Second week in Leuven, Belgium

Orientation week was hectic, in a nice way. We were introduced to the "kot culture" ("kot" meaning a student room in Vlaams, the Flemish dialect of Dutch) at Leuven - from where to eat and drink to how to sort your rubbish (imagine having five different coloured rubbish bags for plastic, paper, glass, organic, and others!). There was a nice tour of Leuven last Tuesday. The university is very much a central part of town, if not *the town*, as our Programme Secretary commented, "there are no *normal* people in Leuven". Likewise, the town centre is dead quiet over weekends when Belgian students are back at home doing their laundry and stuffing themselves with home-cooked meals.

The Catholic University of Leuven is the oldest university in the Low Countries since its establishment in 1425 (just to give you an idea, the old Oxbridge colleges were established in the 12th and early 13th century). Interestingly, the university used to be bilingual (French and Dutch) before the revival of Dutch language and Flemish culture in the 1950s and 1960s that forced the French half of the university to found their own university in Louvain-La-Neuve, 45 minutes away in the French-speaking lower part of Belgium (note that Louvain is simply the French name for Leuven). Belgian politics is utterly complicated but at least the aim to please as many groups as possible - fancy having seven governments (one federal, three regional, and three cultural) for a country of 10 million people!

We also visited Leuven's famous Groot Begijnhof (Large Beguinage) an isolated community dwelling built for religious women (mainly the wives of men who went to war during the Crusades) in the 13th century. The university has bought over the Begijnhof in order to preserve it and it is now mainly used for housing temporary visitors, students and professors. It's a nice fifteen minutes walk from where I live and I walk pass it on my way to the sports centre. Another interesting feature of Leuven is of course, beer. The world's largest brewery, InBev is based in Leuven and has since come along its Stella Artois years, expanding through mergers and by devouring hundreds of smaller breweries. Not a beer drinker, I quite like their flavoured beer variety, e.g. Kriek, or cherry-flavoured beer, which is commonly known as a girls' beer.

Then on Wednesday, we went for a very interesting guided tour of Brussels. Like a smaller but equally metropolitan London or Paris, Brussels is thick in history. At the main square (Grote Markt), the tour guide could point out where Victor Hugo or Karl Marx used to stay when they were seeking refuge in Brussels. Further back in history, Belgium as part of the Low Countries were at the heart of European royal politics. One of the churches that we visited had interesting dynastic stained glass featuring the reign of Charles V (who was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, among his long list of illustrious titles) and his sisters who were married to powerful kings of Europe at that time. Now, instead of European princes and dukes, Brussels is packed with 'Eurocrats' working at the myriad of EU institutions. It is said that Brussels has the highest density of diplomatic officers (i.e. most European countries will assign three different diplomatic services: national, EU, and NATO) and media correspondents (to cover the hive of policymaking activities).

Study-wise, trying to maintain focus is the biggest challenge. I have met my supervisor (who is a professor and researcher at Leuven's labour studies institute) twice to discuss about my dissertation while classes have been really enjoyable so far. One of my lecturers this term is actually a minister with the Flemish government and has actual insights in Belgian policymaking and European-level diplomatic bargaining. After all that statistics last term, it is nice to talk about *social policies* once again.

I love my room which overlooks a church beside a school (like my BG room, I also get the afternoon sun). In fact, there is another church on this square, "Damiaanplein" is named after Father Damien, a Flemish Catholic priest beatified by Pope John Paul II. The square gets quite busy in the early mornings and late afternoons because of the school and I adore the fact that I am living close to the town centre with many fellow students bustling about (watch out for those nippy cyclists!). If I take the opposite direction of the town centre, I will head towards the quiet Begijnhof and sports centre. In another direction, our Social Sciences faculty, student cafeteria and library is just over a steep cobblestoned hill. The only possible drawback in terms of location, is that the train station is a good 25-minute walk away.

I reckon that Ah Nee and friends will enjoy Leuven and Brussels this weekend! ;)

Cheng