Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Liège, Rotary, and Friends

Today, I met my Rotary club. Which actually turned out to be quite an enjoyable event! Around 3:15, my host mom and I left the house to go to Liège to pick up the other exchange student that is in my Rotary club. His name is Christian. So we picked him up around 4:30 and then all three of us walked around the city for about an hour. We saw all kinds of different shops, explored some of the more historical things, like the justice center and and old church. Tomorrow, I will go to Liège with some other exchange students to do some shopping and such so it was really good that I went today to sort of figure out where things are so that we don't get completely and utterly lost in the big city. But we're smart girls, so even if we did lose our way, I'm sure we'd figure out how to get back on track :)



So I have said this before and I will say it again. Two words: Belgian waffles. Two more words: Belgian chocolate. Now put them together and what do you get? What may very well be the most ingenious food concoction known to man kind. Oh my... I had a Liège Belgian waffle today that was stuffed, quite literally, with sticks of Belgian milk chocolate. And because the waffle was fresh and hot, the chocolate melted into pools of absolute bliss so when you bit into the waffle it oozed lovely, sweet, chocolatey goodness :) It was heaven. Really, I'm not exaggerating.


After our wonderful experience with the Belgian culture (food), it was time to go to the Rotary Club meeting, which I have to say, I was pretty much dreading. I thought it was just going to be a bunch of old Rotarian men sitting around speaking about French politics, in French and I would have no idea what was going on. But it turned out to be more of a party than anything else! We got there, and by the way, "there" was the house of one of the Rotarians. And it was HUGE and gorgeous! They live on a farm and have lots and lots of horses. We walked into kind of a court yard that was surrounded by house, which the horses peeking out of the windows of their stalls. It is very difficult to describe, but it was really beautiful. Anyways, we got there and Christian and I met the Rotarians one by one as they arrived, giving the traditional bisous and occasional handshake. Everyone was so very nice to us and we made lovely small talk and chit chat as we had our before-dinner beverages. I, continuing with my journey through Belgian culture, decided to try a glass of white wine. Again, I didn't particularly like it, but I was ok with it. I only had one glass, though, so it was no biggie :) Rotary approved! We met all kinds of people, including the President of the club and the man who is in charge of the exchange students and his wife and son, who just got back from a year in the States. His name is Pierre.

Eventually, it was time to start dinner. There was a long line of tables and chairs set up in this "courtyard" and we all sat down to a wonderful 4-course meal. First course: Kind of a deconstructed salad. On a roof shingle. Really. Instead of plates, we ate off of slate roof shingles! Which was very beautiful, interesting presentation. A 5 on Iron Chef :) There were mushrooms, tomatoes, sprouts, noodles, a type of bacon and a type of cheese and greens all in seperate little piles on the plate. Very pretty. Second course: Rice with sauteed vegetables and shrimp in a tomato-y flavorful sauce. Served on a... hmm I'm not even sure what you would call it... Kind of a lump of hardened red clay. Again, very aesthetically pleasing presentation. That was the entree. Third course: Cheese and bread. Camembert cheese I believe. Delicious. Fourth course: Dessert. Pineapple and banana served with meringue and crème fresh. In a flower pot! Cute and tasty :)

And along with the good food, there was good conversation. Pierre and Christian sat across from me and since Pierre speaks fantastic English, we ended up talking all through dinner about the States, Rotary, different trips, etc etc. I also was able to talk to some of the Rotarians that sat close to me and spoke some great French! Overall, it was a great night. And that is all the meeting was! No formalities or awkward introductions or broken-French speeches. Just everyone coming together for a great meal in honor of the undertakings of us young people!

And now I come home and fall into bed to crash for the night. A demain!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Friends :)

Meeting people and making friends has to be the best thing in the world. People make people happy :)

Today I woke up to rain. Lots and lots of rain. And it rained the majority of the morning while my host mom and I figured out the phone situation, went to the bank, the school, and the grocery store. It rained while we ate lunch and while I sat in my room watching Julie & Julia. But then it stopped when I went downstairs to help my host mom make tiramisu, which is surprisingly quick and easy to make! And after we finished that, I went for a nice run. I did 2.5 kilometers (1.55 miles) in 10 minutes and 15 seconds :) I was very proud. Once I got back, the real fun started.

My friend, Talia, who is also here from the United States, told my that a bunch of our new French friends were getting together to go to Hannut for dinner tonight, so I went with. I only knew one of the girls so I got to meet a lot of new people, which was great! I really like the people that I will be going to school with. They are very very nice and I'm sure once I can speak more French, we'll be getting along splendidly! We went to this little restaurant for dinner where I had what I guess would be the Belgian version of a burrito. It was a tortilla with chicken and vegetables and feta cheese all wrapped up and grilled. It was really delicious and absolutely huge. The only reason I finished it was because I ran today! Then we just kinda chilled and hung out in the Grand Place in the center of Hannut. It was a lot of fun!

I start school on Thursday and I have to say I'm very excited for it! I've been looking forward to meeting people and speaking only French and learning things in a different setting. I've been going to the same schools with the same people for so many years, it'll be great to have something different to do. And I should be starting my dance classes soon too, which I am also really looking forward to. I miss dancing a lot and can't wait to start up again!

By the way, I still think it's weird that they refrigerate neither milk nor eggs. Just saying.

Tis all for the day! I meet my Rotary club tomorrow so we will see how that goes! Keep reading :) Bonne nuit.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Peanut Butter Makes Me Happy





I really wish I could get the videos of these musical groups up for everyone but Blogger is being mean :(

Instead, enjoy pictures of my weekend! I was with Rotary all weekend, staying in a hostel in Huy for a informational weekend. Which actually turned out to be decently entertaining :) I got to meet a bunch of people, make friends, trade pins for our hideous blazers, and dance! We sat listening to a lot of rules and regulations (in French ughh), but we also got to walk around the city of Huy and see some old cultural things and such. Which was, of course, followed by more lecture. But it was all rewarded on Saturday night when the DJ came and set up and we had a dance party! Rotary gave each of us two tokens also, which were redeemable for drinks. So, I took the leap of faith and had my first beer. Ever. Because I don't drink, I was told to take the one that was dark instead of light because it was fruitier and not as strong. I can't say that I really liked it... To me, it was medicine-y. I was also told that it's girly beer and you would never catch a guy drinking it, (my host brothers later confirmed this) but I was completely ok with that. It wasn't entirely terrible, I just didn't particularly enjoy it.

