Brussels – Hannah Black

“Home, let me come home”

February 26, 2017February 6, 2018 Hannah Black5 Comments

Living abroad for the past month and a half has made me think a lot about what it means to be home.

When I started college two and a half years ago I had to learn to live without my parents, the two most important people in the world to me. I had to learn to live somewhere besides a house with my brother and sister and our dog. As an 18-year-old that meant adjusting to sharing a room with a stranger and having to make all new friends for the first time in at least four years.

I think it’s easy to romanticize some of those times now, and I think everyone does it. All of the adults in my life who went to college told me that college would comprise the best years of my life.

But at first, it was really, really hard. Nobody prepares you for the loneliness you feel the first week, lying in a twin bed for the first time since childhood, not being able to sleep because you just wish you could be home with your mom and dad. I remember vividly that on one of my first nights in the College Avenue residence hall, staring out the window from my bed, the fixture outside the window the only light in the dark room, wondering what I was doing there. Being so excited and terrified and hit for the first time by the realization that I was going to have to make my own decisions if I wanted to be happy with what I was studying—if I wanted a chance at being satisfied with my future career.

After several months and finding my niche at Mizzou, and later feeling at home in Columbia, I remember being happier than I’ve ever been. I felt like I’d grown into myself, knew what kind of person I wanted to be and was figuring out how to be her. Most importantly, I was happy so much more often than I wasn’t. And this feeling of home, of taking care of an apartment and being surrounded by friends and a community, only intensified a year ago after I met Husain.

And then, seven weeks ago, I left all that.

I’d been planning big-picture aspects of this trip for over a year and I’d been preparing myself to leave for just as long. On our first date I remember telling Husain that I had both an internship lined up for the summer and that I’d be studying abroad this year, wanting to make it perfectly clear where my priorities lay. Hannah Haynes counted down the days for us, and even as it got closer, it didn’t seem real.

But, just like leaving for college, no one tells you the realities of studying abroad. In previous posts I wrote about how exhausting it was just to leave the apartment at first and interact with people who aren’t native English speakers and how exhausting it is to get lost a lot. I guess nobody wants to spoil the excitement students feel as they’re getting ready to leave the country, some for the very first time, for a whole semester.

Here’s the thing: I wish they’d told us. I wish they told us how exhausting and frustrating everything is, at least at first. I wish they’d also told us that, just like college, we’d adjust. It wouldn’t be easy, and for every high there would be some really sucky lows, but we’d adjust, and then we’d be pretty happy.

Something I felt really guilty about at the beginning of the trip was wishing so badly to see Husain. The guilt was both for a perceived betrayal of my own priorities (a career) and also because I thought wishing to go home made me ungrateful.

I’ve talked to Hannah about both of these things. Not only is she my best friend, but she’s also the only other person on this trip in a serious relationship with someone back home. Turns out we both feel a little guilty sometimes. But I wonder, as Hannah does, if anyone who studies abroad, even without the challenge of having a significant other across the ocean and a seven-hour time difference, really ever feels truly at home, like something resembling a Columbia-shaped hole isn’t missing from them.

I’ll be honest—when I daydream about where I’ll live after I graduate college, I’m always with Husain. I never thought the beginning of my post-grad life would include a guy until recently, but after a year of being together, I really can relate to that silly Edward Sharpe song he’s always whistling.

I don’t know where I’m going to end up a little over a year from now after I finish school. It’s quite possible I’ll end up following a job somewhere where Husain isn’t, where my friends aren’t, where my parents and extended family aren’t, and we’ll all just have to make the long distance work once again. But I know that if that’s the case it’s going to be very similar to now, when I wish I could just enjoy my lovely life in Brussels without missing everyone.

I don’t know how you strike that balance. I do know how grateful I am to get to have these adventures and then have so much to go home to. Maybe, more or less, that is the balance.

Getting lost, getting very lost & finding coffee

January 29, 2017January 30, 2017 Hannah Black1 Comment

No one tells you how exhausting it is living in a foreign country. Every time I step outside my door it’s an internal struggle: do I try and speak French today, or do I just drop the act and speak English in my obviously American accent to someone who may not speak very much English? If I don’t try today, will they think I’m rude for not speaking the language 80% of people in this country speak?

