Juan's Story - Week 3: So little time, so much to see

Have you ever had the feeling of time flying?

It's difficult for me to understand that it's already my third week here in Belgium, it certainly feels I have arrived just the day before. Somebody once told me that if you enjoy something a lot it will result in time flying and it will feel too short. That says a lot about my internship, but must also be the reason why my economic classes always seemed to last forever.

I met a lot of new people this week, starting with the new intern of GraduAid & Student.be: Ruben. Slowly but steadily we are increasing in numbers, if it goes on like this we'll have to get extra space or it will get cozy. I like the way things work in a business incubator, as I had the chance to meet a few other entrepreneurs over coffee in the kitchen or lunch in the room. Some of them could speak German, which was quite a pleasant surprise. Speaking of German: I got to know a German who moved from Cologne to Ghent approximately 2,5 years ago and she asked me if I was also from the same area. I had to laugh about it, as I come from a completely different area and therefore had to ask myself, if my stay abroad had changed my German so much that I was recognized from someone from Cologne. But I should see for myself that there are also differences in the areas of Belgium. This week should have been my first time to Brussels, but it was postponed as the team from the capital would come to Ghent instead later this week. It was nice to get to know them, but for the first time since I'm in Belgium I noticed a difference between them and people from West Flanders. It's a difference in the way of expressing themselves and also speaking, so I'm really curious about visiting Brussels and see for myself how the people are there. In Germany we also have many differences between the different areas, especially in the South of Germany in Bavaria. But they are a special case, as they don't see themselves as Germans and would love to be independent.

This week also promised some highlights on the culinary aspect. It started with some delicious "belegde broodjes" that I ate together with the GraduAid team. In the evening I went with my girlfriend to a "Krokettenbar", the "Pure Daphne". As I had never been in a restaurant specialized in croquettes, I didn't have high expectations, but oh boy, how wrong I was. It was extremely tasty! Different fillings like salmon, ham and cheese and a self-made tartar sauce together with a nice wine made the evening one of the best till now in Ghent. I took the 12 mini croquettes accompanied with a salad and like this I had the possibility to taste all the different ones, which I can highly recommend. I think I will visit it again with the GraduAid team and I hope they'll enjoy it as much as we did. This was only the start of a really funny evening as I got to know afterwards a few more bars in Ghent, starting with the "Hot Club the Gand", an alternative and cozy bar. Next we went to meet some friends in the "Missie Sippie" where they played live jazz music. Maybe a bit too loud to talk with friends, but definitely worth it! In the end we landed in the smallest café of all Ghent, the "Galgenhuis" where I tasted a new Belgian beer and I'm happy of my choice to try something new.

The weekend was quite turbulent as there was a lot to do: I finally visited Bruges and it was an amazing city. Although it was really windy and therefore cold, it was worth every second of it. If I had to summarize it in a few words, I would say that Brugge is an old city, whose beauty is difficult to compare with any other city I've been to. There was a lot to see starting with a big market, beautiful buildings and many churches. This may be the reason for its popularity for tourists - which mostly came from Spain as I recognized to my amusement. Of course they immediately talked to me in Spanish and it resulted in a nice talk with an old couple who asked me to take some pictures of them. I have also been to some bars in Torhout and thanks to the loud music, I had to order using gestures and only a few words, so they didn't notice I wasn't from Belgium, which is quite a cool feeling. I hope that time continues to fly as it means that I'm enjoying my stay in Belgium a lot.

Lees ook: Would you like to study abroad? Get a scholarship!

 

And with this I conclude the 3rd chapter, thanks for reading and till next week for chapter 4!

Juan