Waterloo

A few weeks ago I went to Waterloo.

For those who have forgotten their high school history lessons, allow me to remind you that the Battle of Waterloo served as the final military defeat of Napolean Bonaparte, who managed to lead the French army to conquer most of Europe and is generally regarded as one of the greatest military commanders to have ever lived. After being defeated in Russia, Napolean abdicated the French throne and was exiled to the island of Elba. He had some fight left in him, however, so he escaped and reinstalled himself on the throne of France. In order to avoid being conquered a second time, the rest of Europe united to defeat Napolean. Knowing that the best defense is a good offense, Napolean rallied his troops and marched them to the East to divide and conquer the Anglo-Prussian forces before they could mount a serious offensive of their own. The armies met at Waterloo (73,000 French soldiers against 111,000 British and Prussian allied troops) and a huge battle ensued. By the end of the day, June 18, 1815, the rest of Europe was safe from the imperialism of France, Napolean was permanently defeated and 40,000 men had lost their lives.

5 years later, the Dutch King William I ordered construction of a massive monument on the spot where it was believed his son was wounded. The monument, a giant hill topped by a statue of a lion resting his paw on a globe, pierces the old battlefield as though the Earth itself has risen up to bear witness to the blood spilled there.

The view from the top of the man-made hill was incredibly beautiful and illustrates just how flat the country is naturally.

There are a number of educational activities around the monument. The best one is a huge panoramic painting of the battle, showing what it would of looked like to have been right in the middle of it.

Happy Birthday to Me!

About half a month ago I had my 25th Birthday. I am now over a quarter of a century old. Here's what I looked like that day.

I went out to dinner with my friend Karina (pictured below) from the U.K. We went to a really good Moroccan place on Muntstraat, Leuven's restaurant street. I must say the middle eastern/arabic food here in Belgium is about ten times better than any I've had in the States. The company was great too. Karina let slip that she used to be in the British equivalent of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corp, and we spent the rest of the dinner talking about how great camping, hiking and climbing are.

Afterwards, we met a bunch a people at Ron Black's, one of the nicest bars here, conventiently located right next to the law school. It's supposed to be a modern English bar and it certainly feels that way. There more of an emphasis on cocktails than beer, and it feels distinctly un-pub-like, which is a nice change from almost all the other bars in Leuven. From left, Nella from Finland, very nice guy from Germany whose name I can't remember, Tim from Australia, Karina from the U.K., Sanne from the Netherlands, Susanne from Denmark (barely visible with red hair) and Erna from Iceland. There were more folks on the other side of the table, but I don't have a good picture. They all kindly chipped in and got me some very nice cologne as a present. I'm trying to believe it's not a hint about me having body odor.

As it was a Tuesday and many people had class the next day, a lot of folks went home early around 1am. A few people followed my to the kebab place near Oude Market (the Old Market), which was again top notch compared to the places in Grenwich Village, and then to another more Belgian bar with an assortment of beer stein's hanging from the ceiling. After being bought a few more beers, I headed home so I could call Sam and say goodnight. It was a good day, though there's a lot of people I didn't have the chance to see or talk to that I would have liked to.

Beautiful Leuven

Leuven continues to enchant me. It gets more beautiful here everyday, and every time I think I've seen all there is to see, I find a breathtaking new sculpture, building or park.

Saturday, on my way to class (I'm taking a negotiation workshop that meets all day on Saturdays), I discovered a flower market on the square in front of the library. There were several rows of merchants peddaling beautiful flowers, decorative fountains and potted herbs to gardeners getting a late start on their spring planting.


On a break from the workshop, my friend Sofie (from Sweden) and I bought some cones of gelato and walked through the city's central park. The park wasn't as full as it is on weekdays, but the tulips were stunning in full bloom.


After class, on the way home, I walked part of the way with Sofie. We ducked into a small park along the side of the road to snap a picture of this old sculpture. It's one of my favorites in Leuven, and another example of the city's many surprises.


The gray days are finally gone, and now, just when I'm about to leave, it really starts getting nice. I'm looking forward to coming home, I just wish I could trade a few of those gray days for more of the nice ones that I'm sure to miss. Leuven's hard to beat when the sun is shining.

 

Cantus Day

Last Wednesday, May 3, was an interesting day for me. For one thing, it was the first day it was warm enough to wear the one pair of shorts I brought with me. My first class wasn't until 4 p.m., so I met some friends of mine in the park before hand. In every place I've been to where the sky is overcast for many months in a row, sunny days are always greeted with enthusiasm. Belgium is no exception. It seemed like all the students in Leuven were outside laying in the grass or sitting outside at the little cafe tables that have taken over the narrow streets. This picture shows just one small portion of the park in the center of the city. It was thick with students. The only gaps between people on the grass of more than a few meters were for the frisbee players. My friend Karina's pink socks can be seen in the foreground.

