The month of April was a busy one – it was my last month without weekly deadlines and exam revision, so I decided to take advantage of the freedom. I went home for the Easter holidays in London, then travelled to Berlin and then back to Leuven.

Here is a little run down of the places I’ve visited, the food I ate and my inability to travel without forgetting at least one essential item or having a train delayed.

London

Despite finding out I had a surprise deadline for the end of the Easter holidays, it was great to be home. I did a little sight-seeing, ate a lot of food and caught up with a few friends along the way.

Whenever I travel I try and account for the actual amount of time I will need to change trains, to walk, to queue, etc. but for some reason I always end up waiting for 3 hours before a scheduled train because I have no real sense of time and would rather overestimate than underestimate.

Being away, you start to appreciate home a little more, and even start to realise how long it has been since you visited the Tower of London and the London Eye, despite it only being a 20-minute train journey into London. My year abroad has reminded me that along with my love for the restaurants in London, there is a whole lot of things to do and stuff to see. We decided to go on a tour of a lot of the London attractions I had done at least 5 times as a young child, but wouldn’t be able to tell you a thing about as a 21-year-old.

Berlin

After some encouragement to get my act together and book my plane tickets, I flew to Berlin for a 4-day weekend on the hottest day of the year so far. The friend I was visiting was working on Thursday and so I went on a one-man mission, determined to see everything in Berlin. As a first-time Berlin tourist, I saw the Berlin Wall, the Oberbaumbrucke, Checkpoint Charlie, the Jewish Memorial, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag Building and the Tiergarten.

I managed to see everything I wanted to on my first day there. When I was finally done, I sat in front of the Reichstag in the sun and felt very accomplished.

That night we realised I had given myself (mild) heatstroke.

After some sleep and a lot of ice tea and water, I was ready the next morning to go exploring. Over the next few days, I was introduced to flea markets where I desperately wanted to make at least five totally unnecessary purchases and take a rug and a footstool home with me. We had a lot of vegan food, went to a lake to cool down and went to more parks than my hayfever could handle. We even went to an outdoor bath on the river called a Badeschiff?

Leuven

Heading back to Leuven was a little sad, but it ended up cooling down a little (thank god) and I ended up settling back into work, meeting up with friends and catching up with everyone in Durham.

Travel is not one of my strengths – I really enjoy it, but I stress about delays and train changes and a plethora of other seemingly minor issues – but I’ve really enjoyed this term and feel like I’ve taken full advantage of the (almost) free month!

So, the Beast from the East may have left me with no feeling in my toes but I still managed to take a few road trips at the beginning of the month. We had a brief few days of sun, and then another bout of snow which shook me to my very core. The weather had me asking whether summer would ever come, and so far, the answer still seems to be a no.

I made a couple of attempts at sightseeing in sub-zero temperatures – something which I would not recommend even to my worst enemy. Here’s the tragic tale of a perpetually freezing British girl trying not to catch hypothermia on her year abroad:

→ Leuven

Studying in Leuven was a struggle. The hazardous journey to lectures was made twice as bad by the potential to slip on the snow. I usually have to contend with cyclists and roadworks on the journey – but an added five inches of snow really made academic life chaotic.

With the snow and the gloomy skies, and almost no possibility of sun in sight, Leuven felt a little sad. Snow is all well and good for the first hour or so, and then things become impractical. You can’t wear your glasses for fear of them steaming up every time you breathe, not being able to feel your face becomes a common occurrence and leaving your accommodation for a drink with friends becomes a truly absurd suggestion. Thankfully the snow melted, leaving some freezing temperatures which were, in comparison, much more bearable than the beast from the east.

→ Frankfurt

Yes, it looks pleasant. Maybe that sunset even looks warm, but it truly is an illusion. We had to pop into shops, museums and cafes every 30 minutes to ensure that my hands would not turn purple.

Regardless, the view from the tower was stunning, though a long wait without booking. The art gallery we went to made my brain hurt, in the best way and (very) luckily for me the exhibition was all in English as well as German.

Walking along the river was a life-threateningly cold experience, but definitely worth it. And the city’s skyscrapers almost reminded me of London.

It’s not a very tourist-y city, but if you get the chance there’s a surprising amount of things to do in Frankfurt.

Frankly cannot believe I took this photo

I’m convinced I’m a professional photographer…

→ Antwerp

I do not remember how many times I’ve been to Antwerp now but it’s still pretty entertaining. Also, it has a Wagamama– one of the only ones in Europe – so it’s always a priority to go there in my opinion.

→ Heidelberg

I honestly have no words to describe how pretty it was. The river, the bridge, the view from the castle… all straight out of a fairytale. We were pretty cold and so it was difficult to stand outside for long, but we did manage the walk up to the old castle. In between all of the sightseeing however, we had to pop into a number of places to make sure our body temperatures did not drop below zero.

