Il est temps de Noël!

Il est temps de Noël!! Et j’aime la saison de Noël ici ! Mais le jour après Noel je vais changer ma famille ! :( C’est très triste ! J’aime ma famille d’accueil, Je connais ma 2em famille est très gentille mais c’est toujours triste!!

(If you dont understand the French…..www.translate.google.com)

I have been out of school for a week! I have spent most of the week in Liege with friends shopping and having fun exploring the city! Sorry to all my friends back home; mais, mes amis belges sont les meilleurs!! They are always making sure I don’t get lost, mugged or too confused and always checking on me when we are in town and at school they are always very helpful and kind!! They are by far the best! 

Each time I go into town I have a new story to share, from “losing”a friend at the train station, to getting lost and finding something neat to see, to nearly being hit by a car thinking “if I hurry you can make it across the street” then the car decides to speed up once I am halfway through the intersection!!

 

I absolutely love it here in Belgium! It is hard to believe I am already a third of the way done with my exchange! It is crazy how fast time has flown by! I am changing families this week, so If you would like my new address, just let me know and I will get it to you!

St. Nicolas and SNOW!!!

St. Nicholas… Well it just kept getting better! Monday the University celebrated it. They were in front of our school yet again throwing flour at people who didn’t give them money. Lucky for us we got dropped off at the back of the school and were able to avoid it. But, talking with the other exchange students they just pretended not to know what was going on and were able to get into school without being floured!

That Sunday we had our first snow!!

 

Monday during school it snowed again! Quite honestly that sucked! I was stuck inside a building pretending to listen to a teacher when all I could do was stare out the window and think “It’s snowing... in Belgium”. Thankfully I had an off period and got to just sit and watch the snow fall, building up the courage to go outside and play in it a bit. After throwing one snowball the Belgian I was with told me and the other exchange student to stop. A teacher was coming and if teachers see you throwing snow you get a 2 hour detention… so needless to say we stopped and went back inside. By lunch time it had “warmed up” and the snow turned to rain, so within minutes all the snow was gone! It stayed cold this whole week!

 

 

I learned a lot of neat things this week thought…..

1.       Don’t mess with the Belgians… they know Karate!

 

 

 

 

2.       Don’t leave your bag in the study room…

3.       Most importantly…. That this video is really funny!!

 

Wednesday the Rotary took all the exchange kids to Germany! We took a 30minute train ride across half the country then a 45 minute bus ride into Germany and got to see a local Christmas market. It was really cool, and cold! It started to snow and these weren’t normal snowflakes, they were like pre-made snow balls falling from the sky! It was crazy!! But so pretty!!!

Thursday the 6^th also known as St. Nicolas was awesome! I had a white St. Nicolas!! We had quite a bit of snow fall early that morning. If I was back home there is no doubt that school would have been canceled! But, not here in Belgium! So I woke up saw the snow and wanted to go back to sleep, but instead proceeded to get ready; doing my hair, makeup and all that stuff. When Manon, my host sister yells “Allison, could you please come down stairs”, I thought that was odd so I dropped what I was doing and went down stairs! That’s when I remembered the 6^th isn’t just the 6^th it’s St. Nicolas! I had a VERY YUMMY bread thing sitting on my slippers, then in the living room a nice cozy sweater and a huge bucket of candy and yummy Belgian treats awaiting me! I LOVE ST. NICOLAS!!

All throughout school Thursday it snowed on and off, but because Exams started on Friday we had a half day. So afterschool Donna, another exchange student from California, came home with me to study for our exams. We had the most American dinner that we could have that night. My host family ordered pizza for dinner, so Donna and I made Ranch for them! They liked it too!!

Friday, it didn’t snow much more but stayed COLD! I made my first Belgian snowman with the help of Donna and Manon!! Then we destroyed it by throwing snow balls at it. I also got the best package in the world Friday! A coat I ordered online came!!! I was so happy! I won’t be freezing anymore!!!!

