Spending the holidays abroad

Hello my faithful readers:

It has been quite a while since I've blogged on this particular page (my own) since I began blogging for the FT.com MBA Blog. Never fear - this blog still lives.

There's a lot going on for me lately. This week is finals week for me and I just completed the first of three finals today in Financial Accounting. You'll read more about my thoughts on that in my FT blog later this week. Now I'd like to share a few random thoughts about celebrating the holidays here in Belgium.

Thanksgiving here in Belgium was an interesting experience for me mainly because they don't celebrate it here. On the actual day I had classes and I felt a lot of homesickness on the actual holiday. Much more than I expected to feel.

Normally my family gets together to cook, laugh and talk before the big day and it was tough not being there to take part in the preparation ritual. Never fear - I spent Thanksgiving night touring the Stella Artois brewery here in Leuven with some of my classmates. I ended the night with a late night dinner with a couple of my American friends and classmates.

We had a special "international potluck" Thanksgiving celebration on the Sunday after the actual holiday and it was a nice opportunity to taste traditional dishes from all over the world. I had a great time that day and ate just as much as if I were at home for the holiday.

This year I'm not planning to go home for Christmas. It will be the first time in my 31 years on this earth that I haven't spent the holiday with my family. Instead I'll be in Vienna on Christmas day because during my winter break - I'm planning to travel to Prague, Vienna and Budapest with two classmates and one of my friends from America.

I know that this holiday season is going to be tough for me as well as my mom because Christmas is her absolute favorite holiday. She's like a little kid again at this time and she decorates the inside of the house with a zeal that makes me think I might be adopted. She even has an animatronic Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Shocking right? Most of you who know me well realize that I have never (EVER) set my own tree up or decorated my apartment(s) for Christmas in the nine years that I've lived away from home. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for decorating at the holidays I will miss the ritual of waking up in the morning to exchange gifts with my immediate family (mom, dad and baby sis). We have a giant stocking that we stuff with little gifts and stocking stuffers that is presented to one immediate family member each year; it's funny now I can't remember who gets it this year.

After the exchange of gifts and a special breakfast at home (complete with the hot apple cider that my mom loves) then we head over to my Dad's side of the family for Christmas lunch and gift exchange. Then after spending a few hours there we head across town to spend time with my mother's huge family for another meal and round of gift exchanges. At the end of the long day after all of the food, fun and laughter then we head home (if it isn't at our house) and talk a little bit before going to bed.

I'll miss the tradition this year for the first time ever. It's a special time of the year for my family but I will be there with them celebrating in spirit. I made the decision not to go home this year because I wanted to use my only break this year to see a little more of Europe. Hopefully I'll find some new traditions to bring home with me for next Christmas while I'm here in Belgium.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Paris, oui oui!

Hello my faithful readers:

It has been a while since I've written here on my personal blog. Things are quite busy for me and my workload truly seems to be multiplying. It's as if someone poured water on all my assignments and like Gremlins more and more seem to pop up each and everyday! Despite all the work I'm doing I am trying to balance it all with a little travel every now and then.

Almost two weeks ago I had the chance to travel with some of my classmates to beautiful Paris, France. Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world and believe I would love to live after graduation. I feel truly alive in Paris and it reminds me of how I first felt when I moved to New York comfortable and in my element.

People always complain that the French are rude, but even when faced with it I'm never truly bothered because they treat everyone who butchers their language that way. During my recent trip to Paris I had an experience in a bookstore with a rude clerk. I wanted to ask her if they had an English language book section. Our exchange was quite brief.

Me (in the most perfect French I could muster up): "Parlez vous Anglais?"

Rude female clerk (with the most huffy, brusque response I've heard in a while): "Non!"

She then abruptly turned away from me. I was in shock for about two seconds, then he situation ended with me and my friend laughing hysterically and exiting the bookstore. The hot chocolate and people watching I shared with my friend at a cafe made it all worthwhile.

My love affair with Paris continues and I hope before I leave Europe to get to spend more time; there maybe as a resident. My favorite moments in Paris are the simple ones -- like me sitting in a cafe, sipping on my beverage of choice and people watching for hours.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

PS - I'm blogging two times per week for the FT.com MBA Blog- here's a link to my profile there.

Check out my blogs on FT.com

Hi folks-

I'm blogging on a weekly basis for FT.com. This is very exciting news for me because we're expected to read the "Financial Times" for class so to get close to them in anyway is an amazing experience for me. Check out my first blog for them here.

Enjoy!

My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...

Hello my faithful readers:

It has been nearly two weeks since my last post and it's quite simply because I have been under the weather with some sort of cold/sinus infection/disease and studying with my friends for my mid-term in Financial Accounting. My cough (some say it sounds like I have tuberculosis) wasn't enough to stop me from spending this past weekend in Amsterdam where I had a fantastic time blowing off some steam, with some of my friends (and classmates). I finally have health insurance here in Belgium (all for 82 euros for the year) and officially I'm a Belgian resident (for the rest of my school year) after multiple visits to the City Hall Office here in Leuven. My bank account situation was straightened out a few weeks ago and I was even elected as one of four student representatives for my class. My future's so bright I gotta wear shades, right?

Ironically, with all of the good news coming my way, this past couple of weeks have been my toughest so far because I've had a burst of homesickness that seemed to hit me out of the blue. Some of the minor annoyances of living here in Leuven, like my noisy neighbors, have started to wear on my nerves more than usual. This weekend in Amsterdam I think I realized that my biggest frustration is coming to terms with the fact that I have to live within a student budget. That's tougher for me than I thought it would be, simply because my standard of living was a few notches above my current (humble) student lifestyle. I'm not sure this is my biggest issue, but I think it contributes to my feelings of discontent. I am also feeling like information overload is about to make my head explode. My classes are fantastic, but a lot of the topics I'm covering aren't my area of expertise (Financial Accounting anyone?) and that makes the control freak in me a little crazy. Overall, I'm having a great time here, but I think I'm fully entering my "crisis" mode of culture shock.

I have to say that I am so thankful to have met some of what I believe will be lifelong friends here in Belgium. Everyone has a different perspective, based on their life experiences and backgrounds. It's these friendships that will get me through the rough patches... they make me realize that I need to focus on enjoying life and living each moment to the fullest. I should also say that my family has been incredibly supportive of me coming here and my parents have been helpful in keeping my life in order back at home in the US. All these things help me to deal with the strain I'm feeling right now. My friends (old + new) and family make me happy that I decided to come to the top 10 MBA programs in the world, according to the rankings by The Economist. I have the feeling that six months from now this culture shock "crisis" will be a faded, distant memory. After such a relaxing weekend in Amsterdam - it feels like it already is becoming one!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Just another weekend in Belgium

Hello my faithful readers:

It's Monday morning and I have the morning free of class! I love having mornings free after the weekends; it makes me feel like we have a long weekend (especially if we get the afternoon off on the preceding Friday which was the case for me). This weekend I did some traveling with my classmates. We visited Antwerp for a short day-trip, then headed to Brussels for "Nuit Blanche" which translates into "White Night" or "Sleepless Night" in french. This is a cultural festival that intends to get people at night to enjoy the cultural aspects of the city.

