Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Then we came to the end

I've been back in the US for not quite three weeks.  I've been back at my house for not quite three days.  (And non-consecutively, too.)

In the past month, I've been so busy, not only physically, but emotionally processing my return, that I haven't found the time to write anything down.

The last few weeks of my exchange were surreal.  I met up with exchange students often, went out often, partied often.  I went to Paris with an American friend.  I saw the start of the Tour de France, which was pretty awesome.

I had to move to a temporary family because my host family was going on vacation, so I spent a couple days packing/unpacking (it was like a practice going home and saying goodbye) and getting to know the new family (they were so, unbelievably nice, especially to someone they knew would only be in their lives for about a week and a half).

There was what they call the end-of-stay orientation, a three-day meeting that was supposed to be an opportunity for us to see each other again and say goodbye and to prepare us for our final days and imminent return.  As it usually went with the big orientations during this year, all the exchange students felt that we spent too much time doing activities that were probably important but that we ignored and didn't have enough free time to socialize with our friends.  In all fairness, I'm sure that it's nearly impossible to arrange a schedule that will make everyone happy and I'm sure the activities (although repetitive) had some value, but in our defense, at the end-of-stay, nobody really wants to make new friends-- we're leaving in a week, we just want to spend time with the people we love but don't know when we'll see them again.  And when you leave a group of exchange student friends alone, they will most likely talk with each other about their problems and concerns much more freely than they would in front of semi-strangers and older volunteers.  But enough ranting.  I still managed to have a lot of (fun) time visiting with my friends, and between them, goodbyes, and activities, I managed to cry every day of the orientation.

I went to a fourth of July party at one of the Americans' houses the last time I saw several people and the last time before the plane ride I saw the Americans.  I also got to meet some cool Belgians, but like I said before, although I enjoyed talking to them and using my French while I still had the opportunity, I wasn't really looking to make friends.

And then, after another day of packing and repacking and weighing my luggage (my initial attempt at my suitcase was about 20 pounds over the limit), plus one day where my host family took me out to a nice dinner at a local restaurant and gave me a watch to remember them and Belgium by (the nice Ice watches I had been admiring all year and they didn't even know!  I love them!), July 7th came around and I flew home.  It was simultaneously the longest and the shortest day of my life.  One minute I was in Belgium, the next (30 hours later...) I was at my house in Maine.  More accurately, one minute I was waking up at 5am Belgium time (11pm the previous day, EST), spending a couple hours getting to the airport, spending an agonizing amount of time saying goodbyes to my family before security, sitting on a cramped airplane for 8 hours, dragging my way overweight carry-on throughout JFK getting to my much-delayed connection and spending my entire layover being sad about leaving the other Americans, and driving 2 1/2 hours to my house; the next, I was there.

It was not weird waking up in my house the next morning, which was really weird.  I knew where everything was: clothes I hadn't brought to Belgium in my closet, files on my computer, everything in the kitchen.  I had a bunch of friends over and we did exactly the same thing we did the last time I saw them before I left.  I took a bike ride around town and didn't notice any changes.  The only thing that I could tell was different was me:  I struggled to find the English equivalents for my words in French, I had an endless number of stories and observations about Belgium, I wanted more adventure and excitement than I had before, I tried to talk about subjects that are apparently only interesting to exchange students.

Since I left the next day to visit my family in Wisconsin, a several-week trip that has been a whirlwind of driving, seeing relatives, swimming and other water sports, giving slideshows, my cousin's wedding preparations and her wedding, a visit to Dartmouth (my future college campus), and more driving, I can't really say if I've adjusted to "normal" life any more than I had.  I still think and dream sometimes in French, but I no longer have problems with English.  I've learned to limit talking about Belgium to a few key sentences when asked and anecdotes only when extremely relevant.  I haven't gotten over the fact that the people I saw so often are no longer a short bus or train ride away, or that things I saw everyday I may never see again.

Looking back on my year now is such a bizarre thing to do.  While there it felt like each day went by slowly, even if it was fun and activity-filled.  It didn't quite feel like the literally once in a lifetime experience that it was:  I realize now that I will never be in Belgium again with the same people, opportunities, and mindset I was for the past 10 months.  It felt often like the most difficult thing I'd ever experienced, and often like the best time of my life, as well as all the feelings between terrible and truly amazing.  Thinking of the best, and the worst, times I had in Belgium brings tears to my eyes because only looking back on it do I see just how incredible my time there was.  It is probably the most important thing I have ever done, something I would not change if given the chance.  Because I am a new person now, a year older physically and much more aged mentally.  I have learned more about myself and people than I ever thought possible, as cheesy as it sounds.  It's hard to put everything I'm feeling into words, even just in my head or to other exchange students, so I think it's probably impossible to convey to the world, especially without speaking.  So for now, all I can say is that I had an awesome (in the true awe-inspiring meaning of the word) year and loved it.  If you ever get the chance to do something similar, I highly recommend you seriously consider taking it.  Despite its many difficulties it is worth every second.

And now, the last of my goodbyes.  I could say 'au revoir,' as I did with so many people in Belgium, but like with so many of the au revoirs that I said, I wouldn't mean it.  In all likelihood, I'll never see this blog again, never write again, never find all the Belgians and non-Belgians that I met.  And so I say a heartfelt adieu, wish you the best in the rest of your life, and hope that I had some sort of positive impact on your life.  Even if I never know it, that kind of thing is important to me.

