ERMAHGERD.

Well the day has arrived. January 20th. Do y'all know what that means? It means that I am five months into my exchange, and that it is, roughly, halfway complete. Already. Wowzers. I know I haven't checked in with you guys since I shared the events of my Christmas vacation, so I've got a lot to fill you in on. Get ready.

First of all, I switched host families. This has been a pretty big change for me, as I have gone from being the sole daughter living at home for the past two plus years, to now being one of three, plus another who's off at university. Of the other two, one is in my year at school, and does gymnastics, though she hurt her shoulder and recently went through surgery, and the other is 13 and plays basketball. I'm starting to get used to the life of a female dominant family, but there is a truck load of hormones up in here, that's for sure. Some other changes include the presence of a television (I promise I don't waste too much time in front of it mom), walking and/or being driven to and from the train station as opposed to riding my bike, and, maybe best of all, a piano. It's keyboard really, but it has all seven octaves, and a pedal attachment, not exactly the baby grand I've got waiting for me back home, but good enough to get my fingers moving again. The family itself is pretty great. They yell at each other a lot, but what else can you expect when there are three teenage girls all under the same roof?

School continues mostly comme d'habitude, but as of late, it's been a little wonky. As a think I may have mentioned in one of my previous posts, there are no substitute teachers over here, so when teachers are sick or have trainings, we simply don't have class. The past couple weeks have been chock full of free time for me. I think the last full day of school I had was the first Thursday back from break, and even then, we got out 20 minutes early because our teacher had a dentist appointment... yeah. I haven't had Religion class since before Christmas, and I've only had French about one and half times (a dentist appointment, really?) since our return. The frustrating thing is, you don't always know ahead of time, in fact, usually you don't. That makes it so that when your first few teachers are sick, you show up at the same time as usual, and then sit around for hours while you could still be sleeping. Grrr. Yesterday, I had exactly one class. Fifty minutes of math, in which we took a test that I finished in about twenty. Out of a total six hours that I was there, I did twenty minutes of work. Way to go Belgian school system, you should get an award.

Alright, obligatory summary part of the post is done. Now it's time for a little real talk. Being in the position that I am, over here on an adventure, it makes it easy to forget sometimes that big choices in my future are right around the corner. Easy to forget, that is, until some lovely European adult asks me what I'm planning to study at university, as over here, everyone has to decide that before they go. Put simply, I have even less of an idea about that than I did before I came to Belgium. Luckily, I don't have to know yet, but having all my friends at school deciding, in fact, they're all mostly decided, I feel a little lost. The fact that my exchange is half over makes me feel more pressured to decide, like this year has kind of been my break from real life, and I'm heading back into it completely unprepared. Adding on to that, I keep having mini heart attacks when I wake up from dreams where for some reason, Berkeley didn't make any note of my deferment and they decide to reject me and I don't go to college or do anything with my life ever. Lovely, I know.

So I've been hearing a lot of questions and concerns from people back in the States about the current state of affairs over here in Europe, in reference to the recent terrorist activities. To be completely honest, I have not been terribly affected by it. I have not been able to tune in to the news for the past week or so, so I don't know much more about what's happening here than most of you. There have been a few "terrorist-linked protests" here in Belgium, the closest to me being about 14 miles away, but in a completely different city. They have started checking I.D. more frequently on the train, and I'm sure there are other safety precautions in place, but regardless, I feel totally safe, and I don't think there is anything to worry about.

Thank you guys for continuing to tune in for the first half of my adventure, and I promise there are many more exciting things to come, if you keep coming back! i.e. Croatia, Italy, and potentially London.

P.S. I don't really have any relevant photos for this post, but I have recently added a bunch to my album on Facebook, so if you're interested, check 'em out.

Christmas, Paris, and another month gone

I skipped out on my normal monthiversary post, so here it is a little late, four months down!!

