| Belgium |
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| February 16 - 25, 2002 |
Why visiting Belgium at this time of the year? I took part in an "International Week" in Kortrijk organised by 4 Belgian students. The sense behind an International Week is to bring students from different countries and cultures together and to spend a week together - a week full of activities: we visited various Belgian companies, museums, cities (like Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Ieper) and, of course, partied a lot - social life is also important, right? :-) After this week, we all (20 international students) got a better insight into Belgian life, economy and culture. I learned for example, that people from Belgium are crazy about fries with mayonnaise, chocolate and beer - what a culture ;-)) And what's more important, I got to know a lot of interesting and nice people!
The International Week took place in Kortrijk, which is - by the way - located in Flanders. The Flemish region has a population of about 5.8 million. Institutionally, it is the northern state of the federal kingdom of Belgium where the population is Dutch-speaking (actually they speak Flemish, a language that's - I think - very similar to German). Brussels, the capital of the European Union and Belgium, is also the capital of Flanders.
Following find a small selection of the different activities as well as of different Belgian cities, we visited during the Interntaional Week.
The International Week ended officially on Saturday, February 23... on Sunday I visited Gent, one of the few cities in the world where the past and the present rub shoulders with each other comfortably creating a city of the 21st century wearing the mantle of a noble and prosperous past. No other city in Belgium has so many listed monuments.
The day after I visited Brussels again - a mix of old and new with something for everyone. Whether one is looking for the majestic grandeur of the Grote Markt with its unrivalled 15th century Town Hall or the ultra modern building of the European Parliament, Brussels will neither fail to deliver nor fail to delight. Following find some pictures of these cities. Enjoy :-)
| Different activities |
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| Company/museum visits |
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| At Katho (school) |
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| People/parties |
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| Belgian cities |
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| Kortrijk |
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| Brugge (Bruges) |
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| Oostende |
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| Ieper (Ypres) |
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| Brussels |
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| Antwerp |
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| Gent |
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| Brussels |
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