I arrived at the train station in Brussels (or Bruxelles, to the Belgians) at 9:30 PM and ran and attacked Aurelie, who was looking for me. We hopped on the metro and went over to Aurelie's adorable apartment where we dropped off my stuff. Then we walked down a few flights and went to a birthday party with Aurelie's friends. I don't speak a word of French, so I sat there smiling and nodding and occasional talking to people when they remembered to speak in English to me. Aurelie's friends were very friendly and it was fun to hang out with them drinking Belgian beer (yum), even if I didn't understand anything they said!
One of Aurelie's friends kept asking me about America, which was very funny. She was shocked to hear that it is not uncommon for American teenagers to have alcohol before turning 21. But then she also asked me if we celebrate spring break with big large beach parties (like Laguna Beach, on MTV). Before I could really answer, Aurelie told her that she watches too much MTV. It was very amusing. This same girl also wanted to hear about my cats, which I was more than happy to talk about! She was very sweet and friendly, and I really liked her.
An interesting little thing about Belgium, is that they are one of those European countries where the standard greeting is to kiss on the cheek. One cheek, not both. Now, this had not occurred to me, and so I had an awkward moment when meeting Aurelie's roommate; she got up to kiss me, and I went for a hand-shake. For a second, I thought we might compromise with a hug, and Aurelie saved the moment by reminding me that they kiss in Belgium. I said that I am down for anything, I just need to know what to do! Regardless, it still took me a while to get used to the kissing-as-greeting thing. Everyone does that in greeting; if your friend introduces you to a complete stranger, you greet the stranger with a kiss. It's not reserved strictly for good friends.
So, at the party, I was kissed left and right! I didn't quite have the hang of it, so I usually offered my cheek for the girls to kiss and didn't try too hard to kiss back. But whenever a new guy would come in to the party, he would walk around and stick his face out for the girls to kiss him. So every now and then I would discover a face next to me, and it always took me a second to remember to kiss it! I hope nobody felt insulted by the dumb American girl who wasn't kissing people immediately. By the time I left the party, however, I was much more familiar with the routine and I
was prepared to kiss new-comers as necessary.On Friday, Aurelie and I dragged ourselves out of bed (it was a difficult process, as we were both very sleepy) and went in to Brussels. We were going to take a bus tour of the city, but we decided it was too expensive, and so we walked instead. So Aurelie showed me around Brussels, pointing out various buildings and explaining the history to me. Then Aurelie had an interview she needed to conduct for a radio show, and so I returned to her apartment and finished up some homework. We were going to go see the Atomium, which was built in 1958 for the World Expo, but Aurelie's metro train had a problem and it took her over an hour to get back. By the time we went out to see the Atomium, it was closed. So we saw it, but were unable to go up inside. Oh well, I've never been to the top of the Space Needle, either.
That evening, Aurelie's brother Michael picked us up and drove us to Enghein, the city where Aurelie grew up and where her parents live. We had dinner with Aurelie's entire family, and everyone was speaking in English for my benefit. They were all very sweet and a lot of fun, and we spoke a bit about the Lake family, who had visited Belgium a few years ago. Aurelie and I stayed in Aurelie's old room, where I found various mementos from Aurelie's year at my high school. We spent the night reminiscing a bit about those days, and then we went to bed.
In the morning, Aurelie's mom provided me with a bag FULL of Belgian goodies. I have been placed under strict orders to share them with my family at home (in Seattle, not London, she clearly specified). After breakfast, Aurelie's dad drove the two of us into Enghein and dropped us off, so Aurelie could show me around the park. She made me drink from "the witch's fountain", claiming that everyone who visited had to drink from it. It looked disgusting, but I figured after haggis in Scotland and the bath water in Bath, why not? And so I drank; and it tasted like iron. I felt as if I had just drank blood! No wonder it's the witch's fountain...
After exploring the park and taking a few pictures, Aurelie's dad picked us up again and we returned to Aurelie's house for lunch with the family. After lunch, Aurelie and I said goodbye to her family and we took the train to Bruges. Bruges is known as the Venice of the North, because the city is full of canals. First things first, Aurelie and I went to the chocolate museum in Bruges. We learned the basic history of chocolate, and then learned the history of chocolate in Belgium (and pralines, which were invented in Belgium). We received a few samples of chocolate, saw a demonstration of how chocolate is made, and saw various chocolate statues, including a life-size milk-chocolate sculpture of Obama.
Next on our list of things to do, we took a boat tour around the canals. Aurelie and I wound up sitting at the front of the boat, on either side of the tour guide. The tour guide was a young guy who kept making various jokes and picking on people. He especially liked picking on Aurelie and me; me, beca
use I am American, and Aurelie because she speaks French, and in Bruges, most Belgians speak Flemish. It made for a very entertaining and fun boat tour. I was sad when it ended! Also, as Aurelie and I later discussed, our tour guide was not sore on the eyes. After our tour, we went to a cafe where we had some hot chocolate and treats. Aurelie got a crepe, and I had my first official Belgian waffle! (It was delicious)We left Bruges then, and took the train back to Brussels. We were planning to go out to a pub that evening for a drink, but we were both pretty tired. So instead, we curled up with blankets and watched Serenity before going to bed. It was a very nice evening just hanging out and having fun.
Sunday morning, we once more dragged ourselves out of bed and caught a train, this time to Liege, where Aurelie's older sister Christel lives. Christel took Aurelie and me to her apartment, where we met Christel's girlfriend Laurence and the four of us had breakfast; I had tea, the others drank hot chocolate, and we all enjoyed toast with Nutella. Then Christel and Laurence took us out for a tour of Liege. We climbed up billions and billions of steps to get to the h
ighest point of the city, where we could look out at the city. After this, we were wandering around the city when we came across a street market. So we wandered around the market, admiring cute animals and waiting for Christel and Laurence to do some vegetable shopping.We got lunch at a restaurant nearby, and then spent a little bit more time hanging out in Christel's apartment before Aurelie and I caught a train back to Brussels. Once we arrived in Brussels, Aurelie took me over to the platform where I needed to catch my train back to London, and we said goodbye. It was a very busy but very fun weekend in Belgium.
And here, in closing, is a brief video of Christel explaining to me about an explosion:
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