scene, Visual Literacy and Digital Storytelling (we get to make a little film!), Graphic Design, Social and Cultural Current Affairs, and of course Communications, Marketing Communications and PR.

In a week or two I'll know more about what I have gotten myself into! And of course, I'll keep you updated.

And it's been a week filled with birthdays. My Dad's big 50th was this Thursday. And then yesterday was my Mom's birthday... and mine as well! My roommates were kind enough to let me have a little birthday party at the house... it meant squeezing all of my newly acquainted friends in our tiny kitchen, so it was quite intimate. I can't speak for everyone, but I had fun!

Here are some pictures from that night (some have been taken by my friends). These first two pictures show the cramped conditions:





And here are some new friendly faces:







No birthday party would be complete without some dancing! So we went out to this place called Suite 16, which is conveniently located at the end of my street. It was pretty quiet when we first showed up around 1:30 am, but things picked up around 3 am, so we kept dancing the night away... and then it was morning!





Thank you for all the birthday wishes! Kusjes!

On Friday, my friend and I discovered a little neighbourhood in Ghent called the Patershol. It's the only medieval quarter left in the city, and is a maze of narrow streets and alleyways that used to be home to all kinds of tradesmen and craftsmen. Then in the 19th century, a factory opened nearby, and the quarter housed poor factory workers, and later became known for shady cafes and brothels. Here are a few photos from our stroll:







Today, the Patershol is no longer a shady neighbourhood. It looks quiet in the photos because we went during the 'middagpauze' (the Belgians have a mid day break and everything closes! It's impossible to get a meal at 4 o'clock!).

Then on Saturday I was out for a coffee with a friend, and we came up with a brilliant idea! We decided to go to Brussels for the night to check out the Big City nightlife. We took the 10 o'clock train out last night, and caught the first train back to Ghent this morning. Brilliant! I will be back, of course, in search of more intellectual pursuits (museums, galleries, etc.), but this was a spur of the moment thing and I'm glad we followed through with it.



After arriving at the Brussels train station, we ventured through some pretty scary looking neighbourhoods and made it to a little cafe. We had some time to kill, since the clubs don't open until midnight... We ended up at two different places. The first one was called Havana, and was a great tropical themed venue with four separate areas: a lounge, two bars, and a dance floor.



It was packed to the brim with people: the windows were steaming, it was so hot in there! So after sweating to the beats for a little bit, we decided we had had enough and we headed down the street to Bazaar Club.

Bazaar is one of the most "recommended" places to go out in Brussels (it was in my Lonely Planet book), and it was definitely more comfortable! I really enjoyed the DJ, who was playing everything from old school hip hop, to funk, to techno, to the Doors and Pink Floyd... And we met some interesting men, who spoke to us in beautiful French and were perhaps a bit too relentless in their quest for love... But overall it was great and we had a lot of fun!

We ended our night with a stop for some Belgian Fries (doused in a curry ketchup). A perfect night in Brussels.



Kusjes! xoxoxox

Last night, a few of us went out for an innocent drink after Dutch class. But one drink turned into many, and before we knew it, it was early in the morning and we were dancing the flamenco as the DJ played Bamboleo and Volare over and over again.

Here are my two lovely Hungarian friends who are sharing a beautiful loft on the other side of the city. They were wonderful hosts at 2 o'clock in the morning, before we headed out to the bar:



This week has been very relaxing. I only had one Dutch class (last night) and lots and lots of free time. So I've been exploring Ghent some more and I wanted to share a few more pictures with you. First, Ghent at night:







And then this is just something that caught my eye. It's on my way to school:



And I've been meaning to show you this for quite some time. Ghent is a city of bikes! Here is what the parking situation looks like at St. Pieters train station:



That's it for now, I miss you guys! xoxoxox