This marks the official end of the beginning. I have reached the end of my final full month in Belgium. I can't believe I've already reached the point where I'm starting to see people and places for the final time.
This month I was able to do quite a bit of traveling. I took a day trip to Luxembourg with some friends which was a nice way to say goodbye to some of them. Then I had the opportunity to join the final trip organized by the Rotary which was a week in Prague and South Bohemia. It was a great final trip! In Prague, along with the two small towns we visited in South Bohemia, there is so much color everywhere! There is not a single dreary area, even in the countryside which was in full bloom with wildflowers. It was so beautiful and, moreover, it was a nice way to say goodbye to all of my exchange student friends. I am one of the last to be leaving Belgium and most everyone else has either already left or will leave this week. The Prague trip is really the last time we will all be together in such a big group and it's so hard to imagine that in just a month everyone will be in different areas of the world. On a different note, earlier this month I finally took the opportunity to go to a panel talk at NATO. Brussels is a major centre for both the European Union and NATO and I've often visited their areas. The panel was open to guests so I decided to go check it out finally after so many months. It was a talk about Poland and strengthening its borders, so a good portion of the talk was in Polish. It was so cool though because we all received little headsets which transmitted live translations English translations. It was quite interesting and I was happy to finally sit in on one of the talks and take advantage of one of the key things that Brussels has to offer. Exams are finally over and I attended my school's graduation (which doesn't involve either caps or gowns). Since everyone leaves on vacation soon, my friends from school threw me a going away party a few weeks ago even though I still have about a month left. It was really sweet, yet hard to believe that that will probably be the last time I see all of them. It's a lot harder leaving exchange than it is to go on exchange. When I left the states 311 days ago, I knew that I would return to my friends and family in a year. I knew it wasn't truly goodbye. Now, I would like to believe that this is not truly goodbye, but in reality who knows when, or if ever, I will see these people again. The idea is still too surreal for me to fully fathom, however, it's there all the same. All I can do is make the most of these last 19 days, which is exactly what I plan on doing. I suppose my next report will come from the states, so see you then!
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Hello all!
This month was relatively calm, by exchange standards, and passed as normally as is probably possible considering the unpredictable nature of exchange. The month began with yet another mini "congé," or vacation, where my art class took a trip to Amsterdam! We are a small class of about 10 students and the trip was amazing. We had the opportunity to visit many of the incredible art museums and the experience really brought a good sense of class unity as a nice conclusion to the year. Everything is slowly coming to an end and it's so hard to believe I have already arrived at this point in the year. We are taking our exams throughout the next two weeks and then school is over. Just like that. There were times when I thought the school year would never end, yet here it is and I wonder now if I actually want it to. Anyway, it was a great month and, for me, il reste 50 jours. But I plan on making the most of them as always! Hi!
I apologize that this report is coming so late. It's hard to believe that the year is already drawing to a close and we have already gone on our "end of year trips" with school. I remember looking at those trips from the other side of this year and never believing they would actually happen, yet, here they were and what an amazing time we had! I believe I explained my trip to Greece in the last email. Everything about that trip was spectacular and I was so thankful to have had the opportunity to explore such a rich and beautiful country! In the week following, I took a small trip to Nuremburg, Germany to visit some family friends. I took the train which allowed me to see some of the beautiful German countryside. It's so interesting to travel around Europe because there is of course this "European" feel to everything, yet, when you cross the border to a new country you can just tell. There are certain nuances (aside from the obvious change in language) and it's been really cool to learn and start to pick up on these unique characteristics. I had a lovely visit in Nuremberg. It's a city that has kept its medieval atmosphere while still incorporating a more modern look in some areas. It was really great! After all of that, the traveling still wasn't over as the week after we took our class trip to England as an English immersion. It was almost like a mini exchange in that we stayed with host families near to London, however, we really only stayed with the families for housing as we spent the day time touring. It was a great trip! Though it was only three days long, our class grew a lot closer together and I learned a lot of English! Actually, I ended up improving my French a lot because I was with my class the entire time. It was, at times, quite confusing as I would start speaking French with the shopkeepers and English with my class. But, to be honest, I feel like my brain is finally starting to sort out the two languages. At first, I would have my French Days and my English Days, where one language would just come easier than the other. But now I feel like I can switch between the two a lot more fluidly, even if I do accidentally slip some French lingo into my English (or as we often call it: Franglais). Finally, after all the traveling, it came time for me to switch host families for the last time. I was surprised, yet again, at how much stuff I'd accumulated these past three months. But I absolutely love my new host family! I now have two brothers, one my age and one a little younger, and a younger sister. The house is always full of life as everyone has their activities and such. So I am quite happy with my new family, although I still can't believe that this will be the last time that I change families...my how time flies. I hope you all are doing well and see you next month (aka in a couple of weeks because this update is so late...sorry)! Hello!