 

I change families in 18 days :'(

 

 

St. Nicholas

There are a lot of things here in Belgium that are so great, it’s a wonder why we don’t have them back home! Waffles for one… Waffles here are a million times better than those at IHOP or somewhere like that; and the State Fair “Belgian Waffles” cannot even compare to the ones here!

Trains…. Why don’t we have these? It takes way too long to drive all the way across Texas; it would be so much easier if we could just hop on a Train! I really like trains too; you meet some of the neatest people on them.

Speculoos….. These cookies are so yummy….. I feel like we have something like them back home, but nothing can compare to their awesomeness! They are by far the best cookie I have ever eaten!

Busses… Yet again why don’t we have these? I know very odd people can be found on them on a regular basis… but they are a lot more convenient then always driving everywhere! I would take sitting next to someone who is a tad creepy over searching for a parking spot and then searching for my car once done shopping. Plus I would much rather buy a bus pass over a tank of gas.

Snow… Texas needs to get with it! I miss the heat of Texas but snow is so pretty! We definitely need more of it!

Now, my new favorite holiday; St. Nicholas! St. Nicholas is celebrated on the 6^th of December. It’s not even the 6^th and I am in love with this holiday! The week or two before St. Nicholas all the High school and college kids celebrate. My school celebrated it Friday. The days before you get a white lab coat and find someone to draw a picture on the back. Most people got a cartoon character or something like that, I got a stick figure that was smiling and holding a Texas Flag. Then you take it to school and pass it around like a yearbook and have everyone sign it! Come Friday, you come to school armed with flour and a mug in hand. You divide up and as a “senior class” guard all entrances of the school. Anyone who tries to get into the school is at risk of getting flour thrown at them. The only way to avoid this is by bringing a TON of change and dropping coins in everyone’s mug. Little kids about 5^th grade and under are fine, but everyone else better have coins to give or they will be floured from head to toe! The “Rhetos” or “seniors” will line up outside the buses waiting for all the kids to exit, same for cars that are dropping off kids. After school start and people stop trickling in everyone kind of splits up. Some people go to the grocery store, others to the hospital and there you continue to beg for money! At about 2 everyone heads into town and spends their money however they may choose. People get as much as 40 bucks!!

That’s only the start of it too! Then you celebrate it with your family, like Christmas you go to grandparents and have a dinner and enjoy each other’s company. This past Saturday I was invited to a Rotarians house for their St. Nicholas celebration. It was so sweet of him to have invited me and the other exchange student! It was his family celebration and was very nice! It felt just like home!! Then that evening had another celebration with my host mom’s family. Starting on the 1^st of December “St. Nicholas” also puts little presents in your slippers if you leave them out at the base of the stairs! When I find out what happens on the 6^th I’ll be sure to post about it. 4 days before this holiday I am already in love with it! We definitely need this one in Texas!

Thanksgiving!

This past Thanksgiving was honestly my best Thanksgiving ever! I spent it half way around the world from my family, and it was just a normal day! That morning at school, walking into Geography class, one of the guys wished me a happy Thanksgiving and it almost brought me to tears! I am really enjoying school here, not the “learning” part but the talking with people part, everyone is so sweet and nice.

 

For Thanksgiving I took a postcard and on the back wrote “Happy Thanksgiving” and taped my business card to it then put a cookie with it and handed it out to all my friends at school! Which they loved! They even asked for the recipe, but you can only make it with ingredients that were sent form home! That night we had just a normal Belgian dinner, then after dinner I Skyped my family back home during their Thanksgiving dinner!

 

Friday was a normal Belgian day; it started out cold and sunny then ended cold and rainy! I switched into a new math class and actually understand it now! It takes some work, and a lot of questions but its ok! The moment you understand something it feels like you just conquered the word! In English class I had to give a little presentation in French, while they had to give it in English. My French was far from perfect, but after I was done they all clapped and told me good job! I can see my French improving at times, and then I have those days where it seems like I know nothing! I have noticed my writing getting a lot better too!

