Extended Vacation?

I must admit that I feel like I'm on extended vacation...I mean who gets to go to the beautiful city of Brugge for work and get paid for it too?! One thing that I'm learning very quickly is that ISB does a great job with orientation and helping all of the new hires feel right at home in Belgium. I feel as though I'm definitely getting to know my way around the city via the public transportation system here and also learning some great places to go get coffee, groceries, bread, produce, etc...

So this past week was pretty jam packed! We had a half of a week of "orientation" activities and 2 days of what I considered above and beyond orientation activities, haha. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday were full of different sessions on "what learning looks like at ISB," which was actually quite interesting. They definitely know what they're talking about and it was good to hear about the curriculum. On Wednesday they took us to IKEA where I was able to pick out a comforter, rug, closet organizers, and a few other little things to make my room more homey. Let's just say that not sleeping in a sleeping bag anymore is glorious! My bed is so much more comfortable now! Then Friday was our trip to Brugge where we had about a 2 hour guided walking tour followed by a delicious 3 course lunch complete with chocolate mousse for dessert! After lunch we all went on about a 30-40 minute boat ride through the canals. Once we were done with our boat tour about 15 of us stayed in the city and enjoyed some drinks next to the water. We were super lucky because it was an absolutely beautiful day with only a little bit of rain! Here's a few pictures of the beautiful city of Brugge!

After what I thought was an incredible week was followed by a really fun weekend as well! Every two years for just a few days in Le Grande Place Brussels has this thing called the carpet festival where they literally make what looks like a HUGE carpet out of real flowers and grass. It's beautiful! After seeing the carpet festival a group of us got some sandwiches that we sat and ate in a nice little park right down the street from where we were. After eating we walked through the palace where King Albert the II works. It was a nice relaxing way to spend a Saturday in the great weather we were having for the day! Plus, I was with some great people so that always makes things more fun :) Today I went to the market near school with my friend Jess who is going to be the new Speech and Language Pathologist at school. It was fun to see all that they sell there, it was definitely bigger than we were expecting! After walking around for a while it started raining (typical Belgium weather) so we went to Place Flagey where we got some coffee, met some other friends, and ate the delicious Frites that everyone has been telling us to try. Let's just say that they were definitely worth the long wait in the rain! Tomorrow it's back to school to start Learning Institutes with some of the other teachers. It will be fun to meet some people that have been working at ISB for a while. Plus, I hear that their learning institutes are phenomenal so in a nerdy way I'm a bit excited for them. Alright here are a few pictures from the carpet festival, Jess and I at the park, and my roommates and I before drinks and dinner with the Director of ISB.

Also, here are the links to my facebook albums in case you want to see all of my pictures from Brussels and Brugge so far. You DON'T have to have facebook to look at them either so ENJOY!! :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065686&id=59201520&l=8020660817 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2065213&id=59201520&l=b03d66db45