monopoly

To begin with, I apologize for not posting lately. I have just been busy!!

School is school, and the homework is starting to pile up. Although all of the homework is more or less optional, I am trying to do as much of it as I can. I spent a good three hours on a project for Religion, and my teacher was VERY impressed, so that paid off. I am acing all of my math tests, so that's nice. I also had a biology test yesterday. The things I understood I'm sure I did perfectly, but the word problems and true and false got a little tricky. And just so everyone knows, I'm not ACTUALLY sleeping in English class, that was more or less a joke since there is a bed in the room. As I said, I read Brave New World, and tomorrow during class I am going to help tutor one of the other American's in math, so I am utilizing my time wisely!

Yesterday was Wednesday, and after school I stayed in Hannut and went to lunch and then the cafe. When I got home my third host brother came over for help in English. He is going to an English immersion school and it is his first year. He was over here for over an hour, but the time flew by. I really enjoyed helping him out, and actually learned a few things in French. Some very useful words, such as hedgehog and seahorse.

It is time I talk about sillybandz. I am seriously starting a trend here. I've given at least one or two to many of my friends here, and they're giving them to their friends, and everyone is starting to wear them. Apparently they are being sold here, as well, in a Texaco. I'm very excited about this, and I hope the trend catches on like it did in the United States, although I'm sure that won't happen.

Today in math class I was talking with Mikayla about how I needed to buy a dress for a party I'm going to next week. And she told me that I should just borrow a dress from someone, considering that the euros I'm using aren't ACTUALLY Monopoly money. Then later in the day, after taking a math test, Eduardo commented on how I am so worried about getting the right answer and doing everything correctly. And Mikayla looked at me and said "Okay, Talia, if you get to use Monopoly money, at least go to Monopoly school as well!!". So now that's a lovely joke between all of us exchange students.

Sorry, this blog is really random. I've discovered the fact that I don't really like blogging. One of my Belgian friends the other day said how he used to love reading my blog, because it was interesting when everything was new and exciting, but now I just talk about boring things all of the time. I have to agree with him. I still hope everyone is enjoying reading it, and I'm trying my hardest to make it interesting! But there isn't too much overly interesting going on, lately. I'm just living my life, whether it's a Monopoly life or not :P

Tomorrow night I am spending the night at Geraldine's friend Aymeric's house. We are watching horror movies and having a little party. Then Saturday night there is a big party at the cafe I usually go to after school. So hopefully this weekend is a bit more eventful then they have been in the past. I'm not sure when I'll be able to blog next, but as always, sending love from Belgium! ♥

today I appreciate: monopoly

recap

I wish I had something interesting to say today.

Alas, I do not.

Yesterday was Sunday. I woke up way early than I would have liked, went on facebook for awhile, ate a delicious chocolate croissant, and eventually went with my host mother to pick up Geraldine at a Scout's thing.

She was gone Saturday night and camped out someplace not too far from my host family's house. I have learned that scouts here is VERY different than it was for me in the States. First of all, they wear their "uniforms" at all of their events. Which is entertaining, to say the least. They are also divided up very differently. Boys and girls are not separated like they are in America, they're all together. And all of the ages go to many of the same activities. And they're all Catholic. I went to a "mass" with them, and everyone took communion. I asked Geraldine if they were all Catholic and she basically gave me a response to the likeness of "Well of course". I have a lot of friends from school who are in Scouts, and I am most likely joining Geraldine's group, so that should be fun.

After that we went home, ate a lovely lunch, and I took a short nap. The rest of the night I just hung out at home, spending time with my host family and watching a movie. I wanted to go out and do something last night, considering all of the schools in the Wallonie region (aka the French part) of Belgium were closed today, but alas, nothing panned out.

Today I was able to sleep in for about the first time ever since I've been here. I didn't get up until around 10:40, which is good, considering I stayed up until 2:00 last night texting a couple of friends (with my handy pocket dictionary strategically placed beside me in bed).  After waking up I ate breakfast, spent some time on my computer, showered, and then ate lunch. After lunch I took the bus out to Hannut, which is where I go to school. I went over to a friend from school's house and overall had a lovely time.

At one point in the day I was in the middle of a conversation and it hit me how odd my life is. It just seems so normal to me now, and I don't usually stop and appreciate it, but I'm in Belgium. Today I spent all afternoon with Belgians, speaking French. And, don't get me wrong, I make mistakes a lot, and the most common phrase out of my mouth is easily "Sorry, I don't understand". But STILL. I am able to make small talk and participate in conversations fairly easily. And it's just amazing to me.

Tomorrow I have to go to school, which I'm not exactly looking forward to, but that's life. My schedule tomorrow is fairly easy, so I can't exactly complain.

I hope that everyone is doing well, and I will post again soon!!

today I appreciate: affection

kayaking

Hello everyone!!

I am sorry I didn't post last night, I was just too tired. This is my post describing yesterday.

