Many of you know about my sister Julie's adoption of a baby boy from Guatemala. Some political problems have arisen with this.
Julie is asking that we please read and sign this petition regarding the adoption situation in Guatemala. http://www.petitiononline.com/foafoa1/petition.html
Thanks, Amy and Julie and Little Henry
Friday, September 28
Thursday, September 27
Classes at Last
This was the first week of classes. What a week! It is so unlike any first week of classes I've ever had. Basically the first few weeks of classes here are the time to get things organized. Organization does not really precede the semester so much. They still don't know how many people are in my program, some are still coming - perhaps there are problems with visas.... One can never be certain at this point.... Some americans are frustrated, but I find it a bit amusing. Things will settle out in the end, but no one seems to worry about it. Let me explain a little:
First Class - Law and Religion. I walked in about 10 minutes before class. The rooms are hard to find and are numbered rather haphazardly. This comes partly from the fact that the buildings were built in the 14-1500s and then came additions over the centuries, then parts were destroyed in various wars, well, you get the picture.... So I found the room which began to fill, then overflow with students. The professor came in and mumbled something about going upstairs to see if another space could be arranged. In the meantime, he said, 'perhaps you could organize some general strike about this situation.' So some time later he came back and brought us to another room, which is still not our final room, but we continued with class.
Second Class - General Norms. The same professor came in, this time there were about 6 students. Now he said that the room was too large, and besides it is too far from where he is teaching a class in the preceding time slot. So he took us back to the theology building and found a room - more like a closet and proceded with the lecture. I'm hoping that I can find the room again, unfortunately I didn't note where it was.
Third Class - Foundations of Canon Law. The very same professor came in and announced that the instructor for Foundations could not make it, so he would give us his take on foundations of canon law - among the foundations was the fact that statistically it is one of the best career choices if you want to be bishop or pope. So he surmised that we all clearly had those ambitions. Hmm... at this point, I begin wondering if there are any more people teaching at the university.
Fourth Class - Human Rights Law. This one was the most like a regular class. This time a different professor came in to teach. There were a few hundred students, mostly law students from around Europe who are doing a semester at this university. All of the classes have readers that are photocopied collections of laws, cases and articles. They won't be ready till a few weeks into the class, but not to worry, no one really gets serious about the course till a few weeks in.
Fifth Class - Marriage Law. I thought it was a bit early to start marriage law, because I figured the more foundational courses should be first, but this was given as the class to take, so I went. This class was taught in the canon law library. Now I should try to get a picture of this room to illustrate this blog - hopefully tomorrow. The room is about 10x20 and all around the walls, from floor to ceiling there are shelves of books. Some are multivolume collections of very old looking leatherbound books. Early 1800s were the earliest dates I saw. Languages intermingled: english, dutch, french, italian, german, spanish, latin. Perhaps others, but that's what I saw in a casual perusal while waiting for class to start. Other than the books that were part of a series, the books were in no particular order, and were not numbered or marked in any other way. When class started, the professor explained that she was the director of the dutch language tribunals of the Brussels diocese, and of the the Rotterdam Dioceses. And she also had to teach the marriage course in the dutch language section of the program, so our Marriage class would be moved to second semester. When some of us asked if this might not make our second semester a little heavy, and our first semester a little light, she said perhaps, although it is not allowed, she could teach the first few sessions in December, then continue after the semester break. She is also hoping to have us work with some real cases out of the tribunals.
Then we had a meeting of all the students and faculty of canon law. In the same canon law library in the afternoon. Well no, it wasn't all of the students, because of course some are not in the country, and others have other things to do, but there are other canon law students. Anyway a little more was explained. We have some weekend courses in the spring and the fall at a castle on the French border. And there is a thesis, but it is a little thesis, based on some topic related to the two weekend programs.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try a Latin course that isn't part of this year's schedule, would be perhaps something good to do. But it's not really for people who don't know latin - 'because that would be quite difficult, I think.' That was the comment from the staff here.