The Grand Place in Brussels at Christmas

Normally, for a post such as this, I would give a broader summary of some of the things I've been up to in the past month, but this time's a little different. In part, because I actually don't remember where this last month started and the previous one ended, so I don't know where to draw the line, and also, because I have grander stories to tell. I'll start off with a little summary, just to keep the world back home informed. A few weeks ago, 2-3 I think, I took my "first semester" final exams. As obliged by my Rotary district here in Belgium, I only took four. In fact, due to a strike of the train system, I have yet to take the written portion of my Spanish exam, but that will come in January. Along with Spanish, I took the exam for my extracurricular French course, which I attend twice a week, the math exam, and, I know it sounds lame, but English as well. I have a few motives for my taking the easy way out there: 1) because of my French course, I miss two mornings of school a week, leaving me with less than adequate, and at times zero, knowledge for the exams in the other subjects, 2) I actually am learning things in English class, such as translations and extra verb tenses, and 3) it was the easy way out, and I am, most simply put, lazy. Anyway. I passed all of my classes this period, even Chemistry which I didn't do so well at last term, and will be returning to school soon to hopefully continue in this way. Enough about school. More exciting things are left to be told.

PARIS!!!
That's right. I went to Paris.This past week I went with my host father and brother to my host

Christmas Eve mass

grandparents' house in France. They live in a small town just about an hour out of Paris so it was easy to take the train into the city. Our first day, we visited the Louvre, where we saw the Mona Lisa, a ton of Greek and Roman statues, some sarcophagi, and a mummy. We also say Notre Dame, at least from the outside, and l'Arc de Triomphe. From the Arc, we walked down the Champs d'Elysee through a large Christmas Market to a huge Ferris Wheel at the end of the avenue. By the time we finished walking, it was dark, so the whole street was lit up with Christmas decorations. It was quite something. The next day, we went to Montmartre, and saw a great view of Paris from above, and the Musee Grevin, which is the Parisian version of Madame Tussauds. We took a bunch of selfies and such. Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we went to Versailles. It. Was. Huge. Nearly every ceiling had an extremely detailed mural, and carved statues in each corner. There was gold leaf on every gate, fence, and in almost every room. The beds were so high off the ground that one would either have to high jump, or climb a stepladder, just to go to sleep. It was the definition of opulence. That night, we went to Christmas mass in an old, huge cathedral. It was all in French, but it was

View of Paris at night, from above
(from the Eiffel Tower)

remarkably quite similar to the Christmas masses I've attended in the past: singing, praying, sitting, standing, even some of the lines were familiar, though in French. On Christmas Day, we stayed at home. In the morning we opened a few gifts, and we spent the rest of the day lounging around, eating treats, and all those good things. I also Skyped with my family in the evening, a great end to a great Christmas. On Friday, we went to the Musee d'Orsay, and I spent most of the time there in the impressionist exhibit seeing a bunch of Monet's, and in the Van Gogh room, where I mastered the art of sneaky picture taking. Then we headed to the Eiffel Tower, where we met my second, now current, host family. We went all the way to the very top and saw some amazing views. Plus, by the time we got all the way up, and started coming down, it was dark. The tower was all lit up, and so was the whole city. It was pretty much stunning. Saturday was our last day, so after packing up and

one last delicious French breakfast, we set off back to Belgium. We had just about crossed the border when it began to snow. This provided for several days of nice views out the window, it's starting to melt, but hopefully the nice views will continue. Upon my return from my neighboring country, I switched to my second host family. It's a very different environment than what I'm used to, as out of the five family members, four are girls. I'm quickly adjusting to the new house and family.

Anyway, I hope you have all been having a wonderful holiday season so far, and that it continues to be so. Hopefully I will be checking in soon with more fun stories to tell. As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you keep on doing so. Byeeeeee.

Thanksgiving, Snow, and Saint Nicolas

Thanksgiving Belgian style

'Tis the season, eh? I certainly have kept busy with all sorts of holiday happenings over the past week or so. Last Sunday, I went to Brussels to celebrate Thanksgiving with several of my American

Pumpkin pie made for me by
my host family

exchange student friends, plus one Australian and one Canadian. It was a bit of a struggle to find fresh cranberries over here, but with my host mom's help, find them we did. The meal was a great success, over all. We had turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, this really weird but delicious pumpkin
dish, apple pie, caramel tart, and we made some spiced cider, and yeesh my mouth is watering just remembering all of it. It was perfect.

The only photo I managed to take
before it all melted

Over here in Fleurus, Belgique, we received our first snowfall this week. Sadly, it has, in fact, melted already, and the rain has returned. It was beautiful while it lasted, and the best part was the reaction of all the exchange students from the Southern Hemisphere. They took photos and videos and rolled around and generally acted like small children. It was adorable. Anyway, that was the snow. I hope it
come backs soon.

