Sunset from Brussels National Airport - we were up for our flight home before the sunrise and came back before the sunrise 
Marc opening his Genova jersey - Jenna admiring
That's my Godson
Grandma
Mom and dad opening their Triple Karmeliet
Kevin opening his Genova jersey
Jack opening his sweet 3 piece, laser scope, Nerf gun (I love shopping for toys because I pick out the thing I think is the coolest - and then spend my fair share of time playing with it)
Ali and Jake
Ali with her Hopus set
Kevin, Casey, & Jake
Aunt Berta, Suzanne, & Kevin
Monique and I freezing in front of tree
Hello again! It’s me Andy – back in Leuven.
Has it really been a month since my last blog post? It’s amazing how fast time flies (and how uninspired you can be to write a blog post) when you’re in the midst of finals. That’s right, me, and the rest of the Loyola Luevenites have been stationed mainly in our rooms or study rooms for about the past 3 weeks. It’s finals season in the biggest Belgian university, and for the past month, most of us Americans have remained indoors. However, with the finish line in sight, and with the whole crew making it through, the Loyola gang has slowly begun to emerge from the cocoon of finals fever (some already traveling). But I suppose I should touch you up on the past couple of weeks’ events.
Let’s face it, the Christmas season is too short. Every year it seems like the family chores and traditions that we cherish – putting the decorations up around the house, perfectly placing (or in some cases intentionally misplacing) the ornaments on the tree under the watchful eye of my father, and watching (I mean helping) my mom make ravioli’s – just finish up, and then just as quickly it’s time to start packing things away. However, I guess I never fully appreciated the value of Natale time as much as I did this season, being a college student home from Europe for 2 and half weeks, with a full 4 months of family and friends to catch up with (try saying that 5 times fast).
My time home was a blur of catching up, opening presents, enjoying good company, and eating good food. It seemed like I opened my eyes on the plane ride home, blinked once, and was on my flight back. My time in New Jersey was sandwiched between trips to both Massachusetts and Connecticut – the result of having family and girlfriend in the north east. I spent some time visiting friends, catching up with high school buddies, and seeing a college roommate or two. In addition, I ventured into New York City for one day to see the Christmas tree in about 15 degree weather – the things we do for love.
With all that traveling, it seemed like before I knew it I was packing back up to head back to Europe (though to be honest, I never fully unpacked to begin with). On January 6, we headed collectively as a group back to little land of Leuven – except this time with much trepidation, seeing as how we were now in exam period. If there’s one way that the Leuven study abroad group is tested in fire, it’s the trip back after Christmas break. We arrived at 7 am, having been up for 24 hours, on January 7th, and some of us were expected to take exams as early as the 9th. Battling jetlag, poor sleeping habits, and a semesters worth of information (in Leuven there’s no test during the semester just a win-or-go-home final worth all the credit) we hit the ground running during the month of January.
Thus, my blogs have been lacking over the past couple of weeks, mainly over the fact that I haven’t done much but wake up, study, eat, and go back to sleep. However, with the end of exams in sight, and a long awaited trip to Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Austria – hosted by our current Slovakian roommate “Mister” Martin, who sadly will not be returning for spring semester – I am confident that in the upcoming weeks I should be able to keep you entertained with a couple of blog posts. Until then, I wish you a happy rest of January, and hell a great February as well – and I’ll talk to you soon in the upcoming weeks. Tot ziens!
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