Adieu, bisous,
Audrey

Thursday, June 21, 2012

School's out for ever

Yesterday afternoon I got to briefly see all my (former... how odd is that) Belgian classmates as they all flocked to the school to see their results from the exams.  Nothing specific, but in the front lobby, there were six sections (one for each grade) of papers hung up on the walls: lists of all the students and whether they were "admis(e)" into the next grade or to university, whether they had a "repêche" or several (summer classes and a second final to hopefully allow them to move up a grade in August), or "refusé."  There were tears of joy and some disappointed faces, depending on the result, although I was surprised to see how few people were "refusé."  It seems you can have quite a few "repêchages" before they decide that you actually failed.

I was refusé... I made a few jokes about it to my friends (most of whom passed without problems, and were thrilled to have a nice, long vacation ahead of them), but when I said goodbye, I surprised myself by tearing up a little bit.  Not that I was upset about not passing... I wasn't expecting to.  Some things, especially remembering details for history or analyzing texts in French are just a little too difficult for me to do up to standard.  And I'm sure my pay-attention-in-class-but-don't-waste-your-time-with-studying philosophy didn't help much.  I've already been accepted into university back home, so I find it more worthwhile to travel and hang out with other AFSers than to pore over all my photocopies (did I ever mention that there are no textbooks here, only photocopies of courses?).  But seeing my name and my result printed out in such official black ink made everything seem so final.  I will go back to Liège 1 once more next week for the "remise de bulletins" but after that I say goodbye to it and everyone associated with it, possibly forever.

The past week has been full of moments like this, which goes along nicely with the intermittent rain that I've started to get used to here (I hardly go anywhere anymore without my semi-waterproof jacket, sunglasses, and sometimes even an extra pair of socks).  Since everyone's out of exams, exchange students and Belgians alike have been meeting up to hang out and, often, party, all the time.  Last weekend was quiet, save for a short shopping trip with two of the Bolivian girls I know, who, despite worrying about how they were going to fit all their clothes into their suitcases on the way home, managed to take home quite sizable shopping bags.  But Monday I had a sleepover/pajama party with a friend in Leuven, complete with movies and candy and ghost stories.  Wednesday there was a pretty good party in Liège to celebrate the end of exams as well as to say goodbye to more Rotary students (their departure dates are spread out far more than the dates for AFS).  It ended with five of us heading to Brussels to give one departing student a chance to try absinthe before they left-- we all enjoyed the lighting the sugar on fire bit, but actually getting the stuff down was a bit trickier-- and then slept over in nearby Gembloux.  It's strange to go from extremely content to sad and back again so often in a night; to go from laughing and joking with one another to not knowing if you'll ever see each other again.  I borrowed 5€ from one of the Rotary boys and promised to pay him back next week in the carré, only to realize that there probably wouldn't be another carré for him since he leaves next week.  It really is the weirdest feeling.

On the one hand, I keep telling myself that I have just over two weeks left (plenty of time!), but on the other... 15 days and this entire year becomes a memory.  They are 15 full days, with parties, trips, orientations, and even one final move planned (my host family's annual vacation overlaps with my departure, so I will be staying with some AFS-oriented family friends for my last week), but that can only go so far.  All I can do is try as hard as I can to make them count; to take pictures and make memories that won't fade into the dreamlike, did-that-really-happen quality that so many memories have.

Wish me luck!

Monday, June 11, 2012

Graduation (just a little late...)

Hey guys, so it's been a pretty long time since I've written, and I don't really have an excuse. Finals? Of really. I only have one a day, which takes a couple of hours grand maximum since they're (almost) all oral. I'be already taken English, a written and oral Geography exam, and Bio. Even if it's a pretty good deal for me to go in to the city, spend a couple hours at school, hang out all afternoon, then go home at the normal time, I'm still a little jealous of all my classmates in Maine that graduated last weekend, before I even started finals! It was pretty weird to see all the photos of graduation online and hear from everybody how great it felt to finally graduate. This is one of the few things that have made me homesick all year; at my school in Belgium, we have a "remise des bulletins" which is as close to a ceremony as they seem to get in schools, but there are no caps and gowns or speeches, and the jazz band won't play. (It does make me laugh to think that, in all the years I've been in the band, the one graduation I don't make it to is my own.) I do know enough about graduations to be able to tell people hear that we really do ear the funny outfit like in the movies and that we really do throw the hats in the air at the end. Which is almost as good. And I do feel slightly better talking to some of the other exchange students, who seem to feel kind of the same way about missing graduation; that it was totally worth it to leave, so it shouldn't really be sad, but it still kind of is. Although I'm wondering if part of it is knowing that the year is almost over. I'm ready to go home, I think, to move on to the next thing, but it's still hard to think about going home. I've finally gotten used to life here and made friends; it doesn't feel like I should have to leave that behind. I would guess this is how most people feel at graduation, though, so maybe I'm not actually missing much. And at least I have 3 weeks of goodbye partying after school ends insteadbid just one 'project graduation.' À la prochaine!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Finals start next week at Liège 1: two weeks of oral exams causing all my Belgian classmates to STRESS!

