Brian Travels to Europe

So, I really don't know how soon anyone is going to notice this, but I figured a blog post would be the easiest way to share my stories so that I don't have to repeat the same stuff repeatedly.

I guess I should first do a better job of explaining the program I'm in. The Washington Semester Program is like a study abroad for those that don't want to leave the US. A lot of international students come over to participate as well. It is split up into different programs such as journalism, history, and business. Basically, you take seminars and classes some days of the week and work at an internship during the others.

This year they decided to try including a graduate part to the program as well. All of the people that are taking part were in pretty much my exact situation: no permanent career offers but looking for ways to gain experience and continue our education (also wanting to pretend we didn't graduate). Pretty much all of us got the ad in the mail, said "what the hell, why not" and signed up.

One of the perks of the global business seminar is a trip to either China or Europe, which is why the 12 undergraduates and 8 graduates in the program just spent the last week in Paris and Brussels.
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The trip began with a ridiculous start in Paris. The undergraduates and the professor had already been there for a few days, so we would meet up with them at Disneyland Paris. Our escort had to take our bags to the hotel, so we were on our own with rudimentary instructions in a new country immediately following a night transatlantic flight. I don't know how we pulled it off, but we made it just in time to sit through an hour long presentation on the "success story" of a company that has operated at a loss since its creation. We were given passes to the parks for the rest of the day, but most of us wanted to make use of our short time in Paris and left early.

We were in Paris for only 2 days and nights, but we made the most of it. I saw most of the essential tourist sights and participated in the requisite consumption of alcohol. One night, we accidentally wandered into a bar before we noticed that it was full of high schoolers. One girl even had braces! We chugged our drinks and got out of there quickly. The other night, we met a drunk, gay, brittish dude who bought everyone drinks and was one of the most ridiculous people I've ever met.

While Paris was fun, most of the program took place in Belgium. The country makes by far the best chocolate, waffles and french fries. Also, this may be blasphemy, but I now think I enjoy Belgian beer more than Irish. First of all, it's high alcohol content. (You're a wuss if you go less than 9%) But unlike other strong beers, Belgian beer is absolutely delicious, and you really can't tell that it has such a high content.

Within Belgium, we took a day trip to Antwerp, which is home to the world's diamond trade. We all left feeling like diamonds are the biggest scam in the world. Fortunately, the city was cool enough to just walk around.

We also took a trip to Bruges, which is one of the best preserved medieval cities in Europe. Lots of old canals, bridges, and buildings. At some point, we're all going to get together and watch the movie "In Bruges" which is supposedly hilarious.

We had one free day, that a few of us used to spend a day and a half in Amsterdam.

Brussels itself is a pretty sweet city. One bar, the Delirium Cafe, is now a possibility for my favorite bar in the world. The city is also home to the coolest record store I have been to. Brussels is home to the EU, which is the main reason we stayed there. We toured all the big institutions there, but left even more confused about how that whole crazy bureaucracy works than before we went.

Unfortunately, we finally had to leave this morning. We flew over Ireland on St. Patrick's day, which was pretty cool, but I'm not really celebrating because my liver is about ready to shrivel up and die.

If you're still reading by now, I hope you enjoyed the stories, and I'm sorry I've been so crappy at staying in touch.