A bit about school, my birthday, and getting stuck on a balcony



 

 

     School is going well, and while I prefer the weekend (who doesn't?!), I like going.  I am not quite yet able to take thorough notes in class, but I can usually understand what the teacher is saying, it just takes too long for me to decipher what is said to take notes as well.   How much of a class I can understand depends entirely on which class I am in, and if the material is new material for me.  Chemistry and Biology are my easiest classes (aside from English class) because I have already taken them in the US and I know the material, but in classes such as history and geography, my comprehension level is much lower.  Surprisingly, my French class is one of the easier ones to understand, and math is one of the hardest. 

      In French, two hours a week (each Wednesday afternoon) are devoted to theater practice because at the end of the year, the French class will be putting on a play.  Ironically, they are doing the French translation of an English play; Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well".  I have two parts, a page (about three lines) and another three-lined part because one of the minor roles is in English.  To give you a taste of some of what happens in Theater class, today the class broke up into groups of four, then the teacher would give everyone a theme and the groups would creat choreographed dances representing each topic, practice the dance a little, then present to the class.  After everyone presented, the teacher would announce the next theme, and everyone would create new dances.  Some of the topics included "the first drop of rain on dry earth", "Easter" (my group mimicked rabbits for this one), and "anything round".  Most often, the dances ended in everyone laughing, dancers included. 
 

       My 17th birthday was wonderful, everyone wished me happy birthday, and I can now say that I have been sung to in four different languages, French (three times), English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The English, Spanish, and Portuguese were thanks to someone shouting "it was this girl's birthday a week ago!" to a boat-full of exchange students, who all started to sing in their given language, which was quite chaotic to listen to.  The evening before my birthday, my host family gave  me their present (a few turtleneck shirts and a scarf) and on the day of my birthday, we went to the baptism of a family friend's baby girl.  It was the first baptism I have ever been to, and it was really interesting to learn about and experience the different traditions.  The night after, my host mother and I made a wonderful cream desert, and she gave me the recipe so that I can make it on my own and be sure to never loose weight again (it is definitely not the healthyest of desserts!).  During lunch break on Monday, my school friends bought a cake and a present consisting of some Belgian specialties (including, of course, a box of chocolates that lasted all of two days).  They even got candles and lit them (which I was sure would get us all in trouble, but no one seemed to care and none of the teachers came into the senior cafeteria before I blew them out)  All in all, a fantastic birthday.

Most of my birthday stash, all aligned nicely on my bed.

 

 A few weeks ago, my host family, a friend of Gladys (my host sister) and I spent the weekend in my host mother's parents' apartment at the beach, which was a lot of fun even if we didn't get to swim (my host family only put their feet in, then jumped back out because the water was too cold, and as I had just barely gotten over a cold, my host mother said that I couldn't go in past my knees)
   Also worth mentioning is the fact that Belgium has three official languages, French, Flemish (which is a dialect of Dutch), and German, but the German is only spoken by the 10% of the population that lives along the German border.  The rest of the country is split into two regions, the northern half of Belgium is Flanders, the Flemish region, and the southern half is the French speaking Wallonia (where I live).  The capital city, Brussels, is geographically located in Flanders, however about 70% of the people living in Brussels speak French.  All Belgian coastline is also located in Flanders, and all towns along the coastline are Flemish-speaking towns, and so after a month of getting used to speaking in French, I was plunged into an entirely new language, but no worries, everyone else in my host family can speak a bit of Flemish, with the exception of my oldest host sister and my host father who are fairly talented in it. 





From left to right: Me, Sylvie (host mom), Clemence (host sister),  Valerie (Gladys's friend) and Gladys (host sister).

 

 



Hey, kinda looks like the beach in Maine,
only on the other side of the ocean!



Everyone hopped in a six person bicycle on Sunday,
which was tiring, but we got to see the beautiful town



 

 

 



       Some people might be wondering why I would put a picture of  a balcony on my blog. It is just a plain old balcony with two doors leading to it, a railing, and that's about it.  Nothing special about it what-so-ever, not really outstanding blog material, I know.  However, this balcony has taught me a very important lesson; ALWAYS check to make sure that there is a handle on BOTH sides of the door before you close it behind you. If not, you could be stuck in the cold for a half hour before your host family wakes up and finds you.  Not a fun morning. 

 

The bakerie that taunted me from my balconie. 

  

 

 

 

A day trip to the town of Bouillon, which is about a half hour from the house by car.


A lovely castle, if I do say so myself.







 

 

A few weeks ago the Belgian Rotary organized a kayaking trip for all of the exchange students, and while kayaking we passed this cliff with a gorgeous castle on top.  Aside from being more than a little bit wet by the end of the day, it was a fun trip. 

 

My host mom taught me how to make waffles!  We made them together once, then another day I made them by myself, batter and all. 

Gorgeous, no?