Orientation

I got into Leuven at about 9 p.m. After checking my email, I went to bed and slept for a good 10 hours. Despite my lack of acquaintances in the city, I did have plans the following day. The exchange coordinator had planned a lunch for all the law exchange students who were already in town and just waiting for the semester to start.

We met at Alma 2 (Cafeteria 2). The food was surprisingly decent compared to what I was used to at University of Washington. I sat next to a quiet couple from Iceland who I couldn't get to say more than a few words and across from a nice French speaking Belgian guy whose name I can't remember. When lunch was finished, we all made plans to meet for a drink later and the exchange coordinator said she'd email the students who didn't come to lunch. A few people had affairs to attend to, but eight of us went to coffee in Oude Market (the Old Market), the social center of Leuven. The cobblestoned, pedestrian square (more of a long rectangle really) is lined with around sixty cafes and bars. The only distinction between the two is that cafes open and close earlier than bars. The cafe's close around 1 a.m. while the bars are often open until 6 or 7 a.m. They both serve liquor, you can smoke in both and both feel just like a bar. Oude Market is full of students every night of the week until the bars send them home.

We stepped into one of the cafe's, Den@, on the West side of the square. Everyone got coffee of some kind. I ordered a mokka (mocha). It tasted fine, but it came in an esspresso shot glass, not the Grande cups I'm used to. We all sat down and preceded to get to know one another. There was Tim from Australia, Hanne and Kristina from Norway, Susanah from Denmark, Belinda from London, Susan from the U.S., and a few others I just can't remember. We talked of law school and our various educational systems, where we were living in Leuven, the gossip we had heard about which classes to take and which to avoid. We all lingered in the cafe for a few hours before deciding to split up. It was nice to finally know some people in the city.

I needed to venture to the laundromat before going out that evening. I won't bore you with the details except to tell you that laundromats in Leuven are remarkably similar to those in the U.S.

That night, we met at Erasmus, a bar near the law school. Almost 20 students showed up, not all of them law students, and I got to know some more people. I met a nice Polish girl named Natalia who studies English linguistics. She had courses in English and American literature so we had a nice chat about our favorite books.

For those of you not in the know, there is a lot of beer in Belgium. They don't claim they invented it, but they do like to say that they've perfected it. It's a small country, but apparently there are over 600 Belgian beers. And Belgians take their drinking seriously. As I mentioned, their bars are open late, well into the morning, and it seems like everyone goes out at least a few nights a week. Furthermore, there is a whole culture surrounding beer here. In the U.S. where we might go to coffee, they go for a beer. Each of the 600+ beers is usually served in it's own decorated and labeled glass. Some of these resemble tumblers while some look more like brandy snifters. Some beers even have their own pouring technique.

Much to my amazement, I noticed that people kept giving a pinkies up to the bartender. At first, I thought Sam had really spread his fad to Europe, but someone told me that's how people order the house beer in a noisy Belgian bar. You just put up your pinkie and someone will bring you a Stella or Primus. In fact, our word for the littlest finger comes from the Dutch word pinkje, a diminutive for pink.

Anyway, my new found friends were encouraging me to try a wide variety of beers. Stella is still my favorite, though that's not saying much. Needless to say, I've used the pinkies up quite a few times. After a couple of drinks at Erasmus, we went to Oude Market. It was atypically reserved that night because most of the Belgian students were finished with their exams and had gone home or skiing until the next semester began. We ended up back at Den@, this time drinking beer not coffee. I met Phillip, a law student from Duke University in the U.S. and Nella, a nice Finnish girl and a prodigious drinker. Nella had been in Leuven for a month already having come early for an intensive Dutch course. She became our unofficial guide for the evening.

After a drink or two at Den@, Nella led us across the square to a bar that had dancing. Unfortunately, the music at this bar was really bad. This bar was in company with all of the other bars I've been to since I've been here though. It's like they have taken all the "pop trash" from the last twenty years and put it on eternal repeat through all the bars here. They have a couple of modern songs they love to play too, including that awful "My Hump" song by Blackeyed Peas (sorry Dave, but it's just awful). I didn't need anything more to drink so I made an effort to dance to a few songs and then headed home. My companions were disappointed that I was quitting so early, but 3 a.m. seemed plenty late for me.

I slept in the next day and tried to get my room setup. I went shopping again, this time at the main grocery store near the center. They have their own grocery bags and a much wider selection, but it's still a stressful rush to bag everything with everyone waiting.

On Thursday the 9th, Orientation began. We gathered in University Hall, the gem of a building I had to register in. I found a seat next to my new found friends, Nella and Hanne. A rather dry official greeted us and welcomed us to Leuven, and then they unleashed us on the room next door for coffee and more socializing. Whenever they serve coffee here they have to include a chocolate or cookie and this was no exception. I'm going to be quite fat when I return to the states.

We broke for lunch. My friends from two nights ago and some new folks went back to Alma 2 for lunch. Later, we all went to the international student cafe. It's supported by the University, so if you pay 4 Euro you can drink all the coffee you want for the semester. It's great. Now, if we could only find the same deal for Sam in New York, we'd save all kinds of money. That night there was more beer drinking and more dancing, but I called it an early night.

Friday was more orientation, including a survival Dutch course. I didn't really learn any more Dutch than I already knew though. I'm still limited to please, thank you, and where's the restroom. It really does seem that everyone here speaks English though. I'm yet to meet someone I can't communicate with. I honestly wish there were a few more Dutch only speakers so I could use the little I know and learn some more, but as soon as they hear the accent, they switch to English.

That night there was a big party at the international student cafe. There must have been almost 300 people there from all over the world there dancing together. The party was good, though the music was the same stuff the bars play. A guy I met from Greece, Vassilis, got a drink with me after we left around 3. He's become a good friend since.

There were more orientation programs on Saturday, but they weren't really applicable to me. So, I just hung around home and recovered from all the late nights. I went to bed early because Sunday morning the orientation program was taking us all to Ghent, but that's a story for another time.

I didn't take a lot of pictures at orientation, but here's one of the school's main library. It's been rebuilt three times, once after each of the World Wars and once after a fire. After WWI and WWII American universities and schools donated a lot of money for it to be rebuilt and plaques lining the front of the library still commemorate the gifts. The thing that looks like an upside down fly pierced by the shiny metal pole on the left is just that. A gift to the university from one of Belgian's most famous sculptors. I bet the entomologists had a great party the night that went up.