Yesterday, with Rotary, I went kayaking. 20 kilometers. In the cold Belgian weather.

It rained, the sun shined, it rained again. We got wet, we were tired, we ran into trees.

But overall, I enjoyed the day :)

This is a picture of me, Emma, and our friend Oakley before the adventure began.

The kayaking trip was organized by Rotex, which is the ex exchange students, who are from Belgium and went to other countries in the past years. We met at a train station at 9:00 a.m. and after paying the 12 euro fee and getting our ticket, we were lined up with water proof buckets, lifejackets, and paddles, ready to hit the water.

Above is a picture of a girl named Aditi, who ended up being my kayaking partner. She had never been kayaking before, and although I have, I wasn't exactly the strongest paddler out there. However, we had fun running into trees and avoiding rocks in the water, although often times we ended up turning in circles and facing backwards. My good natured spirits lasted throughout the entire day, even after it started raining, we ended up going over two waterfalls- getting completely soaked, and after I realized I had forgotten to pack a lunch and thus had nothing to eat. Luckily for me exchange students just might be the friendliest people in the world, and I was graciously given lots of food to munch on.

Emma, Gaby, and I ended up riding home from the kayaking adventure with one of the Rotex boys. He had spent his exchange year in New York a couple of years ago, and thus his English was close to perfect. We had quite the experience riding in the car with him, getting lost, pulling over on the side of the road to search for my host mom, and scrolling through Emma's iPod looking for music that would remind him of the United States. In the end, we safely arrived on the correct side of the road to meet my host mom (after quite a few phone calls). We then dropped Emma off, and Gaby and I came back to my house to hang out for awhile until her host mom picked her up.

Overall, kayaking was beautiful. I enjoyed the views and I enjoyed the workout (because YES, it was quite the workout for me- I'm sore today!). Being outside and appreciating the nature was good for me. Not to mention racing other people, chasing ducks, and learning more about both Belgium and other cultures. At the end of the day, I had a great time, although I was freezing!

yesterday I appreciated: nature

waffle

Alright.

Today was a good day.

Of course, I sat through about all of my classes and didn't understand a thing.

And I got super sad and stressed out during my second to last hour of school.

But then, Emma Clark did an amazing thing for me.

She bought me a waffle.

And this small gesture made my day :)

Here is a small montage of me eating said waffle.

Needless to say, the waffle was delicious.

I got to be crazy after school with a friend on my bus. And it honestly cheered me up to the fullest extent possible. I love the people here. I love making new friends, and I love being here.

Tonight I am going to a dinner party at Mikayla's house. At first, I was disappointed, as there are two other parties going on tonight with my friends from school.

But at the moment, I am truly appreciating these two amazingly beautiful American girls who attend school with me.

I know it isn't good to spend all of my time with other exchange students; and I'm not. But the time I do spend with them is amazing. They know exactly what I'm going through, and they are the most helpful and supportive people.

So this blog post is dedicated to them.

Mikayla, thank you for cheering me up today. Walking with you after school really helped brighten my spirits, and I know that going to your house tonight will be INTERESTING to say the least :)

My dear Emma, thank you for everything. I am so happy you are going to the same school with me and I cannot wait to see all of the adventures we rack up later on this year :)

Oh, and OF COURSE, THANK YOU FOR THE WAFFLE!!!

short

Not much to say tonight.

I'm studying for my history class. World War I. It's immensely interesting.

Facebook isn't working, which is utterly annoying.

Today was another sunny day in Belgium. I got to spend two hours of my school day outside, and thus, that was lovely. After school I went with the other three exchange students to get food at this little restaurant Emma and I ate at a few weeks ago. The food was delicious and although I am worried about gaining weight here, I find it very difficult to resist eating! Everything just tastes so delicious!

It also doesn't help that I'm adopting Beth Baker's motto- it's just play money. All these beautiful Euros. They're just monopoly money, they're not real. It's very hard not to reach in my pocket and spend five euros on something to eat. Not to mention, everything here is ridiculously expensive, thus spending five euros for a snack is pretty cheap.

So that's something I might need to work on a bit, or else I'll spend all of my money within the first couple of months. And that would please nobody.

Tomorrow at school is picture day. I thought I had escaped from all of that nonsense. But, no.  I haven't picked out an outfit yet, so don't think I'm getting too excited about the whole business.

I don't much else to say.

I decided to attach a picture of my house here, just for kicks.

today I appreciate: health

chocolate, glee and sunshine

Today was a Wednesday.

That means I only had four periods of school and afterwards I was free for the day.

It was beautiful out. The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, I looked extra cute, everything was going well. After school I headed to a local sandwich shop with Emma and a couple boys from school. We ate, and then, as always, headed over to, as the Belgian's would say "drink a glass". Aka, we went to the bar. Emma and I have become addicted to a drink you can get here, which is like a Shirley Temple except they use Fanta instead of Sprite. We order it every time we're at the cafe.