We tried to find a traditional German restaurant but it turns out we ended up with Austrian food. We later went into a German pub and I almost ordered some English cider but thought better of it. The number of international students and tourists probably outweighs the number of Germans in this traditional looking town. For such a typical German city, I felt like I managed to miss out on a lot of the culture, the food and the tradition completely by accident?

A lot of the restaurants and shops reminded me of everything stereotypically German, though I suspect that they are just putting on a show for us visitors. Regardless, it was nice to wander around and the cold seemed to have scared off all the other tourists – perfect for getting all the instagram photos. We really should have followed suit and stayed in but this beautiful city was calling, and with only a few days in Germany I was determined to make the most of it.

→ England

I’ve recently returned to England and mercifully, the weather has been mild. Hopefully this is the end of my struggle with the Beast from the East and my complaints about cold weather – until next time!

Returning to Leuven at the beginning of February was quite the shock.

Almost none of my old friends are here (apart from a few British students from other universities who are still hanging on in there), I was not in Leuven for Orientation Week for the second semester and there are significantly fewer arrivals. Along with the sub-zero temperatures and travelling home and Germany for a number of weeks at a time while I still did not have a set timetable, I haven’t really had the opportunity to go out and meet many of the new people in Leuven. Instead it has been a lot easier to stick to my old friends in Leuven and stay in bed with Belgian Netflix (which has a significantly better choice of shows than in England).

Having done very little, apart from try to organise my very, very full schedule, I thought I should talk about my plans for the next semester and how things have changed now that I feel comfortable living in Leuven, Belgium.

1 / Visit friends from Term 1 and hope they still remember me!

Grote Markt

Visiting from Berlin

Visits to friends…

I’ve already visited London twice now to visit friends I hadn’t seen since summer last year, and I’ve visited Frankfurt as well. There are plans in the works to visit Berlin, and I was so excited that a few of my friends from last term ended up visiting!

Travelling on a student budget

Frankfurt Station was pretty but there was a train strike…

Staying in contact with friends both from Durham and Erasmus has involved weekly updates, snapchat groups and vague plans to visit as soon as possible; the old Leuven gang have been severely missed by those of us left here but it’s been great to hear about their new internships and trips across Europe and the US.

2 / Fewer exams, please.

I have taken two non-law modules this term in literature and sociology; I love writing papers and I love the two subjects, law modules are very harshly graded here (as are all subjects to be completely honest) and I felt like I might need a break from my other 6 law modules this term.

A number of my courses this term require me to write a paper project, rather than write exams. This is very common for the open modules available in Leuven, so it’s a mystery to me how I ended up with 100% exams last term. This time round I’ve tried to space out the work and stress myself out just a tiny bit less during exam season.

3 / Act like I know what I’m doing.

Now I’ve been here a term I feel like I have just enough knowledge about the culture, the cities and the language to blag my way through the next term. I don’t need to set up a bank account or register, so I can really focus on pretending like I have my life together in Belgium.

Everyone came out for the one sunny day so far this term

Here’s a few pointers from someone who has only lived here 5 months now and seems to think she’s a local: ‘dankuwel’ and ‘alstublieft’ are the most helpful phrases to know in Flemish, the best tourist city in Belgium is Ghent not Brussels and fries are better with mayo than ketchup. I feel like I don’t know much, but I know the important things… notably how good the Belgian’s fries and waffles are.

4 / Try more beer.

I’m still trying to get through all the different types of Belgian beer… I have a sneaking suspicion I wont be able to get through the 400+ beers on offer but here’s to trying.

It’s been three months and finally it’s time to go home for Christmas. I feel similar to a child being taken home from nursery by their parents kicking and screaming that I do not want to go. This is not because I don’t miss home, or my mum’s cooking or a good apple crumble, because trust me, I do.

Rather, I realise that this week is the last before a period of revision, January exams and finally, saying goodbye to those international friends who are only staying for a term. It’s a pretty weird feeling being simultaneously homesick for England and desperate to stay in Leuven. So, in the spirit of ignoring the fact I’m going to have to say my farewells to Leuven and everyone in it for Christmas, I’m going to recount the best and the worst moments I’ve had during my first semester.

The worst:

1. Missing out

There is a constant fear of missing out. And the problem is it’s not just a fear, you really are missing out on everything going on at Durham. Seeing your friends on nights out and going on socials is not the best thing when you’ve got the English Channel between yourself and all the fun (though I did manage to fly home for Bailey Ball, so the FOMO wasn’t too bad.)

My fear of missing out almost stopped me from going on my year abroad, but I’m so glad it didn’t. Staying in contact with friends has been difficult at times. I try and remind myself that while I am missing out on that friend’s birthday meal or that big night out in Jimmy’s, I am having so many experiences here in Leuven which make missing out more than worth it.