I'm not really sure why, though... sure, tests might be graded more harshly here, and having a one-on-one exam with the professors is more intimidating than having a written test, but grades here don't seem to matter nearly as much as in the States.

While, back home, the goal is always 100%, an A+, the best grade possible in order to get into the best college possible, here the goal is to pass.  At 50%.  Since, as far as I can tell, anyone with a high school diploma and ±800€ a year can go do university (catch the note of jealousy in my voice?  As someone who spent hours on applications and will graduate with her fair share of loans, I think it's justified) and since no Belgian university is inherently or outstandingly better than the others, there is no need for anything more.

Obviously I'm not saying that Belgians don't want good grades, or that their parents don't want them to get good grades, or that people here aren't going to study more than I probably ever did for my finals.  But the mindset going into the exams is entirely different.

Today, when we received out bulletins for the 3rd period, everyone spent the hour of "ask questions and review for the exam" time in French to count up their "points d'avance" (extra points) to see what grade they needed to make at the exam to pass the year.

I'll use my grades in English as an example, since they're my best ones (cheating, I realize):
                1st period:   16/20 = 6 points d'avance
                Exam Noël: 27/30 = 12 points d'avance
                2nd period:  19/20 = 9 points d'avance
                3rd period:   19/20 = 9 points d'avance

                Exam June: 36 points d'avance

To succeed, I need half the 60 points possible at the exam, which I already have, and then some.  This means I could literally walk in, say "Bonjour, au revoir" and pass English for the year.  (I'm not going to do this, in case you were wondering.)  I don't think that any Belgians have this many points d'avance, but there are some in my class who only need 5 - 10 points on their exams.  Since passing by a large margin doesn't make a huge difference, they can take it easy on the studying.

Not that I'm jealous, having already done what I need to graduate high school and be accepted to college, I can take it easier than any of them.  So there! haha

Monday, May 28, 2012

Voyage, Voyage, Voyage!

That is my advice for exchange students or any people spending a year, semester, trimester, or any other extended period of time in Belgium.  And do it with other exchange students!  C'est trop bien!

This weekend I met up with two of my favorite Bolivian AFSers (who have dubbed me an 'honorary Bolivian' because I often crash their outings) who were showing around a Bolivian girl in Germany who came to visit them in Belgium.  We all went to Antwerp on Saturday afternoon, which was a very different outing from the one I had with my Belgian friends.  We did a lot more "touristy" things, like visiting the 'Grote Markt' (Grand Place) and the port, which was really beautiful.  It was finally hot in Belgium, so I enjoyed wearing around a summery dress and soaking up the sun.  I even had to wear sunscreen!

After a few good hours of walking around the city and a stop for a refreshing drink (at a thai restaurant... something that one of the others knew), we went back to the house of one of the Bolivians to swim in the pool (which also had plants on one end and fish!) and eat dinner.  We all four managed to fit in one bedroom, even if we didn't get much sleep; we had spent a lot of time in the pool trying to touch the fish, which were always far too fast.

The next morning we went to Brussels: saw the Grand Place, Manneken Pis, the Royal Palace, one of the big parks, and of course ate a waffle.  We also took after some other AFS students we had seen in Antwerp and went around offering 'free hugs.'  It was a lot more fun that I thought it might be, and we got all kinds of reactions: strange looks, people taking photos, one British family even told us that Jesus loved us for being so kind.  It was also quite surprising how many people said no to a hug and changed their mind when we said "but it's free!"

In Antwerp train station

So excited!


Brussels

That evening, while the others continued to Dinant, I split off to join a few other Americans in Arlon for a festival there: MaiTrank.  I'm not entirely sure what it's all about, but it seemed to be the whole town getting together to celebrate the end of May with music, games, beer, a big "beach" in the town square, and general merriment.  We all crashed at one of the nearer-by American's houses (I love how so many exchange students and host families are willing to let me randomly spend the night!) after the party.

I don't have school today, thanks to Pentecost, a holiday which I don't entirely understand, but which worked out well for me beaus it meant I could go through all my photos today!

Only one more week of school before exams!  It's crazy how much time has gone by so fast!
À la prochaine!

Monday, May 21, 2012

They say it's your birthday...


For once in my life, I've actually been able to sing the "it's my birthday, too, yeah!" line, and mean it.  Not to brag or anything, but yes, yes it is my birthday.  And thanks to Facebook, even the people in my school who I've talked to on a few occasions, added as a "friend" to be polite and to see what they're up to know that.  Which means that I've had more people say 'happy birthday' to me today than I usually did in Maine just because of the sheer size of my Belgian school.  Who doesn't love getting told happy birthday?

Especially by foreigners (I realize that I'm the foreigner, but that's beside the point); whether it's in French ("joyeuse anniversaire") or in English with an accent (as many of them would say, "ahppy bearthday Ohdray"), it's a lot of fun.  I had a couple of people make fun of each other for their accents and argue over which one was "better."  As I always say (and almost always mean), I like all the accents, and think they're usually pretty adorable.  Plus, I don't want to give them any openings to make fun of my own, which, while getting less noticeable, is still there on a lot of words.

