Hello

Bonjour!  Just arrived in Brussels yesterday.  The flight over went flawlessly, and I arrived in Brussels at three in the afternoon, local time.  I wandered to the train, and made it from the airport and into the city, and then navigated the Metro to the part of town where my couch surfing host, Holly, has her apartment.  There are 2 of us crashing here, and 3 residents of the apartment, and all of us go to BSIS (Brussels School of International Whatnot).  So it's a packed house but I feel like I'm already among friends.

My first impression of Brussels is that it mainly consists of non French Speakers struggling to speak French to each other.  Both sides awkwardly butcher French for a bit until they both realize that they speak English as a first language and can actually have a conversation that both sides can understand.  My school is across the street from the Flemish university VUB, which stands for words I can't pronounce.  They speak Dutch there, and aren't fond of the French, so you don't speak French to the Dutch, English to the French, or Dutch to anyone.  It's a lot to remember which language I'm not supposed to use, but it's probably good idea to stick to English for the short term because I always slip into pseudo spanish whenever I'm around a new language I don't understand ("Where is el toileto"?).

So, in summary, first 24 hours on the ground get big thumbs up.  I'm planning on posting here more in the short term, maybe every day or 2, and then dropping it down to once a week or so when I get more settled and notice that all of my posts are about various sandwiches I am making or considering making.  Much love to you all.