Saturday was such a busy and full day for me because I started my day by leaving Leuven on the 11:05 AM train to Antwerp with two of my classmates. We were so excited to get to Antwerp that we got off one station to early and ended up at the Antwerp-Berchem train station (not in the center of the city). We were meeting up with a couple of classmates at Antwerp-Central station so once we realized our mistake we hopped on another train for the short trip to the right station.

I decided upon getting off the train and seeing the beauty of Antwerp's train station that I wanted to move there. Antwerp has a more sophisticated, urbane energy when compared to Leuven, the town where I currently live. It's the fashion center of Belgium and home to the Antwerp 6, fashion designers who studied at The Royal Academy of Fine Arts (in Antwerp) in the early 1980's. We spent the day walking around the city window shopping, taking pics and sampling some of the local food. We had as our gracious guide, one of our classmates whom I have a lot of respect for because she commutes in daily from Antwerp for classes (approximately 1+ hours each way). She met us at the train station and remained us for most of our time in Antwerp!

After our relaxing girls day out in Antwerp we were ready for some fun in Brussels. We had arrived and missed one of the trains to Brussels by just a minute. We had to wait another 20 minutes for the next train, but the station is so beautiful that we didn't mind waiting at all. I'll share the rest of my story later this week.

On another note --I have some exciting news to share! I will be blogging on behalf of my school for the Financial Times MBA blog starting later this month. Once the details are finalized and I have the link on this blog. I'm very excited because this is an amazing opportunity for me. I'd also like to say a special thank you to the classmates who helped me out by being a part of the mini photo shoot for the blog. Without such wonderful classmates I wouldn't have anything to talk about.

Thanks for reading today. I have a few new classes starting this week and a couple of papers to write so it's time for me to get back to work!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Time flies + random thoughts

Hello my faithful readers:

As I sit here listening to the chatter of the crowds in Oude Markt outside my little studio it hits me that I've been here in Belgium for almost a month and a half now. When I made the decision to take a year off from working, the thing I kept telling myself was "It's only a year." Now I realize how little time a year (really) is in the scheme of things. To put this into perspective - in nearly 3.5 weeks of classes, I've already completed 3 courses and started a total of 6. We're starting a new course next week for a total of 7.

I'm invigorated by the pace, the opportunity and most of all my fellow classmates. Each day in class, I'm a part of discussions by some of the most brilliant minds on this earth. I have no doubt that we're all future business leaders. I love the fact that most of all we support each other, while having a good time. Just thinking about all of the adventures we've had so far makes me smile and I can't wait to have even more.

Today, I was impressed by how seriously the school is taking our feedback and responding to it. We expressed some concerns about one of our courses; our main concern was with the way the course was structured. We felt we weren't learning how to apply the concepts in a meaningful way, nor were we really learning anything about the topic we were supposed to be covering. The school took our feedback and in response they added an extra class and we have a final group assignment instead of the exam we initially were supposed to take. I love the fact that they took our feedback and made immediate adjustments, it's a nice feeling and it shows that they truly respect us and care about our education.

This year is speeding by. It's my goal to make sure I enjoy every single minute of my time while I'm here in Belgium. I hope that you remember to do the same, no matter where you are right now!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

I'm an individualist

Hello my faithful readers:

It's Thursday evening and I'm sitting here in my little studio feeling a whole lot better than I was a couple of days ago. The past few days I've been living at the VLG building and it was making me a tired, grumpy, young(ish), woman. This has also contributed to my lack of blogs in the past week. Hopefully the group work that I've been doing will slow down in the next few weeks, or at least be limited to in-class only; but I have the feeling that the slow down in group work won't happen anytime soon.

Our MBA program focuses a lot of time on getting us to work together in groups. We have all been broken out into different groups for each class based on our nationality, gender and background. I, however, am not a fan of working in groups. Both in my professional and personal life I view myself as a bit of a loner. In our Managing Across Cultures course the term for this is "individualist" and in general that's where most Americans fall in the grand scheme of things. It's all about me, me, me and I, I, I...and I'd say the control freak in me likes this an awful lot. Working in groups requires you to trust the others in the group to do what they say they will do, it also requires you to learn to be open-minded enough to see things from a different perspective (even if you think your way is absolutely right). I've learned a lot about myself this week. Yes - I can be a bit of a pushy 'diva' when things aren't going my way; and I believe I still need to do some serious reflection about my behavior when I'm required to work with others.

This weekend is going to be a much needed re-set and rest for me. I need a weekend to recover and decompress from an intense week. Thankfully I survived without completely breaking down (although I started feeling sick earlier this week). Now my focus is on working smarter, because to be honest this 1 year intensive MBA program is more of a marathon for me and not a sprint. My goal for myself over the next few weeks is to find a nice balanced life here in Leuven.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

P.S. - I got word earlier this week that my money won't hit my account until the end of next week.

P.P.S - Good news is my police visit was completed without my knowledge and by the end of day tomorrow I will have my Belgian Residence card! Things are looking up!

P.P.P.S. - Did you catch that my sports analogy was an individual sport? (that was my subconscious taking over - I swear!)

Culture shock?

Hello my faithful readers:

It has been exactly 1 week since I last updated my blog and to be honest I've been too busy to give serious thought about what I could share here on the blog with you all. My classes are Monday - Friday from 9 AM - 17:30 (5:30 PM). I'm in 2 lectures per day, both approximately 3 hours long if you include the breaks we get. This past week we've gone until almost 18:00 in my last class of the day. I've already completed one class (Economics) and will be starting two new classes next week. Typically we get an hour and a half lunch break which never seem long enough. Today for example most of my lunch time was spent sitting through a presentation from the government run health insurance company (more about that in another blog, once I experience the system first hand). After classes are done, I meet with my group to discuss whatever projects we have together; then I get a bite to eat or start studying for the next days classes. There have been a few days where I walked in at 9 AM didn't leave campus until almost midnight. Intense schedule huh? Most of my classmates are experiencing similar situations!

Now that doesn't mean I'm not having a good time here, but I will say that the sheer amount of reading is overwhelming. I've started to become a lot more strategic about how I spend my time so I don't burn out too quickly, but it is tough. It's also a challenge for me to make sure that I'm getting enough quality time in with my new friends (not always as easy as it might seem). Getting things done personally is almost exclusively reserved for the weekends. I went to Ikea last week and only had time/resources to purchase half of what I need here in my new studio. I'll focus on buying the rest of it this weekend if I have the time.

