Like a rat configuring its way in a maze, Week 4 has (finally) brought with it a consolidation of my spatial Brussels mind map. My parents visited last weekend, and I took them around my favorite neighborhoods and gems throughout Brussels—without any reliance on Google Maps, may I add (ok fine maybe once or twice, but only to double check my intuition was right). I can finally look back and laugh when I remember the horror I felt reading random bloggers or TikTokers report with such certitude that Brussels is “the most boring city in Europe.”

Most of the fun I have had here has been in the sheer joy of wandering around mindlessly: exploring neighborhoods whose routes I can now navigate semi-independently, strolling through hidden parks and gardens, turning the corner to find that a seemingly stolid, industrial backdrop actually gives way to a stunning medieval-looking alleyway whose cobblestone paths are strewn with vines and flowers.

When I think of what I do for fun, it is hard to pinpoint some exhilarating moments beyond the little rituals I have gotten so fond of performing here, that ground my day in a sense of stability: my morning coffee at my favorite coffee shop, the walk to work. The initially-awkward but ultimately mind-opening lunch conversations with coworkers. My evening walks, and my Sundays at the farmers market, where there are far too many free fruit samples for my own good.

On occasion, I will in fact have a chance encounter that I look back on with the serendipity that it could only happen now, could only happen in Brussels: a seating arrangement at the orchestra turned into a 3-hour walk about life in rural Ireland and the mundanity of life outside of academia. The bookstore I return to, where I have made myself familiar to and chat with the kind Italian owner, my boss’ husband, who is too patient with my French and is surprisingly curious about my experiences at Columbia and time exploring Brussels. The fact that I happened to randomly select an apartment directly across from a lively bar/third space where the piano plays (sometimes a bit too exuberantly) every late Tuesday night.

I had been relishing my alone time the first three weeks of my time in Brussels—not necessarily giving up on the prospect of making friends beyond my coworkers and their connections but perfectly content with the fact that true friendship might be hard to stumble upon as a solo traveler/intern. And somehow, serendipitously once again, I found a friend—in the wild, at that (sort of)! One of the only other Americans in my office building, she was introduced to me through our coworkers, who watched us ask each other whether we were sophomores or juniors and laughed in unison at the “American gibberish” we were speaking. Together, we have explored new parks and restaurants, and exchanged stories about our respective universities’ abroad summer programs and what we are learning from them. I even introduced her to my favorite cafe, Cafe Belga (pictured in an earlier blog post, and below!), that I now frequent almost daily.

Still, I must confess that a certain feeling of melancholy (at my own ignorance) has come over me, as I continue to grow more and more fond of Brussels. It is kind of sad, in a way, that I have found Brussels to be so abundant in opportunity and connection, because I am so alone and have no ulterior motives in connecting with my community beyond just that, and yet have not done the same in New York City. For the past two years, I am only now realizing, I have viewed New York as my place of schooling: the backdrop for my academic and intellectual endeavors, rather than a foreground of its own. Luckily, I have (at least) two years remaining, and a newfound inspiration to seek out the same opportunities I have both stumbled upon and sought out so easily in Brussels. I have subscribed to bookstores’ and museums’ newsletters, connected with volunteer organizations whose work I feel genuinely aligns with the work I have grown to love through my internship, and plan to approach every semester to come in NYC as its own LiA. While I am lucky enough to have the friendships and underlying safety net of the Columbia community guiding me, I am determined not to treat it as just that: safety. I hope that the community I find in New York becomes something I actively pursue and perpetually seek to learn more about, rather than serving as a backdrop for what I once to be more urgent, albeit more self-serving, endeavors.

In that spirit, some other bits of fun to share:

• Taking a solo day trip to Oostende, a coastal town of Belgium, to beat the EXCRUCIATING European heatwave that (knock on wood) is on its last leg. It happened to be the same day as a seafood festival, and was altogether a wonderful solo excursion to have made. I ended the day expecting to go straight home after arriving at Central Station, but noticing a peculiar buzz on the rooftop of the Bozar Museum I had attended the day prior for an art exhibition on beauty standards, I followed the sound. Trudging up the stairs to the rooftop, I was mesmerized by the insane view of the Brussels skyline (pictured below). There, I enjoyed a much-needed moment of hydration, and an hour of reading my book on the rooftop to cap off the day.

• Trying Nepali cuisine in Brussels with my new American friend. We were one of the only people in the restaurant that night, and were spoiled with plenty of on the house treats ;) 

• A farewell lunch for another intern at the EFJ. I was so touched by the kindness and community of the EFJ team in wishing her farewell, during which they even gifted her a book on Japan in preparation for her upcoming vacation there. After the lunch, my boss shared stories of her friendship with a Columbia professor whose research projects are wonderfully aligned with my own first summer Laidlaw project! She was kind enough to put us in touch, and I am planning to meet with her next week!

• I took a weekend trip with my parents to Paris, which was as lovely as one could expect Paris and returning to family after weeks apart to be. Still, I felt such relief (and almost a sense of homecoming) to return to the much quieter and less chaotic Brussels at the end of the weekend. Some highlights of the trip pictured below.