We left the cafe a little after two, stopped quickly at a bakery and bought an amazing chocolatey goodness. It had cream, and chocolate, and filling, and was delicious, as always.  We then proceeded to the bus stop where I THOUGHT my bus was supposed to be picking me up. After waiting there for half an hour (and eating some chocolate Emma had stashed in her bag) we realized that for whatever reason, the bus was not arriving. We decided to walk to a different bus stop, where I was sure a bus would be coming at 2:55 that would be going in the direction of my house. On the way to the second bus stop, we stopped at a local grocery store and bought the most delicious chocolate I have ever tasted (yes, yes, it's Belgian). We successfully caught the 2:55 bus, and made it back to my house safely.

We spent the rest of our time together outside, gossiping, enjoying the sunshine, and finishing our chocolate. Lately I have been having the biggest sweet tooth of all time. And a hunger to match. This is how people gain weight over a year of exchange haha. BUT, the chocolate here is just so delicious!

After Emma left I was trying to figure out a way to watch Glee online. You see, the season premiere was last night but most online viewing sites only work in the United States.  I had more or less given up when I began talking with my best friend Kaylinn, and we came up with the idea that SHE could watch it on her computer, we could skype, and she would change the settings so I would be seeing what she was seeing, not the picture from her webcam. So, I spent a lovely hour watching Glee with my bestie. In Belgium.

This made my day. It was funny and quirky and reminded me very much of the days I would watch Glee at home with Joe and Kaylinn and Charlie.

After Glee I ate a lovely dinner with my family, skyped with Charlie for a little bit, and now I am about to head to bed.

Nothing overly interesting to say today, but I am going to bed very happy.

Good night everyone!

today I appreciate: Glee with Kaylinn Bezenar

zzzzz

Ever since I've gotten here I have been seriously lacking in the sleep department. Or, not necessarily SLEEP itself, just adequate rest. I am tired all of the time. Just ask my friends from school. Whenever someone asks me how I'm doing I always reply "Yes, I'm fine. A little tired mais C'EST PAS GRAVE". And everyone else always laughs and says "Yes, you're always tired".

And it's true.

Of course, I have reason to be. I no longer have the luxury of understanding the world around me. These days, I am constantly straining my brain to understand the slightest details around me. And I'll admit, I often times daze off, and for the first time in my life have just quiet, empty space filling my head, something I am now truly grateful for. People will look at my at times and ask me if I understand the conversation going on around me, and I have to honestly answer that I have not been listening to a word that's been going on for the past ten minutes. Sometimes it's simply easier to get lost in the vast and open infinity of my brain.

When I sleep, however, I do not dream of endless space. No. I have dreams the are a combination of French and English, a combination of America and Belgium, a combination of the past and the present, a combination of reality and fiction.

I wake up often during the night. I had been told before I left that once I was here I would sleep a lot, and that I would sleep deeply. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I usually wake up at least two or three times in the night, for various different reasons. The most common reason however, is no reason at all. I just wake up. This becomes a serious problem over the weekend, when I wake up around 7:00 after staying up until at least two or three in the morning. The sun is shining brightly through my curtains, the birds are singing, and I can not fall back asleep. 

Thus, I am a little behind on the z's.

Below is a picture of the wonderful way I utilize my time in my English class.

In English, the professor cannot comprehend how her class would be any use for us Americans (although, as I have mentioned before, I am learning A LOT of vocabulary due to her). So, she has given us the assignment to read six novels throughout the year and do presentations on them in class. I am reading Brave New World. Or, was reading. I'll finish it tonight before I go to bed (I've had it for four days). If you haven't read it, I'd recommend it. Clearly, I devoured it.

Regardless. We are reading these six books for English class. And she lets us leave the classroom for the period and go read in an empty classroom down the hall. WELL. This classroom, for whatever reason, has a bed in it. A VERY comfortable bed. A bed which is pictured above. And thus, that is how I pass my time. Today, for an hour. Yesterday, for two hours. Friday, for another hour. It is much preferable to talking about irregular verbs. And much more comfortable. So, Emma, Mikayla and I basically get an hour (sometimes two) of free time where we can read in English, catch up on homework, color, dance, and gossip.

Above is a picture of us three Americans at my school. From left to right, Emma (Ohio), Mikayla (Colorado, originally from Wisconsin) and of course, me. This picture was in fact taken at the large fete in Namur this weekend, but it gives you an idea of the three Americans that are taking over the school. Haha, just kidding.

Today Mikayla asked me if I ever read her blog. I do, on a regular basis. I asked her if she ever reads my blog. She does. I asked if she reads Emma's blog; she does. I read Emma's blog as well, and Emma reads both mine and Mikayla's. Which to me, is somewhat humorous, seeing as we are all three together for most of the day, everyday, and we are all experiencing similar things.

So this leads me to the following question.

