I came to Leuven in February and have been enjoying seeing how the city has come to life again during these five months. These are peculiar times defined by social distancing. However, I’m happy to tell it’s been a wonderful spring for me anyway. My studies in LUCA School of Arts have been great and I think I’m very lucky cause most of the lessons have been organised live at campus.
In Leuven you can find Belgium’s biggest university – KU Leuven, which makes Leuven a true student city. Most students move around by bikes and it didn’t take long for me to rent my own bike as well. Exploring the city and other areas nearby by biking became one of my favourite things to do outside of campus.
In the beginning of May the city started to open up again and the view was completely different. Bars and restaurants could have customers again outside, so the streets were filled with tables, chairs and people. The lifting-up of the measures also made it possible to start planning concerts again and I still can’t quite believe we actually managed to have one. The 9th of June was the first day concerts could happen again so our lovely piccolo class organised a concert together with organ players. We went to a church in Kortessem and played a full program to a live audience. I have to say after a year of silence it felt amazing to share live music again.
Now it’s the end of the academic year and students are focusing on their exams. In Belgium the exam period lasts all June and for me it feels much more intense than the exams in Finland. Also, in the meantime, everyone is going crazy about the EUROCUP and you can spot the Belgium flags on balconies and all over the city.
I’m excited to see if I can catch another side of the city after the exams are done and everyone will get the summer-break vibes.
Doei!
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