A years sojourn in Belgium and Poland

Despite what might have been my better judgement I decided in the winter of 2021 to upend my life in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA and move to Leuven, Belgium to get a masters degree in history. I had already received my bachelor’s in history from the University of Pittsburgh and figured it would be important to get a masters degree to better “join the rat race” or the all-important workforce. It is cheaper to get a masters in Europe than in the US and I always wanted to travel in Europe to see some of the sights I have only read about in the books of my youth.

I set out to Belgium with a general idea for my thesis but quickly ran into trouble. I didn’t know exactly what to write but after one semester of thinking about dropping out and returning back home, I decided to take a new approach and conduct research for my thesis in various archives in Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom. The exact nature of my thesis is rather boring and I won’t go into too much detail here about it but it mostly centers around the Catholic reaction to the German annexation of Austria in 1938. I reviewed materials from the Archdiocese of Paris, Brussels, and Westminster (London). After I finished this research, I wrote my thesis and thankfully passed in September. I found it peaceful to travel to Paris and London alone to do this research and it gave me a sense of purpose I hadn’t felt before.

After I finished my my masters program I decided to move to Poland for a few months to teach English and to see if teaching is something I’d be more interested in pursuing. After more than a year of living abroad though, I think I will be ready to return home and see my family. I have found myself yearning for some of the things in the US after living in Europe for so long and I know I can always return later in the future. I’ve very much enjoyed seeing some of the greatest locations of Europe. Seeing how cities like Rotterdam, Gdansk, and Warsaw all rebuilt after the Second World War will always remain with me as they show how great changes in history affected these cities which can be considered as living things themselves.

I also made very good friends with two other Americans in Belgium with whom I traveled a lot with. We attempted to see all of the “micronations” of Europe like Andorra, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco etc. and saw nearly all of them. These countries often have very beautiful countryside with cultures that often are similar to the larger nations that surround them. In sum I am blessed to be able to call Poland home for these two months and to have been able to live in Belgium also. I believe it is good for everyone to travel and see things they are not used to. There is so much to see in the world and even if we can only see a small portion of it I would say that is most definitely worth it.

Thank you very much for reading. 🙂