Life is pretty mellow around here. Parent Teacher Conferences mean we did not have a full week of school with the students; I view days without kids almost like days off and convinced the other interns that we should carve pumpkins and go bowling. Staying up a little later on a school night is not quite as detrimental when have to talk to parents as when you have to talk to four year olds. Every week my fellow interns and I get together for dinner and one of our three apartments cooks for everybody on a rotating schedule.

Dear all, life in Brussels keeps chugging along and amazingly enough it is already time for the first round of parent teacher conferences. This weekend was another Brussels weekend but do not think for one second that I am in a rut; there are just always things to do around here. Friday the girl Interns and I went out for drinks at a decidedly touristy bar, Delirium, that is not without its perks and problems.

Dear all, I spent a most enjoyable weekend in the near by Netherlands and thought I would share some of my adventures with you. The reason for my going was to visit my good buddy Kirsten from Leiden and celebrate Founders Day in high style. What is Founders Day?

This past weekend kept me in Brussels but that does not mean that I am not getting up to adventures; every week this city amazes me with what it has to offer. Several weeks into my time in Brussels I could be heard saying that I thought Brussels was sadly lacking in character. Sometimes it is wonderful to be proven wrong and Brussels seems to be doing this to me.

Dear all, this weekend I did not stray too far from my new home but instead ended up in downtown Brussels. Belgium is known for chocolate and beer and this week the latter of the two took center stage. The 10th annual Brussels Beer Weekend exceeded mine and my fellow interns expectations. The interns and I planned on being at the Grand'Place at ten o'clock in the morning when the gates opened but did not manage to really get beer caps and get started until around eleven.

Dear all, we have officially started school which was totally welcome after the seemingly endless weeks of orientation. It was good to have people show us around and break us in gently but at a certain point you can only talk about school so much and you just need to start doing it. We have a class of twenty 3-4-5 year olds and they are a little crazy but really what group in this age group would not be. We have some students that do not speak English at all, some that are choosing not to speak at all, and some that just cannot stop talking.

Dear all, this past weekend Belgium celebrated the Ascension of Mary and as a majority catholic nation everything including school was closed. As I am not one to let a long weekend simply waste away I jumped on a train and head to the nearby country of the Netherlands. My good buddy Kirsten conveniently lives in the city of Leiden and let me invite myself over for the weekend. I recently graduated from crutch status to walking status which has been a bit of a change.

April 9-With a crashing roar, the ski lifts closed for the season. Folks walking down Elk Ave. might not have heard the cacophony, but it resonated to me, and for a few days threatened to send me into darkest despair. In retrospect and introspect, I have three words: Get a life.
To hell with that. I have a life, and at least for the cold months, my life and lifestyle involve skis and skiing. My transition to warm month activities is sometimes shaky. Most of the time I face it cold-turkey, but occasionally make attempts to taper off my gravity fix by spring skiing in the backcountry.