You know what else is great about the holidays here? Saint Nicolas. Last night, December the 5th, jolly old Saint Nick came to Belgium. This tradition is a lovely part of the season here. I opened my door this morning to find a mandarin outside my door, and looked down the hallway to see a trail of chocolate coins and more mandarins that led all the way downstairs and into the kitchen. It only got better from there. As you can see, the kitchen table was full of more goodies, from chocolate to specaloos to little gifts for each person. I received a cook book full of chocolate recipes and a lovely

The haul.

Saint Nicolas a été ici!!

new scarf. I am no the proud owner of my very first cook book, which just happens to be in French, cause I'm that cool. Another thing that made it into my pile of treasure was particularly exciting for me, and my immediate family will understand why right away, but I'll do some explaining for the rest of you. As many of you know, my father's parents come from Holland, or the Netherlands (which happens to be right next to Belgium). That being said, every
year going back as far as I can remember, each kid in my family has received a large chocolate in the shape of the first letter of their name in their stocking on Christmas. These "chocolate letters" as we've come to call them, also come from Holland, hence the tradition. Anyway, along with all of the other lovely chocolates and treats on the table thi
s morning, I found a chocolate A. There was a J for my host brother, Julien, and an S for my host step-dad, Serge, as well. Needless to say, I was extremely excited. Even though I hadn't really thought that far ahead, I know that I would have missed my chocolate letter a lot come Christmas. It was also fun to share with my host family that we do the same thing in my family, connections between my two different lives are so fun to find.

Well then. I have to go do some studying now, as here in Belgium, we have our exams before Christmas instead of in January like back in Wenatchee. Luckily, since, 1) this scholastic year doesn't actually matter for me, and 2) the rules of Rotary are very kind, I am only obliged to take four exams. I have chosen to take English (that's not as lame as it sounds, I've actually been learning things in my class, plus I don't want my English grammar to fall by the wayside while I'm here), Spanish, math, and I'm taking the exam for my introductory French class for foreigners. They shouldn't be too hard, but I feel that some work might be necessary nonetheless.

That's all folks! See you soon with hopefully some more fun stories to tell!

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.

Il y a deux mois...

Guess what day it is? Guess. What. Day. It. Is. Spoiler alert: it's not Hump Day, but it is my two month Belgian anniversary!!!! Let's have a party! Not really. Anyway, in honor of this momentous occasion, I am going to write a blog post to tell you some inside stories of some of my more memorable adventures. Funnily enough, several of these stories come from events in the past few days, so I'll just get started then.

The time I graffitied:

Cuz sushi

I'm a pro... jk I suck at grafitti.

One Wednesday afternoon, my friends and I went to Louvain-la-Neuve, which is a really cool college town (and also the home of my third host family) for sushi. Not only was the sushi a welcome change from my patterns of bread and cheese, but there was some sort of street art festival thingy majig going on. This included some really bad break dancers and some also not very good singers. However, the graffiti artists were quite good, and even better, there were some "canvases" (sheets on poles) set up for passers-by to use, which my friends and I did. I am not very good at graffiti, but I left my mark nonetheless.

The time I drank beer that came out of a statue:

Manneken Pis has got a
costume on... and he's
peeing beer...

Grand Place at night

On my friend's birthday, we went to Brussels. At one point, my other friend and I decided to wander around to find the Manneken Pis, the famous statue of a little boy peeing. So fascinating. Anyway, we found it eventually, and on the way there I made eye contact this guy in a tux across the street. He rushed over to me, gesturing at me and speaking Dutch. He had a crumpled piece of paper and he grabbed my hand and put it there. Speaking more Dutch, he had me make a fist, and then he made magician-esque motions, opened my hand, saw the paper was still there, groaned in disappointment, and left. Once we got to the statue, we found a plethora of guys in tuxes. A couple of them took selfies with us, and then another came around with a tray of beer and offered us some. At first we were very confused, and tried to refuse, but he insisted, saying, "No gratuit, free!" Later, it was explained to us that on one day of every year, the Manneken Pis pees beer for half an hour, and we just happened to be there for it. That was pretty cool, I have to say. I also got to see the Grand Place at night, which is absolutely beautiful.

