The Loose Ends

I need to finish writing my post about the wedding and my last few days in Belgium... So let's see, I have already talked about the actual ceremony... Well after the wedding was over, the bride and groom hopped in an old '59 Chevy convertible and the rest of us got in our (not as cool) cars and started a parade driving through the town, all honking our horns. Little kids came out into the street and we threw candy out the windows to them. It's a Swiss tradition. Then we went to the place where we would have the first part of the reception, basically to talk, have a drink, and the appetizers. We socialized, ate food, and took pictures for a couple hours, then got back in our cars and made our way to the hall where we would have the dinner. The bride threw the bouquet and then we went inside and had our meal. The hall was beautifully decorated and the food was delicious. They did cake afterwards as well, which was also beautiful. Throughout the meal, there were little skits, songs, videos and games that were organized to keep everyone entertained. And it was so much fun! That night, Jeff and I stayed at Yann-Amael's parents' house. The next morning, we got up and had breakfast and then went to the train station to catch our train with Miguel and Kelsey to Geneva, where we caught our (late) plane home. We then took a train from Brussels to Landen where my host mom picked us up and we went home to sleep.

The next day was our day in Brussels. We went to the train station and caught our train there and spent the whole day walking around, taking pictures, and touring the city. I think it was the first time that I got to see it in the sun. We saw things I've seen multiple times, but also things that I've never seen before. We had mussels and fries for lunch and Jeff tried his first Belgian waffle with banana, nutella, and whipped cream on it. One of the coolest parts about the day was that it was the 4th of July and even though the Belgians do not celebrate it as an Independence Day, the Mannekin Pis was all decked out in America garb, complete with a hat that said "YES WE CAN". We also found out that Talia, Eduardo, and Gaby were all in Brussels as well so we met up with them and went to get a drink. We went to a bar called Delirium and each got a different beer and played a sort of "game" called "the Roto" where we passed the beers around the circle until they were gone. We got a two different kinds of normal beer (Delirium and Kwak), a banana beer, a passion fruit beer, and, ready for it? A Cookie Beer. It. Was. Disgusting. I don't think I've ever tasted anything so nasty. The passion fruit was bearable, and the banana smelled awful. But we passed them around until they were gone.

Eventually, Ben met up with us and we moved to another bar where Jeff tried a few different kinds of Belgian beer. The others left us and we just hung out for the night. But we eventually had to go home, so we took the metro to get back to the car. This is where things started to go wrong. We got to the street where the car was and these two guys came up to us and asked if we had a cigarette. Benjamin, being the ridiculously overly nice person that he is, stopped to give them one. Well, this meant that they would follow us. One of them disappeared but the other one was talking to us, especially to Jeff, talking about soccer since he was wearing a jersey. They had a sort of broken French/English conversation and he was putting his arm around him and just being strange. Eventually he left. We got in the car, but Ben noticed that the glove compartment was open and starting freaking out. Turns out that there had been a GPS there and somebody had broken into the car and stolen it. The next thing we know, Jeff is telling us that that guy had stolen the gold chain that he has been wearing around his neck since his aunt gave it to him when he was 13. So Ben jumped out of the car and ran up the street looking for the guy. Jeff ran after him and I ran after Jeff who told me to stay by the car. I, of course, protested, saying that I wasn't going to stay anywhere alone. Well, the guys were long gone by then and there was no trace of them. So we got in the car and started heading home. But of course, Brussels is potentially the most poorly marked city in the world, and we ended up lost, unable to find the highway. We didn't get home until very late, and when we did finally make it, we came home to two random donkeys in the middle of the road. Talk about an odd day... We went upstairs and went to bed that night, happy for the day to be over.

The next day we took a bus to take a train to head into Liège. I got us lost on the bus IN Liège, but we quickly fixed the mistake and got back on our way. We didn't have much time there, but we managed to get lunch, get a waffle, walk around a little, and get Jeff some Belgian chocolate before he caught his train back to Germany. I went back home to Hannut and realized that I didn't have much time left in Belgium...

Until I left, I just spent time with friends and family. I was packing frantically, trying to get everything together, and I eventually succeeded. On the evening before I left, Talia put together a little party for me and Mikayla as a sort of going away. All the most important people were there and we had a good time together. The next day, as you all know, was the big drama in the airport.

I did leave the 11th, even though they offered me the same deal once again. But I took those two flights home. They were extremely long and I had cried in both planes and I was ready to be with my family. My mom and dad and sister picked me up at the Cleveland airport, drove me quickly home to shower, and then we went out to meet up with my grandparents for a nice welcome home dinner at Red Lobster. I have never enjoyed crab legs and Cheddar Bay Biscuits more in my life. And my water was free. And I used the bathroom for free. It was amazing.