By the way, the food was not worth talking about.

I also did not get much sleep, and am very tired. So I'm going to leave it at that for tonight.

Almost. I have to make it known that I had zucchini again tonight. My host mom made a giant omelet casserole type thing with zucchini in it. Very delicious. And Belgian chocolates for dessert :) Oh and the reason for the title! My very good friend Brittany surprised me with some peanut butter a few days ago! It has been living in my room and I cannot stop eating it. My, how I love the stuff. I am a peanut butter addict, and I freely admit it.

Ok now really, that is all. A demain!

Friday, August 27, 2010

A Night of Music

Today was very boring. We're not even going to talk about it. Except that it rained all day. There. That's all it deserves.

But we will talk about tonight! My host parents took me to "Nuit des Choeurs" which was a really cool music festival-type thing at this very beautiful, very large mansion with acres of land, probably comparable to, say, the Vanderbilt mansion or the Biltmore mansion(s). And we were "VIP Prestige" level guests (oh la la!), so it was really nice and fancy for us. There was champagne and wine (thought I didn't drink) and waiters in tailcoats offering us little finger foods that were stacked up so precariously and artistically that it was almost a shame to put it in your mouth... Until you did put it in your mouth and realize how fantastically delicious food can be. Then we walked around to different "scenes" where six different musical groups performed. "Earth, Wind and Fire" was the first group that was performing while we had our little pre-party on the grounds. Then we saw "The Voca People" which was the best group there. A really great a cappella group from Israel, all in white that sang mashups of famous songs. After that was a group from Brazil, "L'ensemble de Rio BR6" and then "The Rubettes" who sang "Sugar Baby Love" and "Barbara Ann" :)

Then, for the VIP Prestige guests, it was dinner time :) There was a buffet with all different kinds of amazing food from seafood ravioli to fresh vegetables to things that I didn't even know what they were but they tasted incredible. Everything was wonderful. And after the dinner food was cleared from the buffet, there was cheese. Lots and lots of wonderful European, fattening cheese. Complete with strawberries of course. But I was good and didn't stuff myself.

After dinner we saw the "Vienna State Opera" who sang classical operatic songs, and "Carmina Slovenica" which was a very interesting group of many many girls that sang in what sort of sounded like caveman language with some simple choreography. But there was no way it was easy. It was extremely intricate and very impressive. I really enjoyed it, because after being in this country among people who I don't understand and who don't understand me, it was like all of that went away for a little bit because we were all there listening to something that none of us really "understood". It was truly art. And it took me away from this crazy world and just let me enjoy something as much as the next person, and I could interpret it the way I wanted to. Like art should be. It was just phenomenal.

Tomorrow or maybe the day after, I will be posting video clips of this fabulous show. The videos that I post are just snippets. I couldn't get full songs cause my card was filling up fast! But I hope everyone enjoys what I have! Now, it's in 2am and I am exhausted and must wake up in 5 and a half hours for a Rotary weekend! Bonne nuit!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Un Jour A Bruxelles



Today, I spoke English. A lot of English. And do you know why? Of course you don't, but I'm about to tell you. Because I spent the day with all of the other Rotary Exchange students in Belgium :) I, and 3 others from my part of town, caught a train from Huy to Liège to meet more Rotary students. From there we all piled onto a double decker bus and drove the next hour to meet the rest of the Exchange students in Brussels. During the ride, we all introduced ourselves, exchanged pins, and received navy blue scarves to wear... Interesting...

In Brussels, we spent the day being complete tourists, walking up and down the roads of Brussels to the different administrative buildings that run the country of Belgium. We started out at Le Palais Royal, which is the Royal Palace, where they made up drop of all of our cameras at the door and then searched us before they let us in. High security... We walked through it and it was absolutely gorgeous. Crystal chandeliers in every room and a lot of gold, totally royal. One of the rooms had a green and blue covered ceiling and chandelier in it, and when you looked closely, you realized that that was because said ceiling and chandelier were covered in the shells of beetles! All the girls though it was pretty gross. I thought it was pretty cool :)




After Le Palais, we visited l'Hôtel de Ville, which is basically the city hall. But because it's Brussels, of course everything is huge and ornate and gorgeous. Here, we had a ceremony where the students from each district were called up to present their banners from their sponsoring Rotary Clubs and greet the chairman of our Club here in Belgium. There were a lot of students... We then proceeded to eat, my favorite part of my days :) Lunch was given to us at a local restaurant and we ate delicious bread, meatballs in a tomato sauce, and les frites. It was absolutely delicious, just like everything else I have had here.




Following lunch, we walked some more through the lovely park and visited le Parlement and le Sénat. More big, beautiful, important buildings. Of course, this one we got a guided tour by an English-speaking guide, thank the Lord! We ended the tour in the room where the House meets and had another ceremony where each country presented their banners to the President. Now I'm not going to lie, I'm not entirely sure what he was the president of, because everyone was speaking French... But after that ceremony, we all went our separate ways, either piling back on the bus or meeting our host parents. I, along with my friend Brittany, took the bus back to Liège where my host mom picked me up and took me home. Then I ate dinner (heat 'n serve lasagna) and now I'm here, typing out this blog :)

The weird part was that after a day of speaking entirely English with the other exchange students, I spoke such better French with my host family afterwards! I was understanding everything and responding without having to concentrate too hard and naturally speaking. It was very exciting for me, even though it didn't last long because I am extremely tired. It is difficult to walk around a city like Brussels because 1. it was raining all day 2. I was wearing really cute (aka high) heels and 3. there are hills and cobblestones. I have blisters on my feet now. Dang it.

Tomorrow will be a chill day, but I am going to a concert with my host parents in the evening. Which means another dress and more heels. Yay! For now, bonne nuit :)

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

A Day With Rain, But A Day Without Tears.

