First Day Of School...

Was terrible. And before everyone goes off on how it will get better and it was only the first day, blah blah I know. And it wasn't the people or the teachers or anything like that that made it so difficult. It was the pure fact that they speak French and I speak English. And even though my French is improving at a steady rate and my comprehension is pretty good, there's such a huge difference between dinner conversation with the host fam and walking through a hallway of 800 Belgians all screaming French at each other and teachers babbling in French and trying to understand so much at once. Not to mention being the new kid, knowing nobody, trying to understand a completely different class/schedule system, finding my way around a new school AND trying to keep sane all the same time. All together, it just made for a very very rough, and mentally exhausting first day.

Rotary kept on talking about being aware of the exchange student trap. Where you end up spending all your time with other exchange students. Talia and I definitely realized how easy this is to fall into today. When you're in a sea of people who speak differently than you, it's just natural to gravitate towards someone that you can successfully communicate with. I mean, that makes total and complete sense, right? I think so. But it is something we have to be aware of and shy away from.

My schedule today went as follows: French lesson with Père Boly who is a very sweet, very old Belgian man who repeats himself frequently. That was followed by a homeroom of sorts, followed by Social Sciences, which was interrupted by an assembly that lasted FOREVER. And I think it was about retreats we have to go on, but I'm not entirely sure... That's what it sounded like from what I could pick out and comprehend. After that, we ate lunch and then I ran to Madame Vanesse's office with the other Americans because we could not understand the schedule to save our lives. So after a wonderful, thorough, English explanation, I attended the last fifteen minutes of my English class, which was interesting to say the least... :/ Let's just say that by the end, I had gotten myself roped into reading an English novel every month... Which I wouldn't mind except I NEED TO LEARN FRENCH!! Of course I had double French after that, so I got plenty of confusion in then. I didn't understand much, but I did pick up on the fact that I will be reading nine French novels this year. And I don't think that will go well... But we will see.

I ended the day completely and utterly exhausted. And I'm developing a sore throat. Lovely. On the bright side, I had my first dance class tonight. It was just ballet, and it was disappointingly easy, but it was good for me. I am going to soak up every ounce of dance that I can this year. I have pointe and demi-point on Saturday and jazz on Tuesday. Yay dancing!

But now I am both mentally AND physically tired so it is time for sleep. Bonne nuit.