Is anyone out there reading this? Am I just talking to myself?

I hope not.

Bonne nuit everyone, I must hit the sack. Clearly, I need to get some sleep!!! :)

today I appreciate: butterflies

helloooo world

I apologize; it has been ages since my last post.

I have just been so busy!!

Friday night I went to the fete de wallonies, which was a HUGE festival in Namur. Above is a picture of my host sister, Emma and I at the train station. I went with Geraldine and her friends, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was crazy. People were drinking like I have never seen before; nothing like in the United States. Young kids, adults, EVERYONE. And they were all speaking French. And in Europe, to use a public bathroom you have to pay, so pretty much everyone (girls and guys) would just do it in the street in a corner. It was rather disgusting. Also we did see a few people passed out in their own puke, but only a few. There were live bands, bars everywhere, tents selling prizes and clothes, lots of delicious food, and lots of fun. Everyone has always told me that they party better in Europe, and now I believe it.

Overall, Friday night was very fun. I bonded with Geraldine and her friends, and got to experience something truly Belgian.

Saturday night I went back to Namur with Emma and we met up with some friends from school. Again, it was a lovely experience and I had a lot of fun. The best part was when random Belgian boys tried to hit on us, and if they weren't cute I'd just say "sorry, I don't speak French" and walk away. It was good.

Overall, it was a busy, but very fun weekend. I slept for less than five hours both Friday and Saturday, and thus I am extremely tired. The upcoming week I have lots of work in school to do. I'm trying my hardest to do all of my homework and act as much as possible like a regular student. Thus, I am reading a book in French, which is taking a lot of effort and time. But, it's teaching me a lot of new words, and struggling through it is good for me.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and I will post again soon!!

this weekend I appreciated: joy

one month anniversary

Today was, in general, a good day.


It has been one month, today. I'm not sure if that's longer or shorter than it feels like. I feel like I have been here forever. The days are so long, and every minute is consumed by me straining my brain to understand what is occurring around me. On the other hand, however, a month is a long time. For all of you reading this back in Minnesota, I'm sure this isn't what you want to hear, but I'm very sad that my stay in Belgium is already one eleventh of the way over. When I think about it that way, it seems like I don't have much time left.


Today, I did nothing special to celebrate my one month anniversary with potentially the most significant other I have ever had- the beautiful country of Belgium. 


I woke up, like normal. I put on the new pair of jeans I bought yesterday. It wasn't until I got into Pére Boly's room that I realized that unlike most jeans, the button for these jeans is on the left side. Everyone who is wearing jeans, check it out. The button is ALWAYS on the right side. Apparently, not in Belgium.  After my French lesson with Pére Boly I headed to Religion class, in which we watched the movie Lord of War. I understood quite a bit of it, enough to get by and hold my interest. If you haven't seen the movie, thus far, I would recommend it. The screen shots are creative and beautiful, and the storyline I've picked up seems to be very insightful and intense. After Religion, and our "pause", I had two hours of study hall. I sat with my friends, and although we are forbidden to talk, I managed to enjoy myself. After study was lunch, and during the lunch hour I went to talk to the school headmistress. I decided to change my schedule and switch math classes, because the one I was in was simply too difficult. I then headed off to my new math class, which was easy and fun. Math was my last class of the day. I proceeded to the cafe with some friends and waited for my bus. I rode the bus, walked home in the rain, came on facebook, chatted with some friends, studied for an English test, ate dinner, took a shower, and now I am about to head off to bed.


This weekend I will be attending the Fête de Wallonie, which is a HUGE party in Belgium. Basically, everyone from the French speaking part of Belgium will be heading to either Liege or Namur to listen to bands, dance, party, and of course, drink. Tomorrow night I am going with my host sister and her friends. Emma will be with us. Then on Saturday, hopefully, I will return again for a second night of fun with many of my friends from school.


Last weekend I was bored and frustrated with my lack of activities. This weekend, I believe that I will be completely packed with things to do. I will be up all night, enjoying the wonderful life in Belgium.


But nobody fear, Emma and I are both not planning on drinking any alcohol. The night would be much better if I was able to enjoy it soberly :)




Below are some of the pictures from the restaurant I ate at last night. The photos can be credited to Emma; I simply copied them from her blog. But they're beautiful, and I would like everyone to see the lovely food, company, and atmosphere that I was able to enjoy.

This was the restaurant. It was very classy and beautiful :)

Emma and I, one of her host brothers in the background.

Beautiful (and delicious) food.

Yum.

Our dessert. And let me just say, the tea we drank was the most delicious thing to ever hit my taste buds.

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has helped me get this far. My family, my friends, Rotary, my teachers, everyone in my life. Each and every one of you has helped make this dream possible and wonderful, and I am so grateful for everything you have done. Thank you and good night!

today I appreciate: support

people change

I have come to a point in my life where everything has changed.