Today was much much much better than the past few days. It was day without tears. I was actually quite chipper today! And for good reason. I got a lot of things taken care of today that needed to be taken care of. We went to the city hall type building and confirmed my new temporary Belgian ID so I will be officially Belgian for the year! Then we stopped by the school and dropped off the paperwork that they needed and proceeded to the Academy of Dance and Music where I signed up for my dance classes that I will take while I'm here! From what I could understand (hehe) I will dance three days a week, taking both "danse classique" (ballet) and "danse jazz" (jazz). I am so excited to start dancing again! It is definitely something I miss.

On the note of dance, I started the process of applying to colleges for when I get back next year. The four schools that I have decided to apply to (so far) are New York University, MercyHurst College, Point Park University, and Baldwin-Wallace College. My major, though, is different depending on the college... For example, for NYU I am applying to the Gallatin School of Individualized Study so I can study theater and dance AND photography! That is really my dream school. It is ideal and I can study everything and get a degree in a major that I control. For MercyHurst, I am applying for their dance program. At Point Park, I will either audition for their dance or musical theatre programs, and at BW, I will audition for musical theater. It's really great because these are schools are extremely cooperative and working with me to do DVD auditions because of my situation. The MercyHurst people are especially cool :)

So today was Attack-Of-The-Crazy-Bugs Day. This morning I went for a run (2.5 kilometers in 11 minutes!! That's over a mile and a half! I was proud of myself) and on the way back I started to feel kind of sick so I stopped and sat down on a bench for a few minutes and all of the sudden I felt a pinch on the back of my ankle. I thought it was a prickly plant that hit me but then it really started to hurt so I looked down and it was just a tiny little red dot but it killed! Then all of the sudden everything started to go to a blur and I passed out the sidewalk, hitting my head on the cold, black pavement.

Just kidding. It was a fire ant. But it really did hurt. Then I was walking back and a freaking huge fly just rammed itself into my forehead. Lovely. And then later I went with my host mom to visit another family and there were tons of flies all over the place! They have horses and I felt so bad because the horses were just covered in flies, and they lined their eyes. It was really gross actually... But basically, the flies were crazy and everywhere. So it was Attack-Of-The-Crazy-Bugs Day.

I met another girl my age today, Manon. She will be at my school. She was very nice and I was so proud of myself because I was able to understand almost everything she said to me in French! My comprehension has improved so much. I still don't speak very well, but I think it's mostly a level of confidence because in my head I know what the sentence would be, but I can't spit it out because I'm afraid of being wrong. But it will all get better once school starts and I'm forced to speak it.

Food of the day: French fries. Which aren't actually French. They are totally Belgian and they are fantastic. "Frites" en français. I don't have much to say food-wise today because that is all that was really interesting... Dinner consisted of pork and salad with "les frites" which, like everything else here was delicious :) Oh I did have an eclair after lunch which was absolutely fantastic :) Anything with Belgian chocolate in/on it is wonderful.

Tomorrow I go with the other exchange students to Brussels to visit the Royal Palace and Parliament so that should be very interesting! Hopefully I'll have some great pictures to post! Bedtime!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Full Moon Makes Everything Better


Well today was obviously rough... Even more so than the last couple days but I got through it!! And now it is official, I have been here 7 days, and that means one week down. Wow what a week...

But today actually turned out to be quite good. I started off the day by going to the city hall and getting my Belgian ID all taken care of. Then I came home and cried and wrote that blog post. But THEN after I ate lunch, I finally met someone my age!! Her name is Laureline and I will be going to school with her. I guess she was a really good friend of the daughter of my host family. And we had a lot of fun! We road our bikes around the village and the neighboring villages, which was extremely difficult because there are tons of hills around here. And I'm not talking about easy, nice, push-your-thighs-a-little hills. I'm talking huge, steep, kill-your-thighs-a-lot hills. And for anyone back home, from Parma, these hills are comparative to the Pleasant Valley Hill. Killer. But great at the same time! Then once we got back to the house we decided to make crepes. So we got back on our bikes and road to the next village over to this adorable little corner shop and picked up milk (lait), eggs (oeufs), and whipped cream (I dunno...). Can I just share with you once more how weird I think it is that they don't refrigerate milk or eggs? I just cannot get used to that... Room temperature milk... Blech. Anyways, we went back to the house and made legit crepes. And then ate them with sugar and whipped cream. Delicious :) Then we played some tennis, and I am not horribly terrible at tennis like most athletic things, so it was fun! Then we just hung around the house, I met her sister and her mother, and eventually her father too. We talked about fashion and Belgium vs. the States and such, compared cameras, etc. It was so great to meet someone else my age. She spoke some English and I spoke some French and we got along well :) It was exactly what I needed!

Another observation of Belgian culture: People here are much more concerned about health than in the States (well duh). Everyone talks about it! Everything is either good for this, so you should do/eat lots of it, or bad for that, so you should not do/eat lots of it. And it shows! The majority of people here look fantastic! People are healthy looking. The majority of young Belgian men that I see are tall and super thin, and the girls are all thin and beautiful also. People don't really look "old" and you can tell that people take care of themselves. It's really refreshing.

Another observation: Belgians love American brands. They are all obsessed with Abercrombie & Fitch. I guess it is because there is only ONE store in all of Europe, and it's in London. So the big thing for Europeans when they come to the States is to shop at Abercrombie & Fitch. Which I personally find very strange, but I guess that is because I am used to the brand, and seeing it everywhere. Plus I don't like it much... But that's just me.

I didn't eat anything interesting today except the crepes... Oh but just a side note, they have Special K here, and my host mom took me grocery shopping with her and asked if I wanted any specific cereal. So I picked up Special K with Red Berries because I really like that cereal. And I poured myself a bowl this morning and realized, European Special K with Red Berries has raspberries and strawberries and cherries in it, rather than just strawberries!!! Way to be cheap, America... Just saying :)

I Just Want To Go Home...

I just really need to post something somewhere and tell someone what I am feeling right now. I just need to get it out there because it's eating me alive inside.

I want to go home.

I've been here for a week now. And I'm tired. I'm tired of trying to speak broken French and understand broken English. I'm tired of putting on a brave face and saying how wonderful everything is here. I'm tired of attempting to comprehend another language. I'm tired of being friendless and family less. I'm tired of wishing I still had my boyfriend. I'm tired of feeling sick in the mornings because I thought my dreams about being home were real. I'm tired of not being hugged every day. I'm tired of crying. I'm just tired of not being home.

