Class already?

So after finally getting settled into the swing of things - BOOM - class happened.

Monday morning, 0845. Sad day. But it wasn't all bad, considering I was sitting in a class about chocolate. The class is being taught by one Rob Rollins, a business professor from Miami (in Oxford). Professor Rollins is really chill - I had him for a business 101 class back in freshman year. He also worked for Mars (the candy bar company) for 17 years, so I think the guy knows his chocolate. From there, it was downtime until I had class again at 1415 - international economics. Again, the prof clearly knows his stuff. This class however, is I imagine, going to be the most difficult by far. I say this because I've started my homework for next week (aren't I a good student?) and it's dense. Economists have this unique ability to take the most simple, common-sense pieces of knowledge and technalize (not really a word, but you get the point) beyond any necessary point.

Anyhow, my last class on Monday got cancelled, so I went out to dinner in Differdange at some little hole-in-the wall pizzeria, and it was actually very good. My rather large margherita pizza only cost 3,80 euros, Nice! On a tangent - I've officially developed an excel spreadsheet for budgeting all the money I'll spend here. It's pretty legit.

Tuesday = today. So, I again had class at 0845, but it was with Dr. Haag. Cool story about Dr. Haag: he's this pretty old guy (though I had imagined him as being older), who has taught at MUDEC since its inception. So, when my father was a student at MUDEC, he actually had Dr. Haag for this very same class I'm taking, "The Rise and Fall of Hitler." Already, I have great respect for the man. He literally talked for the entire hour and a half class, without stopping, without rushing, without panicking, without ever even stumbling over what he was going to say. It was impressive, to say the least. So that class is going to be sweet, albeit with a large amount of reading. I've already begun our first reading assignment from a biography of Hitler (again, am I a good student or what?), and it's fascinating. Did you know Hitler tried to work as an artist in Vienna, and he was pretty bad at it? Crazy stuff already.

Cultural Interruption: so I think it's interesting how you pay for things in Europe. Everything is really laid back as in you pay after you've gotten your meal and eaten your food. I don't know, but when I was sitting in the kebab fast food place, and I didn't pay right when I ordered, I felt strange. Also, when we were at this pizzeria the other night, they had MTV on the tv. It was all techno jams. Europeans love techno music. This is fascinating to me, maybe because they play it all the time. I mean, in America, we have techno music in clubs and stuff, but they literally have it on all the time. Walking down the street at eight o'clock in the morning? Techno. Playing foosball? Techno. Eating pizza or kebabs? Techno. Sleeping? Techno. Not really.

Next, poly sci class got cancelled. This was sweet for two reasons. Firstly, I didn't have to go to class. Secondly, the reason class was cancelled is because our prof had to go present something at some royal presentation in Luxembourg city, and, according to our assistant dean, will hold a make-up class at his house with dinner and the opportunity to meet some ambassadors or something cool like that. Two days in, and I've already got some connections. Then I had german. It's gonna be fine. I've always felt like I have a knack for languages, so I don't feel at all intimidated by people speaking foreign languages to me. Then, it was dinner, where I had a kebab (which is the same as a gyro), and it was taste-tacular. Again, it was good and cheap as well. Back at the Chateau, Kelley (the student activities coordinator) put on a little presentation about traveling in Europe. Which was nice because...

This weekend, I will be traveling to Brussels and Bruges in Belgium. We're going on this Miami charter bus to spend Friday afternoon in the Belgian Ardennes before they drop us off at the Arlon train station in Belgium. From there, myself and a good plenty of Miami students are heading to Brussels via train, where I'll be spending Friday night at the Hotel du Congres. Then, as far as I know, the plan is to chill in the morning in Brussels and then get going to Bruges pretty early (also by train). In Bruges, I'm staying at the Snuffel Backpacker Hostel. I'm excited to travel away for the first weekend, but I'm also nervous, I'll be sure to keep this updated afterwards. And Blue and Dad, I'll be sure to find some Jupiler.

Ah, I should also mention my moments of weakness today. So I don't know if it was just that I was tired (I literally haven't had any caffeine since I've been here) or if classes just got me down, but for the first time today I got homesick and sad. It might have taken a week, but I've definitely realized consciously that I'm not in America anymore. And, that, along with my general shyness, made me miss home and all my close friends back in Ohio. Sadface. But, after getting a little food in me, doing some homework, and relaxing, I felt much better. I want to be accurate about my feelings for the entire trip, so I have no intention of hiding if I freak out, or have a mental-breakdown, or cry about missing home. No, this is and will be a tell-all account of what it's like for me, Jimmy Trotier, studying abroad in Europe for a semester. Yeah, it's going to be difficult at times, but that's why I'm here, to grow up and win at life. Thanks for reading, and I'll continue to let you know how my experience goes.