Frites, Frites and more Frites

It's been a while since I last posted; today is my 36th day in Belgium! Things are starting to settle down here, I'm getting used to my schedule at school a bit, I know where all my classes are (usually), and I can understand quite a bit...speaking is a bit more difficult though, but as one Rotarian said at my last meeting: "Understanding is the first step, and speaking is the second!"

Frites in Namur at the Fêtes de Wallonie

First thunderstorm in Belgium reminded me of home A LOT.

Tintin Musuem 

Being a tourist in Namur

A beautiful park near my house 

The other day I was walking and a man asked me (in French) where the train station was and I managed to give him the correct directions (I think).  Also, I understood the announcement at the gare yesterday that the train to Namur-Bruxelles-Midi was running 10 minutes late.

In some classes at school I'm starting to understand more, but in others I understand less each day (Math and Chemistry are completely different here than in Canada).

Yesterday I went kayaking with the other exchange students which was a lot of fun, but really long.  We went either 13 kms or 20 kms (definitely felt like 20).  It took about three hours I think, and I was so happy to see the finish! Today with my host father, brother and grandpa we biked around 20 kms...so needless to say I'm slightly sore.  But it's good to get some exercise, because the food in Belgium is very delicious and I've been eating lots of frites!

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The Belgian Life

As of today I have been in Belgium for 19 days, which seems crazy! Last week I started school, which is very difficult because of the language barrier, but it's getting a little better.  I'm starting to be able to express myself (slightly) in French and I understand a lot of what is said.  But it's been a lot more difficult that I thought it would be.

Right now it is currently raining (typical Belgian weather) but last week it was extremely hot, which I was definitely not prepared for.  I went to great Rotary dinner in a nearby town, started reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban en Français, enjoyed the rare Belgian sunshine, went swimming, watched my host brother play water polo, watched Belgium beat Scotland in a world cup qualifier and went to a Rotary District Orientation.

View from my room #1

View from my room #2

The symbol of Ciney is their tower...it's on all the beer and official city things, but a couple years ago there was a freak storm and the tower was destroyed!

This week was my first full week at school and I had French class for the first time, which I understood absolutely nothing of.  My other classes are a little bit easier to understand, but I can't really do any of the work.  Homesickness hit me for the first time this week; I did lots of writing in my journal and am feeling better about everything now.  Last night I went with my host family to the launch of the new Range Rover sport; there was lots of wine, food and a grand entrance with a smoke machine.

To end this post, here's a quote I found that completely sums up how I've been feeling:

 "It was very tough at first. Moving to a new country is like being born all over again. You are just like a baby. You can't speak, you can't move around, and you don't know the culture."

-  Humans of New York

Bisous everyone xxxx

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First Week in Belgium

So it doesn't really feel like I've been in Belgium for one week.  Time has been going by very strangely, and I know that this year is going to fly by. The flight from Vancouver to Frankfurt wasn't too bad, but I couldn't sleep....my brain wouldn't shut off no matter how hard I tried.  I was very happy to get a window seat, because my favourite part of flying is looking out at the clouds...

My lovely dinner while flying over the Arctic

It was very serene watching the moon while flying above the clouds.  I ate breakfast while flying over some Scottish mountains - definitely somewhere I would like to visit! When I arrived at the Frankfurt airport, I had to trek all the way to the other side. Seriously, it was such a long walk with my 15 pound backpack...and then I couldn't find my return flight ticket for the customs man, but he eventually let me through without it because I was looking through my bags for around ten minutes (of course I found it later, in my backpack).  When I arrived in Brussels, I had been awake for at least 24 hours and I was not feeling so hot, it was very overwhelming to walk out into the arrivals area where there were so many people....my family was right in the centre waiting for me.

After bisous (kissing everyone on the cheek), we headed out to the car...once we started driving (still in pretty heavy traffic) I thought 'hmmm it feels like we are going pretty fast' and then I looked at the speedometer and we were going 120 kilometres....everyone in Belgium drives very, very fast....I believe we hit 170 kms/hour....and also no one uses their signals, everyone just weaves in and out, but I have yet to see an accident.

Instead of going to the house right away, we went to a Rotary dinner, which was held in the president's basement, with lots and lots of food, wine and dessert.  Everyone was very welcoming, and some of the Rotarians speak a bit of English so we can communicate better.

The view from my bedroom on the first night

When I finally went to bed around 9ish after eating crepes, I had been awake for over 30 hours, which is a new record for me.

Here is a list of some things I did the first few days

• explored Ciney a bit
• visited my school
• ate some fantastic meals
• slept a lot

My house from the backyard

Ma chambre

View of the backyard from my balcony

On Thursday I went to Brussels with all the other exchange students in Belgium...I think that there are over 200!

I really have no idea what is going on in the picture, but I thought it was interesting 

One of the things I've learnt in Belgium is that I never know 100% what is happening...my french is très, très terrible. I just have to go with things, because I never know exactly what everyone is saying! So today I went to a jazz concert (well it was actually walking through a park following a small jazz band), but I had no idea what we were doing until we started walking. Sometimes (actually all the time), I am very confused.

On the drive back to Ciney we stopped at a church...

That's it for this post, tomorrow I am going to go shopping for some more clothes, and then on Tuesday I start school...I'm nervous, but I know that it will really help with my french.....bisous everyone xxxx

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