There you go. The end of the journey, the end of the chapter, the end of the year. I can't believe it's over. I can't believe I left. I can't believe that I did it. I succeeded. I went through a year of a foreign exchange, something that people only dream of. A year in Europe. A year in a world where I didn't speak the language, know the culture, or have any connections. I left that place bilingual, feeling like it was my home, with countless friends and a new family. Belgium will always hold a special place in my heart. Now that I am back at "home" in Parma, Ohio, I realize how much little Hannut was like a second home to me. I find that I had rooted myself there. And pulling up roots is not as easy as it looks. Although some of them come out clean, there are always some that have soil stuck to them, and then those few that break. But what is on the other end of those roots? A beautiful, full, open flower. Full of color, wisdom, and experience. I have never been prouder of myself. It was the most amazing experience of my life. I have no regrets, and I would not change the year for anything. It was not all sunshine and rainbows, but in the end, each hardship that I had to face made me stronger, and built my character. I am who I am now because of the effects of the year, both good and bad. And I do believe that I am more mature, well-rounded, rational, and overall a better person. I met people, and made connections and relationships that will last for a lifetime. I visited seven different countries, have friends from all over the world, and made one connection that will never break. This year, I learned to cry, laugh, love, feel, scream, whisper, smile, but most importantly, live. I learned about the world, but most importantly, me. I learned that not everything is easy, but most importantly, that everything happens for a reason. I learned so much that I cannot put into words. And I can't believe it has ended. It feels like I closed my eyes eleven months ago and dreamt it all and am just now waking up, back in Ohio, in my life. Part of me feels like I never left. But the other part knows that it only feels that way because it DID happen. I DID do it. And contrary to everyone who thought I'd never leave, or thought I never had the guts, I say HA. Because I succeeded. I made it, and yes, I can do it all. This may be the end of a year, of a blog. But for me, this, my friends, why this is only the beginning.

Birthday Party!!

Today was the surprise birthday party for Eduardo that his host parents put together. A few weeks ago, before the week of Carnaval, I had received a message on Facebook from his host family telling me that they were going to throw him a surprise party. They invited all the people he hangs out with from AFS and then us three Americans that he goes to school with. And we kept it secret until today!!

I got up this morning (late, since we did the daylight savings switch last night) and had breakfast and got myself ready, and around 2pm Talia came over to get me and her host mom drove us to the train station in Huy, where we met up with Eduardo's host parents and the other guests. Mikayla wasn't able to come, but she was there in spirit. Anyways, we all piled into the host parents' cars and they took us to the room that they had rented out for the party. There were probably 15 of us total, and we were there a half hour before Eduardo arrived. Which gave Talia and me a chance to meet everyone, since we didn't know them. When Eduardo was scheduled to get there, we all stood in the doorway holding masks over our face to give a little bit more to the surprise and when Eduardo came through the door, we all started singing to him in French, then English, then Spanish. He was pretty surprised, even though he kind of had an idea of what was happening. He was really happy to see us all though! Once he got there, we played some games, listened to some music, and of course, ate food. There were a bunch of different kinds of cakes, the biggest one being his birthday cake. It was a really delicious layer cake with layers of cream, pineapple, and a sort of pound cake. Lady fingers went all around the edge and there was whipped cream, more pineapple, and cherries on top. It was heavenly, and I'm sure extremely fattening. There were also different waffles, a sugar tart, an apricot pie, a chocolate cake, and a couple other goodies to much on. We passed the whole afternoon there having fun and joking around with our favorite Mexican!

Happy Birthday Eduardo!! Even though it's not yet actually your birthday... I'll write your big post on Tuesday, when it is.

On another note, I would like to update all of you on where I am emotionally. The exchange students have gone through a lot of roller coaster emotions and ups and downs since we've been here. We had the It's-All-New high, the homesick/culture shock low, the rise again, the holidays hardships, and the slow mount back up to being accustomed and adjusted. Now we're going through the We're Bored stage. This is the part where we aren't sad and we aren't homesick, but we miss our lives back home. We want to be able to get in our cars and go. We miss our friends and our family, but not in a sad way. We just want to see them again. We're unmotivated to go school because, let's face it, we're done with high school. We want to hang out with Belgians, but find it hard because everyone's so focused on studying. The exchange is ending, but at the same time, it's just firing up because the big stuff is going to happen soon. But the weird part about it is that even though there is SO much to look forward to right now, the theater, Easter break, trips, the end of the year dance, none of it seems exciting. To be clear, once again, it's not that we want to go home. We're just tired. We're mentally exhausted. We speak the language, yes, but the barrier is even more frustrating now because we know we are more fluent than we think, and to not understand, as rare as it is now, is incredibly annoying. But at the same time, the thought of going home is depressing. We are finding ourselves wanting both at the same time. We have less than four months left here. It's scary to think how fast this is going, and how little time we have left. And though, yes, I do find myself nostalgic and missing home, and yes, I am a little bored of my life here, it will be over before we know it. Which is freaky.

I don't really know how to wrap that up... I'm just very alfkjdglkahksl;dfjsd right now. Which isn't totally bad, so nobody should worry. This is not a depressing post. Not in the slightest. I'm happy and things are going well. We're just bored and tired. But it will pass. Like I said, we have a lot coming up!!