I just want to go home.

Now I hate Parma. I really do. There is nothing there. Except the people that make it my home. And that's why I want to go back. I want to go back to everyone. I want to get my daddy hug and be happy with my boyfriend. I want to be back where I was two weeks ago.

I just want to go home.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Un Jour Sans Zucchini!


Ok can we just talk for a minute about how environmentally conscious the Belgians are?? It makes me so happy! Everywhere I look I see giant white rotating blades. You know what those are? Windmills! To generate electricity. Which is awesome. And as I mentioned before, they recycle eeeeeverything. All of their cars are smaller and have better mileage to keep down air pollution. Plus, in the cities, people make use of electric cars. Forget about having a big Hummer to show off in. They would rather that people recognize their eco-friendliness :) AND if you decide that you want to take advantage of the wonders of solar power, the government will give you money to assist in the installment of solar panels on your house. They are basically paying you to use alternative fuel sources and help our great Earth :) It's very encouraging to see that some people actually care about this planet over their materialistic ego. Ok that's a little harsh, but you know what I mean.

Today, my host brother had to go to the university to take the first of many exams that he and my other host brother will have to take over the next two weeks. So I went with him and my host mom and we picked up my host brother's cousin and while Damien (host brother) was taking his test, Karine, Francois (cousin), and I walked around the campus, ate some good food (of course!) and had a great time! The college campus here is similar to in the States, but also really different. In the States, there is campus among the city, but it is primarily Cleveland or New York or Chicago or wherever the college is. Here, it is like there is city among the campus. There are shops and a mall and such, but it doesn't look like it is there for anyone except the college kids. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it was kind of weird to me. But it is definitely a nice place to be! It was absolutely monstrous. But there are no roads and you absolutely have to walk everywhere. Which doesn't bother me, but I didn't get much sleep last night, so I was pretty tired. But overall, I really enjoyed seeing it! According to Damien, during the year, it's party town all the time! Which I believe. There were bars all over the place! And it's completely acceptable. Which is definitely another difference. But that's just part of the Belgian culture. Like I said before, there is beer EVERYWHERE.


After our adventure on campus, we dropped Francois back off at his house and went home where I proceeded to begin filling out the Common Application for colleges, specifically New York University. This whole college thing is going to drive me bonkers. Yes, I just said "bonkers". But I need to do it, so meh. But then my host mom saved me when she asked me to go to the grocery story with her. And guess what I saw there! Mr. Clean! Except here it's called "Mr. Propre" and I laughed because it's the same tough bald guy, but when you say, "Monsieur Propre" it really does not sound tough at all, which I found quite funny.

Food for today! You know I can't go without it :) Good news: No zucchini! Bad news: There isn't any. Breakfast was good old bread and Nutella, but then Francois insisted that I get a croissant on campus so I had that a little bit after. Mmm flaky buttery delicious ness. Then lunch was... interesting... We went to a sandwich shop on campus but they had all these different kinds of sandwiches with really fancy stuff that you can't really get at the typical Subway. My host brother got beef tartar! I got smoked salmon with pearl onions and some herb that I don't know the name of. It also had tomatoes and a sauce of some type... Again, I don't like tomatoes. I don't really like onions either. But this was some good stuff. Of course, this also isn't your typical 6-inch sub. It was pretty big, and I can only handle so much semi-raw fish so I didn't finish it. But it was tasty. And dinner was a quiche with salmon, fennel, and probably some other stuff too but I'm not sure what was in it... But it was mmm-mmm-good! We had an average salad with it. But dessert was verrrry interesting! It looked like ice cream and strawberry sorbet, but then my host brother asked me what I thought the pink one tasted like. I said raspberries and he said no, it's roses. From the garden. And it was! With a strawberry sauce. It was really fantastic. And we had fresh honeydew with it. The food today was excellent! :)

I'm very tired. Off to bed with me! Bonne nuit :)

P.S. Photo creds today go to eltxupinazo.free.fr and jackmaryetc.com

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Rough Day...

Today was not my best of days... I woke up early to go to mass at 9am. I was completely confused throughout the entire things because I didn't understand really any of it. Because Catholicism is pretty consistent around the world, I knew all the parts of the mass and knew where we were at and what would be happening in English, but did I understand any of it? Nadda.

So then I got home and was going to go for a run, but then I got really upset and sat down on my bed and next thing I knew tears were forming and next thing I knew after that I was waking up and deciding that I would rather be sleeping then be in Belgium so I slept more and then more and then even more and before I knew it I had been on-and-off sleeping for like 7 hours. Then I decided I couldn't sleep anymore, but I didn't want to go face Belgium so I stayed in my room and read my book for 2-ish more hours. So after that I went for my run and showered and ate dinner with the family. So then I Skyped with my biological family.

Today was pretty uninteresting. As far as food, because everyone loves a good food description (hehe), I had the best croissant on the planet today. It had this wonderful sugary syrupy something in between the first couple layers and let me tell you, it was like heaven. Not that I know what heaven tastes like, but I imagine it's something like that. And then my host mom insisted that I have some of this other pastry which was filled with chocolate and cream. Almost like an eclair but WOW so much better :) I slept through lunch, but dinner was rice and chicken with some sort of yellow sauce and pineapple. I'm not sure what it was but it was quite delicious. And that was accompanied by a salad and, you guessed it! ZUCCHINI!!! Hehe yes I ate another stuffed zucchini flower today :) And for dessert, rhubarb tart. Again, I don't remember ever enjoying rhubarb before, but it was wonderful!

I should rename this blog, "Food of the Belgium Blogger"... Just kidding :)

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Ahhh What A Day...





Today was quite... interesting... I woke up sobbing today. It was the first day since I got here that I really feel like I miss everyone back home. Today was a day of thoughts like, "What am I doing here??" and "Why in the world did I decide to do this???" It's very tiring.