All in all a pretty good day:  I won more than often at cards at lunch– while dealing out the first hand of "President" I told them that they had to let me win because it was my birthday.  I don't know if it was coincidence or if they didn't understand it was a joke, which happens sometimes, but I was the "trou de cul" a lot less than often.  (Thank you, French, for making things sound more polite.)  I also went out for a waffle after school, and even though it started to sprinkle a little bit, the weather was nice and warm.  I even got home to find a couple of cards for me from the States!  I feel so loved :)


Well, you just read your first post by an 18-year-old!  À la prochaine!


P.S.  On a completely unrelated note, I was marveling at the English language today:  my teacher handed out a list of 10 verbs (come, cut, fall, get, go, keep, make, run, take, turn) and 10 prepositions (away, back, down, in, off, on, out, over, through, up) and asked us to make at least 20 "phrasal verbs" (basically just verb+preposition).  I made my 20... then about 50 more.  I still can't get over the fact that you can add one (or 10) little word(s) after a simple verb to give it a new meaning.  It's so cool to think about English this way!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

100 jours and other bêtises

Normally, as the days until the end of the year dwindle down to a tiny 100, schools across Belgium have fêtes de cent jours.  These seem to vary from school to school, (in style and in date... seeing as my 100 jours was about 70 jours late) but all include the rhétos (seniors) dressing up in costumes.  At Liège 1, people in costumes ranging from superheros to cartoon characters to religious figures (I was surprised, too, to see at least four monks, a nun, and a rabbi) had a "flash mob" during the break, followed by a massive squirt gun fight and an after-school barbeque for the rhétos.

Me (a superhero) with two Standard de Liège (soccer) players
and 3 of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

With a "pregnant" teenager and a character from a French ad campaign
(look hereor here to see a sample)


The flashmob was a little less spontaneous and less well-organized than might have been ideal, but still fun.  We were supposed to do "Thriller" but the dance turned out to be too hard to learn for us and it got changed at the last minute to the "Cha Cha Slide," which somehow ended up still being too complicated, but a good time.

The water fight got a little crazy, and ended up being everyone getting revenge; I would get caught in the crossfire between two classmates, send a little splash at whoever had initiated it, and things would spiral upwards until people were filling up buckets and dumping them over each others' heads.  It was a sunny day, at least, which meant that we dried off relatively quickly, but the floor of the locale turned into a pretty muddy sloop.

We all went out into the carré afterwards, in costume, to show off, which was doubly fun for me because I could show off to all the other exchange students there as well.

(Just to brag a little more, I'm now enjoying a 4-day weekend, including a trip to Gent tomorrow, haha! Go Catholicism being a big deal in Europe!)

À bientôt!

Monday, May 7, 2012


Oh the rain rain rain came down down down, in rushing, rising rivlets
the river crept out of its bed, and crept right into Piglet's.
Poor Piglet he was frightened, with quite a rightful fright.
Despite his desperation, a message he did write.

Keep in mind that when I say 'Piglet' I mean me.  The Meuse hasn't quite crept all the way up to my window yet, but if the weather keeps up it just might.  I had been hoping to get out and do a little sightseeing this past weekend, but all I saw was the inside of the mall in Liège.  It was still a nice time, though, especially since the two other exchange student girls I was with live in small Belgian towns and got really excited to come to the "big city."

While I may have an excuse to remember this song, I have also had quite a few of the things I used to sing in elementary school music class stuck in my head this week, and I can't think of any reason for them to be there.  I don't know if it is some bizarre form of homesickness or if my English is receding back to what is most deeply rooted in my brain.  Maybe there is no reason.  Although if any other exchange students are having a similar experience it would reassure me to know about it.

Until then, I'll be trying to avoid singing American children's songs in conspicuous places like the bus or the bathroom at school.  I've been getting more than the usual number or strange looks.

À tantôt!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

A belated happy May Day to everyone in the states!  I was planning to say so yesterday but never got around to it.  Ah well.

It was a 4-day weekend but somehow felt longer, which is surprising as that's generally not the direction weekends go.  I would attribute it to keeping busy and not very much sleep:  on Friday evening I went to sleep at the house of a girl named Aurore with some of her friends.  In the terms we used to describe it to her friends, she is my Belgian "marraine," or godmother; she's supposed to be my AFS contact to talk to if I have problems with my exchange, and someone who would be, in theory, easier to talk to than a lot of other AFS volunteers because she's about my age and just (last summer) got back from an exchange in the US.  The first time I met her it was to talk with her about some of the trouble I was having with my first family, but since then we've met up a few times because we're friends.  It's amazing to me how quickly exchange students, past and present, become friends; after speaking for a couple minute's we exchange numbers and cities where we live and tell the other that they have to come visit us because it would be so cool.  I don't know if it's because we're all so outgoing (or have become it) or because we know what it's like to arrive and know nobody and therefore try to make a connection with everyone we meet... honestly I'm not sure I care.  It's the way it is and it's awesome.  Point.

Bref (from what I can tell, the equivalent of "anyway..."); I spent friday evening and late into the night playing Disney Trivial Persuit, making crêpes and chocolate sauce, and watching movies ("The Notebook," "Grease," and one called "Blood & Chocolate" that was about werewolves but that I didn't quite follow because I fell asleep).  Saturday afternoon I got home and helped keep Constantin and his two friends busy while my host parents, the mother of the friends, and my host-grandmother helped get the house ready for the big party the next day: it was my host brother's first communion.  I played soccer and hide and seek and pushed them on the swings, steered them out of the way (they like to be around to watch tables get moved and floors mopped even if it's inconvenient for those doing the work), took them up to my room to draw, taught them American football, and did my best to keep them from fighting.  Afterwards we all went out for a very well-earned meal at my host family's favorite Chinese restaurant.