Friday evening there was a rotary event I was asked to go to. It was a fundraiser for the club that was very festive to say the least!

I sold tickets with Paulina, the other exchange student, for a Spanish Ham. People could buy a ticket and write down how much they thought it would weigh. It was a lot of fun! After that, it was like 11 and neither Paulina nor I had eaten, so with my third family we went and got Pitas then went back to their house and had pitas at midnight!

Saturday I went to my third families’ house for a Thanksgiving dinner! It was by far the best Thanksgiving food I have ever eaten!! I NEVER eat green bean casserole, stuffing or cranberry sauce… but i did this year! It was so good!!! Friend friends of my second Family joined us for Thanksgiving, they said they were so full, that they were going to “expose”! Hahaha!

 

Sunday I had an event with the ROTEX

 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I could not be more thankful for having parents who support and love me and let me explore the world! And for Rotary, my clubs and districts at home and here in Belgium! My host families, too, for not only embracing me a family member, but for helping me explore a new culture and for being the best language teachers I could ask for!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...

"TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference"

 

The other day on the way home from school I remembered this poem by Robert Frost, from 8^th grade. It has been stuck in my head ever since! But, I think it is a very fitting poem.

 

The leaves right now are all yellow and falling, perfectly depicting fall. I am getting really bad at remembering to take pictures but I will try to take a picture before they all fall! It is getting cold! Thankfully there have been more just cold days and less cold and rainy days! I am excited for winter! I want to see the snow! People at school have told me there will be days where it is almost up to your knee!! I almost don’t believe it!! I am also a bit afraid of winter…. I am freezing now, where it is still above freezing……

 

School is going well, I am understanding a lot! I am actually even passing a few tests…. AND even classes!! But, I think those teachers are just giving me good grades out of sympathy!! Biology however is pretty much the same, in terms of vocabulary. They just move REALLY fast! This past week there was a strike, so there was no school! I think the busses and trains went on strike so the teachers decided to as well! Unfortunately it was only one day .

 

I am liking school more and more. Not because of the classes, but because it keeps my mind occupied! It is getting really easy to get homesick if I am not busy. The little things are making my days even more so now than before too! Being asked to show off my “oh so wonderful” Basketball skills, just a random person giving me a kiss on the cheek and saying hi, or being asked if I want to play cards are all little things that are making school a lot more bearable.  I can also see my French improving, I don’t find myself asking what people have said as much, and people are also not having to ask me to repeat things as often. But it is still far from perfect! One of Manons friends had come up to me and asked me a question, then smiled after I answered and said see a later… well turns out she had no idea what I had said so she just smiled and left! Hahaha So there is still some room for improvement!

 

 

 

 

Manon, my host sister, was in the Belgians Got Talent competition, so I got to go see her compete!! That was really awesome!! A lot of friends from school were also in her same choir!

 

 

 

Unfortunately, she didn’t get to continue… but Belgians got talent is a bit different then Americas Got Talent…. This act is in the Semi-Finals…. Back home I don’t think this would ever happen!!

 

 

Not this past weekend but the weekend before that I went to a soccer game with my host Grandpa. It was the professional women’s team, but they played like men! It was a very aggressive game! I want to see the men’s team play sometime. But was almost better than the game, was this dog I saw at the stadium!! He was by far the cutest Bulldog I have yet to see!

 

 

 

 

There are still a few foods I find just off the wall! These are pretty much everyone’s favorite thing.  It’s a flat waffle in a syrup, that is sweet but has the consistency of Molasses. They are called Lacquements. They are all right, but not my favorite.

 

 

Belgium has a lot of things we have back home, but some things that we have back home have never been seen by people here! Like Stripes gum that has the tattoos on the wrapper! People thought those were pretty cool! And loved the tattoos!!