For now, I'm going to sleep. I lost a whole hour of it last night. Bonne nuit tout le monde !

Cookies And Shrimp Eyes...

I'm still having a hard time motivating myself enough to write posts. But I think my reasoning is acceptable. It's just a difficult time and it's difficult to write about things other than death and despair.

However, I must plow on.

So I will write about my dining experience last night, because I really enjoy writing about food. Last night, I sat down to dinner and was served fish that had been baked in a casserole with some leafy greens and a cream sauce. It was wonderful, big fillets of white fish that had been simmering in a delicious white creme sauce and was just covered in some sort of green vegetable. I'm not entirely sure what it was, but it was so warm and comforting and just yummy. Then my host dad served me some pasta with it that was in a lighter sauce with shrimp and other vegetables. I could smell it all up in my room while they were cooking and I couldn't wait to eat it. My meals are always good here but every so often we have something that just knocks my socks off. And I look forward to those days! And last night was, for sure, one of those kinds of meals.

Until I got about halfway through my pasta, turned over a piece of shrimp and was stared straight in the face by a pair of black eyes. My heart must have jumped up out of my chest and ran away and I think I might have stopped breathing for a couple seconds, I was so surprised. But I contained myself and gave no visible reaction. (I'm really good at that) That's when I realized that the other big piece of shrimp that I had been saving still had it's head and it's little legs and there were pieces of shrimp antenna scattered throughout the dish. I guess I hadn't been paying very close attention to what I was eating because this was quite the realization for me. Which is actually odd, because I'm very picky about things like that. (Things like fat or gristle, or... shrimp antenna...) Again, I made no reaction and just was very conscious about what I was putting in my mouth and just left the shrimp on my plate.

After dinner, I took my plate into the kitchen and shared my surprise with Karine, who immediately took this opportunity to broaden my culinary horizons. She chuckled at me and bit and then showed me how to eat the shrimp. Turns out you have to deconstruct it yourself. Which means pulling off the head, pulling out the little legs and peeling off the shell. Which I don't mind doing, but let's face it. I'm American. We buy our shrimp pre-mutilated. So I ate my shrimp then and it was really very delicious. But then I realized that if you deconstruct the shrimp yourself, nobody has cleaned it, so it hasn't been deveined... For those of you who don't know, that "vein" that runs down the back of shrimp that you're supposed to remove? Yah, that's not a vein. That is the digestive tract. So I then realized that I had eaten that and was thoroughly disgusted. Again, I'm picky about stuff like that. But I just tried to shove it out of my mind as I enjoyed my Liègois dessert. It's like pudding, but it's coffee flavored and has whipped cream on it. And it comes in a convenient little cup, like Snack Pack :)

Life is continuing as normal. I go to school, come home, go to dance, run, workout, talk to people, write letters, etc. Today I made cookies, yet again, and I'm sure they'll be gone by tomorrow afternoon. The Belgians love 'em. It makes me feel good about myself.

I hope everyone enjoyed my food blog. I mean, come on, what's more important than food??

An Average Day, Some Extraordinary Words

Today was an average day. I went to school, I went to the post office, I came home, I went to dance, and now I'm here.

You know, I never used to write like this. I was always a creative writer, but my words never flowed like they do here. And realized it's all because of one word:

Appreciate.

Talia has been living by this word the entire time she has been here. And the other day, I understood why. Now I don't know if our reasons are the same, but here is what I have determined. For some unknown reason, since I have gotten here, I have a new appreciation for the little things in life. Have you ever taken the time to just stop, and look at the world around you? There is life everywhere. We live in a society in the States of hussle and bussle. And I can't say that I don't like that way of life. I do. But it's different here. Here, when I go for a run, I feel the wind in my face. I hear leaves rustling. There are no cars whooshing by or sirens blaring or cell phones ringing. On my run Sunday, I stopped where there was an opening in the trees and looked out over one of the fields. I was listening to music and just standing, watching. And I noticed so many things that I knew were there, but never paid any attention to. Like a spider crawling over plants or leaves brushing each other as small animals crawl through them. It's amazing how much life is around us and we never pay any attention to it. And I have a whole new level of appreciation for such things.

It's because of this appreciation that I find the words to write the way I do here. I wrote in the States, but I never shared it with anyone, because it was all so pointless. They were feelings, yes, but they had no meaning. It was all writing just to write. Here, I write because I have words swelling in my heart and when I look out my window and see the blue sky and clear, calm countryside, or the heavy rain, or the soft drizzle, or the cows or whatever may be out there, there are words to describe what I feel.

So yes, today was an average day. But I have an appreciation for my average day, because there were little things in it that made it extraordinary. I went to a dance class and released all of my negative energy. I got through yet another test. In French. I had multiple conversations in French with both my host mom and one of my friends from school. I ate amazing food. I'm in Belgium.