But the interesting things that I wanted to write about... We continued the zucchini theme today with lunch (hehe) and had stuffed zucchini, this time with chicken (poulet) and rice with onion, tomato and tuna! It was surprisingly delicious. We also had shredded carrot with it, yes I mean there was a giant bowl of shredded carrot on the table and we ate it like salad, and sliced seasoned tomatoes. I don't even like tomatoes. It's amazing how much better they taste in Europe! But the real kicker here, stuffed zucchini flower!!!! Yes folks, the flower of the zucchini plant stuffed with spiced chicken. Which is actually really really good. Actually I don't think I've eaten anything here yet that I didn't like.

By the way, Belgian people recycle EVERYTHING! It's awesome! There is garbage can for paper, plastic, glass, anything organic, and then the rest. Which is really cool, I think. And the other really interesting thing that I learned today is that men here say "ma biche". Now say that out loud. And think about what it sounds like in English. You'd think it's an insult right?? Psych!! Literally translated, it means, "my doe" so it's the equivalent of "my dear" to a woman. And it's quite endearing actually. It made me smile inside :)

So today my host family took me to Brugge, which is a big city about two hours from Fumal. It's really cool there. There aren't a lot of cars, but tons of bikes and people walking and, I kid you not, horse-drawn carriages. It was lovely :) And to the American it may seem hokey and touristy and just too darn cute, but the thing is, it's totally not with that intent! Belgians are just adorable!! And they make lace, which is really cool and this old lady was sitting outside a shop doing it and it is probably the most complicated thing I've ever seen. And it's done so fast it's crazy!! But awesome.

Also, just a side note, SO MUCH BEER.

My host parents were so excited to take me to this city. And they spoiled me. Two words: Belgian waffles. And two more words: Belgian chocolate. OH MY GOSH BELGIAN WAFFLES!!! It's like the equivalent to funnel cakes in America. There are just stands everywhere with vendors selling waffles with different toppings. I had mine with powdered sugar. And it was amazing. And the scent when you walked past one of these stands... Ohhhh how I wish I could take a camera-like device and capture that smell and post it on the internet for the whole world to enjoy... And that Belgian chocolate? Ok so believe it or not, chocolate can be very explicit!! Today I saw chocolates in the shapes of certain... uhhh male appendages... complete with a certain... uhh substance... coming out of the top in white chocolate... No, I am not kidding. And this was in a display window!!! For young children to see and point at and say, "What's that mommy?" Oye... Of course this is not where it ends. We had Italian food for dinner and I got a wonderful calzone stuffed with all kinds of veggies (légumes) and amazingly gooey cheese (fromage). But of course, I can't go without dessert! So I had tiramisu gelato. Yummmmmmm

Well I'm doing ok this evening, better than this morning and I have to get up for church in the morning (in French gah!) so goodnight all :)

Friday, August 20, 2010

Day 3 Is Exercise Day?




Today I woke up to the sound of a rooster "cockadoodledoo-ing" for the second day in a row, no joke. And I decided today that I would be good and go for a run. So I ran on this nice little path outside the house. I have no idea how far I went, but my host brother says it was about 5 kilometers which is roughly 3 miles. I say that's not bad considering I swear I could hear my body saying "Why are you trying to make me run at 4:30 in the morning??" You see, it was that time in the States, and my body is not completely adjusted yet. Then I took a shower, changed, and made myself some breakfast: Nutella sandwich. Yummm.

But then I had nothing to do... And when I have nothing to do I think. And when I think, bad things happen. Ha not really. But it definitely started to get rough and I began thinking about how much I miss my parents and family and friends, and I got a little upset, but I didn't cry! Kudos to me! That's when I decided it was time to do something productive. So I pulled open my lovely SLR camera (Canon T1i, fabulous) and did some picture taking. I took pictures of the house, the garden, the garage, the kitchen, all kinds of things (some really awesome edited ones are on my photography blog, check it out!) And perfect timing, that is when my host mom came home and we all had lunch together. That was followed by some quiet reading in the garden (cute, right?) and then the main event of the day: bicycle riding. My host mom went with me down the same path that I ran this morning, but we went much farther, into different cities and took the roads back home. Everyone is Belgium is so kind and friendly! Everyone that we passed greeted us with "Bonjour!" and a smile :) Belgium really is beautiful. Where I am staying, Fumal, is much more rural than what I am used to, but all the greenery is just lovely. There was a point where we were on top of a hill looking over the small town, with the trees and the hills... Oh how I wish I had a camera at that point... It was wonderful.

When we returned, we drank milk. The reason I bring this up is because it's very different here... Milk is not refrigerated until you open it. Which I find weird and I'm not sure I like it... Because when you first open a new bottle, obviously the milk is room temperature... Yuck. And it's not like in the States where there is skim, 1%, 2%, and whole. Here the milk we drink is "half-creme". Which means that there is less fat in it... But I don't think it's comparable to 1 or 2% because it's still quite thick and creamy... But it tastes ok when it's cold :)

I attempted to drink wine at dinner with the family today... It didn't go well. I don't know, I just don't drink! I don't like it and I am sorry, but I can't help it... Oye :/ By the way, we had zucchini soup for dinner. They really are completely taken with this whole zucchini thing...

This evening, my host brother and I spent a lot of time comparing music. It was a lot of fun because I learned about a lot of new bands. But it's very interesting, because the majority of Belgian bands sing in English. And A LOT of the music that he had was American. Actually, almost all the music I have heard here has been American music. Like Rihanna's "Umbrella" and such... C'est interessant!

I know I've been posting a lot these last few days, but everything is so new!! There's much to tell :)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

J'ai Mal Aux Pieds!!!

