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!
There is really no other way to get awkward introductions out of the way, but this is it!
ReplyDeleteI'm Jamie, I live in Phoenix, Arizona, and I've been looking at going abroad for the past year and one half. It started with Japan, then moved to goodness-knows where before my friend (who is also an exchange student) got me hooked on Belgium. I've actually read another guy's blog in addition to this one (Austin Copeland, I think was his name - his story was captivating, and with the way he told it, it was very interactive and I felt like I was with him and could explain everything that happened to him in great detail and that I had actually experienced everything myself...), but I'm so glad you're there right now! It's really cool.
I just wanted to say I really like your blog - you have a fantastic voice - witty, entertaining, and I've even found myself laughing out loud much more than just once. (:
I remember hearing about the shooting in Liege (no accent mark bugs me.. haha) and actually having some sort of tie because of my Belgian friend, and even just reading this makes me realize how small of a world the world can be.
(I've also joked with him about Belgium's government.)
I guess I'm just completely whisked away by your experience. (:
It's not like I need to say this, and I might check to see if you've updated this blog in maybe a couple months or even never, but I wish I could do this so much. (:
My father is just 100% completely averse to my going abroad. I feel like if, after my 18th birthday, I decide to do a gap year abroad without his explicit approval or permission, he might not help pay for college (but then again, many people pay for college on their own without their parent's help).
Do you have to type on an AZERTY keyboard? It's crazy hard!
Anyhow, have a fantastic rest of your stay!
Hope I made you smile, even if you don't check the comments because there never seem to be any regardless. (:
(PS: It's also cool two people in Maine would go to Belgium. What a coincedence! :))
My Belgian friend had Speculoos for the first time a month or so ago when his mother sent him a care package, believe it or not! Haha! (:
You are a very lucky person. (: So happy for you!
Hi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteI do actually read the comments (when there are some) because they get sent to my email (thank you technology). I'm sorry you haven't been able to convince your dad to let you go on exchange (I was really lucky to have parents that were willing to think about it, especially when I pointed out the value for the language), but it did make me smile to hear that you were reading my blog. I do my best to update at least once every week; I do sometimes forget if things are busy, but compared to a lot of the exchange students I know, I write pretty frequently :)
Fortunately, I brought my own laptop (for college applications, etc.) so I get to type on a QWERTY keyboard, although I have tried writing things on Belgian computers and fail miserably. The worst thing is the M in the wrong place... I never find it.
That's so strange that your friend had never had Speculoos. It was one of the first things I ate here.
Thanks for writing, I'll do my best to keep up for the rest of my year!
"Day 6: We made a mini walk..." I love it! You're using French syntax in English!
ReplyDeleteMy sister liked pointing that out to me too. The problem with hanging out with the other exchange students is that we don't necessarily notice it in either direction!
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