The next morning I got up earlier than normal (for a weekend) to shower, got dressed in my nicest clothes (which I slightly embarrassingly don't have a lot of here), and headed to the church for mass.  Since I'm not religious at home and my host family doesn't go to mass unless it's a special occasion, I'm not particularly versed in the ways of church services or first communions, but this one seemed nice.  There was a lot of singing and cute little kids, and the inside of the church was really beautiful.  It didn't last as long as I thought it might and we were back home by 1:00.

From then, people started arriving for the party.  First it was the close family, who joined us for lots of appetizers and champagne followed by a two-hour, four-course meal which left everyone stuffed.  We didn't have more than half an hour to rest, though, before the rest of the guests began to arrive.  I believe I heard the number 80 thrown around as an approximation of the number of people there.  I'd believe it; my host family has a big house and big yard, and both were pretty full up with people.  More appetizers and drinks were served right away, but I was too full to have anything except water and celery.  I was hoping that the work it took to digest it would make me feel less full, but I'm not sure it accomplished anything.

Around 6 they brought out some cold things to eat for supper: fish, ham, carrots and salad-type veggies.  I resisted these, being still full from the meal that had only ended around 4, although when they switched to a hot buffet around 8, I did manage to take some food.  And, of course, some dessert for the finale.  Apparently it's a tradition for Easter and often communion as well to have a lamb cake; Constantin's was made of strawberry and vanilla ice cream.  He, being the star of the evening, got to cut off the lamb's head (which let forth a stream of red "blood" from the neck) and have that piece.

I didn't know a lot of the people at the party, but it was still good to see all of the people I did know and be introduced to a few others.  People like my host-grandmother or the friend that had helped set up hung out with me a lot of the evening, introducing me to some of the people that came up to talk to them.  The crowd started to wane by 10 or 11, and helping to clean up I became even more impressed with my host parents' ability to throw a party.  I don't know if the descriptions do it justice, but it really was an impressive affair.


Monday and Tuesday I took it easy and went in to Liège a bit to see some friends.  Nothing much but it was nice to see them, and the weather wasn't bad.  Although today it was.  So much for May flowers.  It didn't make so much of a difference, since I was in school, so I can be at least glad the rain held off until today.

À la prochaine!
A belated happy May Day to everyone in the states!  I was planning to say so yesterday but never got around to it.  Ah well.

It was a 4-day weekend but somehow felt longer, which is surprising as that's generally not the direction weekends go.  I would attribute it to keeping busy and not very much sleep:  on Friday evening I went to sleep at the house of a girl named Aurore with some of her friends.  In the terms we used to describe it to her friends, she is my Belgian "marraine," or godmother; she's supposed to be my AFS contact to talk to if I have problems with my exchange, and someone who would be, in theory, easier to talk to than a lot of other AFS volunteers because she's about my age and just (last summer) got back from an exchange in the US.  The first time I met her it was to talk with her about some of the trouble I was having with my first family, but since then we've met up a few times because we're friends.  It's amazing to me how quickly exchange students, past and present, become friends; after speaking for a couple minute's we exchange numbers and cities where we live and tell the other that they have to come visit us because it would be so cool.  I don't know if it's because we're all so outgoing (or have become it) or because we know what it's like to arrive and know nobody and therefore try to make a connection with everyone we meet... honestly I'm not sure I care.  It's the way it is and it's awesome.  Point.

Bref (from what I can tell, the equivalent of "anyway..."); I spent friday evening and late into the night playing Disney Trivial Persuit, making crêpes and chocolate sauce, and watching movies ("The Notebook," "Grease," and one called "Blood & Chocolate" that was about werewolves but that I didn't quite follow because I fell asleep).  Saturday afternoon I got home and helped keep Constantin and his two friends busy while my host parents, the mother of the friends, and my host-grandmother helped get the house ready for the big party the next day: it was my host brother's first communion.  I played soccer and hide and seek and pushed them on the swings, steered them out of the way (they like to be around to watch tables get moved and floors mopped even if it's inconvenient for those doing the work), took them up to my room to draw, taught them American football, and did my best to keep them from fighting.  Afterwards we all went out for a very well-earned meal at my host family's favorite Chinese restaurant.

The next morning I got up earlier than normal (for a weekend) to shower, got dressed in my nicest clothes (which I slightly embarrassingly don't have a lot of here), and headed to the church for mass.  Since I'm not religious at home and my host family doesn't go to mass unless it's a special occasion, I'm not particularly versed in the ways of church services or first communions, but this one seemed nice.  There was a lot of singing and cute little kids, and the inside of the church was really beautiful.  It didn't last as long as I thought it might and we were back home by 1:00.

From then, people started arriving for the party.  First it was the close family, who joined us for lots of appetizers and champagne followed by a two-hour, four-course meal which left everyone stuffed.  We didn't have more than half an hour to rest, though, before the rest of the guests began to arrive.  I believe I heard the number 80 thrown around as an approximation of the number of people there.  I'd believe it; my host family has a big house and big yard, and both were pretty full up with people.  More appetizers and drinks were served right away, but I was too full to have anything except water and celery.  I was hoping that the work it took to digest it would make me feel less full, but I'm not sure it accomplished anything.