All the classes, regardless of the 'points' (like our credits) meet for one two hour lecture a week and have one final exam as the only evaluation. All the theology and canon law courses have an oral exam. The law classes - Human Rights in this case - is a written exam, but only because it woudl be difficult to schedule that many oral exams. But the format will be like the orals: two or three questions. I have two classes that run from 11:00am to 1:00pm, and on Wednesday I have two classes in a row from 4-6pm and 6-8pm. There is no time between classes, so it is understood that folks with two classes in a row will come late to the second class. 'But of course, there is nothing else to be done.'
It certainly makes me more aware of how insane our system must appear to international students in the US. When we expect folks to be there from the beginning of the semester, and to hand in papers all the time and to use textbooks that are probably outdated by the time they hit the bookstore shelves. Well as some have told me, the cultural perspectives are at least half the education.
Thanks for all the comments and news on e-mail and on the blog comments.
Peace,
Amy
First Class - Law and Religion. I walked in about 10 minutes before class. The rooms are hard to find and are numbered rather haphazardly. This comes partly from the fact that the buildings were built in the 14-1500s and then came additions over the centuries, then parts were destroyed in various wars, well, you get the picture.... So I found the room which began to fill, then overflow with students. The professor came in and mumbled something about going upstairs to see if another space could be arranged. In the meantime, he said, 'perhaps you could organize some general strike about this situation.' So some time later he came back and brought us to another room, which is still not our final room, but we continued with class.
Second Class - General Norms. The same professor came in, this time there were about 6 students. Now he said that the room was too large, and besides it is too far from where he is teaching a class in the preceding time slot. So he took us back to the theology building and found a room - more like a closet and proceded with the lecture. I'm hoping that I can find the room again, unfortunately I didn't note where it was.
Third Class - Foundations of Canon Law. The very same professor came in and announced that the instructor for Foundations could not make it, so he would give us his take on foundations of canon law - among the foundations was the fact that statistically it is one of the best career choices if you want to be bishop or pope. So he surmised that we all clearly had those ambitions. Hmm... at this point, I begin wondering if there are any more people teaching at the university.
Fourth Class - Human Rights Law. This one was the most like a regular class. This time a different professor came in to teach. There were a few hundred students, mostly law students from around Europe who are doing a semester at this university. All of the classes have readers that are photocopied collections of laws, cases and articles. They won't be ready till a few weeks into the class, but not to worry, no one really gets serious about the course till a few weeks in.
Fifth Class - Marriage Law. I thought it was a bit early to start marriage law, because I figured the more foundational courses should be first, but this was given as the class to take, so I went. This class was taught in the canon law library. Now I should try to get a picture of this room to illustrate this blog - hopefully tomorrow. The room is about 10x20 and all around the walls, from floor to ceiling there are shelves of books. Some are multivolume collections of very old looking leatherbound books. Early 1800s were the earliest dates I saw. Languages intermingled: english, dutch, french, italian, german, spanish, latin. Perhaps others, but that's what I saw in a casual perusal while waiting for class to start. Other than the books that were part of a series, the books were in no particular order, and were not numbered or marked in any other way. When class started, the professor explained that she was the director of the dutch language tribunals of the Brussels diocese, and of the the Rotterdam Dioceses. And she also had to teach the marriage course in the dutch language section of the program, so our Marriage class would be moved to second semester. When some of us asked if this might not make our second semester a little heavy, and our first semester a little light, she said perhaps, although it is not allowed, she could teach the first few sessions in December, then continue after the semester break. She is also hoping to have us work with some real cases out of the tribunals.
Then we had a meeting of all the students and faculty of canon law. In the same canon law library in the afternoon. Well no, it wasn't all of the students, because of course some are not in the country, and others have other things to do, but there are other canon law students. Anyway a little more was explained. We have some weekend courses in the spring and the fall at a castle on the French border. And there is a thesis, but it is a little thesis, based on some topic related to the two weekend programs.Tomorrow, I'm going to try a Latin course that isn't part of this year's schedule, would be perhaps something good to do. But it's not really for people who don't know latin - 'because that would be quite difficult, I think.' That was the comment from the staff here.
All the classes, regardless of the 'points' (like our credits) meet for one two hour lecture a week and have one final exam as the only evaluation. All the theology and canon law courses have an oral exam. The law classes - Human Rights in this case - is a written exam, but only because it woudl be difficult to schedule that many oral exams. But the format will be like the orals: two or three questions. I have two classes that run from 11:00am to 1:00pm, and on Wednesday I have two classes in a row from 4-6pm and 6-8pm. There is no time between classes, so it is understood that folks with two classes in a row will come late to the second class. 'But of course, there is nothing else to be done.'