March was really nice, especially considering that the weather is starting to clear up a bit from the almost constant rain of winter. School has been going well. It seems like every few months we have a week, or at least a couple days, long break which is definitely something I could get used to! Earlier in the month we took a field trip to a small village in France to see an art museum. I still find it so cool that we can take quick and easy field trips into a completely different country! I also participated in a basketball tournament with my school. The school itself doesn't offer organized sports as schools do in the USA. We compete against other schools in the area, but it's more like intramurals as there aren't really any organized practices. You really just show up and play for fun. Here, if you want to compete for real in a sport, you would do it through an athletic club outside of school. As it was, however, it was fun and super neat to experience something that's the same between the USA and Belgium because basketball is one of those things that really doesn't change. On the 22nd of March, as you probably already know, Brussels was hit by a terrorist attack that targeted both the Brussels Airport and a metro station that is near to the European Union. It was a very different thing to be in the middle of, especially in the days that followed when the streets became flooded with news vans and the public transportation system became interrupted with new security measures. There are so many people that I know who only just missed the attacks or who knew one of the victims in the attacks which makes the whole situation a lot more real. However, I would not like to linger on this topic and, instead, I will finish with the grand finale of this month which was my trip to Greece! The Greece trip is a trip organized by the Rotary and our group totaled around 60 students. It was absolutely amazing! We traveled all along the south of Greece doing a nice mix of sightseeing, hiking, biking, swimming, and relaxing. It was the perfect length and the people were amazing! The whole experience feels so surreal! It was my first time ever seeing the Mediterranean Sea and it really is exactly, if not better, than how it appears in photos. We took a bike trip around the small island of Spetses, and the views of the baby blue water calmly flowing next to rocky caves of the island was something I've only ever dreamed of! Also the time of year couldn't have been more perfect. It was Spring time and all of the flowers and trees were blooming. Even in the cities you would see orange trees or lemon trees and the scent in the air was so fragrant. It was absolutely spectacular and I am so thankful to have been able to go! Anyway, it was a spectacular month and I'd say Im in a very good place right now. I'm looking forward to what comes next, appreciating what has already happened, and living in the moment to enjoy every second! The month of February has flown very quickly. I realize I say that about every month, but with this one I really mean it. We had another school break for the first week of the month for Carnival. I had the lovely opportunity to go to the world renowned Carnival of Binche! Unfortunately it rained, but in Belgium you can't let a little rain stop the festivities (mainly because, if they did, nothing would ever happen). Just kidding, we do have some very lovely, sunny, days rather often (occasionally) in Belgium. Anyway, the carnival was amazing! Hundreds of Gilles (the people who marched) were there wearing bright red and yellow costumes, klompen (the wooden clogs), and the traditional wax masks. They marched in small groups throughout the entire city. Each group was followed by a small band or, at the very least, a drummer. After the band came all of the people. It wasn't exactly a parade by normal standards because the Gilles walked throughout all the streets as they pleased and all of the "spectators" followed in a small pack carrying on the same beat of the march. And there were many of these groups marching all throughout the city! Later, at the end, all of the Gilles marched together in a grand parade down the main road throwing oranges into the crowd. I've always wanted to go to a carnival and the one in Binche was absolutely amazing!
But the best and most unexpected part of this month was when I had the opportunity to travel to Rome with my host family! We went for a weekend for my host dad's birthday and it was magnificent! Italy is everything, and more, than I could have ever imagined and the weather was absolutely perfect! Rome is full of so much living history. Just walking down the street there are buildings or landmarks over 2000 years old! The overall ambiance of the city is so lovely as well from the people to the colorful buildings to the street artists and musicians to the historic churches and monuments hidden around every corner; the city is bursting with life! Overall, it's been an absolutely incredible month full of new sights, sounds, and experiences! Hello all!