I have a different home. I am going to a different school. I am watching different TV shows. I am listening to different music. I am finding different hobbies. I am making different friends. I am speaking a different language. I am in a different country.

But today, just now, I have realized the one thing I wasn't ready for. When I get back, things are never going to be the same again. My life will never be the way it used to be, and I LOVED the way things used to be. I honestly had the most perfect life imaginable. And I still do. I love Belgium. I love my friends here, I love the food, I love everything about it.

But when I get home, I will never again be able to live my old life.

My best friends are changing. They are in college. People are moving away from me. And I have no one to blame but myself; I am the one who packed up and travelled across the world. But, it scares me a little bit. I'm not ready for my life to change so drastically. Thus far, this entire month for me hasn't felt real. After this year, I'm going to return back to the United States and my real life will resume. But right now, my grades don't matter. It doesn't matter what people think of me. It is just hard for me to grasp the fact that I will spend ten more months of my life living in this dream, and then I will return home. But I'm not going back to the same life that I left. I will be returning to something new, something different. I will return to people who have changed. And I will have changed. 

But me changing, THAT I anticipated. I did not think I would be able to live in a foreign country for a year and NOT change. That is not possible. But. I wasn't ready for the rest of the people in my life to change as well. And they are.

Some for the better. Some for the worse. But everything, at every second, is changing. The second hand on the clock is moving. My hair is growing. The wind is switching directions. The Earth is rotating around the sun. Things are not staying the same.

Things never stay the same.

I should have anticipated this. I should have seen it coming. I just wasn't ready for the enormity of the situation.

I needed to get my thoughts out. I will write another blog post after dinner with more tangible information.

SHORT BLOG

I have come up with a serious flaw in the blogging system.

The days where I have lots of time to write, I have nothing interesting to write about.

The days where I have little to no time at all are the days when all of the interesting things occur.
Today is one of these days.

I will split up my blog into three SHORT parts. I am very tired and have a big weekend ahead of me.

1) I received a package from my parents today. An amazing, wonderful package that contained happiness in all possible forms. I LOVE the sillybandz thank you thank you thank you very much!! And I got more mac and cheese, and sweaters, and overall this was really the perfect package. I truly appreciate everything in it, and I truly appreciate you guys for being such great parents!! I love you. I haven't had a chance to read your letters and all of the articles yet, but I will, I promise.

2) I went shopping in Namur today with two friends, Emma and a Mexican exchange student named Eduardo. I had a lot of fun, found some cute things, and overall loved the experience. Eduardo and Emma were lovely company and I had a wonderful day :)

emma et moi

eduardo et moi

3) After shopping Emma's host family met up with us in Namur and we went to a Lebanese restaurant. This was about my first experience ever eating Lebanese food, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out I enjoyed it all very much. I will post some pictures tomorrow; it was all gorgeous and delicious!!

But now, I am going to have to retire to my bed.

This weekend there is a HUGE party in Namur, and I need to catch up on my rest before I spend all of Friday night dancing and going crazy!

Bonne nuit!

today I appreciate: Namur

jumbled

Today was a normal day. Nothing new, nothing exciting.
Just a normal day at school.

I find myself talking all day long. Yes, yes, Emma and I generally socialize with each other in English, so my conversations with her don't count. I also often talk to Eduardo, the exchange student from Mexico, in English. Although, I often forget that his primary language in Spanish, and he is not fluent in English, so I'm almost positive that he can't understand half of the things I say. He always smiles and laughs though, so at least I think I'm having a legitimate conversation with someone.

The students at my school for the most part speak in French with me.

Yesterday during my English class we had a Belgian boy talk to us who spent the last year in Finland as an exchange student. He told all of the other students in my class that they HAD to speak with us in French all of the time. He said it wasn't until he went to Finland and was trying to teach French to other people that he realized just how complicated the French language is.  He gave the advice that I have known all along; speak French as much as possible. And the majority of the time, I have been.

Sure, there is the occasional Belgian person (ahem ahem, Mathieu, I know you're reading this) that refuses to speak French with me, because they believe their English is better than my French, and anyway when I speak French "I. Sound. Like. A. Computer". But for the most part, people have been very helpful with speaking to me in French, and correcting me when I make a mistake.

And in all honesty, I truly appreciate all of the help I have been receiving.

But tonight, I wonder... what is it that motivated me to do this? To pack up my life in a suitcase and travel across the world, to a country I had never been to, without knowing a single person, speaking a language I had not even close to mastered. What desire was I trying to stifle, what craving was I trying to feed?

Of course, I have wanted to learn French since I went to Concordia Language Villages when I was little.
Summer camp, Lac du Bois. How much I loved it. I got to go away for two weeks, and during those two weeks, I was a completely new person. I had new friends, new activities, new sights, new fun, a completely new language.  I loved it. The new, the exciting, the unfamiliar.

And in Belgium, I am experiencing a similar thing.