We watched a video yesterday in my "Managing Across Cultures" class; the film highlighted 3 distinct stages of culture shock. Stage 1 is the honeymoon phase, Stage 2 is crisis and Stage 3 is the adjustment phase. I think that I'm somewhere between the honeymoon and crisis stages. I just hope that my crisis stage will be a short one, but so far my biggest frustration is dealing with my banking situation and not knowing how to quickly get things done here without a lot of run around. All of the running around of late has me quite tired, but I hope that I'll build up some endurance to the intense schedule soon.

I'm still waiting for my student loan money to clear the bank here - I deposited over two weeks ago now, but the money still hasn't posted to my account. To add insult to injury, I'm frozen out of my banking software (why I can't just do it online like I did in America mystifies me) and when I called about it they actually told me I would have to call back because I didn't enter the right code. When I tried that (about a week ago), I couldn't get back in touch with them. I haven't had the time to attempt more direct contact with the helpdesk from the bank, but if I don't get some help by tomorrow I'm planning to shift my money to another bank when (and if) it ever appears!

As far as figuring out how to get things done- I think that will come with time for me. I just need to be patient and make an effort to simply learn more of the Dutch language (at least enough to understand all of the bills I'm starting to get in the mail). Making friends who have lived in Leuven for a while would be a good start for me.

That's about all I have to say for now. I like my classes a lot and have to say that I'm impressed by the caliber of students and professors this program has recruited. I learn something new every single day both about business and myself. I'll have a few growing pains, but for now I'm savoring the honeymoon.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

First days of class

Hello my faithful readers:

I've been very busy with moving into my studio and starting the first week of classes at Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. It's currently 7:21 AM here and I should be getting ready for classes soon. We have to be at class by 9 AM daily and thankfully this week most of our sessions have been related to orientation topics. The school has also been kind enough to provide lunches in the school's restaurant for the past couple of days. I'm quite impressed by the effort they are putting into our welcome week considering our Full-Time International MBA program is only a small percentage of their revenue stream.

In general this week will probably be one of the longest that we'll have as far as activities organized by the school. Our classes go from 9:00 AM- 17:30 (5:30PM) daily with a 1 hour lunch break in between. This week in particular we have events after the classes, such as:

• Guided tour of Leuven on Tuesday (I skipped this to move into my new studio)

• Opening Day Ceremonies in Ghent (required last night)

• Cocktail reception with alumni testimonials in Leuven (tonight - another required event)

• Reception at the Dean's house in Brussels (required event on Friday)
  

All of the events with the exception of the tour lasts from 3-4 hours after classes are done and the trips to Ghent/Brussels require getting on a bus and driving to each destination. Some of my classmates and I are planning to go experience a little bit of the Brussels night life after the reception at the Dean's house. I'm hoping I'll get a little bit of energy by that time because I'll admit right now on Thursday morning I'm wondering how I'll make it through today.

We have been required to wear business attire (suits) for the first couple of days of classes, but no one has mentioned what the attire should be today. I'm hoping that the business attire rule will be the exception and not the rule for most days of classes, but so far I can't tell how often we'll have to do it.

My studio so far has been pretty good it's a pretty large sized studio; maybe 30 meters squared. I'm bad at guesstimating size, but I think that's a close approximation of the actual size. I live in the busy area of town near the main square called Grote Markt. At night I can hear talking and music from the bars near my place, but so far it hasn't affected my ability to sleep. I'm not so sure I can get any studying done here, unless it's in the early mornings when it seems to be most quiet around here. I officially moved all of my belongings here yesterday on the first day of classes and now I just need to finish unpacking everything.

I still have a pretty long shopping list for my place and I'm hoping to make a trip to Ikea with a couple of my classmates this weekend. The Ikea is located somewhere between Leuven and the Brussels Airport area, we actually passed by it on our way to Ghent last night. I mainly need storage/organizing units and bedding from Ikea. I'm also considering purchasing another mattress b/c my bed is SUPER low to the ground and I'm way too tall to comfortably get out of the bed each day without another one or somehow lifting the bed off the ground. I also realized that my studio doesn't have an oven so I'll need to purchase a microwave at some point soon. I have two stove top burners, but no oven. From hearing about some of my classmates rooms I think my studio is on par and not too bad, considering the location and rent that I'm paying.

This week has been a whirlwind of activity and I'm just hoping I can hold everything together until this weekend. I'd love to paint my new studio, but I'll have to figure out the best time to get that done - I don't think it will be this weekend with all I need to do, but I'll try to at least buy all the materials I need for now. I'm hoping that the rain we've had over the past couple of days will go away, but I suspect we're going to have a lot more to come. My fingers are crossed that we get at least one more nice weekend here this month.

I hope that you're all well and having a good life! That's one of the biggest lessons I learned yesterday throughout all of my courses they want us to live well and have a good life. I wish that for all of my family, friends and loved ones. I'll try to squeeze in another blog this weekend if I have the time. As always - thanks for reading!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

A different way of doing things

Hello my faithful readers:

This week I have been focused on passing the pre-coursework my program has assigned us; all should be completed prior to the first day of classes on September 1. The school also ambitiously assigned us several books to read prior to our arrival here in Leuven. Out of the 3 classes we are to take online I have completed one and classes begin less than a week from now. I see a future with lots of nights spent here in the school (where I currently am) in my little study cubby.

I'll admit that in undergrad, (and even high school) I was never much of a disciplined studier. Nothing seems to motivate me more than an impending deadline and usually it is less than 24 hours away. With the workload that we're going to cover in this 1 year MBA program I will have to change some of my bad habits. I'll have to figure out more efficient ways to manage my time and spend less time surfing the web, checking my facebook page or just tweeting about how much studying I'm NOT doing.

Today was a poor study day for me, but I feel like it was time (mostly) well spent with getting other important tasks completed. I picked up my disbursement three checks from the International Office here at the school and learned that the student loan process for US based loans is very different here in Belgium than it is in the US. The biggest difference is that I got the first half of my loans (1/2 tuition + 1/2 living expenses) and I am responsible for making the payment to the school for my tuition. I took the checks to my bank and I was hoping that I could use a portion of my living fees expenses to pay the deposit on my studio. No such luck, apparently because of issues with check cashing fraud no Belgian banks allow you to cash checks. Ever! I deposited all of the money into my ING account, although the lovely woman couldn't give me a specific timetable of when I would have access to the money. One other (important) lesson learned at the bank today is that you should be very specific with them about the currency of the checks you're depositing. You should also keep in mind that here in Europe- the comma in currency is used in the same way as the decimal point is used in the US. I was glad that they checked with me because I would have been quite upset if they had assumed I was depositing checks for small dollar amounts(e.g. $5). That would have been a really bad exchange rate!