After sunning for a few hours, I went to my Mergers and Acquisitions class: more proof that even an interesting subject can be boring when taught in a monotone. The real highlight of the day though was the Cantus. Cantus is Latin for "song", but in Belgium the meaning is a little bit more complicated. For quite some time, centuries (if the Belgian students are to be believed), the students of Belgium have understood a Cantus to be a large party organized around a game involving copious ammounts of singing and drinking and a smattering of Latin phrases. As it is a Belgian tradition, I felt I couldn't pass up the opportunity when the law school student organization (the VRG) announced that they were putting on a Cantus for the exchange students.

My friends and I showed up at the designated bar, Pavlov, promptly at 8:0o p.m. We were warned it's not the kind of party you can just show up to at any time. After paying our 9 euro, all the participating students, about 45 from all over Europe plus me, sat down around two large tables in the back room and servers brought out beer, lots of beer, two glasses each that got replaced as soon as we drank them. It wa Stella all evening, which was fine by me as it's still my favorite.


After we all got our two full glasses in front of us, the Belgian student from the VRG who was running the show went to the front of the room and explained the Rules. His role for the evening would be that of Senior. He was to be obeyed by the rest of us, known collectively as the Corona. We were only allowed to go to the bathroom on designated breaks unless we could come up with an AABB rhyme beginning with the line "During the night of the VRG Cantus at Pavlov". This made me a bit nervous since I couldn't think of anything that rhymed with Pavlov, and I hadn't yet had anything to drink. Furthermore, anytime the Senior said "Ad Fundum", which means "to the bottom", we had to salute the Senior, the Corona and then finish all the beer left in our glass, even if it was full.

After explaining the rules, the Senior began to lead us in song. We started with two Dutch songs that are apparently sung at each Cantus. Each was followed by an "ad fundum", which quickly left our first two glasses empty. Then we moved on to more familair songs, mostly in English since that was the most common language among us. We got progressively louder as we sang "Oh my darling", "Loch Lomon'", "Yellow Submarine" and others. The singing was interspersed with various silly games including a drinking race between the Scottish and the English (the English won) and the German and the Spanish (the Germans won). For a few of the songs, the Senior called up volunteers to help lead. Here's five lads who thought they were attractive doing a rendition of Backstreet's Back.


We had a good time singing YMCA too, but it was "I Will Survive" that became the anthem for the evening. Everyone seemed to know the words and really get into it the first time we sang it. Since it was the most popular song of the evening, the Senior suggested we sing it as our last song as well. By this point in the evening, we had all had enough to drink that most of us, including yours truly, ended up dancing on the tables as we shouted the lyrics with all the force our inebriated lungs could muster. My friend Mike from the U.K. demonstrates below.


Despite all the beer, I somehow managed to avoid a hangover the next morning, though my voice was a little hoarse form all the singing. It's certainly not something I could do every night, but I'm glad I had the experience. The Cantus is one tradition I wouldn't mind importing.

Markets of Brussels

A couple of weeks ago, on April 22 to be exact, my Belgian friend Pol showed me some of the markets in Brussels. Being from Seattle, the home of Pike Place Market, I thought the markets of Brussels couldn't compare, but they were really something.

First we went to the Brussels flea market. People from all over the city come and lay down a blanket and sell their trash/treasures. I really wished I had some space in my suitcase because their were a lot of fun antiques and novelty items, including one rather lewd Japanese sculpture that I would have liked to have brought back. There was also an assortment of stolen goods for sale. It's inspired me to make a point of going to the New York flea market when I get back to the City.


The market that really impressed me though was the Moroccan style market near Gare du Midi (one of Brussels three big train stations). Brussels has a big (compared to the U.S.) Arab population, and this market caters to them. There were rows and rows of stalls. The ones selling CD's blasted Moroccan music from cheap speakers, setting the mood. This market was huge and everything from meat and fresh produce to cloth and stuffing for making floor pillows was on sale. The long line of nut and olive sellers was particularly enjoyable, though all the people taking nibbles from the sample tray with their bare hands seemed a bit unhygenic.




Pol and I found a nearby cafe and sipped some deliciously sweet mint tea and enjoyed one of the first really warm days since I've been here. The weather has been getting warmer and warmer, and that makes it increasingly harder to study. I've got to crack down soon though. I come home in less than a month. I'm still hoping to do a bit more traveling if I can squeeze it in between all the reading I need to catch up on. Wish me luck, with this weather, I'll need all the help I can get.