It certainly makes me more aware of how insane our system must appear to international students in the US. When we expect folks to be there from the beginning of the semester, and to hand in papers all the time and to use textbooks that are probably outdated by the time they hit the bookstore shelves. Well as some have told me, the cultural perspectives are at least half the education.
Thanks for all the comments and news on e-mail and on the blog comments.
Peace,
Amy
Saturday, September 22
Two Americans in Paris
My sister Julie came to visit this past week. We had a grand time, while she also helped me with apartment set up, helped get my back straightened out and shared some university orientation sessions with me. I really enjoyed her visit - and for a week, I wasn't the newest kid on the block.
A highlight of her visit was our trip to Paris. We walked to the Leuven Train Station at dawn to catch a commuter train to Brussels, then it was an hour and a half on the high speed train to Paris. We were there before 9am. We got all day passes to the Paris Metro/RER/Bus/Tram. That helped us get around and save our feet a bit.
Our first stop was Notre Dame. It was magnificent. We both have lots of pictures. In fact I was noticing how much photographic equiment people had there. It was amazing. Earliest parts were built in the 12th century. It has certainly seen a lot of history.
We then took the train to the Eifel Tower. Again, wow! It is just like the pictures show it, but it is amazing to be up close and personal. We got a crepe and coffee from a shop there. This shot is taken on the bridge over the Seine. We crossed that bridge to another monument, then grabbed a train up to the Arc de Triomphe.
Again it was just like in the photos. But there were thousands of Parisians trying to get on with life as usual, while thousands of tourists took in the sites and took lots of pictures. Julie and I stopped along the Champs de Elysee for lunch in a sidewalk cafe - a great lunch I might add.
Our last stop was the Louvre. That was amazing as well. You would practically have to live at the museum for a year to do justice to all that is there. It was incredibly amazing. And the place was packed with people from around the globe. I would have loved to have spent time looking at paintings and sculptures. But there was so much there that all I could do was just marvel at it all.
We then headed back to the train station and caught our train for Brussels, then Leuven. The whole day was amazing and just a grand time. We had some other great days seeing the sights here in Leuven - this town is overflowing with charm. We also spent another lovely afternoon in Brussels.
Next week formal classes begin. They have finally posted our schedule. They said they always try to have classes only on Tues, Wed and Thursday. That will be nice. But I'll have to get into the academic routine here. It is different from what I'm used to. However, in my program, it will be new for most of the students, so hopefully we'll figure it out together.
I haven't met any canon law students, but there are lots of internationals here for theology programs.
Peace,
Amy
A highlight of her visit was our trip to Paris. We walked to the Leuven Train Station at dawn to catch a commuter train to Brussels, then it was an hour and a half on the high speed train to Paris. We were there before 9am. We got all day passes to the Paris Metro/RER/Bus/Tram. That helped us get around and save our feet a bit. Our first stop was Notre Dame. It was magnificent. We both have lots of pictures. In fact I was noticing how much photographic equiment people had there. It was amazing. Earliest parts were built in the 12th century. It has certainly seen a lot of history.
We then took the train to the Eifel Tower. Again, wow! It is just like the pictures show it, but it is amazing to be up close and personal. We got a crepe and coffee from a shop there. This shot is taken on the bridge over the Seine. We crossed that bridge to another monument, then grabbed a train up to the Arc de Triomphe.
Again it was just like in the photos. But there were thousands of Parisians trying to get on with life as usual, while thousands of tourists took in the sites and took lots of pictures. Julie and I stopped along the Champs de Elysee for lunch in a sidewalk cafe - a great lunch I might add. 
Our last stop was the Louvre. That was amazing as well. You would practically have to live at the museum for a year to do justice to all that is there. It was incredibly amazing. And the place was packed with people from around the globe. I would have loved to have spent time looking at paintings and sculptures. But there was so much there that all I could do was just marvel at it all.We then headed back to the train station and caught our train for Brussels, then Leuven. The whole day was amazing and just a grand time. We had some other great days seeing the sights here in Leuven - this town is overflowing with charm. We also spent another lovely afternoon in Brussels.