After doing the banking thing, I bought a few things that I needed in my room and went back to my kamer to grab a bite to eat and take a nap. That evening I needed to pay the deposit + 1st months rent to my landlord so I had to call and make special arrangements with my US based bank. I also set up my renters insurance since the same company has my current US renters insurance and luckily my rate is a little lower here in Leuven than it was in NYC, which is great considering Leuven is one of the safest cities in the world. I went to a couple of ATM machines here to withdraw the money and stopped by to pay the deposit to my new landlord. I also realized later that the exchange rates seem to be a whole lot better if you're withdrawing directly from the ATM machines.

Although I didn't get my intended studying completed, I learned that there are many differences in the ways that Americans and Belgians get things done. I think overall I'm going to learn more patience and become a lot more laid back after my experiences here. Plus I'll need to carry lots of cash around because lots of places don't seem to accept debit/atm cards here! That's enough of my rambling for tonight - I'll try to squeeze in at least one more blog this week, but for the rest of this week I'm all about getting my Statistics and Accounting courses completed!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Living out of a suitcase

Hello my faithful readers:

As promised here is my blog about finding new temporary housing. I have been here in Leuven since August 13th. Counting today I have been here for exactly 12 days which is more than enough time to be living out of my suitcase. My suitcase living will end on September 1st when I move into my new studio. In the meantime here's a little bit about the adventure I had when I moved out of the guesthouse I was staying in during my first week here last Friday (August 21st).

Initially I wanted to travel during the weeks between moving into my studio, but a visit to the City Hall here in Leuven quickly dampened my plans to see any countries other than Belgium. Our Visa only allows a single entry into Belgium and until we get our residence card we're not allowed to travel outside of the country (technically). This bit of news was a huge bummer for me because I really wanted to get to see some of my neighboring countries before getting bogged down with classwork. Last night some of my fellow classmates informed me that they were able to travel to Morocco with no problems for their honeymoon this past week. It should be noted that the lucky groom has an Italian passport which might have worked in their favor.

As a substitute for my (imaginary) trip to Amsterdam, Germany and maybe France, I'd planned on doing a nice leisurely tour of Belgium (yes I know it's a small country)!! Quickly I realized that:

1) I'm not working full-time anymore which means I have no more regular income
2) I'm not fully comprehending the fact that I'm spending euros right now and not US dollars
3) I wasn't going to find an inexpensive hotel that was up to my lofty standards in such a short amount of time.

Back to the drawing board and I'm scrambling last Friday to find temporary accommodations here in Leuven. I needed something that I could move into that very night because if you read my blog yesterday, the folks at the guesthouse were eager to have me move out so the next guest could move in.

I had a few options to choose from. One of my classmates (a fellow American) generously offered to let me crash on her couch. There is a property in town called Condo Gardens which is basically temporary studios and apartments where I knew some of my classmates are staying. K.U. Leuven (college that our MBA program is a part of) Housing Service has a listing of temporary housing that is called summer rentals which is a list of landlords and students that are subletting their rooms, studios and apartments during the summer vacation months. I decided the best option was to try to find a room since I needed a place to stay until September 1st (essentially 11 nights). I called and e-mailed a few places (Condo Gardens and places from the summer rentals list and finally got a call back from one of the summer rental landlord's after about an hour. I took the place over the phone (BIG MISTAKE) without going to see it because at this point I just wanted to move into something immediately - the clock was ticking for me.

I have some of the best classmates in the world because a couple volunteered to help me drag my bags to the new place. We arrived and the address listed on the summer rental sheet was wrong because the number they had listed was the address to a "social services office." Not exactly the best first impression, but thankfully the landlord happened to be standing outside and asked if I was the person coming to take the kamer (dutch word for room). We hustle my 4 bags up the 3 flights of stairs and my first thought was wow this building has lots of stairs and it sure seems a little rundown. The room itself wasn't horrible it was at the top of the building, but the shared kitchen, bathroom (toilet) and shower areas she showed me made me nervous. I didn't think much of it and to be honest took it because I couldn't stomach the thought of dragging my bags all the way downstairs again.

I tried to get the woman to agree to the price of 100 euros for the week as listed on the summer rentals sheet, but she hedged and said that the price was normally 30 euros per night. She said we'd be able to work something out, but she couldn't come down as low as the 100 euros. I said ok and because we had dinner plans that night with the rest of the group we headed over to Oude Markt right after I grabbed the keys.

Later that night, I arrived at the new building and it was super dark. I didn't see any light switches so I just walked up the 3 flights of stairs in the dark. I got to my floor and fumbled around until I found a few switches that worked in my hallway. I unlocked the door to my room and flicked the light switch. It didn't work! I flicked again just in case there was some error on my part and it definitely did not work. Because it was so late (almost midnight here), I decided to just wait until the morning to let the landlord know about the problem. I used the bathroom, brushed my teeth and washed my face in the sink in my room by the light of the hallway.

I turned in after my nightly rituals and tried to go to sleep. I couldn't do it. I tossed and turned for about 30 minutes. Then I felt my neck and back start to hurt. Sleeping on that bed was like sleeping on a hardwood floor. I also kept hearing some sort of bee/fly/mosquito buzzing my ear every few minutes. By 3 AM I was wide awake and (angrily) texting my best friend in NYC about the situation.

That whole experience was enough to make me realize that I was going to have to find another room. I remembered during one of my text rants that another man had called me in response to one of my e-mails shortly after this woman so I woke up and matched the number from my call log to his number on the summer rentals sheet. I took a shower (at 7:15 AM) and the shower confirmed to me that I needed to move! The shower didn't drain properly and for me that is a big no-no. I hate it when the water just sits there around your feet - the last time this happened to me was at a horrible hotel in Detroit and I didn't pay for that room.

I waited until 10:03 AM to make the call to the other guy. We agreed to meet so that I could take a look at his place for 11 AM, luckily it was less than a block away from my current room. I walked over and arrived about 8 minutes early I was so eager and he showed me my potential room and I took it. It was very clean, modern and not too small. The landlord seemed like a nice guy and I took it without even asking what the price was...the big bonus is that he only charged me 85 euros for the rest of the month (roughly 8,5 euros per day). This room has a shared kitchen, bathroom (toilet) and shower which I have to walk two flights of stairs to use, but I have slept like a baby in this room since Saturday night. I like this space and I don't mind making the compromise of walking up a few flights of VERY narrow stairs to use one of the most magnificent showers I have ever experienced. I'll miss it when I have to leave and end my few weeks of living out of my suitcase.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Banking in Belgium

Hello my faithful readers:

It's Sunday here in Leuven and now that I finally have a semi-permanent home (for the next 9 days) I have a little time to blog. Last Friday was the day that I had to check out of my guesthouse room and they knocked on my door at approximately 7:42 AM. Luckily I was awake because I knew that I had to check out by 11 AM and I had an appointment at the bank for 9 AM. I was already starting to pack my things together and the guy at the door wanted to get in and clean. AT 7:42 AM!!! I told him that I had an appointment (at the bank) for 9 AM so I'd be leaving my room at 8:30 and suggested he come back for then to start his cleaning. I got everything packed back into my suitcases and jumped into the shower so that I could make it to the bank on time.

