The first few days in Belgium were cold, grey and filled with confusion. Living on the campus, wandering around shops nearby and meeting fellow exchange students as lost as I was. Trying to make the empty (and dirty) dorm room feel like me and more alive. Excited for new experiences, slowly ready to face everything and make new friends.
I study hospitality management in Finland, and here the courses are focused more on business. I leaned to my strenghts and chose two languages to learn; dutch & french. Mandatory courses were constitutional law and presentation skills. Law course isn’t my favourite, but the presentation skills improve my public speaking skills, which will be more of a benefit in the future working life. I also have marketing management, peek to belgium life and ethics, which I chose out of curiousity.
I have a lot of free days here, like back in Finland during my third year. I was surprised in a positive way. I use that time to travel a lot – solo and with friends. Mostly to France and Netherlands (the neighbouring countries), but also to different cities in Belgium. The city I study in is called Bruges, and sometimes it feels too small for me (coming from a big city). Sometimes we go eat a croissant to France, enjoy some fries at the beach or waffles at the city centre. New things I have tried here are surfing and kiteboarding – would recommend them in a heartbeat.
First days I didn’t like Belgium and wanted to come back immediately. Now the tables have turned and I don’t want to come back.
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