Grrr Blogger isn't being dumb and won't let me upload pictures. Regardless. Today was my first full day in Belgium. And I learned a lot!! I spoke much more French than yesterday. I spent pretty much the whole day with my host mom. First, we went to my future school and scheduled my classes. I am going to be starting every day with a French class, and then I have religion, math, science, English, more French, social science, history, geography and physical education (:P). For the first time since like, 6th grade, I am excited for school to start. But school here is very different. We start at 8:25 in the morning and go til about 4:30 on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Wednesdays, we get the afternoons off and on Thursdays and Fridays we finish at 3:40. Also, there are no options for arts classes. Academics and arts are kept totally separate here. But luckily, I will still be able to dance while I'm here :D

After finishing up at the school, we went to a little grocery store on the way home and got things for lunch, which I will talk about in a minute. Then we went home for lunch and I finished up writing some letters. Then the real fun began! My host mom took me to a bigger city in the area called "Huy", which is what I have pictures of. And what we think (in America) is big and what Belgians think is big are two totally different bigs. There were a lot of cute little shops, but nothing like what we're used to in the States. But I have to say, a lot of me likes it better here. Everything is old and cultural. We visited this huge church and it was absolutely gorgeous. The stained glass windows were incredible. There was a little carnival going on too, on the riverside. Yes, there was this big beautiful river that was running through the center of things. Lovely. Then began our search for a post office. We asked three different people and finally the third knew about one. And we found it, bought some stamps and my letters are now on their way to the US! On the way home, we stopped by a different little grocery store to pick up some other things and then it was time to head home for the evening. But this is where it got really good for me. I spoke so much French with my host mom! While we were walking around Huy and in the car and such I tried really hard to speak French. But the real French conversation began once we got home and I started talking to both her and my older host brother. Then he left and the mom was making a pie and I stayed downstairs with her and just talked. And we both learned a lot of new things! Then my host brother came back down and we were talking and eventually I was talking back in English because we were talking about American things and words and such. There were some really funny moments. It's funny how amazed this family is with the word "zucchini". It's like the joke for everything now! Which is cool cause it's like an inside joke with the fam :) And then there was this word that my host brother kept trying to get me to understand but I couldn't and then finally I figured it out and just blurted out, "OH, parking!!" And we laughed for about 5 minutes and even brought it up a couple more times which led to more laughter. My host brothers joke around with me a lot. It's weird. I have a sister, which you know, but no brothers. So it's different. But not bad. It's fun!

Ok so today's food. Oh em gee. Breakfast simply consisted of bread (pain) with Nutella and café au lait. But there is something about Nutella that just makes everything 100% amazing. (If you don't know, Nutella is like this chocolate hazelnut spread that is very common in Europe) Lunch was baguette with ham (jambon) and cheese (fromage) and I put mustard (moutarde) on mine. We had yogurt too. Then I got some Belgian chocolate (:D) in the afternoon and then there was dinner. Zucchini (courgette) stuffed with seasoned meat (viande) over rice (riz) with a tomato (tomate) sauce. YUMMMM! And the pie for dessert. The pie was made from flour (farine), eggs (oeufs), butter (beurre), and a little water (eau). Then she filled it with this little fruit called "mirabelle". It's almost like a grape but it's yellow and has a pit. They are delicious! So she cuts them in half and layers them in there and covers it in sugar and cinnamon and bakes it and WOW is it good. Honestly, the food is rockin'.

So basically today was a great day and I'm happy :) I have letters on the way to my friends and family, I ate great food, learned a lot of French, and had great conversation!! (Lot's of walking. Hence the title) And tomorrow should be even better. Tomorrow I am supposed to go to the administration to get some stuff checked out with my visa and such. Apparently it's standard procedure? Anyways, it's been a good day. My body is even pretty adjusted to the time already, which I didn't expect at all. So it'll be a good night's sleep tonight. Until tomorrow! (A demain!)

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Day One... GAH







So I got here about 14 hours ago... Yes, I am in Belgium!! So far it's been good. My host mom, Karine, picked me up at the airport after the really uncomfortable 7 hour flight. But we landed a little early so it wasn't too bad. We quickly got ourselves through customs, found our bags and awkwardly loaded them onto carts and tried to steer ourselves through the maze of people to find our host families. Once we got outside all we saw were people everywhere with signs and balloons trying to find the people they needed to pick up. Karine had a sign that said "Welcome Emma!" on it and found her pretty quickly. She had come with her god-daughter Phillipine. Then we made our way to the car and loaded everything up and drove to my new home :) On the way we stopped and I saw my school and the houses of people I would be going to school with, and we even stopped at a little bakery and I got this really delicious raspberry mousse cake thing... Then we got home, I met the fam, had some Special K (weird right?), took a shower and then passed out for I don't know how long. Once I woke up I unpacked myself and wrote a few letters. Then it was dinner time. We had pasta with this really great tomato and meat sauce with zucchini. And then I had my raspberry thing for dessert. OMG yummy food.

Ok so things I have to get used to: The separation of the toilet and the rest of what we Americans call a "bathroom". The toilet is in it's own little room and then the sink, shower and tub are all in another. And the shower does not have a door. Which is interesting... There's a wall separating the shower from the rest of the room but it's still different... I also have to get used to wearing shoes in the house and closing my door when I'm in my room... Those are things that I definitely didn't do at home. I also have to get used the fact that my school isn't right around the corner from the house. In Parma, I could get to school in 5 minutes on my bike. Here, I will leave the house a half hour before school starts. Which is like an hour later than in the States. Oh and no classes on Wednesday afternoons. Nice :) And of course the big one: FRENCH!! Ok so I took 4 years of high school French... And it didn't help as much as I thought it would. I didn't realize how little I know. Like when I actually sit down and think I can put sentences together but then when I'm in the middle of a conversation I blank out entirely and can't say anything. And then after I say it in English and the son translates, I immediately think of what it would be in French... Fail.

But for the most part I already feel pretty at home here. The house is pretty big and it's like 300 years old which is AWESOME. Oh and you know what else is interesting?? The amount of American music that they know. On the way home from picking me up, ABBA was on the radio. Now granted, ABBA isn't necessarily American, but still! And then I heard Michael Buble on the radio and the son knew Death Cab for Cutie. I just found it very interesting.

Of course I am already missing my friends and family. But I think for the most part I will be ok. It's so easy to keep in touch, even though I'll definitely have to restrain myself from being on all the time. I'll expect the next couple nights to be kinda rough, but I think I'll get through it. I know they're with me in my heart. (awwwww)

Alrighty well that's it for now. :)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

And So Begins My Obsessive Blogging...




Yes, I am already posting pictures from the flight. Today, at approximately 9 45 am, I said my very emotional goodbyes to my mother, father, sister, grandmother, best friend, and boyfriend, and continued through security to sit in the Cleveland Hopkins airport for a couple hours to wait for my flight to Philadelphia. At approximately 11 40, we boarded the plane and at 12 noon we were in the air. I stayed awake only to take a few pictures and then passed out almost immediately until we landed about an hour and a half later in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And now I am sitting here, at 2 38 waiting for our 6 15 flight to Brussels. Ugh.