I made my way to the bank where I ran into one of my classmates who was also setting up his account. If I hadn't seen him there I'm not sure I would have realized that the bank is also a branch because at first appearance it looks like it could be, but you can't see any of the office areas because they have a wall that pulls down overnight. The only thing visible to us customers is the bright orange wall and a weird door. This entrance also houses the ATM machines.

After walking in I visited the Info desk where the young woman told me to have a seat while I waited for my personal banker for the day. Just to explain a little about the process, I began the process of opening my accounts by calling the ING Expat Center; they were very helpful here for a fee of around 30 euros. The expat center required scans of my passport, rental contract and letter of registration from the school before they could set me up with an appointment to open up my account at the branch here in Leuven. The man helping me to open my account was very nice and we spent an hour with him explaining everything to me (he also shared some of the potential scenarios/fees for taking out insurance with ING - they offer renters, fire and car insurance to their customers in addition to their banking services here in Belgium.

Banking (at ING) seems to be slightly different here in Belgium than in the US. The main differences are:

-- they don't have routing numbers here - their numbers are called IBAN and SWIFT codes
-- banking online (especially for ING means something different as well (particularly for ING you have to download special software to your computer and you have to pay a fee if you want to bank online from multiple computers
-- bills are paid by wire transfers more often here and I haven't heard mention of checks at all
-- ING can receive transfers in multiple currencies and keep them in that currency (e.g. US$) should I choose to set my account up in this manner

One special note for my Indian friends considering opening an account with ING - one of my Indian classmates called the ING expat helpline and was told that all Indian expats have to go all the way to Brussels to open up their ING accounts.

Getting my banking situation straightened out it was a great relief for me and at the end of my appointment I had successfully opened my current (like a checking account without checks it seems) and savings accounts. So far this was the only thing that I could open without having moved into my permanent accommodations. I couldn't register yet with the city because I haven't moved in, nor could I set up the data plan for my blackberry so opening my bank account was a huge boost for me. After opening the bank account I hurried back to the guesthouse to move my bags into one of my classmates room. I needed to leave them there until I figured out where I was going to stay for the next few weeks. After moving my bags I went to check out of my room and settle my final bill with the guesthouse. I spent the rest of the day finding a temporary room here in Leuven. So that's exactly what I did.

I'll share a little bit more tomorrow about my new living situation, that's a whole new blog topic! Tonight I'm off to another round of dinner and drinks in Grote Markt with my new classmates. Did I mention that I'm loving it here in Leuven???

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

It's just getting started

Hello my faithful readers:

I have been a little lax in posting updates here, but it's amazing how quickly the days seem to fly by here. Each day a few more of my classmates arrive and there is a flurry of activity as we all try to set up plans for dinner, drinks or whatever just to get to know each other before classes begin. Last night was a fine example. We ended up having dinner at one of the Japanese restaurants on Munstraat here in Leuven, before grabbing beers at one of the local Oude Markt pizzerias.

The social scene here in Leuven seems to be pretty hopping on nice nights. I wish I had pics, but the battery in my camera died last night. I'll try to give you a (very) brief word picture of the scene. There are rows and rows of tables and chairs (sometimes 15 deep), some underneath over-sized umbrellas. All of the people, tables, chairs and umbrellas are spread out across the Grote and Oude Markt areas of town. There is beautiful architecture surrounding you on all sides. Close your eyes a little more and you'll hear the roar of a thousands of conversations happening at a time. Personally, I find that gentle roar comforting and relaxing, it's reminiscent to the sounds you might hear walking through Grand Central Station in NYC. This is the best location for people watching at its finest- in the heart of Leuven.

I realized yesterday that while I am busy getting into the social activities, I am here for a much better reason than just hanging out in a beautiful country. That reason is to study, learn more about other cultures and obtain my MBA. Leuven has a deceptively bland atmosphere that relaxes you and pulls you into its' spell without you fully realizing it. I know that personally my diet has gone to hell in a hand basket here because I'm eating way too many pasta, beers, and sweets. I'm learning that Leuven has a bit of a reputation as a college party town. The past week and a half has given me a bit of a glimpse of why it is referred to as the city of beer, sports and chocolate.

This week I began the process of studying (again), but I haven't fully given it the attention I should. Currently I have two more pre-course work classes that I need to pass before classes officially start on September 1st. Hanging out with my classmates last night also made me realize, I have more than just the coursework to get done. In addition to what is assigned in classes if I am to get all I hope for out of this program I need to do more research on what it is really like in the rest of the world. I freely admit here that I arrogantly thought I had a solid understanding, but sitting there between my classmates from India, Jordan, Turkey and Mexico I realized at that moment, that I know nothing at all. (I was also shocked to hear that American Idol is HUGE in Jordan). I'm excited, but also more than a little overwhelmed by the thought of the amounts of information that I'll be processing over the next 13 months. Quite simply put, I've got a lot of work to do.

Thanks for reading today's blog. I look forward to sharing more with you over the next year.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Settling in...

Hello my faithful readers:

Today I spent most of the day running around trying to complete some of the necessary errands I could not complete this weekend because we had a holiday. Holidays here in Belgium mean that many of the stores and shops close up completely. To top the fact that it was All Saints Day here, there was also a two-day open air festival called RockMarket here in Leuven. I got to hang out at RockMarket on the first night with some of my fellow classmates and had a blast. :) I have posted a couple of pictures from the night above. We all sampled the beer and friet saus (pommes frites or french fries) that night, while getting to know each other, in a laid back environment. My only thought is that I wish there had been more of us here to see the city of Leuven during such an exciting time.

The thing that I really love so far about my program is the sense of community we as Vlerick students have with each other. Today I also met a couple of my classmates for the first time which for me is very exciting. So far everyone has been super supportive of each other and willing to share helpful information amongst the group. I found my studio because of a list one of the other student compiled and one of my other classmates shared another list of possible leads from past Vlerick students earlier today. I was quite surprised to hear that our class size will be huge at a whopping total of 90 students. To give you some perspective on my surprise last years class size was 45 students. I really hope that we can continue our sense of community with such a large group. There are over 38 nationalities represented in the entire group and I believe there are a total of 7 American students including me.