And I’m lucky, because I’ve been studying French for years and being immersed in it makes me feel like all the little forgotten parts are coming back. But for my friends, there’s not really a choice to try and pass as a French speaker in a simple interaction. Immersion is overwhelming. I understand this feeling any time I’m surrounded by people speaking Dutch or Turkish. Even French is often overwhelming.

For example, I was trying to buy a toaster for our flat last week and the cashier could tell I just really wasn’t getting that the toaster had a two-year warranty. The interaction ended with people in line behind me saying “warranty” over and over and me leaving the store frustrated and a little humiliated. C’est la vie.

Also, I got lost a lot this week. My trip to the grocery store ended with a 30-minute detour in some part of Brussels I’ve never been before, all because I was trying to find my bus stop and took a wrong turn. And then yesterday, on my way to Ghent, another major Belgian city, I took the tram going the wrong way while attempting to get to the city center. This resulted in me circling the correct tram station two or three times in the middle of a construction site across from an IKEA before Google Maps finally decided to end my misery and take me to the right place.

But Ghent rewarded me with its views, and I fell in love.

Now, I’m not saying I’ve completely given up on the U.S. after this past week, but I’d definitely consider living in Ghent. (Unfortunately, it’s located in the mainly Dutch-speaking Northern region of Belgium, which is called Flanders.)

Oh, and not to leave out the coffee portion of this post — in order to fuel my tour of Ghent after getting lost for an hour, I needed my favorite source of caffeine, and lots of it. I visited two wonderful cafés that were very different from one another but served equally delicious coffee. The first was Mokabon, otherwise known as a test in patience. Already weary from my long trek from the train station, I had to wait another 20 minutes until the overworked waitress came to take my coffee order. But it was worth it.

(Side note: Mokabon is located directly around the corner from a Starbucks. Go to Mokabon.)

My second cup of the day came later in the afternoon. I’d eaten some ahhh-mazing frites with sauce andalouse, maybe my favorite sauce so far, and was looking for somewhere to charge my phone when I happened upon the Sphinx, which is right next to a cinema of the same name.

I needed more than one day with this city. But, alas, Brussels will have to do.

Brussels highlights, week 1(.5)

January 22, 2017January 22, 2017 Hannah Black2 Comments

It would be an understatement to say that a LOT happened this week. In U.S. and EU politics, sure, but I’ve also been trying to adjust to living on a different continent.

The jet lag was rough. Really rough. There were several times the first few days where I actually thought I regretted deciding to study abroad. But after a week and a half, I feel much more like myself and have genuinely enjoyed myself this past week & weekend.

I’ll do some more in-depth posts covering my internship & other various experiences as the semester goes on, but since I have a lot to cover, here are some highlights of my first week and a half living in Belgium:

First of all, Brussels has some great #views.

Brussels, quite literally, has an uptown and a downtown. The uptown is where we live, in an area called Ixelles, and the downtown is down the hill. This area overlooks the more historic and touristy areas of the city. This is my favorite view so far.

See that white spire in the first two photos? That’s the top of this cathedral, one of the many buildings in Grand-Place adorned with intricate facades. They surround the large square that is the heart of Brussels’ tourist district.

And some great eats.

Take this Margherita pizza, for instance. It’s from a place run by Italians called Il Nobile, a short walk from my apartment. I’ve eaten it three times so far. (I’ve eaten Belgian food as well, I promise. Most notably, frites with a side of garlic mayonnaise sauce. And a waffle.)

And a slight spiritual reprieve from the constant excitement.

Here’s the beautiful Église Notre-Dame du Sablon (Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon Church) near where Hannah Haynes and I explored yesterday. The inside of this cathedral felt like another world altogether. Stepping outside afterward into the noise of cars in the middle of a bustling city was disorienting for both of us.

And a healthy dose of dissent.

This is just one of the photos I took when I attended the Lights for Rights rally at Brussels’ Place de la Monnaie on Friday evening. It was powerful to feel the energy of so many women (and men) expressing their discontent with political leadership across the world, particularly the newly sworn-in administration in the U.S. But, as I quickly learned this week, the EU is not without its problems.

I know it’s overwhelming, fellow woms. It’s okay to feel like this sometimes when the world seems constantly out to get you. We shall overcome.

This week ended on a high, though. Some great sightseeing and adventuring this weekend, both alone and with pals, made me feel more confident in the city and with public transport. I’m feeling pretty good heading into the second week of my internship.