Edegem, Belgium
April 29th- May 5th
Theme of the week: Minimalism
2 Full Shows
Virginie's Family A19
Andree (Sweden), Liam (Pennsylvania), Virginie (Belgium)
4-29-19 Monday
Today we start our journey to Europe!! During the day we were at a park in Mexico City. The cast was supposed to do a Community Service Project with the scouts camp. Their bus broke down so the were not able to join us for the activities. We did a walking tour of the city before we headed to the airport. Our flight left at midnight so we left the park around 5pm. This was the smoothest travel day that I have experienced in Up with People. All 100 people were on the same flight from Mexico City to Amsterdam. Since we flew during the middle of the night, the jet lag didn't hit us as hard because we naturally feel asleep on the airplane. It was an 11 hour flight that felt like 30 minutes because I was passed out the whole time. When we arrived in Amsterdam, I got to see Nannette and Demi from last semester!
4-30-19 Tuesday
With the seven hour time difference we basically lost a full day. We drove from the airport to our facility in Belgium. Karolijn and Aurelie were there to visit the cast as well. We were greeted by the major of Edegem and we drank Champagne while our host families arrived. I got to meet Virginie's family. She has two beautiful sisters, a brother, amazing parents, and a gorgeous dog. Her house blew me away when I walked into the door. It could possible be a castle!! Her parents immediately offered us champagne and Belgian Beers. She has a pool, a sauna, tennis courts, a massive garden, chickens, an entire guest house, a grand piano, many spacious rooms, and a Portuguese family that lives in a connected house and helps clean. Every room that I walked into was spectacular and I felt like Annie walking into Mr. Warbucks' house. "I think I'm gonna like it here." This week is going to be unreal!! Once we got settled in, we went into the pool and hung out. This country is famous for its beers, chocolate, and waffles. Liam, Andree, Virginie and I had so much fun at night in the sauna drinking world famous beer. This will be a nigh that I will never forget with my true friends. We stayed up until 4 in the morning because of jet lag. It was quite the night.
5-1-19 Wednesday
Host Family Day!!!! The four of us slept in until noon and had an amazing breakfast spread when we woke up. It was a little bit hard to get moving quickly in the morning so we took it easy. Liam and I played piano for a while. It was really nice to have time to play normal songs again. Then we got a house tour of the garden and guest house. Virginie's parents have dong an amazing job and raising a family with respectful kids who realize how much they have. The four of us and her dad played Rikiki and I won even though I have never played before. Then we went downtown Brussels and saw all the touristy things. We went to the Grand Plaza and the peeing boy statue. We ate Belgian waffles, snails, salmon, muscles, shrimp and of course some classic beer. I am in awe of how amazing this week is with her family! Then we met up with Isac, Tzvi, Anto, Nadine, and Larissa at a bar. This was one of the coolest places I have ever been in. There were couches everywhere with ascetic paintings on the wall. It reminded me of a record player store in the middle of Europe. We just got to hang out and enjoy time together. We were up really late again and we took a 6 person Uber home!
5-2-19 Thursday
Today was my first day as the graphics assistant. I wanted to challenge myself even more this semester by applying for a technical internship. In the morning, I learned how to set up the projectors on the light tresses, the computer that runs the video, and the massive screens in which the words and graphics appear. There was so many things that I never knew existed before helping on this set-up. Our show venue is in a freezing cold gym, and I was chilled the whole day. I have been exhausted from the excited past few nights, and it showed all day today. My eye has started to twitch. This set-up has to take two days because we have all new equipment in Europe. We had to meticulously go through everything and label sound, lights, and stage. It was a long day. Lunch didn't arrive until 2:00pm and everyone was getting hangry:) At the end of the day the cast had PA time and the band worked on songs for expression session. Liam, Virginie, Andree and I went to Larissa's house for a party at night. She is hosting 6 cast members, and she also invited a lot of other people. It's really crazy for me to meet people in Up with People and then meet them again in their natural environment. The party was extremely fun!! We hung out together like normal people, drank amazing famous beer, and danced a bit. This week has been truly incredible so far!
5-4-19 Saturday
Show Day number 2!!!!! We got to sleep in until 11 this morning, and it helped us to catch up on sleep. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was really sad in the morning. I decided to talk to Momo about my feelings towards the show. I told her that I dread show days because I am never given the opportunity to do what I am passionate about in the show. She gave me so much encouragement that I will never forget in my life. Everything that I desperately needed to hear, she told me. My day went from awful to awesome just by talking to her. The overall vibe of the cast has been really great today. When rehearsal started, instead of playing "It begins with us," they played "Taki Taki" and the whole cast danced on stage. It was a good mood lifter. Isa and Ellen both came to the show and surprised me. I was so excited to see them again! I also got to meet the show manager at camp named Rodger. He is going to be my boss this summer and he is awesome!! I cannot wait to go to camp:) After the show we had a superstike until midnight. Then Virginie, Liam, Andree, Larissa, Anto, Tzvi, Isac, Nadine, Apoline, and I went downtown Brussels for the night. We went to a couple different bars and then went to go get some food. I soon realized that my phone was missing from my jean pocket. I immediately panicked and tried to find it. It wasn't at any of the places we had been earlier in the night. I started crying and then I called my dad. It was completely lost... so I thought. But, it turned out to be stolen by some body in the middle of Brussels at three in the morning. My dad tracked it, and found it in a sketchy neighborhood in Belgium. Luckily, we have insurance and I can get a new phone within the week. We immediately left our friends and took an Uber home. Then we went into the pool and the sauna until 6:00am. A really bad night turned out fun because I have a supportive father back home fixing the phone issue, and amazing friends who encourage me to enjoy the little things in life without a phone. I am blessed and grateful everyday for that!
