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Homestay

By aubreygunnels

Through CIEE in Belgium, you have the option of a homestay and an apartment stay. Because GW is on a payment tier system, I would advise GW students to do a homestay so meals are included. Homestays by no means limits your ability to come and go as you please but merely gives you a better immersion in the Belgian culture. 

Therefore, I chose homestay where we receive breakfast and dinner five times a week from our homestay family. My house mother (or mum) is from the United Kingdom. She is recently divorce and has a son that visits for a week every other week. I share a room on the third floor with another girl in the CIEE program; she goes to Skidmore. We each have a double size bed, a shelf in the bathroom, and plenty space to put our things. There is also a student that is from the ISEP group that lives in the basement.

A typical breakfast consists of Nutella, bread, yogurt, apples, bananas, cereal, milk, and coffee. For dinner it ranges from Chinese, to mussels, to really anything our mum decides to whip up. Thus far, I have not been disappointed. The dinner time is flexible. She usually plans accordingly to our schedules. If there is a time conflict, there is always a plate waiting for you in the fridge.