Next week formal classes begin. They have finally posted our schedule. They said they always try to have classes only on Tues, Wed and Thursday. That will be nice. But I'll have to get into the academic routine here. It is different from what I'm used to. However, in my program, it will be new for most of the students, so hopefully we'll figure it out together.
I haven't met any canon law students, but there are lots of internationals here for theology programs.
Peace,
Amy
Wednesday, September 12
P.S. Floorplan
Just a quick note. Some people are asking for the layout for my apartment. I put together this little sketch. I think the total floor space is between 350 and 400 square feet. The front room is living/dining area. The kitchenette (gray) is along the wall across from the front windows. Then the bathroom, and a side entrance. In the back is the bedroom. And off the bedroom is a small outdoor area (green).
Tuesday, September 11
Of Things Belgian
This is a photo of the local waffles that are sold on the street here. The big differences between American Belgian Waffels and those here are 1) Belgians make waffles with yeast, not baking power or baking soda and 2) Belgians add honey. The waffles here in Leuven are Warme Waffles - finger food which is served warm with a carmelized sugar coating (yummy) and the Brussels Waffles which are served with some cream or fruit, more like we think of 'belgain waffles'.They are very earth friendly here. This is partly because of the high population density. But it is also a way of life.
-Recycling is a way of life. You have to purchase special bags. The ones for compost are special bags made of a corn based material that will decompose along with the compost. The ones for plastics are one euro per small bag (about 5 gallons). So if you make garbage, you pay. Paper and cardboard are picked up free. A calendar gives the dates and times of each type of recycle and garbage pickup. Also, there is a little sticker that you can put on your mailbox that says Geen Reclame.... Basically, if you put that sticker on your box, they can't deliver junk mail to you. I'm still trying to figure out where to get the sticker.
-There are lots of bikes. The traffic rules favor pedestrians first, then bikes, then cars, trucks and buses.
-Public transport is widely available and well used.
-High efficiency bulbs and appiances are popular.
-People layer up rather than putting up the thermostat. Here it is pretty chilly already.
-My water heater is on a timer to give me hot water only when I need it.
I'm settling in to my new home. Unfornunately, I managed to throw out my back folding a blanket - of all things. So I've slowed down a little. FORTUNATELY, I called my sister Julie who was able to talk me through some exercises that have helped a lot, and I'm much more mobile than I was 24 hrs ago.
Not only that, but Julie is dropping everything and will be here in Leuven to treat my back.... Oh well, I guess she had a trip planned for some time. But it is great that she will be here at that time. She is also hoping to connect me with a good therapist here. She says that the local version of PT is awesome. I can say that there are many offices I've seen around town.
We will also get out a bit and see some of the sites. Of course, I think the town right here is quite charming and there is a lot to see.
Tomorrow, I have to go to the police station - they have to come and check out my apartment and my housing contract. Apparently, they check out all the places where international students are to make sure that they are habitable. I guess the belgians have to fend for themselves.
Peace,
Amy
Friday, September 7
Furniture Delivered!!!
I understand that the use of the exclamation mark is a sign of poor prose. However, there is no prose rich enough to express the feeling of having furniture delivered this morning. I have a bed, closet and chair in my bedroom and a kitchen table, desk and chair in the front room. The desk and table are shown on the right.
The photo at the left is the chair that I'm using for my computer station now. I had intended this for my bedroom as my prayer chair, but it wouldn't fit through the passage way. I may get help carrying it outside and bringing it in through the side door. I think it would make it through. That is a task for another day though. I also got internet connected, and I am blogging from this chair. I've also skyped some people from this spot. This is the living room side of the front room, taken with my back to the above photo. I still need to get a futon or sofabed for this space, for all my friends and guests.
The photo at the right is the bedroom, taken through the outside window. The bed is on the left and the closet and chair are on the right. You can see a little into the passage way into the front room. It is hard to get far enough away to get any perspective. I guess people will just have to come and visit. I'm working on getting a futon or sofa bed for the front room to accommodate this.