Around 6 they brought out some cold things to eat for supper: fish, ham, carrots and salad-type veggies.  I resisted these, being still full from the meal that had only ended around 4, although when they switched to a hot buffet around 8, I did manage to take some food.  And, of course, some dessert for the finale.  Apparently it's a tradition for Easter and often communion as well to have a lamb cake; Constantin's was made of strawberry and vanilla ice cream.  He, being the star of the evening, got to cut off the lamb's head (which let forth a stream of red "blood" from the neck) and have that piece.

I didn't know a lot of the people at the party, but it was still good to see all of the people I did know and be introduced to a few others.  People like my host-grandmother or the friend that had helped set up hung out with me a lot of the evening, introducing me to some of the people that came up to talk to them.  The crowd started to wane by 10 or 11, and helping to clean up I became even more impressed with my host parents' ability to throw a party.  I don't know if the descriptions do it justice, but it really was an impressive affair.


Monday and Tuesday I took it easy and went in to Liège a bit to see some friends.  Nothing much but it was nice to see them, and the weather wasn't bad.  Although today it was.  So much for May flowers.  It didn't make so much of a difference, since I was in school, so I can be at least glad the rain held off until today.

À la prochaine!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Well, that was April. No matter how much certain days may have dragged along, the weeks and ultimately the entire month ended up as just one big blur. The first two weeks of April I was out of school for Easter break, most of which I spent sightseeing and chilling out with some friends from Belgian school. April first is "poisson d'avril," a slightly more specific version of April fool's day in which you try to stick a paper fish to people's backs. The weather was actually for the most part pretty nice, and there were a couple of days where you could almost say I tanned. Between school, Wednesday afternoons in the carre, weekend travels/sleepovers, and a brief visit from my mother on her way through Belgium, nearly the entire month has already been filled up. It's so weird to think that I really only have two more before I go home; if they pass anything like this month did I'm in trouble... I'm not ready to leave! I have a brief pause to breathe this weekend thanks to the "fete de travail," on April 1st. I was trying and failing to remember the American equivalent (I know it's not called worker's day, but I don't think it's that far off either) so am hoping someone will help me out here and remind me. My school, like a lot of schools in Belgium not, apparently, including my host brother's school (poor thing) is giving Monday off to the students as well to have a 4-day weekend. May, it seems, is full of days off: this, ascension, pentacost... So the number of days of school left is much smaller than I thought. All the better for cramming in last-minute sightseeing and exchange-student-visiting before my return July 7th. But enough carrying on about the end being near (with all the 2012 hype I hear enough of it already). April was lovely; not, perhaps, the month I have the most to write about, but filled with speaking French and being in awe at the fact that I'm here and only a little complaining about the rain. I really will try to write more often in May! A la prochaine!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Medley Rhétos

This is the little piece I did in the Cabaret:


I'm not entirely sure who filmed it, but I'm so glad they did!  Look for me in the first section!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Enfin, le Printemps!

The first sunburn of the season can only mean one thing: that you took advantage of the lovely sunny weather to go lounge around in the park. 

I met up with a couple of AFS friends this afternoon (Miriam from Bolivia and Louis from Columbia) in Liège and we walked to the botanical gardins to profiter du soleil. We lay down in the flowers and took off our shoes and the two latinos sang songs in Spanish while I napped a little.  It was really a shame I hadn't brought my camera because everything was really so nice.

This spring so far has been a lot nicer than what I think of spring so far in Maine-- no mud season!  I can't necessarily tell if it's been a typical spring in Belgium, since all I've obtained from Belgians is that the weather here is n'importe quoi (anything and everything), but in order to keep my bright outlook on the country I'll say it is.  And since we finally had daylight savings time this weekend, it's light enough out when I walk to the bus in the mornings that I've been able to appreciate the flowers that are starting to pop up.  My host family has a big yellow bush in their yard that makes me think of my English teacher from the states-- forsythias blooming yet in Orono?

I just hope that the weather lasts through my two-week Easter vacation!  Sun makes everything so much nicer!

À la prochaine!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

It's been another week since I last posted.  Every time I sign in to write anything, I see all the updates from the other exchange student blogs I "followed" before I left and feel bad for not writing as often as they do.  But I haven't written in my journal all month, so you should all feel lucky.

I missed doing the musical this fall back in the states, although the preparations for the Cabaret have been pretty similar.  This would be what we called "Hell Week" back home, late nights of tech rehearsals, run-throughs, and last minute learning of the choreography.  Even though I only have one small group of people to worry about and there are no props or scene changes for anybody to get yelled at for not taking care of, I feel a lot more stressed by the Cabaret.  Mostly because it's all on me if someone messes up the blocking or choreography.  Fortunately rehearsals have been going pretty well (we did well enough Wednesday evening that we didn't have to come back Thursday... only the groups that needed a lot of help) and even if things don't go entirely smoothly, I think we'll look good.  The show goes up today, tomorrow, and Sunday afternoon, and even though there are no classes Monday, I have to go in and help clean up.  In other words, no sleep for me this weekend.  My host family might make fun of me a little for being tired (my host dad claims to have been able to stay up for days when he was my age, and finds it funny every time I want to go to bed early), but at least I'll know I've earned it :)

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

How to impress a Belgian

First off, let it be known that this is not difficult.  Especially if you are foreign and have a "cute little accent,"  Belgians will probably think everything you do is cool.  Even if it's really lame.  I suppose this also works in the opposite direction when Americans meet foreigners, but it's weird for me to be the foreigner and not the one admiring them.

