Last Day!!!

Yesterday evening, we had another barbecue in the garden here at the student house. Vincent, Jaime, and Jake went and got all the meat and then everyone pitched in 5 euros. We had pork burgers, sangria wine, mushrooms, bratwursts, garlic bread, pico de gallo, chips, shrimp, beef and pork shish-ka-bobs, eggplant, stuffed bell peppers, and a vegetable salad. We had to make the pico ourselves. But, they don't sell fresh jalapenos here so we had to use pickled jalapenos. It tasted sort of wierd. It was a great time though. I ended up playing badmitten for about an hour. My arm is sore today! When it started to get dark, we cleaned up and then started a poker game. It was 5 euros to buy in and we had 2 tables. I played with Brad, Randy, Kelsey, Nikki, and Stephanie. I won a lot at first but then my chips eventually dwindled down. Later, all the girls and Randy decided to go out to the Oude Markt to celebrate our last night here (since tonight we have to be in bed early). I moved over to the table with Ryan, Adam, Derek, Jake, and Liz and played there until I ran out of chips. I wasn't able to take a shower last night because there is no hot water here at our student house. And, I didn't think a cold shower would be too fun before I went to sleep. Last night, while everyone was eating, Katie and Kelsey presented our RA, Vincent, with his going-away present from us. We got him about 6 or 7 beers and made him a nice thank you card. He has been a wonderful RA and a huge help to all of us. He has definitely been a big part in helping our trip be much more enjoyable.

This morning, I packed up all of my stuff besides my laptop. Then I cleaned up my room the best I could. At 2:00 PM, our rooms will be checked. It is 10:40 AM now. Brad, Kirstin, and I are meeting Dr. Engler back at school to print our boarding passes and check in our luggage at noon. I hope my suitcases don't weigh over 50 lbs but I think it will be close...... We don't really have an accurate scale here to weigh them on, plus we would have to convert from kilograms. After we print our boarding passes, we are going to stop off at Velo and return our bikes. Hopefully we get our 50 euro deposit back. Then, we will come back here for our room checks. And then for the rest of the evening, I'm not sure. Maybe we will have dinner on the Oude Markt one last time. Or maybe I will go get some more chocolate to get rid of my left over Euros. We also need to call a taxi today to line them up for picking us up tomorrow morning around 8:00 AM. We will take a taxi to the train station here in Leuven. Then we will ride the 20 minute train to the Brussels airport. Our flight leaves from Brussels at 11:00 AM. We arrive in Chicago at 1:30 PM because of the 7 hour time difference. It is really about a 9 and a half our flight. Then we have a four hour layover in Chicago. We eventually will arrive in San Antonio around 8:15 PM where we will hopefully be greeted by our families and then go out to enjoy some awesome Mexican food.

I found out last night when Dr. Munster emailed our grades that there was a 2 point curve on the final exam which brought my average up from a 89.8 to above a 90. I ended up with an A in that class. I do not know the results for Dr. Engler's class yet, but I think I also made an A in his class.

I miss my family soooooo much and am sooooo excited to go home tomorrow. Although, when I see them it will feel like 3:15 AM to me instead of 8:15 PM. I think I will have bad jet lag and will sleep most of the day on Saturday. On Sunday we are meeting with my new roommate Karley to have her sign the contract and discuss her moving in. On Monday, my mom has volunteered me to speak to the Guadalupe County Aggie Moms Club about my study abroad program and adventures. I bet it will be fun sharing this amazing experience with some passionate Aggie Moms. Next Wednesday I think my mom and I are going back up to College Station to unpack most of my stuff back at my house in College Station. Then we will be coming back home before the weekend because my sister Kayla is coming in from Dallas and my cousin Melissa Marsh is coming in from Kansas City, Missouri. I can't wait to see both of them!

One thing that will definitely be a shock for us is the weather and the temperatures in Texas. It has been so nice and cool here the last few weeks that we have just grown accustomed to this nice weather. I hope I don't die when I get off the plane in San Antonio tomorrow night. A couple things I forgot to mention about life here in Leuven. In Europe, people eat pizza with a fork and a knife, not their hands! Also, most of the water here is carbonated so you have to ask for "no gas" or "no bubbles" when you order water somewhere. There are no free drink refills anywhere. The grocery stores do not sell any kinds of medicines such as Imodium, etc. For any kind of over the counter medicines that you would normally buy at Wal-Mart or H-E-B in Texas, you have to go to a Apotheek or pharmacy in town to purchase. There are many of them though so it is not hard to find one. Although, they all close at 6 PM and are not open on the weeks which can become a problem. I know there are more things that shocked me about coming over here but I most likely won't remember them until I get back home to Texas.

I have truly enjoyed my stay here in Leuven, Belgium. I wish I could have travelled more around Europe but being sick kind of ruined my last weekend. When I come back, I want to travel to Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Ireland, and the United Kingdom or England. I want to see many more places and do many more things while in Europe. I hope to someday bring my sister Kayla back with me. Hopefully within the next 10 years I can return. I have loved it here and could not have imagined this study abroad program being any better or any more fun. I have had the time of my life and have had some of the best 5 weeks of my entire life while here in Europe. I want to take an opportunity to thank each and every person that made it possible for me to come here. I want to thank my parents for their support first and foremost. Without their support, this journey would not have been possible. I also want to thank the Texas A&M University Study Abroad Office and Financial Aid Office, the Honors Program at Texas A&M University, and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society who all sponsored me by giving me $1,000 scholarships each. I want to thank Dr. Engler for allowing me to earn $500 by writing this blog and grading papers for his class. I also want to thank everyone else who had input into making this program a success such as Orie Varner, our study abroad advisor, Sofie Bruneel, the secretary at K.U. Leuven, and the professors of our class.

So, that's all..... the program has come to an end and it is time to return to reality in Texas. Fall semester classes will start at Texas A&M on August 30th in only 2 weeks. I will be starting my last and final year at A&M. I will graduate with my bachelor's degree in May of 2011 (only 10 months away)! I can't wait to get back and live up my senior year! There are so many things that I must do before graduating from A&M. As I leave this study abroad program, I want to say once more, peace and love from Leuven, Belgium. I am looking forward to getting home and giving all my souvenirs that I purchased to my family and friends. I also can't wait to share all my wonderful stories with them. I love each and every one of them and have missed them tremendously! Goodbye!

-Sabrina Luensmann-