Finally to the left is the chair that was given to me by some neighbors. It is the first chair I had in the place. However, I think it is too bulky for this space in the bedroom. I'll see about switching it with the green chair in the front. But for now this is my prayer chair. I also have some good lighting in the bedroom to counteract the dark days of the belgian winter.
Having furniture is definitely making the place more homey. More needs to be done with some rugs since the tile floors will be really cold in winter. Also, something on the walls would be nice, don't you think? But I've got time to do that. For now, I'm quite satisfied with the place. I still have about a week before orientation starts, so I think I'll take some time to explore my surroundings a little.
Peace,
Amy
Wednesday, September 5
Settling in in Leuven
Well, no photos today. But there's been a lot of progress. Last evening, my friends Elizabeth and Colby called because some new arrivals from the states had stopped by their place looking for advice, leads, etc.
So it was interesting talking with them and realizing how much I've managed to get done in less than two weeks. Thank God and thanks for all your support and prayers and messages. I have really felt that I'm still in touch with community, friends and family.
I posted a sign in the window of my ground floor apartment saying that I am interested in any second hand furniture people may have to offer. I figured since there is a fair amount of foot traffic and lots of folks moving in and out, I may have a chance. So far, that yielded me a comfortable stuffed chair from a couple on my block. And I jsut got a call from a woman who has a desk chair to offer. These have both been free, things they want to get rid of. The stuffed chair is in great condition and is wonderful! They called it a one person couch. (dutchism)
Then I have about 6 or 7 items being delivered on Friday from the second hand shop. The town of Leuven runs a recycling program for household goods and clothing. The things are collected, cleaned up and repaired as needed, then sold in this shop. I got a cord for my camera (the part from the transformer to the wall), and next time I go, I'll bring the cord from my computer and see if I can get the same.
I also went by the internet provider. The university cut a deal with one of the providers her in town UPC, and there is a special cut rate for students (200 euros for the year). That should be hooked up by tomorrow.
I've also agreed to exchange babysitting services for use of wash machine for my friends Colby and Elizabeth. Their son Rowan is about 9 months and is a great kid. So Thursday, I'll bring my laundry over and do it while watching Rowan (he will probalby be sleeping) and they will get a chance ot get out. That is especially nice since they have a friend from the states visiting.
All is going well. With furniture and internet, I'll feel much more at home. I've also gotten a little more of a routine. Till now, it seems like I've spent every waking moment finding a place, then making it liveable and doing all the formalities of registering with town hall and the university and the bank in between. Now I feel like I've gotten a lot of that in place, and once the furniture is delivered, I'll have a real bed and someplace to hang clothes. That will be excellent.
Thanks again for all the prayers and support. Maybe the next post will be from my internet in my apartment. Yeah!
Peace,
Amy
So it was interesting talking with them and realizing how much I've managed to get done in less than two weeks. Thank God and thanks for all your support and prayers and messages. I have really felt that I'm still in touch with community, friends and family.
I posted a sign in the window of my ground floor apartment saying that I am interested in any second hand furniture people may have to offer. I figured since there is a fair amount of foot traffic and lots of folks moving in and out, I may have a chance. So far, that yielded me a comfortable stuffed chair from a couple on my block. And I jsut got a call from a woman who has a desk chair to offer. These have both been free, things they want to get rid of. The stuffed chair is in great condition and is wonderful! They called it a one person couch. (dutchism)
Then I have about 6 or 7 items being delivered on Friday from the second hand shop. The town of Leuven runs a recycling program for household goods and clothing. The things are collected, cleaned up and repaired as needed, then sold in this shop. I got a cord for my camera (the part from the transformer to the wall), and next time I go, I'll bring the cord from my computer and see if I can get the same.
I also went by the internet provider. The university cut a deal with one of the providers her in town UPC, and there is a special cut rate for students (200 euros for the year). That should be hooked up by tomorrow.
I've also agreed to exchange babysitting services for use of wash machine for my friends Colby and Elizabeth. Their son Rowan is about 9 months and is a great kid. So Thursday, I'll bring my laundry over and do it while watching Rowan (he will probalby be sleeping) and they will get a chance ot get out. That is especially nice since they have a friend from the states visiting.
