Les Cookies, Au Naturel (Oh And College)

I'm back in my normal house. Where the internet connection works :) After doing a lot of research on the problem, I found that it is a pretty common issue with Macs. Some routers just aren't compatible. And at first I was crushed. My Mac has betrayed me. I thought they were perfect. I guess not. But then I realized that was stupid, and it's not that big of a deal. That's life. There will always be a problem with something. Thank God it's just an internet connection and not something more crucial to life!

However, that did mean that I couldn't post on my blog last night again, and I apologize to my faithful readers (though I'm not sure if you exist... Do you exist??)

Yesterday was Wednesday, and that means a half-day of school here in Belgium. And I have decided that that is the single most ingenious idea for the school systems of America that I have ever heard of. Because I finished school at noon yesterday, I was able to a lot of things with my day. Productive things. I ate lunch with my third host family, did my daily Facebook check (with the help of an ethernet cord), sent a few emails, worked on my college apps, wrote 5 college essays, made cookies with Manon and Philippine, ate dinner with the fam, and watched MTV and House in French.

The cookies were quite an operation. I got the recipe for good old-fashioned American Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. Apparently, it is not normal to use baking soda for cooking in Europe. Also, chocolate chips are uncommon, the vanilla extract is like a thick goo, and the butter is different. Not to mention that "packed brown sugar" is impossible when you have to use a scale to measure things out in grams. So even though they were delicious and the Belgians enjoyed them immensely, they were not quite the same as the cookies that I used to make at home, and I was slightly disappointed. But I got over quickly because they still tasted fantastic.

The other thing that I noticed: I was eating cookies here, from a box this time, and I turned the package over to look at the Nutrition Facts. Thing is, they don't put Nutrition Facts on anything here. Ironic, isn't it, that in the States we put that on things because we are supposedly concerned about our health, but we're obese and in Europe, where there are no Nutrition Facts, people are thin? Anyways, there was no Nutrition Facts. But there were ingredients and there was a set in English. And do you know what was listed as being in those cookies? Milk. Eggs. Chocolate. Flour. Sugar. Vanilla. Etc. Not hydrocarbonpolyglycerinbicarbonatjkfjdksaljfhsglajsdf. I was amazed and impressed.

In other news... College is stressing me out. So far I have picked out four that I will apply to. My top choice is NYU. I have about eight essays to write for said colleges, plus filling out the common app. PLUS because I am in Belgium and want to pursue an audition-based program, I have to make a DVD while I'm here of my dancing, singing, and and acting skills. Ugh. It's a lot of work and it is difficult for me to handle right now. BUT I did get a lot done yesterday and it makes me feel a little better.

P.S., I went down to dinner just now and Campbell's tomato soup. It was definitely the taste of home and now I am happy :)

I am now off to dance, and afterwards, I will crash. Bonne nuit!