Obligatory third monthiversary post...

Honestly, since last Friday, not much has happened, but I felt obliged to post seeing as three months ago today, I arrived in a new country full of strange, exciting new things, and strange, exciting new experiences. Since last week this is what I have been up to.

The Green Light:

I can almost see Daisy...

For my host brother's birthday, we went to Kamperlaand (in Holland) Saturday night. We played card games, ate delicious food and some cake, and had a rousing round of cache cache lampe de poche (basically hide and seek with flashlights). Positioned on a lake, the house we stayed at had a great view, at least I assume it did, because it was dark and I couldn't actually see anything. Except for the green light shining across the way that is (no joke, an actual green light). The next morning, I took the train from Holland back to Belgium by myself in order to attend the exotic dinner hosted by Rotary.

Le Dîner Exotique:
The dinner was pretty fun. All of us Rotary students formed small groups of about five (by country) and made a dish representative of our nation to serve to our host families and Rotary clubs. I know what you're all probably thinking, but no, we didn't make burgers, or donuts, or quoi. Actually, since I was in Holland, I didn't help my group make our dish. My friend has a family recipe they call "heavenly spaghetti". It's basically a spaghetti bake with a lot of cheese and meat and veggies and such. I didn't eat any because we ran out, but it got some raving reviews from the guests. Other than the food, there was a lot of music, dancing, and general enjoyment all around.

Me and my friend Florence
as 118, 218. The famous French
telephone operator commercial
mascots. Aren't we cute?

Carnaval:
This week, we had a "carnaval" at school. Basically, we all wore costumes and we had a huge assembly/talent show thing. While that's a fun and good and all, but the thing that I was the most
impressed by was the amount of participation. Back home in America, when we have spirit days, there are always a number of students who regularly participate, ASB types and such, but those who don't dress up always outnumber those who do. Here it was different. I hardly saw anyone sans deguisement, and the people who were got teased (benevolently) for not participating. All in all it was a fun day.

Well there you have it, it's been a pretty good week. I also went to go and see the most recent installment in the Hunger Games trilogy. It was in French, but from what I could understand of the language, and what I got from observing the images, I think it's probably a good movie. Hopefully I'll get to see it in English eventually. Anyway. If you're reading this, thanks for keeping up with me over these past three months, and here's to the next seven eh? Byeeee.

Keeping a Promise...

Wowzers. I'm really bad at updating this thing... But I promised a friend that I would write today, so here I am. Seeing as it's been nearly a month since my last post, quite a lot has happened. During the fall holiday (at the end of October), Marijke came to visit me. She is living in Lyon right now, so it seemed a waste for us not to see each other during our time here. She was only here for a few days, but they were pretty great. She arrived on Friday, and I got out of school early to meet her. We then went to Louvain-la-Neuve, where we ate some great food, walked around, I bought a coat, she bought some Oreos (some as in three boxes), and I got a hairctu (my hair is now the shortest it's been since the eighth grade). Saturday was spent in Bruxelles. I showed her the sites that I know, like the Grand Place, Mannekin Pis, etc. and we explored some that I didn't, mainly huge, old churches. Our last adventure took us to Bruges, also known as the Venice of the North. It really is a beautiful city, full

of canals and Dutch architecture. We visited some cool old buildings, museums, shops, and of course, a friterie. This weekend was really great in a few ways. Not only did I get to see my sister again, which is always great, but I got to visit a new city, and my comfort level in French grew exponentially. It turns out, I knew a lot more than I thought I did, it just helped to have Marijke there. Firstly, I kind of wanted to show off for my big sister, you know. And secondly, it was actually kind of fun, instead of scary like it can be around people at school. So my French is coming along quite well, I was able to ask my French teacher if instead of "learning" (if you can call it that) about absurd theater or what, I could read Harry Potter (in French). She said yes, and needless to say, it's become one of my favorite classes. Speaking of classes, since my last post, I also received my first report card. I passed! Hahahahaha. I didn't do too well in Chemistry, but I almost got an A- in that in English three years ago, so I forgive myself. I also wasn't graded in French, Geography, or History, but I either, 1) go less than 1 hour a week, or 2) read Harry Potter. It's all good. 

With the holidays approaching, I have had to do some explaining of certain things to the citizens of Belgium. Namely: Thanksgiving. For those of you who don't know, in my [American] family, we have a tradition we like to call "The Thankful Turkey".

TADA!!!!

Basically, my mom made this turkey out of felt, styrofoam, and googly eyes, and every  night in November, every member of the family writes something they are thankful for on a posterboard feather and pins it to the turkey. My mom, awesome lady that she is, sent me a package a few weeks back that included a photo of the turykey, a block of styrofoam, about 60 feathers, and a bunch of pins. Also my favorite British tea, but back to Thanksiving. I have my make shift turkey up in my room, which has caused some inquiry. FYI, there is no word for thankful, grateful, etc. in French. Fun. I have also been sharing my extra feathers with any friends that want to join in. It's also fun to explain how the pilgrims and the Native Americans had a feast. Especially when I actually can't remember the explanation that doesn't come from Magic Treehouse... Yeah. 

Soooooo. That does it for me for the past almost month. See you soon I hope!! Byeeeeeeeee.

In other news, my best friend at school and I have decided to buy an old cafe and start a bar. So if I

Isn't it lovely? We're so proud.

don't come back to America next year, you can find me in Court-Saint-Etienne. That is all.