All is going well. With furniture and internet, I'll feel much more at home. I've also gotten a little more of a routine. Till now, it seems like I've spent every waking moment finding a place, then making it liveable and doing all the formalities of registering with town hall and the university and the bank in between. Now I feel like I've gotten a lot of that in place, and once the furniture is delivered, I'll have a real bed and someplace to hang clothes. That will be excellent.
Thanks again for all the prayers and support. Maybe the next post will be from my internet in my apartment. Yeah!
Peace,
Amy
Sunday, September 2
Leuven Town Festival
This is the annual festival in Leuven. I guess it happens just before most of the students arrive back in town. Just the international students who have to move in and take care of all their registration and immigration issues from here, rather than commuting from the area.There are many parts of the festival. I happened upon some races. They blocked off the entire street from the Leuven Rail Station to St. Peter's Church in the center of town. Then there was a Corvette racing back and forth between the two. Note that this street (Bondgenotelan) is one of the main streets in town and the track runs from the edget of town to the center, about 1km. You can just make out the buildings at the station (start of movie) and church (end of movie). See movie (to upload).
Then there was a bike race. There seemed to be several classes of racers. This is the second group riding by the church. They seemed to do several laps. I didn't see the end of the race. See movie. (to upload) After the bikers, there came a dozen or so cars with top racks that carried about a dozen bikes each. Some racks were full, some had just a few bikes on them. See movie. (to upload)
Apparently there is some sort of blessing of the animals tomorrow in the west part of town. It starts around 3-4am, and the whole thing is over around 9am. So I'll see if I can catch some of it. My landlord said he and his whole office will be over there working the crowd. He's a property lawyer (called a notary here) and his clients and potential clients are will be there with their animals and produce.
One other thing, I should show you my ride. I got a rental bike $35 euro for the whole year. I got it from VELO, a nonprofit that rents, resells and repairs bicycles. The idea is to promote energy friendly transportation. Folks in business suits and skirts, etc. all ride bikes here. The whole town (inside the ring) is about the land area of Tower Grove Park in St. Louis. There is more of the town outside the ring, but most of my days will be spent inside the ring, so this should work just fine.All is well here. There is a carnival in front of the library, so my usual internet spot is a little noisy, but still works. Peace to all. I enjoy your messages and comments. Also, this makes responding to emails easier, because I can put general info and photos here then give other tidbits in the emails. I couldn't manage to upload the movies. Not sure why. I'll try later when I have a power connection.
Peace,
Amy
P.S. Here is a quote from a blog entry from my friends Elizabeth and Colby's blog. There is a link at the left to get more....
I wanted to take this moment to do another list of weird things about Belgium, so here we go: 10 more oddities,
(1) When you go to sleep at night with the windows open, there are no bug sounds anywhere to be heard. Just pure silence, then someone talking somewhere.
(2) The bell tower near us chimes every 15 minutes like most, but on some days it rocks out for nearly 5 hours on end with tunes from ABBA and Iron Butterfly, and I'm not even kidding.
(3) The preferred nomenclature for the 'Port-a-potty' here is the 'toiletwagen'.
(4) All beer comes in smaller bottles (22mL) but is much higher in alcohol (8-12%) and is oh-so-delicious.
(5) Virtually no one uses credit cards here, period. Also, they've stopped using checks in Belgium. It's all online. My bank contact looked at me like I was from Mars when I said we still used checks in the US.
(6) Even the man who runs the cheese stand at the Friday market speaks 4 languages.
(7) The other day we followed a large rat down the street to a friend's house. He would move a few steps then stop, we'd follow then stop. This went on for blocks.
(8) Carnival workers in Belgium are nearly identical to the ones in America. Apparently they are related. There is a carnival outside our window (about 4 ft actually) right now.
(9) At the market, the panties hang next to the fruit. A woman went up to a pair of panties and stretched the crotch out as far as she could . . . not quite sure what she was checking for.
(10) Don't try to contact anyone for anything in August in Belgium. The nation is on vacation. The most efficient thing in Belgium, we've found, is the Swiss consulate. (Sidenote: embassies in foreign countries usually adapt to the host country. Example, the Canadian embassy here makes their building appear Belgian using Belgian materials, decor, etc. The American embassy is known to import everything in the building from America, from the building material to the carpet to the clocks, which is funny because it's all probably then made in China, right?)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)