5-2-19 Thursday
Today was my first day as the graphics assistant. I wanted to challenge myself even more this semester by applying for a technical internship. In the morning, I learned how to set up the projectors on the light tresses, the computer that runs the video, and the massive screens in which the words and graphics appear. There was so many things that I never knew existed before helping on this set-up. Our show venue is in a freezing cold gym, and I was chilled the whole day. I have been exhausted from the excited past few nights, and it showed all day today. My eye has started to twitch. This set-up has to take two days because we have all new equipment in Europe. We had to meticulously go through everything and label sound, lights, and stage. It was a long day. Lunch didn't arrive until 2:00pm and everyone was getting hangry:) At the end of the day the cast had PA time and the band worked on songs for expression session. Liam, Virginie, Andree and I went to Larissa's house for a party at night. She is hosting 6 cast members, and she also invited a lot of other people. It's really crazy for me to meet people in Up with People and then meet them again in their natural environment. The party was extremely fun!! We hung out together like normal people, drank amazing famous beer, and danced a bit. This week has been truly incredible so far!
5-3-19 Friday
Show Day!!!! Today we had to finish setting up the stage. We were delayed yesterday because the rented risers didn't come in time. I love being on set-up because its a different experience, and its a lot more free time. During lunch, we found a dark warm room to take a power nap because my entire allo was dying all day. During rehearsal, I got to control the graphics, the tracks, and the flow of the show. I am so happy that I decide to get a new perspective in the tech world because it is unlike anything I have ever done before. Today was a hard day because I am really tired and emotional for one, but also I still didn't get to sing. I had talked to Leah in Mexico to see if I could play Hope or sing something else and she was totally on board. But I looked at the show list and saw that I was still doing nothing. Then they muted the band for the Belgian medley, so I felt extremely useless and undervalued in the show again. I am just sick of feeling this way because I know that I have so much to offer the show, but it is just being wasted. On the bright side, I didn't have to suffer through rehearsal because I got to watch from the front of house and control graphics. I am very pleased with this assistantship during this point in the semester. I also learned how to control the spotlight today! The actual show was one of the worst that I have ever performed. I made a lot of mistakes, and my head space was just off. However, Arno, Maddy and Lise all came to the show. I went to camp with them in B17 and I truly thought I would never see them again. I cannot believe how many connections camp can continue to bring to me life. Also, Leonie, Lara, Aurelie, Karolijn and Sophie all came to the show as well. I traveled with them in Cast B18. I went from seeing all the Mexican Alumni this week to all the European Alumni. I have almost seen my whole cast again this semester. It has brought me so much joy to reconnect with these amazing people. When we got home, we finally decided to have a chill night. We ate a snack, drank tea, watched a movie, and went to bed.
Show Day number 2!!!!! We got to sleep in until 11 this morning, and it helped us to catch up on sleep. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and was really sad in the morning. I decided to talk to Momo about my feelings towards the show. I told her that I dread show days because I am never given the opportunity to do what I am passionate about in the show. She gave me so much encouragement that I will never forget in my life. Everything that I desperately needed to hear, she told me. My day went from awful to awesome just by talking to her. The overall vibe of the cast has been really great today. When rehearsal started, instead of playing "It begins with us," they played "Taki Taki" and the whole cast danced on stage. It was a good mood lifter. Isa and Ellen both came to the show and surprised me. I was so excited to see them again! I also got to meet the show manager at camp named Rodger. He is going to be my boss this summer and he is awesome!! I cannot wait to go to camp:) After the show we had a superstike until midnight. Then Virginie, Liam, Andree, Larissa, Anto, Tzvi, Isac, Nadine, Apoline, and I went downtown Brussels for the night. We went to a couple different bars and then went to go get some food. I soon realized that my phone was missing from my jean pocket. I immediately panicked and tried to find it. It wasn't at any of the places we had been earlier in the night. I started crying and then I called my dad. It was completely lost... so I thought. But, it turned out to be stolen by some body in the middle of Brussels at three in the morning. My dad tracked it, and found it in a sketchy neighborhood in Belgium. Luckily, we have insurance and I can get a new phone within the week. We immediately left our friends and took an Uber home. Then we went into the pool and the sauna until 6:00am. A really bad night turned out fun because I have a supportive father back home fixing the phone issue, and amazing friends who encourage me to enjoy the little things in life without a phone. I am blessed and grateful everyday for that!
5-5-19 Sunday
Host Family Day!! After an extremely eventful night, we slept in to catch up on sleep. Then we took a train to Ghent Belgium. Romane lives there and she is hosting Tylene, Spencer, and Mitch. When we arrived at her house, we walked to the river. Virginie and Romane rented a boat for the 8 of us!! We drove the boat through the canal and saw the center of Ghent as well as the scenery around it. During this time, I had a sentimental moment. I looked around and realized where I was in the world, who I was with, and the amazing time I was having. I want the rest of my life to feel like how I felt in this moment. It was authentic joy and fulfillment. I could not have asked for a better day. It made me miss being home in Minnesota on the lake. Last week in Mexico City, I was also on a boat with some friends, and the cultural differences blew my mind. It's experiences like these that I will never forget. When we got home after our long train ride, Virginie's parents set the fancy dinning room table for 8 people. Her parents, her sisters, and the four of us ate a wonderful meal for our last night here. This week has been absolutely incredible and we have made the most out of every minute. I am extremely grateful to have Virginie as my friend and to get the opportunity to stay at her home! I love UWP because I have families all around the world!
----> Off to Gistel, Belgium
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