Things about Belgium you might not have known....

I can't really explain how different everything here is. Like everything else in life, some of these things are good while others I don't care for as much.

Things I love:

• Their is a bike path everywhere. Their roads have bike paths on both sides and if they are not marked in white on the road, then bikers have a special bike path made out of red brick. If you see the red brick versus grey or cobblestone, you know it is designated to bikers especially.
• Almost everyone born and raised in Hasselt is tri-lingual. That is, they speak Dutch, English, and either French or German. Most people can speak a little of both.
• They provide you with cooking supplies in your dorm.
• Alcohol is allowed in the dorm and people aren't stupid about it.
• There is no R.A. and even more importantly- no need for one because people mind their manners.
• They have a community refrigerator where everyone just labels their stuff.
• They have the most amazing waffles. You go up to the guy on the street corner and buy one. It comes wrapped in a napkin and has a little bit of special sugar and syrup. I have no idea how they make these so good, but I really need to find out! They are about 1.70 Euros ($2.50). Drinks are also about this much.

Things that are just different:

• To turn the lights on you flip the switches down.
• Toilets have a start and a stop button, and you have to look out for this or the toilet splurts like a fountain.
• They think Americans speak American rather than English. Although, this is true as even we recognize that speaking Spanish to a Mexican is not the same as Speaking Spanish to a Spaniard.
• Their view on "clean" is much different.
• Movies are often watched using subtitles or actors are given voice-overs so that the movie can be viewed in a different language. It is so strange to watch Leonardo Di Caprio on-screen with the voice of another man. Haha.
• You can't watch our TV shows online from here. Because you are trying to access it from a network outside the U.S. it is not allowed as it infringes on many international trade agreements. :(
• The only yellow cheese here is Cheddar. There is no Colby or any other variety. Also, I have never seen more Muenster cheese in my life.
• Their eggs are all brown.