Settling into Brugge, Belgium Study Semester 1!

After spending the summer since my previous semester in SETU working in Ireland getting prepared for my international Study period where I’d be travelling to Brugge, a city in Belgium for the 1st Semester of my 3rd year on the BA (Hon) in Culinary Arts, the time came where I was ready to leave for the next adventure of my culinary career. Brugge is a historical city on the north-west of Belgium. The city has a population of 117 thousand people, and the country of Belgium has a population of 11.59 million in total. I arrived in Brugge on the 11th of September after plane journey and a few hours of travelling by bus from Charleroi Airport to get to Brugge station which was just outside the city centre. As I was travelling with plenty of luggage, I took an Uber from the station to the University of VIVES which is in the Sint – Michiels neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city. After 4 minutes in the uber I saw the University, and as soon as I got out of the uber I felt delighted, because I saw on the maps of the layout of the grounds that “The Crown” accommodation, where I would be living, was literally directly across from the main campus. I met with Katrien, the housing officer and got myself checked in and got myself comfortable after an early morning flight and a few hours of travelling, it was nice to be able to stay in the room for a few hours as I felt tired and felt like relaxing after the long morning. On the 12th of September I went to the University for induction at around 9am where I was introduced to Melanie Carbonelle, the International University Officer, and got to interact with the other international students and was given an overview of the college as well the rules and regulations towards the college. After all that was done, we were split into groups for ice breaker games which I thought were a good way of getting to know who could be on the Culinary Arts and hospitality programmes. After the ice breaker games, I was given a briefing on the Culinary Course followed by a tour of the campus buildings and facilities. After the induction, I went into Brugge City and began exploring the centre including a stop for food. I went travelling around sightseeing and shopping, as I still had to get a few college essentials as well. After all the sightseeing and as it was getting dark, I went back to the accommodation by bus as it stopped right outside the crown. Over the weekend before the semester started, I went to the neighbouring cities of Ghent and Antwerp for some more sightseeing, I also spent a fair bit of time getting settled into the accommodation. I spent a lot of time going around the main attractions and seeing the amazing old gothic style architectures around the areas. I am starting to get settled into Brugge and looking forward to seeing what the city has to offer over the next coming weeks while I complete my studies. Until next time, Stuart Dunne Maher.