2. Not being able to navigate your way around a supermarket (or anything for that matter)

Sinaasappelsaft? Neushoorn? Meisjes? If you have no idea what any of these words mean, don’t be alarmed… neither do I. I regularly have no idea what is going on, and struggle with the language barrier quite a bit. Nothing is intelligible to me, and I can’t even pronounce the street on which I live. My misadventures trying to find peanut butter in the supermarkets of Leuven have been quite the saga.

3. The workload

In Durham, I would have had fewer contact hours and no January exams. Instead of having a nice relaxing Christmas, I’ll be cramming for my written and oral examinations and probably questioning my sanity in choosing KU Leuven for a year abroad destination.

4. Saying goodbye

I am not handling it well. Erasmus students either stay for a year or a term. So many of the friends I’vemade won’t be coming back after January exams, and some have even left for good. It’s been really sad saying my goodbyes to everyone, we had quite a few goodbye drinks and meals. It sucks, but having friends across the world is also pretty cool. I’ll (hopefully) be visiting them all very soon!

The best:

1. Being able to travel around Europe so easily

I have visited all over Belgium including Gent, Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels. I recently visited Paris for the weekend for only 8 Euros. The travelling was one of my main motivations to go on Erasmus – and it has been one of the best things about this term.

Paris

Bruges bound

Palace in Brussels

The Louvre

2. Getting experimental with your courses

I’ve learnt about philosophy and legal history, language and ethics and religion. In Leuven, I’ve managed to study a huge variety of subjects, including more theoretical modules to experiment with my interests for the year.

3. Learning from other cultures

You wouldn’t believe how surrounding yourself with people from different cultures might change how you act.  My American friends will try anything once. They always “rally” and I’ve managed to turn ‘just one beer at the pub’ into a night out too many times because of their (bad) influence. I try not to make generalisations, but my German friends are so direct. Where in England I would say “perhaps maybe you might want to…” they will literally just tell you to get your act together. I’ve been trying to copy them, even if most of the time I come across as a confused Brit who is ultimately just being slightly less apologetic than normal.

4. Meeting new people

   

The best thing about this term has been the people I’ve met. I feel like I’ve known my friends for years even if it’s only been a couple of months. Just because they’re from a different country doesn’t mean you won’t find people who are your type of people. Finding a bunch of different nationalities who love to go out as much as you do, and have the same opinions or interests as you, has been surprisingly easy. Everyone says you’ll feel alone on your year abroad, but I haven’t…  and who’s to say you won’t make a tonne of friends here instead?

At the 10 week mark, with 3 weeks left until I’m home for Christmas, I finally mastered Belgian bureaucracy. Belgium is notorious for its excessively complicated administrative procedures, something I was unaware of until arriving here in September. You might be wondering why I chose to write a whole article on this?

Firstly, I truly think I need to vent about my battle with the paperwork. Second, it might actually be useful. Thirdly, I have far too many anecdotes about my personal struggle with administration to pass up the opportunity to poke fun at my incompetency.

There is a very specific order to the registration procedures, so without the previous step you can’t ‘level up’. It’s absolute murder and trying to complete them all in the exact order needed has been a headache from start to finish. Here are all the things you need to do upon arrival in Belgium, which I have only just managed to complete:

A compulsory enrolment session which left me traumatised

At Durham University, registration is online and relatively simple. There is the opportunity to take a photo and order your campus card to be ready upon arrival. In Belgium they like to do things a little differently… We attended a lecture which ended with half of the lecture hall  queuing to use a single printer to photocopy their documentation, while the other half queued to hand in their documents and have a photo taken for their campus card. I stood there for about two hours as one of the lucky bunch who had brought a photocopy of their ID and admission letter with them.

The printer broke. Anarchy ensued. I was still waiting for a photo to be taken. The printer was fixed. More queuing. I finally reached the front. In a second the whole traumatic experience was over. A sigh of relief.

Then I was told I would have to wait a week to collect my campus card and bus pass from the university hall in the centre of town, and I decided I needed a cup of tea and a nap to recover.

Picking up your student packet

This is pretty self-explanatory. It contains your campus card and other documents which have vital information needed for your registration at the town hall, which will affect your ability to open a Belgian bank account…

Pick it up a week or so after the registration procedure. Apply for modules, complete your learning agreement, set up your own timetable and choose exam slots for the whole year. It’s a lot of trial and error, and going back and forth between your home university and KU Leuven. Proceed to next steps.

Running across town to register at Leuven City Hall

For this you need to have accommodation and proof of a rental contract, documents of registration, a passport photo, a letter of admission, etc. Prior to this, I made many failed attempts at opening a bank account, which I will elaborate on in the next saga. For now, just know that you need an appointment and you must be there within 15 minutes of the beginning of the appointment.

