Wowzer! What a first week in Belgium! I can't believe it's only been a week though because I've already done so much. I'm going to have a couple posts all at once just to catch up with what's been happening so feel free to skim through as you'd like. Make sure to actually click on the pictures though because most of what I'll write will simply be in the captions. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble posting the panorama photos that I took (which were pretty rad because they gave a more real feeling of the setting and area that I was in), but c'est la vie. Monday 24 & Tuesday 25 aoûtSo basically, after a long overnight plane ride I was thrust into a grand day of meeting new people and seeing new places! It was a quite a shock though because right from the moment I got off the plane I had to speak French. Not that it wasn't what I'd been expecting, but the real thing is a lot different than I'd imagined. My host family does not speak much English so hopefully the full immersion will help me learn it a lot faster. As I said, for the first few days I was staying with Hubert, so after all of the touring, we went back to his house for dinner (I was able to finally take a nice nap before we ate, though). We ate dinner later than one would normally in the US (around 20h) but we ate a much lighter meal. Just four slices of cantaloupe with four slices of rolled up deli meat (I'm really sorry, the meat was definitely much fancier than just "deli meat" but I don't remember what kind or anything...). And then we just spent the evening relaxing and watching the Mentalist (awkwardly dubbed in French). Hubert and his wife were able to speak English with me which was very helpful those first few days while I was getting accustomed to Belgium. Although, quite honestly, I felt pretty at home here right when I arrived. There are definitely a lot of differences, but I still don't really feel like I've started my exchange because it just feels so natural to be here in Belgium. Wednesday 26 aoûtHubert lived right by a large university so there were a lot of shops nearby. It was really cool to go into those shops because all I'd really have to say upon entering a store was "Bonjour" and then "Merci" or "Au Revoir" when I left! So I could blend right in (well at least I thought I did, but my accent probably gave it away anyway) and it felt pretty neat to be Belgian... But it also made me really want to learn French as soon as possible!
Liz Bowen
18/9/2015 05:50:39
Hi, Katie! It's Liz, from Malachi House. I loved looking at all your photos and captions -- it looks beautiful there, and it sounds like you are settling right in! Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! Comments are closed.
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AuthorBonjour! I will be traveling to Brussels, Belgium as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student for the 2015/2016 year. Here is my story......Enjoy! Archives
December 2015
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