{"id":21587,"date":"2025-10-30T11:22:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T16:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/?p=21587"},"modified":"2025-11-12T14:33:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T20:33:55","slug":"my-first-month-in-belgium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/2025\/10\/30\/my-first-month-in-belgium\/","title":{"rendered":"My first month in Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While it has only been a month, my time abroad has already taught me so much. I\u2019ve had the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally through my internship at Euronews and my academic courses focused on European politics and society. At Euronews, I\u2019ve worked on a range of video projects, from quick-turnaround pieces on published articles to more complex productions, like a social media video for the final episode of Brussels, My Love (which my editors loved!). That project in particular taught me a lot about thinking on the spot and being creative when given vague parameters. I\u2019ve also published my first article, which I pitched and researched away from my day-to-day tasks, for the tech department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of my main tasks at Euronews is to write a script, record a narration, then edit a video together for the social media pages. I’ve already created 10 videos, amassing over 10,000 views on each.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My largest project so far was when I filmed the behind the scenes of the last episode of Brussels, My Love, Euronews’ popular talkshow, for social media. I had complete creative liberty with it, and the result can be found on the Instagram page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over time, I\u2019ve become more comfortable with the editing process and with navigating the newsroom independently. Academically, I\u2019ve deepened my understanding of European politics and Belgian political history. Through engaging class discussions and field trips, like visiting the Parlamentarium or a migration museum, I\u2019ve gained a deep understanding of the European Union\u2019s political landscape, as well as the internal politics that goes with living in Brussels. I\u2019ve especially appreciated learning about Belgium\u2019s unique cultural divisions, most recently having an interesting conversation about different definitions of race across linguistic lines during class at the Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles. Outside of work and class, I\u2019ve had so much time to explore. I\u2019ve already been to a unique array of cities, including Paris, Chamonix, Geneva, Antwerp and Amsterdam. I have gone from eating frites on the edge of a canal to taking my first hike on the Swiss Alps, a shift in cultural immersion I\u2019ve never experienced before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’ve tried so many amazing foods while abroad. This macaron from Paris was one of a kind, but I know when I go back home, my biggest craving is going to be for Belgian frites. I would come back to Belgium just for the frites.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Life outside Missouri has shocked me in ways I never expected. Despite all of the travels, my greatest adventure has been learning to live outside of my comfort. I didn\u2019t realize how challenging it truly is to live in a country with a different language and with generally different lifestyles. It has felt like moving to a new school, except without any of the comfort items that makes moving possible. I still have so many more adventures to take, and I can\u2019t wait to keep learning more about myself and the world outside of the U.S. with the friends I\u2019ve made along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Celebrated my 21st birthday with the amazing friends I have made through this program. After a busy day at Antwerp, we came home to eat an ungodly amount of pasta (my favorite) and to just chill with each other. Genuinely one of the most memorable birthdays I’ve ever had!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My friends and I traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, and then took a bus to Chamonix, France, to hike. It took the entire day, but I had so much fun trying something new in an arguably very challenging way. I now have a newfound love for hiking!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While it has only been a month, my time abroad has already taught me so much. I\u2019ve had the opportunity to grow both professionally and personally through my internship at Euronews and my academic courses focused on European politics and society. At Euronews, I\u2019ve worked on a range of video projects, from quick-turnaround pieces on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[207],"class_list":["post-21587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-belgium"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21587"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21611,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21587\/revisions\/21611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/international.missouri.edu\/studyabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}