I accidentally went to the wrong City Hall. Leuven has two – and despite being warned multiple times not to go to the Old City Hall in the city centre… I went to the Old City Hall in the city centre. Needless to say, I was not amused when I found out my appointment was in the new City Hall of Leuven, which was now a 20 minute walk away.

I had an appointment to open a bank account the next day and was all too aware that I needed to have a specific form from the registration procedure at City Hall, so I power walked to my appointment, arrived there with a few seconds to spare and collapsed in a chair in the waiting room. The lady who greeted me there was lovely, and stopped me from falling into complete and utter despair at the whole ordeal. I was finally registered as a resident of Leuven, and just had to wait for a Belgian police officer to check that I lived at my address. (Yes, it really is as weird as it sounds.)

Belgian banking: a three-part saga

A bank account can only be opened after your arrival in Belgium. This means that the appointments for setting up bank accounts are in high demand during the first months at KU, and once I’d managed to get round to it I was the last in line and there were only appointments for a month’s time available in the branches in Leuven. Not wanting to wait around, and thinking I was being very clever, I booked an appointment in Brussels and headed there one morning during orientation week, having been far too optimistic about when I was going to be an awake and functioning human-being after going to a Law Faculty social. I arrived at the bank and was told I was only able to open a bank account in the town or city where I studied. I returned to Leuven and tried again…

My second attempt at opening a bank account was more than a month after my first attempt. I had booked an appointment and patiently waited for it to come around. I brought every possible piece of documentation I thought I might need, but alas… it was not enough. I was told that I need proof of residence (apparently not the same as a tenancy agreement) which was only provided by the above registration procedure at City Hall. Needless to say, the appointment was not successful and I returned home to despair a little more.

Finally, after (running to) and registering at City Hall I managed to book an appointment at a bank in Leuven. You need all of your documents, even your National Insurance number… It was a short process and I was just very relieved that I wasn’t told I needed another mythical document to open the account. I had finally found my way out of the Belgian bureaucratic maze.

In conclusion, start everything as soon as you get there and plan your appointments in advance. Do it in the right order and don’t try to get creative with opening a bank account. I’m finally settled in here, an official resident of Leuven and student of the Law Faculty. If I can do it, anyone can!

They always say the first month is the hardest. Granted, they are usually talking about newborns, but the phrase still applies here. I’m five weeks or so into my year abroad and to be completely honest, adjusting to life here has been harder than I expected. I arrived here in September, started lectures two weeks later, and only now can I finally navigate my way home from a night out without having to use google maps.

Despite the slightly comic anecdotes I have about the struggles of shopping in a foreign language, my near death experience in a laundrette or greeting friends with two kisses on the cheek, I think I’ve finally (sort of) got the hang of things here.

It’s flown by and I’ve been so distracted by Belgium that I’ve only just come to the shock realisation that it’s called a year of studying abroad for a reason. With this came the knowledge that I need to slow down a little if I want to pass the year, so I thought I should take the time to reminisce on the freedom of the first month here by saying my seven favourite things I’ve done and seen in Belgium so far!

1 . A walking tour of Leuven.

Meeting at the city hall, our guide showed us around the historical squares in Leuven, the library, the cultural centre and most importantly, the pubs and bars (her words, not mine).

2 . Eaten (a lot of ) Belgian food.

Fries and mayo is the Belgian food of choice. This combination confused me at first, but now it is a way of life. Belgian waffles (and occasionally pancakes) have become another staple of my diet.

A Belgian delicacy

The first of many…

3 . A boat ride in Ghent.

We might have been very cold and the weather might have been very miserable, but a boat tour where the driver told us that the last time the castle had been stormed was by drunk students who occupied it for a couple of days before the beer ran out was pretty entertaining.

4 . Going to the Erasmus Student Network’s events.

Some of the themed parties have been a little quirky, but they have been good for meeting a number of other international students. Most of the friends I’ve made have been through ESN student events and parties – so, as weird as it might have been having to introduce yourself to strangers on a pub crawl, run around the city completing group challenges and attend traffic light partys, I’ve really enjoyed it so far.

5 . Visiting Antwerp.

6 . Attending lectures.

The courses I’m taking are a little wacky, and a bit out there. But the fact I’m expanding my studies beyond law has really made this year interesting. I’m studying religion, philosophy, French and literature alongside law – the extra year has made it possible, and even made me enthusiastic enough to attend my 9am lectures.

7 . Experiencing the Belgian beer culture.

It’s only been 5 weeks but now I don’t even think before ordering myself a Stella. We’re trying to tick every beer we can find off the list by the end of the year – if it sounds impossible that’s because it is. But we’re still trying…