Of course, I haven't changed much at all. In America I was loud, I was fun, I was a good listener, I was sensitive, I was thoughtful. In Belgium, I'm still loud. I'm still fun. I'm an even better listener, as I'm always straining to comprehend everything the person is saying. I'm still sensitive, perhaps even more so. And in Belgium, I'm still thoughtful. I find myself trapped inside my thoughts very often; thoughts that are a mixture of French and English words, pictures, as well as sounds.

But in Belgium, I am new, I am exciting. I am American.  And you'd be surprised how often I receive the same stereotypes.

"Do you eat McDonald's every day?'

"Is your life like high school musical?"

"Do you have pom pom girls at your school?"

No, I hardly ever eat McDonald's. No, it is not normal that people randomly break out in song and choreographed dance during the middle of lunch. Yes, we have pom pom girls, but it's nothing like you see in the movies.

America is notorious throughout the world. Whether good, or bad, everyone here has an opinion about us. In my history class, we probably talk about the United States more often that we discuss Belgium. And it really makes me take a second glance at the school system in America. How many times did we talk about Belgium in school? Maybe ten, tops. How many people at my school know where Belgium is? Probably half. How many people asked me if they speak "Belgian" in Belgium? A good 40% of the people I talked to before I left. It's just funny. Yes, we are the United States. Yes, in Belgium (as well as France, Spain, and a large chunk of the other countries throughout the world) the teenagers listen to more American music than they do French music; they watch more American movies and television than they do Belgian. And this could be expected.

I'm not saying American's are ignorant. It's just interesting to see how big of an impact my country has on the rest of the world. And how much of an impact it has had on me.

I love America. I am proud of my country. At a rotary meeting a few weeks back, another American sang the national anthem and I almost started crying in front of everyone. I don't think we're a perfect country, and of course we have many flaws. But overall, we are an amazing place to live, with opportunities and chances. And I like that.

Belgium is a very different country than the United States. There is a king here. The country has an ongoing battle between the Flemish and the French.

Before I came here I read that the country was 98% urbanized. I must have found this fact on a bogus website, because all I can see for miles and miles is country and farms.

I like it though. It's beautiful. And just like the United States, it has it's flaws.

But every day it is growing on me.

today I appreciate: endorphins 

sunshine in belgium

Tonight I am slowly being consumed by French verbs.  Last week, in English class, we had a test on irregular verbs. ENGLISH irregular verbs. I have never studied French before. I don’t know a lot of vocabulary. Although, obviously, I speak English fluently, I still cannot translate something from French to English if I do not understand the French. So. The last week I have been attempting to learn 158 French verbs. I probably knew about 20 of them to start off with. And that is a high estimate.

School is hard for me. But I am getting better. At least five people commented today on how I am improving. And I really am. Everyday I learn new words, and everyday my grammar improves. People are beginning to feel comfortable correcting me when I say the equivalent of “I want goes shop” instead of “I want to go shopping”.  I am texting people in French, and talking to them on facebook in French as well. Although I generally need a dictionary, translator, or Emma close by, I am learning.  And for me, that’s very exciting J

Today at school was a normal day. The first hour with Pére Boly we slowly struggled through a newspaper article that we all understand, as he slowly attempts to explain every word. Second hour I had chemistry.  Because I am taking French with Pére Boly the first hour of everyday, this means I am missing a class that the rest of the students in my group are attending. Today, I missed an hour of chemistry. In all honesty, I don’t mind, as I cannot understand anything in that class. However, it will be somewhat frustrating later on in the year, as this means I have half as much time in the class as everyone else. After chemistry we had our first break of the day (for you Orono people, it is a little like snack break, but you can't buy food, you have to bring your own). Then I headed off to French class. We had to switch classrooms, as the teacher wanted to do a powerpoint presentation, and wouldn't you know it, there are no projectors or computers in the normal classrooms. I've never appreciated smart boards more in my life. So, in French class I mindlessly wrote a letter to my parents sitting in the back of the room, occasionally copying notes from my good friend Mathieu sitting next to me. After French I had math, and in case anyone was worried, I did NOT get a negative score on the test. I got a one out of thirty. BUT. The average score was around twelve I think, so hey, that's not terrible haha. After math I went to lunch. I ate lunch outside today and the sun was shinning and it was beautiful, so of course that helped melt away any stresses I had been feeling before eating. Not to mention the sandwich that Emma's host mom had made for me was utterly delicious. After lunch I had two hours of English class, which I normally dread. Today, however, a boy who had spent the last year in Finland came in to talk to the class for the whole two hours. He spoke English very well, and spoke in English the whole time, so it was an enjoyable two hours. On Mondays I finish school two hours earlier than the rest of the school. So after spending the second break of the day at school, Emma and I left to find some chocolate to send to her family. After the little trip to the grocery store, we did what Belgian students seem to be best. Head to the café in La Grand Place and spend a good hour or so sitting around. We joined two Belgians, which meant we spent the time speaking in French, and it was utterly enjoyable.  After the café I took the bus home (I've just finally seemed to figure out the bus schedule) and have spent the last few hours either studying for English, talking to people on facebook, or eating dinner.  