Today my errands including going to the Housing Office at the school so they could review my lease (it's written in Dutch) and trying to get a SIM card for my blackberry. I also attempted to get my student registration card today and extend my stay in the guesthouse that I'm currently staying in. Unfortunately the only things I could completely cross off my list were purchasing converter adapter plugs (Van Eyck's) and getting my lease (or contract as it is called here) reviewed, signed and back to my new landlord.

The one thing that I've found highly ironic here in Leuven is that there seems to be an abundance of Italian Restaurants and Pizzerias that serve pasta! I am not a huge fan of pasta and on average I eat it once or twice per month if given the chance. Today I insisted that I was NOT going to eat pasta today and I kept that promise to myself by grabbing a lunch at Quick (one of the burger joints here in Europe) and eating dinner with my classmates at a Thai Restaurant (I got steamed rice with my food). I've been looking around, but have yet to run into a place that sells waffles or a chocolate shop here in Leuven. I'll keep looking for that as well as a restaurant that isn't Italian.

That's about all I have time to blog about today, but I'll try to log in and share a little bit more about life here in Leuven. I hope that tomorrow I'll get a few more things crossed off my to-do list. Now I'm about to catch up on some of my American TV shows tonight before I go to bed. I spent a lot of time walking around today so I think I'll sleep very well tonight. My body clock is still adjusting to the six hour time difference, but I have started setting my alarm for 8:00 AM each day so that I'll get used to waking up at a normal hour.

Thanks everyone for all of the love, support and good wishes on my move. It's been an amazing experience so far. It's a lot of adjustment for me too and I'm realizing just how much I took for granted living in America. Things are different for me here, but in surprising ways (had no idea how much I really hated eating pasta until I was faced with it every single meal)! So I just have to say thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing some of my experiences with you.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Flight & Day 1 in Belgium

Hello my faithful readers:

I write this from my lovely guesthouse room in Leuven, Belgium. I made it here without too much trouble. I departed JFK airport. My flight was delayed for a couple of hours, but it actually made things easier for me on the back end. I watched Star Trek on the tv screen in the seatback in front of me while waiting so it was a pleasant delay although I was hungry (starving). I didn't sleep nearly as much as I would have liked, but by the time we landed in Brussels it didn't matter so much.

The airport in Brussels was a very easy experience - I breezed through the passport control area (no issues here) and then headed to baggage claim. All of my luggage arrived intact and I was quite relieved (our flight was delayed was because of a HUGE baggage system outtage at JFK). I also was relieved because during check-in the nice woman behind the counter didn't charge me the normal fee of $150 to check my 3rd bag. Instead she checked the bag as a carry-on, but told me if it got lost then the airline wasn't responsible. After loading my luggage onto the FREE baggage cart (take that JFK), I rolled through customs (they didn't stop me at all) and down to the train station. I bought my ticket and was thankful to see that a train was leaving for Leuven in 4 minutes. Thankfully I made the train and the trip to Leuven was very quick. I made it there in roughly 20 minutes.

At the Leuven train station I pulled all of my luggage together as best I could. This was probably the roughest part of the luggage experience because they had no baggage carts on the platform at Leuven and no one offered to help. There weren't all that many people on the platform at Leuven. Once I finally got the luggage straight - I wheeled everything over to the front of the station where there was a row of taxi's waiting. I got in the 1st taxi waiting and he was willing to make two stops which I needed so that I could pick up my keys from the Resident Office at Student Housing. I'm staying in one of the guesthouses offered by the University here and it's a good value for the money. I have my own bathroom and a private room for 25 euros per night. The room is clean and the building is relatively modern looking.

I decided to take a bit of a nap and then shower before getting out and walking around a little bit. Around 14:00 I walked out of my building and headed over to the school because I felt I needed to see the location before searching for places to live. Leuven is a small city, but if I lived too far away I'd need to rent a bike to get around. I still might need to in order to get around anyway, but I'd prefer to live within easy walking distance to our building. The school is in a relatively central part of town so my hope is that I'll find a nice studio not too far away. After seeing the school I was quite surprised to realize that it's really only one building and not too large. Our other building in Gent seemed much larger and more like a college campus.

After viewing the Vlerick Leuven Building, I walked over to the housing office and checked in with them. The Housing Services counseler gave me some advice. One thing I didn't quite fully realize before my arrival here is that most rental contracts don't start until September 1st or September 15th. School begins for me on September 1st so ideally I would like to get situated before then. She mentioned that they have some listings called Summer rentals that I should check out. After speaking to her I went to the computer room that the Housing Office has available. I was able to set up a few viewings yesterday and one guy had 3 spaces that I saw. I liked one of them and I'm considering taking it although it wouldn't be available until September 1st. The price was right and it was located right off Grote Markt which is one of the busier areas in the central part of town. Grote Markt has lots of restaurants and shops.

The one thing that remains on my to-do list is to find a place that sells converter plugs. I finally found a place that sold a Mac travel kit with lots of adapters in it so that I could power up my macbook, but I still need a converter for my blackberry and camera chargers. The one thing that I have to get used to is the lack of convenience that I've become accustomed to by living in NYC. The big stores that sell everything aren't easily found here in Leuven. Most of the little shops and stores here close by 17:00 or 18:00 (even the large grocery stores).

Tonight I am headed out for drinks with some of my new classmates. I have to say that Facebook has been great in making this huge world a lot smaller for me. We connected via our group on Facebook and it's been a huge resource in keeping me sane throughout my move. I can't wait to get back to you with more updates about my adventures here in Leuven.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Packing, selling and tossing

Hello my faithful readers:

I am smack dab in the middle of trying to move my life to Leuven, Belgium and at this point I'm proud of myself. I'm on the edge though, I'm tense because so far I've donated all of my bedroom furniture, two tv's and air conditioner, but I still have a living room set to sell (even though I've sold some of my other furniture). I'm even thinking of having a stoop sale this weekend to get rid of the remaining things.

This process is harder than I thought it would be because I have a problem. A big problem. No, this is a HUGE problem. I'm a pack rat. I keep any and everything. Christmas cards, tote bags, cd's, books, small children (ok maybe not small children), but you get the general idea. I also have another issue - although I'd like to be able to focus in on getting this done I hate the idea of selling and giving my things away (no matter how little I need them) so instead I find other diversions for my time instead of packing, selling and tossing (which is happening more than I like).