So the good, the bad, and the ugly of this morning. Let's start with the bad/ugly. We got to the FedEx ten minutes early to get my passport and visa, which I was told was going to be there, no doubt, at 8 30 am. Of course, we get there and they tell us that yes, they probably have it but they can't give it to us until 9am. Ugh. Talk about stressful! The Rotary club had told us stories about other people who didn't get their passports and visas until the day they left, but we all just shrugged if off with a "that sucks" and went on with our lives. Little did we know it would happen to four of us! (one kid still doesn't have his :/) Also, I cried a lot. And then they took my peanut butter :( That was terrible.

Now the good :D There is much more of this. I have the best friends ever. Four of my friends woke themselves up early this morning to see me off from my house. I didn't sleep much last night and was up at 4am, but seeing my friends and how excited they were and how much they would miss me... Well that just meant the world to me. It's a great feeling to be loved, ya know? Also, my incredible best friend, Miss Kaitlyn and my fantastically wonderful boyfriend Ryan came to see me off from the airport. And although the waterworks were definitely flowing, I wouldn't have had it any other way. My entourage made it so much more emotional, but also having that support was something I would never change. Saying goodbye was definitely hard, and there were lots and lots of tears, even after they left me. But luckily I was traveling with my good friend Brittany, and she got me through those couple hours. Now I am starting to really feel the excitement, even though I am missing the people I love already. I'm sure it will sink in even worse in a couple days and I'll be sobbing in my bedroom, wanting my mommy and a big hug from Ryan... But for right now, I'm content, maybe even a little excited :) Definitely nervous, and for sure terrified. But it will be a good year... I will be posting again soon!!!

Here We Go...

So it is now 5:51 on Tuesday morning. And I am leaving in a couple hours. I got a call from my travel agent yesterday and she told me that it turns out I CAN leave as planned, I just have to go pick up my passport and visa from the local FedEx. And I would have posted something about this yesterday when it happened, except I've been running around like a mad person since I heard, trying to get everything together. So now I'm just jumping on here quickly to post my final entry from Ohio. (I will probably post one during the layover)

I am nervous and scared and terrified. But to be honest, it's not entirely sinking in. I don't think it will until I am either on the plane, or when I get there. I'm so scared. Scared actually doesn't even begin to describe how I'm feeling right now... Part of me really does not want to leave. I don't want to leave my friends and family and boyfriend behind... But I know I cannot pass this up. I have to suck it up and go on this journey and begin this endeavor. And I know it's going to be great :) All the people around me have been absolutely fantastic and supportive and I love them all. So, it is now 5:56, and this is my goodbye for now :)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

So after reading last night's blog entry, I realized that it was very poorly written and I apologize to my readers... Although I only have 3. Cut me some slack, it was like two in the morning. Anyway, I have no idea when I'm leaving. I am now departure date-less. We never heard from my travel agent and all we know for sure is that I am not leaving on Tuesday. The only way I still could is if my passport and visa miraculously arrive in the mail tomorrow. But that is extremely unlikely and I'm not counting on it. As much as this sucks, I am very happy to have at least one or two extra days. I feel like there is not nearly enough time to see everyone, say my goodbyes and give last hugs.

The closer this gets, the more surreal it becomes. I cannot imagine being without these people for a whole year. I love my family and my friends beyond words. I know people are going to miss me and I am going to miss them too. My grandfather is actually worried about me. (He's the type that doesn't show emotion) It just means so much to me to know how loved I am by the people around me. And I just hope they all know that I love them too, and I promise I'll be back!! This is not permanent. And I really do love all of the people in my life. Love knows no boundaries, and the bonds I have with people are those that cannot be broken by time or distance. After all, distance makes the heart grow fonder, right? RIGHT??

Saturday, August 14, 2010

On the Bright Side...

I am pretty much finished packing... My mom and I managed to get it all in suitcases and be substantially under the weight limit. But I forgot to record what I packed... The only things that I still need to pack are accessories and underwear and things that I can't pack until day of, such as this laptop. Basically the rest of it is all packed up!!

That's the good news. The other good news is that Ryan came back today!!!! He came over in his uniform and everything and I just ran and jumped into his arms first thing. Then he came inside of course and got the third degree from my parents (hehe not really they were just really interested in what it was like and asked a lot of questions) before we retreated to the heat of the basement (no air conditioning) and he passed out on my couch because he's so exhausted. We even took a couple pictures, but I had forgotten to put the memory card back in my camera so we lost those pictures :( They would have been so cute too... Oh well I fail. Now we'll just have to take more!

Now these are the good things... It's time for the bad news. I don't think I am leaving on Tuesday anymore! I sent my passport and paperwork and such to the travel agent a couple months ago, and she sent it off to the consulate in New York City. And now, it's Sunday, and she has not received my things back to send them to me. They just haven't been processed! So now, I cannot leave on Tuesday because I do not have these essential forms!! So what it's looking like is that my departure date is going to be set back a couple days... Which sucks in a way because I have been preparing for Tuesday. But in another sense, it's good because I get some more time with the people here that I love. So I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how it goes...

I think that is all for today. Overall, I'm happy. Just a little frustrated. But life is good :)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Less Than A Week Left...

Today is Wednesday. I leave on Tuesday. GAHH I only have like 6 days left!! I really meant to post every day since the beginning of August but that just didn't happen. There's been way too much going on. We had my send-off party/graduation party on Sunday. It was really nice because there were a lot of people there that support me in this whole adventure :) I love the support from my friends and family. It is all that is getting me through this, because I'm really starting to freak out. This departure date is sneaking up on me so fast... And it still isn't really hitting me. Well no, I guess it is. But it's odd because it definitely comes and goes in spurts. All of the sudden I'll just realize how real this is and how scary it is, but then it goes away and all I can think about is how excited I am. But most of the time I'm just feeling nervous now. I really am psyched to go, but the level of uncertainty on how this is going to go is just so nerve-wracking.