1.  Speak English.  Somehow they forget that me speaking English is like them speaking French and is actually not a talent, but every time I say something in English they admire my accent.  Which is pretty fun, because I didn't think anyone liked American accents.

3.  Sing.  Going along with the last one, people here are so impressed when I know the lyrics to English songs.  It does help that Belgians listen to a lot of American music so that they don't hear my attempts at French lyrics.  But if you and a Belgian are singing along to the same English song and you keep going while they fade into indiscernible mumblings, chances are they will turn to you with their mouth open and ask how you know those words.  Even when I say "I mean it's English..." they shake their heads and say "still."


3.  Learn to French braid your hair.  I assume that in the States we call French braids as we do because they are too tricky and fancy for us and so they must be French.  Likewise for the Beglians (and French?); they call them "tresse africaine" because they're too tricky and foreign for Belgium.  I wonder what they're called in Africa...   At any rate, every time I french braid my hair somebody asks me if I've been to the hairdresser, even if it's a sloppy one.  They always want to know how I learned to do it and I have to pull out the slightly-embarrassing story of how I wanted to one-up my sister, who could french braid her dolls' hair, and so learned to do it myself.  And then to try to make them feel better I tell them that it's not super-hard (literally, they say "super" all the time here), it's just that your arms get tired and then you generally give up.  Which is basically true.

4.  Learn to shuffle cards.  The other day at lunch, a girl I don't know came up to me and asked if I could show her how I shuffle cards.  I did it for her, then turned back to my own card game to find that she was not the only one impressed.  Whenever I shuffle cards they call me "belle gosse" (or beau gosse for the guys, basically what they call a really cool/goodlooking/talented person), or, even better, "Las Vegas."  We're unfortunately never playing anything as cool as poker, so I can't whip out my shades and fancy vocabulary (not that I know it in French), but I still have fun with my Vegas nickname.


That's all I can think of for the moment.  Next time anyone gets really wowed over my doing something simple I'll add on/make a part two.  À la prochaine!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

So, who forgot I was doing the Cabaret?  Me, that's for one.  It's been a while since the auditions in February, so I hadn't thought a lot about it recently.  However, posters have been going up recently advertising the Cabaret at the end of next week, which has been helping me remember.  Additionally, since apparently we have evening rehearsals next week and won't have any time to study, all the teachers (or at least for the rhétos) have been asked not to give any tests that week.

In theory, this is a good idea, but none of the teachers like to lose any time, so they've just pushed everything up one week.  I have two tests in Math, one in English, French, Chemistry, Physics, and Geography.  I realize that my grades here don't actually count, so I could technically just blow everything off, but having not yet done my senior year I still feel obliged to work a little, especially for classes like Physics and Geography, for which I haven't already learned the material.  (And it sure rubs it in when the two boys from Rotary in my class, who have already finished their South American schools, make no effort to even look like they're paying attention.)

I have had a little time to study this weekend, though.  My little brother Constantin was at his grandmother's house, so I didn't have the constant requests to play toy soldiers or the Lego Pirates video game.  We had an AFS Liège activity yesterday morning: a visit to the Palais de Justice and the Palais des Princes Évèques (the seat of the regional government).  Even with going out to eat and to a movie with the other students, I got home by around five and was able to relax for the evening.  Plus, I had finally finished my photos from Camargue, so even with a new batch to go through, I felt like I had at least accomplished one thing.

I hope all is well in the rest of the world; Belgium has been nice and quiet this week (a good way to get back into my school schedule).

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Photos of France!

Going on the trip with a knowledge that I had a limited 2 GB of memory card space and no chance to back it up for 5 whole days, I tried to limit my photos.  I really did.  I somehow managed to end up with several hundred, which I now have to wade through in one giant fell swoop.  Each photo takes just a couple clicks to rotate and maybe adjust some lighting, but the task is sooo daunting.  I'm still not finished but have selected some of my favorites to post here.


NÎMES:

des Arènes



Jardin de la fontaine

Tour de Magne



LE COLORADO PROVENÇAL



Fontaine de Vaucluse






Our hostel's goat


Yes, that is a mountain of salt


Me at the Mediterranean!

Stes Maries de la Mer



LES BAUX DE PROVENCE




Monday, March 5, 2012

J'adore la France

One of the many perks of being an exchange student is that your class choices don't have to be based on your future plans.  You can decide to follow a certain geography option, for example, because of the yearly class trip and the fact that it's average day at school is shorter than some other classes.

I did have some more legitimate reasons for choosing said option, like the fact that it included a lot of science, which I enjoy, but at the moment, I'm more focused on the trip.