I have collected many things in my 9 years of living here in Brooklyn, NY. By NYC standards I have a large 1 bedroom apartment with an office. I have been working on getting rid of things now for a long time. It all started with my books and CD's nearly a month and a half ago. On one of my favorite websites in the world, Craigslist, I found a guy who was willing to come by and pick my books, CD's and DVD's up. When all was said and done I had sold him almost 350 books and nearly 60o cd's and 30 DVD's. That was a tough day for me because selling these things (especially the books) was like selling off my children. In my head, I dramatically said "They will have a better home now, I couldn't take care of them anymore." Which is true in my case because I'm physically moving away from them.

This packing, selling, tossing process has me thinking about materialism and how my attitude might change by taking a few steps back and getting into the mindset of living as a frugal student again. I have been known to buy a few (LOTS) of shoes, clothes or handbags that I rarely if ever wear. It's like a bit of what I call retail therapy for me and just the little act of purchasing these things (within reason - I don't go into debt for them) makes me VERY happy. So what will I do with a limited budget and limited space in my new environment?

I'm hoping that my experience of scaling down my life will help me to become more streamlined. It's something that I think a lot of Americans could use. We drive big cars (well I don't own a car, but if I did it would probably be HUGE), we eat too much (I definitely do this) and we live beyond our means a lot of times (although I'm proud to say that this isn't an issue for me). I know I'm making lots of generalizations here, but I really hope to learn and grow during my time abroad. I'd like to live and see a different way of life, before I'm too old to appreciate it.

As I continue packing, selling and tossing (through next Tuesday) I urge you to consider a little streamlining in your own life. I know it's something I should have done a long time ago, but complacency kept me thinking oh I can do it at anytime. Now that I have to drill my life down to four bags, I'm taking it a lot more seriously. Take a little time to do an inventory it could change your life!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

P.S. Tonight is my going away party at Volt de Nuit (Belgian Beer bar). If you're in the NYC area you should stop by to say bye to me in person.

P.P.S. I still have a living room set available for sale - my buyers backed out on me Tuesday. If you have friends who need good furniture have them to contact me.
It shouldn't be

The Visa Application Challenge (pt. 3)

Hello my faithful readers:

The past few weeks have gone so quickly that I barely have time to keep up with everything. Each day is a flurry of new activity, but yesterday I'm happy to say I picked up my VISA! It's official - I can now go to Belgium officially to begin my program! I'm very excited about this and now I just have to finish wrapping up my life here in NYC.

In my previous blogs about the visa application process (part 1 & part 2 ) I shared with you the challenges of getting the proper medical certifications and the drama of getting the financial declaration letter approved. Today I want to share a little bit about the ever changing rules of the Belgian government. When I started this whole process back in May the application cost was $126 + a few additional fees (financial declaration letter processing etc). By the time I physically submitted my application last week the fees for the Visa application had doubled to $252. That's a big difference when you're working within a budget. Once all was said and done this whole visa application process (erm investment) was approximately $514.

I also had the luck of happening to call the Belgian Consulate in NYC on a day when they were requiring all applicants to complete an 8 page interview form about why they were requesting a student visa. Being the overachiever that I (think) am I typed my form, pulled out my transcript from college, printed out other supporting documentation for this form. All for naught it seems; when I handed that in as a part of the application last week, the woman behind the glass window was like - "Oh, we don't need that form, that was only a requirement for a couple of days." Yes - I was a little annoyed, but I was happy that for once in this entire process things were proceeding smoothly. She flipped through all of my papers and said "You'll be able to pick your visa up next Tuesday!

So now I have my visa and the way that it works is they give it to you for 3 months. You have to take it to the city hall of the place where you're planning to live and sign up for a resident card. They provide the card to you (with your picture) and you can use that to travel within Europe. They also warned us that the local police in our city (Leuven) will stop by within the week to make sure we actually live at the address we provide when we register with the city.

So that's the visa application challenge for me in a nutshell. Should you ever decide to get a visa to Belgium - I hope you have a much easier time than I had getting mine. I really think that it all depends on where you make your application. My classmates in other (American) cities seemed to have a lot less issues than I did in obtaining their visa's. I'll try to get another blog in this week maybe about my packing process. I fly to Belgium next Wednesday - for me it's just starting to feel more real.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

PS - If you're in the NYC area you should stop by my Going-Away celebration on Thursday August 6th @ Volt de Nuit down in the West Village.

The Visa Application Challenge (pt. 2)

Hello my faithful readers:

In yesterday's blog I started sharing a bit about the Visa application process. Upon first glance it seemed easy, but once I started to dig in applying for my visa seemed like peeling an onion, it made me want to cry for no good reason at all! Now that I can breathe a whole lot easier (ok not really!) I want to share some of my challenges with you as I prepare to make my big move on August 12th! The next issue to crop up for me was the financial declaration form which needed to be signed off by someone who would be willing to say that they would take care of me should some financial disaster happen once I'm living there in Leuven.

The financial declaration form (or the sponsor letter) was a surprise issue for me; my mom was to sign off as my financial sponsor (on paper), although I am taking loans and using my savings to pay for my education. On the website for the Belgium Embassy and Consulates here in the US they requirements for proof of solvency of the financial sponsor were as follows:

1)W2 form of the last fiscal year
2)Letter of employment stating type and length of contract
3) Pay slips of the last 3 months
4) Form 1040 'individual income tax return'
5) A letter from their bank stating when they became an account holder and that they have always been in good standing

The sponsor needed to sign the financial support declaration form in person (with a valid ID) at the Embassy or Consulate General (nearest to them). This meant my mom had to drive up to Atlanta (almost two hours from my hometown of Columbus, GA) to do this. I happened to be home for vacation during this time and we made that frantic drive up to Atlanta (they only do Visa applications from 9:30 AM- 12 Noon). We got there and as I was circling around in the car, the woman told my mom that they needed my letter of registration and proof that I was receiving loans from the school. The woman agreed to let my mom sign the form in front of her, so that she wouldn't have to make the drive up to Atlanta again.

Getting the paperwork and proof of my loans from my school was a much bigger challenge than I expected. I had finally talked to the overwhelmed Foreign Relations Officer on the phone prior to my trip home. He needed a little more information from me (my 8 page Student Aid Report from the US based FAFSA loan program). It took a week and a half of calling several times EVERY morning before I got a response from him that he was working on my loans again. From my perspective the phone system in Belgium seems to be decades behind the American system. Most mornings the phone would ring and ring and ring, with no answer. No voicemail. No anything. The few days that I did get through after multiple rings - the person on the other end would answer, I'd say "hello!" and they would hang-up after a few more frantic "hellos" from my end of the phone. How can you not have voicemail at work in this day and age? Or not respond to e-mails?

