Waffles, chocolates, fries, beanies, scarfs, puffer jackets, big towers with golden clocks and many many churches, what does that equivalent to? Eramus in Belgium !
Cloudy Europe not Sunny Europe?
Belgium was my destination of choice, to spend my erasmus journey the next 5 months. Why is a boy from sunny Lisbon in this cloudy country? The simple answer is: I just wanted to do Erasmus and discard any destination. The complex one is: I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and being in the heart of Europe seemed to be the perfect choice for me, even if it meant confronting the cold weather. Eramus in Belgium !
Without a doubt I was ready for a break, from my home country. And fortunately, I have had the desire to do this experience for years, thankfully my parents encouraged me since then to do it. When I got accepted, my happiness was through the roof. Howest University of Applied Sciences was kind enough to accept a marketing student, from Escola Superior de Comunicação Social, on their creative communication programme.
Definitly, the easy part was buying the plane tickets, the hard one was saying “see you soon” to mostly my friends and family. Friends, since the 10th grade and from university being so happy for my new journey, it naturally made me emotional and thankful for the people I surround myself with.
Alarm to 5:00 AM
The day finally arrived, on February 1st I was on my way to this unknown country. By just stepping into the Belgium soil, when I arrived in Bruxelles I went from being happy to excited. Spending a day sightseeing the city and main attractions put me in a higher stage of thrillness. Unfortunately, my university was less than a 2-hour train ride away. Kortrijk is my home city for the next 5 months, needing to accept that. It’s not a very known and touristic city and putting moody weather on top of it, made it feel like a ghost town, which made me underwhelmed.
Jealousy filled my body when I knew that a friend of mine was going to stay at the cool capital and I wasn’t.
The Sun Matters
After some days of exploring the city, finding some gems, visiting my university campus, travelling to Brugge and some rays of sunlight, the thrillness came back. Wo-ho! Let’s go, Erasmus in Belgium !
Orientation week approached and seeing the inside of the building it amazed me. Immediately, my happiness scale skyrocketed, ready to start the semester. And to know new people from different countries.
Certainly, I couldn’t have asked for better fulfilling activities and gatherings. Organised by the University: from an English quiz in an Irish Pub to trips to Brugge and Ghent, and getting to know so many new people who I felt I had known for more than 2 years.
In fact, the best ending of the week was having new friends and a hang out to watch, for the first time, the famous Super Bowl.
I saw an article on the internet, which had a huge impact on me, which said: “Erasmus it’s about the people you will meet, not where you are actually going”.
February went by fast
The following weeks of the month consisted of:
getting to know my new courses and the corresponding teachers,
bike rides (with friends and solo),
a lot of visits to the grocery store, a lot really,
going out to the most known bar and tasting new beers,
movie nights,
a fun day-trip to Lille, in France, and to Leuven, in Belgium,
attending a Kickboxing and Zumba class
and MORE SUNSHINE.
Erasmus in Belgium?
You should do it, it was my right choice! Interested on what I will do next? Make sure to follow me and stay tuned to my next blog post, I will see you soon 🙂 E
Salvador Pinho
P.S. Interested in photos I have been taking through out this programme? Go check my Pinterest profile, you will fill inspired. Some will be in my next blog post.