The time I took a selfie with a giraffe:
This past weekend, I went to the zoo. Did you know, zoos are pretty much the same wherever you go? You've got the monkeys, with their ropes to climb on, the building of birds, with its one door open at a time rule, elephants, the reptile house, and all that jazz. This one did come with a few surprises, however. First of all, it was built in an old abbey, and so it had a crypt. Which is where the bat exhibit was located. I used to think I liked bats. I always felt so content watching them swoop and soar over Spirit Lake as I watched from the dock. That is something entirely different than walking through a pitch dark room full of them as they fly right over your head and in front of your face. My host brother got a kick out of my whispered, "Oh my god" 's and little shivers of terror. I was not so amused. Another cool difference was how close you could get to some of the animals. I was able to pet a lemur, pet and feed some giraffes, and take pictures with a giraffe that was actually right next to my shoulder. In case you ever doubted the stories, giraffe tongues are, in fact, purple, and ridiculously long.

This apple crate was at the zoo. It
says Wenatchee! Woohoo!

Besides all that, nothing has changed much since my last blog post, seeing as it's only been a few days. The mark of two months is kind of surprising. One month ago, I was thinking, that one-tenth of my exchange was already over, but at least there were still nine more to go. Now, using my exceptional math skills, I can reduce the two-tenths that have passed, into one-fifth. That is a much more significant, and simultaneously daunting fraction of my time here that has gone by. Luckily, I'm still making the most of it, and I plan to continue doing so! I'm a little fearful of the approaching holiday season, because I'm worried that they will bring with them a fresh bout of homesickness, but I am also excited to experience the differences and similarities between the way people celebrate throughout the world. I hope to continue updating you all as much as possible. As always, I love and miss all of you back home, and I am so thankful for all of my new friends here. A bientôt!

It's been awhile...

Hello again everybody! I know I haven't been updating y'all in awhile (I just said y'all what is happening), so here I am! The best excuse I have is that the time just seems to be passing so quickly, just like it seems to do at the start of every new school year. Life is full of school, homework, and squeezing in time to spend with friends and host families. I am, surprisingly, not failing school... yet. It's still difficult to understand my teachers, but I'm starting to have a good deal of success with writing. I am able to text my friends and family pretty easily, and I was able to write a paragraph for my French teacher, on a test I didn't understand, about my comprehension levels of French, and my efforts to learn as quickly as possible. Speaking is still coming slowly, but I'm starting to try a little more, and I think it's starting to come more easily. The other day as I was walking home through the potato field (that happens regularly), I saw some potatoes laying on the ground and said out loud, without thinking, pommes de terre! The most exciting part of this story is that I didn't even think potato at all, just the French. That's the most exciting thing, when the French words or phrases I'm looking for just come, without hardly any effort on my part. It makes me feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with this language, instead of just roaming around lost and confused. I still find it hard to speak though, and I'm not completely sure why. Partly I feel like it's my valedictorian-esque tendency to fear making mistakes. I know, as many people have told me, that there is no other way to learn, but it's not as easy to change that part of myself as I'd like.
Other than school and language, life has been pretty exciting. I've visited the cities around the country some more, including a visit to the Parliament of Wallonie in Namur this past weekend, as well as multiple visits to Bruxelles and Louvain-la-Neuve (one of my favorite cities). Last Wednesday, I went out for sushi, and it was soooo good. I didnt realize how much I would miss Asian food. On the subject of food, I eat meat now. Sort of. When it is served, I eat it, but I don't go out of my way. It's not all that important, but it has been five and half years... so it's a bit of a change. Moving on. It's been getting pretty cold here. Well, relatively, nothing like Wenatchee winters, but still chilly. Just like in Wenatchee, the wind sure does like to blow. I hate it. However, the heat has been turned on, so now I can use the radiator in my room, which is a plus. I also had a day off from school on Monday, and I spent Sunday night at a friend's house (shout out to Florence!). It was pretty much exactly what a night with a friend in America would have been like: loud music, good food, Mamma Mia, crêpes in the morning, and a walk through the woods. Well, maybe not the crêpes and forest part, but the idea is the same. In a couple weeks, starting on the 24th, we have a week off, and Marijke is coming up (I think it's up) from Lyon for a few days. Needless to say, I am stoked. I'm always excited for a chance to see my sister, and this time it'll be spent traveling around this new country I now call home. I'm also hoping that having a familiar face around, especially one that knows French well, will help me to try speaking more myself. I'm definitely comfortable making mistakes around my sister, so I think her presence will make me less unsure of myself.
Anywho, sorry for not being as attentive to my blog as I should, I will do my best to be better at that in the future. As always, thanks for sharing my experiences, I'll keep you posted!

P.S. I plan to make a photo album on Facebook, as uploading photos here is always a hassle, if you would like to see what I've been up to.