Overall, it was a good day in Belgium :)  I have nothing extremely interesting to write about, and no deep thoughts to share. NOR do I have any pictures to post, so I've decided to just put up a few pictures of my room here; I am rather fond of it.  

My desk. This is clearly from the first day, as  by now I have a million things pilled up on it for school!

My bed? Obviously.

Here is my door, one of my mirrors, and a bunch of buckets full of stuff. Organizational bins are crazy popular, and I find myself stretched very thin to fill all of them up. It does make the room look rather pretty though :)

My sink. In my bedroom. It's very convenient :) And very cute haha. And as you've probably noticed, I have lots of pictures also! 

Well, I think that is all for tonight. I hope whoever is reading this, whether in Belgium, France, Spain, or America, is having a wonderful day :)

today I appreciate: sunshine

emotional roller coaster

I have always been a very emotional person; I have been called a "drama queen" more than once. The last few days in Belgium, however, have been more of an emotional journey than usual.

As my earlier post expressed, I had quite a bit of anger and frustration today. And last night, I was just sad.
I missed home, and I missed my life.

Today, right now however, I am as happy as can be. I am spending the night at my good friend Emma's house. She is another exchange student, from Ohio. She is wonderful and I am very grateful to have her attending the same school as I am; she's my best buddy here, for sure. This is the first time I have been to her house, and I love it. I had a lovely night eating dinner with her family, venting about my prior anger, and now I am as happy as I can be :)

So now, I am able to tell everyone about the lovely aspects of Belgium.
It is beautiful here. I am in Europe. I am living with a Belgian family, and I am speaking French. The gravity and reality of this situation has not completely sunk in for me yet. I am making Belgian friends, I am sending text messages in French. I am learning Biology in French. I am living a completely new and unimaginable life. And in general, I am truly loving it.

My mantra since I have been here is one word: "appreciate".  Every night before I go to sleep, I think of the one thing that I appreciated most throughout the day. Today, what I appreciated most was laughter. The laughter I was able to share with Emma and her family truly transformed an average day to one that I will from now on remember as lovely.

And so here I am. Here I am, sitting on the floor, watching Emma decorate her room with jewelry, facebook chatting with new Belgian friends, as well as old American friends, and writing a blog post. And I am happy. I really am very happy. I am blessed. I am so lucky to have been given this opportunity, and I am so grateful for it. To my family, Rotary, and everyone else that has helped me achieve this: thank you.

I will end on a happy note.

There is a picture of my first waffle, and Emma and I enjoying said waffle. They were apple, which means they had apple on the inside, and of course, were utterly delicious. This picture was taken in Liege, when we travelled there to attempt a shopping journey. Waffles are utterly delicious here, as are the fries. The food in general, is lovely.

But now, I believe I must head to bed. Emma and I have to start our second full week of school tomorrow, and we need to be in the best shape possible ;) Et alors, á demain!

the little things

I've officially been gone for twenty seven days. And now, it's the little things that I miss the most.

Obviously, I miss my family. I miss my friends. But it goes much deeper than that.

I miss being able to hold a decent conversation without straining my brain to be able to think of a word.

I miss knowing exactly what is going on all of the time. Here, my motto (other than c'est pas grave, of course) is just go with it, don't ask questions. Whenever I ask questions, about 90% of the time I can't completely comprehend the answer anyway. In school, I've made enough friends that I'm able to just follow people around, and trust that they'll get me to the right class. With my host family, I just ask what time I need to be ready, and I'm never completely sure what I'll be doing until after I arrive.

I miss food. Comforting food, like mac and cheese, and peanut butter, and cold skim milk. I miss Hershey's candy. I miss being able to eat fruit without a fork and a knife. I miss the familiar.

I miss ugly sweaters. I am SO cold here all of the time, and I would like nothing more than to be able to throw on an ugly sweater and call it a day.

I miss being able to drive. This is probably the most prominent. In the United States, yes, I always had to "ask" permission to do something. But it was always closer to "hey mom, I'm doing this, is that okay?".  In Belgium, I have to worry about getting a ride, I have to worry about being an inconvenience to the family, I have to worry about what time I want to be picked up and figure out all of the little details ahead of time. I'm not able to just drive to wherever I need to be whenever I want. I can't just run up to the mall to buy something whenever I need it, or just jump in my car when I'm bored.

That's another thing. In Minnesota, I was NEVER bored. I was ALWAYS doing something. And here, I find myself with so much down time. That's just the life style here. People don't hang out as much here as they do in the United States. Spending the night at home alone is not unheard of here. For me, it is.

Overall, it's these little things that provide the most culture shock.

Being able to wear my kicks without people judging me.

Having a locker at school.

