Hello people! I promised almost every person I've talked to for the past year that I would write a blog informing them of my crazy adventures here in Europe. So here's my first post describing my (thankfully) uneventful flight, my wonderful host family and the longest, most tiring day of my life.
I have been looking forward to going to Europe all summer…well…actually… ever since my sister returned from her semester abroad. However, I never really enjoyed the thought of a 7 hour plane ride crammed next a group of strangers.
My dad drove me to the airport and I got there a whole 2 and a half hours early, not having to wait in a single line. Went right through check in and security, and my gate was relatively close. Fortunately, other MUDECers did the same thing and I ended up making some new friends with my Cleveland classmates.
When we landed in Newark, I met up with my good friend/roommate, Micayla. We went to a nifty little diner to get some food in our empty bellies (I was so nervous I couldn't eat breakfast). I ended up getting cheated and thought fries would be come with the $9 chicken tenders I got, but in the words of our waiter, "You don't find free food in New Jersey".
After our 5 hour layover in Newark, we finally boarded the plane to Brussels. I sat between Micayla and my good buddy Connor who I said about 2 words to but bumped into approximately 152 times (and that doesn't include the time I dropped my pillow on him while he was sleeping). I really wasn't able to sleep during the flight, but thank goodness they had Captain America 2 and Mary Poppins to accompany me.
Finally we reached Brussels and I was running on pure adrenaline. We went to pick up our luggage and I thought I saw my distinct suitcase, but didn't see my Margaritaville luggage tag, so I knew it wasn't mine. After waiting for the carousel to spin around again, I double checked and saw the same distinct suitcase from before in fact was my bag. I'm sad to say that United Airlines ate my Margaritaville tag. Sorry Mom.
Afterwards, we got on the bus to Luxembourg and BOOM, I fell asleep for 2 hours. It was glorious.
I woke up to Luxembourg signs and rain (you were right, Dad). We got to the chateau and ate some great chocolate muffins and waited for our host families to pick us up. Honestly, I felt like I was in in 2nd grade again. Micayla and I met our host mom, Millie and her niece and headed over to the house. Millie kept up great conversation as we were in the car and then took us into her beautiful home. They have three dogs - a 2yr old Great Dane named Nala, a 10yr old Golden Retriever name Vosco and a small terrier of unknown age named Isha. Nala likes me the best so of course we're great friends already.
Micayla and I share a room on the 3rd floor of the house and we have 2 other housemates in the room next to us named Morgan and Madison. We all share a bathroom (the toilet has 2 buttons to flush - how cool!) on the first floor and a shower in the basement.
Micayla's and my room has a beautiful view of the big backyard which is amazing. We keep the window open and get a great breeze throughout the room. Here's a picture (it really doesn't do it justice).
I ended up taking an hour nap and then I went downstairs, sat on their patio, and hung out with Millie until all the other girls woke up. We were relaxing when our 19yr old host sister, Martin, came in. Then, Millie broke out the champaign to celebrate. We had a great time getting to know each other and relaxing in beautiful Luxembourg.
Millie's oldest daughter and her husband came over for the spaghetti diner Millie made, which made it feel like a party! She made some flan for dessert which was delicious. And after that, I was too exhausted to do anything else, so we all went to bed. And I must say, it never felt so good to sleep in a horizontal position.
I have been looking forward to going to Europe all summer…well…actually… ever since my sister returned from her semester abroad. However, I never really enjoyed the thought of a 7 hour plane ride crammed next a group of strangers.
My dad drove me to the airport and I got there a whole 2 and a half hours early, not having to wait in a single line. Went right through check in and security, and my gate was relatively close. Fortunately, other MUDECers did the same thing and I ended up making some new friends with my Cleveland classmates.
When we landed in Newark, I met up with my good friend/roommate, Micayla. We went to a nifty little diner to get some food in our empty bellies (I was so nervous I couldn't eat breakfast). I ended up getting cheated and thought fries would be come with the $9 chicken tenders I got, but in the words of our waiter, "You don't find free food in New Jersey".
After our 5 hour layover in Newark, we finally boarded the plane to Brussels. I sat between Micayla and my good buddy Connor who I said about 2 words to but bumped into approximately 152 times (and that doesn't include the time I dropped my pillow on him while he was sleeping). I really wasn't able to sleep during the flight, but thank goodness they had Captain America 2 and Mary Poppins to accompany me.
Finally we reached Brussels and I was running on pure adrenaline. We went to pick up our luggage and I thought I saw my distinct suitcase, but didn't see my Margaritaville luggage tag, so I knew it wasn't mine. After waiting for the carousel to spin around again, I double checked and saw the same distinct suitcase from before in fact was my bag. I'm sad to say that United Airlines ate my Margaritaville tag. Sorry Mom.
Afterwards, we got on the bus to Luxembourg and BOOM, I fell asleep for 2 hours. It was glorious.
I woke up to Luxembourg signs and rain (you were right, Dad). We got to the chateau and ate some great chocolate muffins and waited for our host families to pick us up. Honestly, I felt like I was in in 2nd grade again. Micayla and I met our host mom, Millie and her niece and headed over to the house. Millie kept up great conversation as we were in the car and then took us into her beautiful home. They have three dogs - a 2yr old Great Dane named Nala, a 10yr old Golden Retriever name Vosco and a small terrier of unknown age named Isha. Nala likes me the best so of course we're great friends already.
Micayla and I share a room on the 3rd floor of the house and we have 2 other housemates in the room next to us named Morgan and Madison. We all share a bathroom (the toilet has 2 buttons to flush - how cool!) on the first floor and a shower in the basement.
Micayla's and my room has a beautiful view of the big backyard which is amazing. We keep the window open and get a great breeze throughout the room. Here's a picture (it really doesn't do it justice).
I ended up taking an hour nap and then I went downstairs, sat on their patio, and hung out with Millie until all the other girls woke up. We were relaxing when our 19yr old host sister, Martin, came in. Then, Millie broke out the champaign to celebrate. We had a great time getting to know each other and relaxing in beautiful Luxembourg.
Millie's oldest daughter and her husband came over for the spaghetti diner Millie made, which made it feel like a party! She made some flan for dessert which was delicious. And after that, I was too exhausted to do anything else, so we all went to bed. And I must say, it never felt so good to sleep in a horizontal position.