Once I finally got the letter I needed from the Foreign Relations Office, my Mom had to get all of the paperwork back up to the Belgian Consulate in Atlanta, GA so they could sign off on it. My mom sent it back almost immediately and once the woman received it she called me and told me that she needed the form notarized!?!?! WHAT????? She said that she'd told my mom this (although this woman had proven herself multiple times of poor communication skills), but that she wouldn't be able to get back to it until the following Wednesday. We spoke on a Thursday and she was out until the following WEDNESDAY? Sigh...

Needless to say my mom (THE SUPERSTAR) immediately got a new version of the financial declaration letter in the priority mail and I just received the letter I needed on this past Monday July 27th. FINALLY the blasted letter arrived! Now I just needed to submit my application, in person, at the Consulate General Office of Belgium in NYC. I'll share that adventure with you all tomorrow in part 3 of The Visa Application Challenge.

Thanks for reading and I hope you are all having a fantastic week. Thank goodness it's Thursday already... time is flying by for me!

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

The Visa Application challenge (pt. 1)

Hello my faithful readers:

After a couple of action packed days (a.k.a. me running around the city of Manhattan trying to get things together), I am happy to report that I will be picking my approved Belgium Visa up next Tuesday! :) If you have never gone through the Visa application process for any of the Schengen States then I should warn you it isn't for the faint of heart. For me it has been one of the most challenging and patience testing tasks I've had in a long time.

I started my visa application way back in mid-May. At that time I had every intention of heading over to Leuven on August 10th. Little did I know that the universe had other plans for me. The requirements for the visa for Belgium are as follows:

1) Passport, valid for 15 months
2) Two original visa application forms, duly completed, dated and signed.
3) Three recent passport pictures, signed on the back
4) For old people like me (students 21 and over) a nationwide criminal history record (aka FBI Identification Record)
5) Medical certificate (more on this later)
6) A financial support declaration (more on this later)
7) Certification from my school saying that I am accepted/registered as a student
8) Visa application fee (more on this later)

So this list seems relatively harmless right? That's exactly what I thought upon first glance "this is harmless, I can get this done in a couple of weeks." So I dutifully started to work on the things that would take the most time for me to complete like the criminal background check and the medical certificate. Suprisingly the background check was pretty easy - I went to a company called Fidelifacts they were quick, I didn't need an appointment. I sent my fingerprints and paperwork to the FBI the same day and my suggestion to you is if you ever need a background check please make sure you write on the outside of the envelope when you need it back. The FBI got it back nearly a week before I said I needed it (June 30th).

The medical certificate seemed like an easy task and because the Consulate provided a list of two doctors who are approved by their standards to provide medical sign-off. (NOTE: One of my American classmates mentioned that he had gone to his personal doctor and had to make a trip to his attorney general's office (as well as a notary) to get his medical certificate signed off on so I chose to go the route of the recommended doctors to avoid this issue) So I quickly make an appointment with the female doctor listed on the website for my region. On the phone the receptionist mentioned that there would be a $200 fee (gasp) and that they couldn't accept my insurance. I gulped and thought this $200 will mean convenience and saved time for me (JUST DO IT)! I didn't realize how WRONG I was until I got there.

The doctor's office was all the way across town on 47th between 2nd and 3rd Avenues (at the time I worked at 32nd and 7th across from Penn Station). I got there a few minutes early and the doctor wasn't there yet. I sit there for another 30 minutes and there and during this time another man in a suit comes in. We wait for another 15 minutes and a doctor (this one a man, talking on his cell phone) comes in. The receptionist then tells me that the male doctor (not listed on the consulate website, but the husband of the female doctor listed on the website) was examining me; apparently he does these certifications all the time. The doctor ushers me into the examination room and then asks me if it's ok for him to speak to the guy outside in the suit for a few minutes first (apparently he was from the bank and working out some loan scheme for the office).

I sat in the exam room for another 10 minutes waiting. Finally the doctor comes in, starts the exam and 5 minutes later answers his cell phone (in the MIDDLE of examining me)!!! At this point I'm super annoyed and by the end of his 5 minute conversation I was thinking why did I choose this doctor out of the two listed on the website??? (The reason is the other one was up in the Upper East Side (this one seemed more convenient). Once the brief exam was complete (consisted of a few questions, me breathing into his stethoscope and him asking me to take off my rain boot to make sure my foot wasn't swollen), he hands me a sheet and says that I needed to go to my own doctor to have these 4 tests done! I was PISSED because had I known this was going to happen, I probably would have taken my chances on going to the Attorney General's office to get what I needed. FYI -- it took almost another month to get in to my own doctor to get the necessary testing (and then I had to make two separate trips to get it all done).

It took a few weeks for the test results to be completed and faxed to the doctor recommended by the consulate. After a few follow-up calls to my personal doctor I got them to fax it over to the doctor recommended by the Belgian Consulate (thankfully I had signed the proper releases at the time of my appointment). The female doctor was in the office that particular day and reviewed my results and signed off on my release. It took a few days to receive it by mail, but by mid-July I had the medical release form ready to add to my visa application.

So for all of you thinking about getting a visa to another country, I suggest doing a lot more research about the doctors recommended. If you do use them ask them all the questions I did not ask, e.g. can you do all of the testing I need done? What exactly does this fee cover? The good news is yesterday when I submitted all of the paperwork they accepted it with no problems.

I'll share a little bit more about the visa application process tomorrow. Hope that you're having a great week! I have lots of packing, cleaning and selling to do in the next few weeks. I am flying out of NYC on August 12th.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

Today is the first day of the rest of my life

Hello my faithful readers:

I know that the title sounds a little cheesy, but that's exactly how I feel today! Yesterday was my last day at work (YEAH) and now I can focus fully on my preparations to move to Leuven for my impending MBA studies. I am super excited about this move because it's something I have dreamt of, but never really expected to actually act upon.

So the main things I need to do are
1) Submit my visa application (I have been working on this for nearly 2 months now)
2) Buy my plane ticket once my visa is approved
3) Sell off/give away everything in my apartment except my clothing
4) Shut down all the utilities and unnecessary bills from this side of the pond
5) Start & complete all my pre-course work as assigned by the school
6) Pack up and fly away

This list needs to be accomplished by August 12, 2009 because that's the day that I have in my head that I want to head over to Belgium. Now this doesn't seem all that bad in writing, but each of those tasks has a bunch of different sub-tasks. Plus the list doesn't take into account all of the saying goodbye to all of my friends I need to do in between. I have a few more doctor appointments to squeeze in as well. SIGH...

This is indeed the first day of the rest of my life. I'll keep you posted on how things are progressing and once I'm in Belgium I'll try to blog as much as I can.

Mwuah,

Georgia Peach

PS - I think I should acknowledge that some of you read my other blog (that dating one) Unrequired Love...maybe I'll have some stories for that one once I land in Belgium. Who knows...?