Smart boards in school, not chalk boards.

Flex.

Target.

The mall.

Unlimited text messaging.

Unlimited calling.

Hip hop.

Eating pancakes for breakfast.

Hugs.

Understanding jokes.

Ugly people.

Wearing skirts and dresses without freezing.

Sillybandz.

Nail polish.

Dry deodorant.

Radio stations in English.

Comfortable couches.

Names such as "Ben", "Tom", and "Joe".

Domino's pizza.

Caribou Coffee.

Talking to boys without being judged.

Toe socks.

T-shirts.

Stop signs.

Speed limits.

Diet coke.

Carpet.

Buffalo Wild Wings.

Letter jackets.

Stop lights.

I miss being a normal person. Here, I'm either in the spotlight or completely ignored. And from my experiences thus far, neither are fun for long. 

Last night I had a dream in French. I was with Belgian people, and everyone was speaking French. I believe this is a good sign? I'm adapting here, I most definitely am. My life is here now, and I know that. I'm living that. It's just hard sometimes.

This weekend was not the best. I didn't do anything extremely fun, and I had too much time to think.

I was sad. Last night, I was sad.

Why?

I don't know. I guess for me right now I miss having friends I can talk to, and people who can comfort me.

The other day in French class, I got some very good advice from a friend of mine sitting next to me.

We were doing this activity that I believe has something to do with transcendentalism (but again, I'm never really sure).  We would take out a piece of paper and the teacher would instruct us to write down a noun. Then we'd fold the paper over, so you couldn't see what we had written, and we'd write whether it was singular or plural, masculine or feminine. Then we'd pass it to the left and we'd write a verb that corresponded with the number of noun/ the gender etc. Now, in English, this would be ridiculously easy. But in French, it was very hard for me. I don't know how to conjugate verbs perfectly yet, and my strong point thus far is definitely speaking, not writing. Not to mention all of the other students where whizzing through the activity, and I was getting frustrated. At one point I said something about how I did not like the activity as it was too difficult for me. And my friend next to me just looks at me and says "If you wanted to do something easy, you wouldn't have come to Belgium. You don't speak French, of course it isn't easy for you. But that's why you're here, isn't it?" (I can't actually remember whether he said it in English or in French; many of the people at school talk to me in Franglish, randomly adding in phrases or words in English. And of course, everyone's English is much better than my French). But him saying this to me, so bluntly, really had an impact on me.

The whole time I've been here, I've been happy, because I know that this is my choice. This is what I've wanted to do for so long and I'm not going to let homesickness or anything else stand in the way of me having an amazing year. But Friday in school was not a good day for me. Hearing those words however, snapped me out of it. It is going to be a challenge, I know that. It is going to be difficult, and of course I am going to get frustrated. It's going to be hard sitting in Chemistry class, not understanding a word the teacher is saying. It's going to be hard sitting home alone on a Saturday night. It's going to be hard trying to write an essay in French. It's going to be hard to spend Christmas away from my family. But I can do it. Because I know that in the end, every obstacle I overcome is only going to make my experience greater.

This blog was very stream of consciousness, so sorry it's not exactly organized. I'm having a bit of writers block at the moment. I'm just a little sad and down these last few days. But don't worry, I'm sure I'll be better soon :)

This is a picture of my school. The courtyard is where we usually eat lunch, although I'm sure that will have to end shortly as the Belgian weathers is getting worse every day. It's a nice school. I'd take pictures of the classrooms but apparently you're not allowed to have anything electronic in school, including cameras. But yeah. I'll most likely post again tonight :)

mac and cheese

Yes, yes, yes. I cooked dinner tonight. In a lovely, clean, and proper Belgian house, I helped a wonderful family explore one of their senses by trying new foods.
First, was the spam.

After the spam, I made mac and cheese. And let me just express to you all, I could have not have been more pleased to see the beautiful orange powder cheese; it was literally heaven in a box.

As many of you know, mac and cheese happens to be my specialty. I cooked it like a pro, if I do say so myself ;)  Although my host family may not have been OVERLY thrilled with it, as far as I know no one spit it out or fed it to the dog (although, the same can not be said for the spam, which ended up being dinner for the rabbit).  Over all I had a lovely night. I spent the whole time laughing, repeating over and over, "c'est très drôle" which means, it's very funny. Because it was. It made me feel close to home, in an odd way.
Oh, and of course, my dearest friend Charlie Manzoni deserves an excellent shout out. He sent me a package with five boxes of mac and cheese, and I am eternally grateful!!
Other than the mac and cheese, nothing overly eventful happened today. I went to school, had my first religion class, had two hours of study hall, lunch, and then two hours of math. Talk about a fun day.
But no, school is fun. My family is great. Everything is going well.
I apologize, it's a short post tonight. I am tired and my brain is too tired to come up with anything interesting to say. Overall, the mac and cheese was the highlight of my day.
Good night everyone!