#vlerick

Day three post arrival had zero responsibilities, as I was still in the hotel awaiting my move-in date, and terribly exhausted from the previous deux jours. I napped intermittently, took afternoon tea in the square by Sint Bafs, and caught up on emails and administrative documents.

The next morning I packed up and checked out, leaving my bags with the porter, and navigated my way by tram to Sint Pieters Station. I met a few other internationals at the platform, all of us on our way to the International Welcome Day in Brussels hosted by our school. Gerard, from Spain, Ivan, Moscow, and Cristina, Romania. We chatted lively as the high speed train wound through the Belgian countryside.

The Brussels Vlerick campus is brand new, in a high rise in downtown, and has been furnished to resemble google in that colorful, lots of V shapes way. The MFM (Masters in Finance) program would be headquartered here. We made our way into the auditorium, introducing ourselves to the many other students encountered along the way, and sat for the introductions of staff and faculty and presentations on important expat things like where to get a bicycle and which doctor to call if you're sick or injured. We were all scribbling notes on our pads like mad hatters. 

Big surprise to find out I am the only American in the Masters program. My accent when speaking english is of course a dead give away, and faculty and students alike seemed bridged between disbelief and entertainment. (But it's not as if I don't enjoy being the only one of something and the conversations that go along with that.)

After the presentations, we were taken on a walking tour through Brussels, and learned some fun facts from medieval times. Our tummies growled at the maisons du chocolat, and several students stopped for ice cream cones. The city hall was my favorite part, placed in a gorgeous square of gothic style guilds, dating back hundreds of years, gleaming with gold that has lasted the ages and architecture wrought with extreme detail. I breathed deeply to take it all in. Soaking in the city and bonding with new people was a rush.