The 21 students in my geography class left last Sunday evening in a massive 75+ person, double-decker bus.  It was a bit extravagant, but when time came to sleep and we were able to stretch our legs across the aisle, we were all glad.  Our driver, Manu (which everyone pronounced "Mahnooooooo"), made the 13-hour trek across Belgium, Luxembourg, and France to the city of Nîmes ("la Rome française"), where he left us to explore the city while he drove to our hostel to sleep.

Southern France was even better than I expected, reminding me of Spain, France, and the Western United States all at the same time.  We visited the Arènes, the Roman-style amphitheater in the middle of town, and heard all about the gladiators and bullfighters that passed through over the years.  We had a few hours for lunch before visiting the Maison Carré (literally "square house"), a museum, a famous garden, and hiking past the Tour de Magne (the Roman viewpoint for Nîmes) back to our hostel.  Even though we were exhausted, we found the energy to stay up to take pictures of the hostels many animals including the typical dogs but also ducks and goats.
          (For my family... the line "was that a goat?" is, unfortunately, much less amusing in French.)


Our second day was a trip to a town called Rustrel, famous for its Colorado Provinçal.  Basically, the same phenomena that caused the red rocks in Colorado and Utah occurred on a smaller scale in southern France, giving us some fun rock formations and lots of color.  Of course, being a geography trip, we spent a lot of our hike stopping for "Topo," or short lessons about the landscapes.  For anyone curious, the red rock is made of oxidized sand, brought by the ocean approximately 100 million years ago, solidified and transformed by the heat of the sun, and then eroded into fun formations.


On Wednesday, we visited the region of Camargue, the delta of the Grand Rhône and Petit Rhône, and saw the various human activities. On the coast, they produce salt by flooding the ground in the summer, waiting for the water to evaporate, and then collecting it.  Our teacher told us about the giant piles of salt you can see in the summer, and I pictured a salt pile about the size of the mulch pile my mother gets delivered every year.  And then we saw a real one, approximately 20m high and 800m long.  We visited a port (if only to buy baguettes for lunch) and got 11 trucks to honk at us, then moved on to the rizières.  It was still February, so the rice fields were still dry and unplanted, but it was still interesting to see: relatively small fields enclosed by 1-2 foot walls of earth and surrounded by channels for water to flow through for irrigation.  Our teacher pointed out that between the water brought in for the rice and for the salt, the entire delta was relatively wet in the summer (which is not natural for a Mediterranean climate) and therefore a lot of the beautiful color that can be seen in prime tourist season is completely human-caused.

Before heading home, we made a stop in a tourist village called les Saintes Maries de la Mer, where we had a couple hours to look around (i.e. go to the beach!).  It turned out there was one other girl in my class (a Belgian, too) who had never seen the Mediterranean sea, so the two of us had a lot of fun running around the beach and taking photos.  I convinced her to take off her shoes and come wading with me, but she wasn't as conditioned to cold oceans as I was (yay north Atlantic ocean for giving me tolerance) and couldn't stay in long.


Our last day in France we went to les Baux de Provence, which they call the prettiest village in France.  I'd believe it... it's set in lots of calcareous (for lack of a good translation) mountains with little evergreen trees and contains only cobblestone streets and cute shops/churches/etc.  Apparently in the summer you have to pay just to enter the village.  We had a picnic lunch overlooking some of the nearby houses (apparently only very very wealthy people (wealthy from exploiting the mountains) can live there) and took off on a  ~ 10km hike towards the town of Arles.  We walked a couple of hours through the mountains, seeing more red/striped rocks and great views while poor Manu had to rest up for the imminent drive home.  We got a lift the rest of the way to Arles, had one our very last Topo, then had a few hours to ourselves to walk around.  Even though Arles is called the second French Rome (after Nîmes), it was pretty small.  The three girls I roomed with and I walked around while most other people went to a movie, got some Chinese takeout, then went back to the bus to read the French Cosmo-equivalent that one of them had bought.  We left around 10 and were back to Liège early enough to have a good day to rest up.



I'm a bit late in typing this up, but between editing all my photos, typing up a resumé of the trip, and trying to figure out what I missed at school the whole week, I've had a lot of work.  Hopefully I'll get some pictures up soon.

À bientôt!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Sister Week

A picture is worth a thousand words, which means I should not even attempt to describe this whole week; between the two cameras, Greta and I probably took the better part of a thousand photos.  Instead, I give you the week in pictures:


Day 1:  Liège
Mini walking tour, trip to the Batte, return home 
to meet the family, early dinner, early bedtime




Day 2:  Liège
Walking tour: the infamous stairs, 
my school, shops, and of course frites







Day 3: Malmedy 
(with a brief interlude in Verviers while we waited for the bus)
Carnaval!



Day 4: Slightly lacking in photos 
due to the sleeping in, recovering from Carnaval, 
long trip home, and movie night

Day 5: Bruges!
Walking walking walking tour, a composite of walks from the Bruges website,
with many many In Bruges references






(I feel this photo needs explaining... we accidentally bought buttermilk;
even though 'lait battu' translates to 'beaten milk,' it is not homogenized milk)


Day 6: Brussles
After a late arrival due to lack of buses, we made a mini
walk and finished with some bulk chocolate and Belgian TV




(Moules-frites = Mussels+fries = official dish of Belgium)









(These are out of order because I stole them from my sister's camera)

Top of the Liège stairs

Carnaval


(Everyone was running and we got scared)


Chocolate!