It also doesn't help that I am without my rock this week :( My boyfriend left yesterday to go to his ROTC orientation, and he is without communication for the next four days. Since we started dating we haven't gone more than a few hours without at least a text message. And now there will be nothing until late Saturday night. But I am extremely grateful that he is coming back for those two days before I leave.

My family is taking me out to dinner tonight. My whole family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents included. We are going to a Lebanese restaurant that is apparently very good. We are Lebanese and my mother and I have been eating Lebanese food for our entire lives. (My father and sister really don't like the food, so they leave it alone) But the point is that we have family recipes and we are very picky about the way other people make these foods. So I'm really looking forward to this because it got the stamp of approval from my uncle, so it should be pretty good. And I'm really excited to spend this last time with my family before I go.

For now, that is all. I need to finish packing. Grrrr the chores that go with this... (ha) I'm sure I'll be posting a new packing list later tonight, along with pictures of the wonderful food that I will be eating :P

I wish there was a lip-licking emoticon... Just a side note.

Friday, August 6, 2010

12 days...

Well, once again I'm posting late so it's technically 11 days...

My send off party is on Sunday. We have a million and five things to do to get ready for it. It's also my graduation party. I think it's going to be a really rockin' party :) We always tend to throw good parties purely because we have a pool. There are going to be so many people at my house... It's gonna be insane. But I'm really excited :) I love big parties. Especially with bonfires. I'm really not a pyromaniac, I promise!

I really have nothing else to say today... So tis all.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

13 days...

It is quite a gloomy day outside. However! I am not feeling gloomy today like I was yesterday! Everything is looking way up. And the best part about it is that it's for no real reason. After a nap and some blueberry pancakes last night, I was feeling much better. Of course it helped that the boyfriend came and got me and we went to go watch a movie with friends. Then we went back to my house and just watched "The Office" and he stayed til 3am (shh don't tell my parents!) Of course his is now taking a toll on me as I had to get up at 8am for work... And I am now exhausted! But that's ok because it was totally worth it.

Today, I go over to his house for dinner. With his parents. Oh. My. Gosh. I'm a little nervous! I've met his parents before, multiple times, and talked to them but never to the extent of real conversation that isn't your typical chit chat and small talk. So that should be interesting to say the least!!

I really need to finish packing. I need to sort out my shoes and underwear and pajamas and all that. The really hard part is going to be shoes. See, I'm kind of a shoe addict. I have over 70 pairs of shoes. And there is no way I can take nearly as many pairs of them as I want to. So picking and choosing between all of my beloved shoes is going to be one my biggest challenges for packing! And shoes are probably the heaviest of all the stuff I'm going to be taking with me so I need to be extra picky. Figures.

Maybe I shall post an updated packing list later tonight. Hmm we shall see.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

14 days...

This is maybe the hardest day of my life... With 14 days left I decided that I was going to use the forbidden "L" word in my relationship. And why is it forbidden? Because when those feelings are not reciprocated that is the worst pain the world. The weirdest thing about it is that I didn't even say the words. It was just something that was understood between us, that we both knew that is what I was thinking. But he doesn't feel the same way. I couldn't sleep last night, but I finally managed to cry myself into a restless sleep around 4am and woke up with tears in my eyes. I know I'm young and stupid, but it slipped out and now I don't know what to do. Plus side, Ryan is beyond understanding. He is the most supportive person I know. Which is this situation, is very ironic. I just feel very sick and alone and helpless. There isn't any time for this relationship to grow deeper for him. I have 14 days. I'm really having one of those days where I just don't want to go. I really want to stay here, with him, in his arms. Forever. I don't want to leave. I don't want to have to worry about breaking up in two weeks. I don't want to be alone. I want to be with him.

Well this is quite the sappy, pathetic, sad post. What's the worst part? I can't even use the word for anything now. It sounds wrong. I feel so incredibly sick. I don't think I'm going to eat today...

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

15 days...

There are now 15 days until I leave. And I don't have much to say, but I think that I must post for the sake of the countdown. My friends and I are trying to plan one big last blowout fun night before I leave. It's going to be epic! I can't wait! I think we're trying to plan for Monday to Tuesday. But that is really all I have to say right now. I'm getting more and more scared. GAH

Monday, August 2, 2010

16 days...





So I have started, yet again, to pack. I probably doubled my load of clothing. But I stuffed it all in the suitcase and, luckily, it all came to about 46 pounds. Which means I have 4 to spare!! But I didn't pack any pajamas, underwear, shoes or accessories yet. I think I'm just going to have to shell out the $50 for a second suitcase. Oh yah I looked it up today. It's $50 for the second and $100 for every case after that. Of course, I get a carry on and a personal also. But that doesn't do me a whole lot of good. Right now, my packing list consists of:

-4 pairs of jeans
-1 pair of khaki pants
-2 pairs of dress pants (one brown, one charcoal)
-11 casual skirts (wow that sounds like a lot when I write it out...)
-8 casual dresses
-2 fancy dresses
-12 casual shirts
-2 vests
-9 pairs of shorts
-4 sweaters
-6 fancy skirts
-3 blazer/jackets
-15 tank tops/sleeveless shirts
-1 casual jacket
-4 button-down shirts
-6 dressy tops
-8 cardigans
-1 Rotary blazer

Phew! That's a long list... And again, that's without some things... Maybe it is too much and I should cut it down... But my style is so big for me!! I'm known for it. Ughh this is just too hard. How about I just stay home??

P.S. Now that I have actually finished this entry, it now the next day, meaning I only have 15 days left now. It's all going too fast.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

17 days...

It is August 1st. Which means I have 17 days left until I leave... And I'm really starting to freak out. I mean, I'm not even feeling excitement anymore. Just fear right now. The fear of being alone. The fear of not knowing what anyone's saying. The fear of not getting along with the people around me. The fear of having no friends. The fear of being so far from my family. The fear of losing my boyfriend :( All of these fears are completely warranted, I realize, however, that doesn't make me think that it's ok. I should be excited, right? I should be aching to leave and go dive into this adventure and throw myself into the experience! But no, I am terrified. Of course, it is so possible that that could change by tomorrow and I'll be super excited once again. But the days just keep flying by. And before I know it, I'll be gone. And alone. And confused and practically illiterate! GAHH

Ok that's enough rant for one day.