Settled in

I guess it's been a few weeks since I've written anything. Things have been a bit hectic with getting settled with all the readings, joining groups, meeting new friends, and of course partying. We only have class once a week, so there is plenty of time in between to do the work, but the lectures and seminars can be intense, so it's usually vital that you know what the readings covered. This depends on the class of course, as a recent lecture for Political Strategy had nothing to do with what we read, so we were all rather confused.

I've found myself to be quite interested in what I've been learning, which is a departure from what I remember undergrad to be, especially the first two years. Back then, I had no goals, so I was basically just going through the motions, not really caring what the outcome was. My view changed somewhat the last two years, but my mistakes at the beginning have certainly caused me problems since then, making it more difficult to get internships and scholarships. But now that I'm here, I finally have the motivation that I should have had in undergrad.

On that note, I ran to be Vice President of our Student Council (JCR), which is sort of out of character for me. Nonetheless, I'm trying to get out there more, add new experiences to my resume and expand my horizons (as cheesy as that sounds). So, out of a three way race, I managed to win, though I have no idea by how much. I managed to bribe a few friends with promises of chocolate, but the rest voted for me on their own (I'm kidding of course, vote buying is a horrible thing to do and is never ever done in established democracies...).

I don't know exactly what my duties are, but I do have ideas of things that I want to change and expand upon. The way it works right now, those students starting in September elect a President, as well as several other posts, and those starting in January (such as myself) elect a Vice President and the remaining slots. After thinking about it, I feel this disenfranchises the January students, who never get the opportunity to be in charge. I've discussed it with other people, and I'm contemplating trying to get the constitution changed so that the Vice President would become President in September and the September students would then elect a VP. Then, in January, he/she would become the President and the incoming January students would elect a VP, thereby giving each person a semester at both VP and President. It also eliminates the problem of tossing a newly elected President into the deep end in the first weeks for the September group. Anyways, pretty boring stuff, as is the majority of everyday politics.

A couple weeks ago a few of us spent a Saturday in Brugge, an old port town about an hour train ride away from Brussels. It used to be a major import town, due to it being close to the sea and the many canals running through town. Unfortunately, the canals eventually filled up with silt and, being unable to clean them out, the town eventually fell into disrepair, becoming somewhat of a ghost town. These days, it's one of the most popular tourist destinations in Belgium, due to it's medieval architecture (really only about 50 years old) and it's easy going, romantic nature. It's also home to some of the best beer and chocolate in the world, which is certainly not a thing to miss.

So far that's the only traveling I've had the opportunity to do, but we've been out to dinner several times and gathered in numerous bars throughout the city. I've met a good group of people, and we all get along quite well, so it's always fun going out with them. Last Saturday, we were out at one of the more famous bars in Brussels, Cafe Belge, for a few drinks. We didn't stay out late, leaving around 1am. As I walked home, intent on donning my pj's and possibly watching a movie, I got a call from my roommate. He was picking up some people to go out to a club and wanted to know if I wanted to come. I guess I wasn't digging the movie idea too much because I said yes with little hesitation. We were headed to a place called Bulex, which is an old brick school that hosts a party on the first Saturday of every month (no word on what it is for the other 29 days of the month). We drove over there, and after spending 20min. finding parking, headed to the school. Once we got there, we saw a swarm of people, all trying to get inside. At this point, it was past 2am, and we figured it would be about an hour before we got inside, so we moved to plan B. Another club was open downtown and a couple other friends were there celebrating a birthday, so it seemed a logical choice. Now, I'm not one to find clubbing/dancing to be the best fun I've had, but this place was actually pretty cool. It was classic Euro dance music, loud bass, and lots of 20somethings partying. Somehow, through a mixture of red bull and vodka, we stayed until 6am. Needless to say, not much was accomplished the next day, but it was worth it.

That just about brings us up to today, though this evening starts another weekend that will no doubt provide it's own stories.