This marks my 5th month and the halfway point of my exchange. Time seems to have flown so quickly, and yet, I think back and I can't believe all of the things I've had the opportunity to do these past five months. This was my first month with my second host family and it's been very nice! My transition was smooth because both families are so amazing, yet different, in their own way. I actually really liked the change because both families are so different and it's really neat to experience! Of course, there's a whole new set of habits and such to get accustomed to, but for me personally, I find this to be the most exciting part of the change because now I can really start to learn the difference between the cultural habits versus the habits that define each family. Also, because I live a lot farther away from school now, once a week I get to spend the night at my first family's home. It's really nice because, this way, I can stay in touch with my first family and, now that I don't live with them, there is so much more for us to talk about to catch up with from the week. I really enjoy these evenings and I think I am extremely blessed to have the opportunity to stay in such close contact with my first family. This month I have been really focused on getting closer to my friends at school. It's amazing how much having the language helps! I don't know exactly when it happened, but one day I realised that, even though I had been really tired and was half falling asleep in class, I had understood everything the teacher had said. It was like a miracle! I had only been half listening and yet, I knew exactly what was going on! And once I became aware of how far I'd actually come with French in five months, I became even more determined to build on it and improve it. And it's so amazing! I can converse with my school friends and have actual conversations, not just the casual "how are you" and such (just being able to follow the rapid conversation that goes on throughout lunch is a great improvement). It's so wonderful and I love it! I absolutely love it! And I can't wait for the next half of my exchange where I can really work on fluency (not to mention attempt to solidify this accent, which I've found is really all about building confidence). But in general everything is going splendidly. I was supposed to have my first volleyball tournament with school today, but unfortunately the winter cold that's been going around has finally caught up with me. It's been a lovely month and a spectacular last five months. I can't believe I've already made it to my halfway point, but I have no doubt that these coming months will be as lovely as ever! I hope you all are doing well and Happy Groundhog Day! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I can't believe yet another month has already passed! At the beginning of the month I hit my official 100 Days in Belgium which was quite exciting! I had a week of exams at school followed by three weeks of vacation, which, compared to the two weeks of vacation in the States, I found quite enjoyable! For the holidays I took a trip to visit my Aunt in Switzerland. Unfortunately, with the unnaturally warm temperatures, there was no snow yet. But it was an amazing visit and the Swiss Alps are so beautiful! After living all of my life in the flatlands of Ohio and Belgium I found it amazing to have such immense mountains on every horizon. It was quite lovely indeed. I celebrated Noel with my host family, which I found very calm and relaxed. We had a nice dinner followed by midnight mass on the 24th and on the 25th we had a big dinner with all of the extended family. It was so nice because I now know a lot of the extended family very well from seeing them at birthdays, dinners, or at the wedding. So it was quite splendid to see everyone for Noel! I spent my last week of break traveling as much of Belgium as I could! I love how easy and simple it is to be able to take a train basically anywhere in the country. Then came the change of the year! I can't believe its already 2016! Unfortunately, the New Years fireworks were canceled in Brussels for safety reasons, but it was still a lovely turn of the year and I honestly couldn't be more thankful for everything that I did and learned in 2015, especially for the opportunity to live and study here in Belgium for a year. Thank you Rotary so much for this amazing opportunity! Only 4 months in and it has not only changed my life, but changed how I see the world and the people around me. So thank you very much for making all of this possible for me and for everyone who is on exchange. And now it is the 3rd of January and my second day with my second host family. I switched families yesterday which, to my surprise, I found quite challenging due to all of the things I've accumulated these past 4 months. I had a wonderful time with my last family and my new family is very kind and amazing as well, so I have no doubt that my time here will pass well! So there it is! On to another month and another year of fun! I hope you are all well and that you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hello!
Today is my official 100th day in Belgium! I can't believe I've already lived a third of my exchange. Time is passing so quickly! This month was quite interesting with the terrorist attacks. At the beginning of the month I traveled to Paris with one of Rotary's organized trips and not even two weeks later I came home one day to find there had been a series of terrorist attacks on the city, some in areas not far from where we'd toured. Soon Brussels was put on the highest alert for an attack and all underground public transportation was closed. Even school was closed for a few days. It sounds very ominous in words, but in actuality, life generally commenced as normal. Aside from the presence of military personal around Centre Ville and some metro/train stations (not to mention all of the news vans), it was impossible to tell that the city was in "lockdown." There's still some higher security, but everything is generally back to normal now and thank goodness everyone stayed safe. Even still, I was able to travel a lot this month. I went to London with Rotary and, this past weekend, I was lucky enough to go to Paris again with my friend's Rotary Club to do some volunteering. But there was plenty of time to tour the city as well and it was amazing! One of the members of her Rotary club gave us an amazing walking tour of Paris. I loved it almost better than my first time because this time we actually walked around the streets and saw more of the Parisian life. Paris is so beautiful, I am absolutely in love with the city! Around this time of the year, a lot of the "oldies" (exchange students who arrived in January) are leaving. I know I still have over half my exchange left, but I can't help but see the time when I leave and I already feel sad for it. I am so in love with Brussels and Belgium and Europe and I can't imagine having to leave it all behind sometime. Next week I have exams for school and then it's winter break!! They have three weeks of break here rather than just two and I'm super duper excited!! I hope to travel all around Belgium and see all of the Christmas joy! Many cities arrange cute winter wonderlands (we ran into one in Paris last weekend actually, it was right on the Champs-Elysees and it was so cute) and I'd love to see them! Also, quick side note, it's generally 55°F right now which is really throwing me off. I'm used to very cold Decembers and here I am going to school in a basic Spring jacket! Happy Holidays and I hope you receive a lot of snow! Bonjour!
This month has been really crazy! I've had a lot of fun family events during the weekends and during the week I've been very busy with school activities and exploring Brussels. But now it's the Autumn holidays so I have a week of break and it's been fantastic (I wish the US schools had these nice weeklong breaks every few months). I got back yesterday from a three day trip to Paris (organized by Rotary/Rotex) which was absolutely amazing! Even though it was only three days, I have already fallen in love with the city and I sincerely plan to return someday. It was so fun to go with all of the other exchange students and really spend time getting to know them. There's just such a cool and unexplainable atmosphere in a group of exchange students and it was the best weekend ever! Earlier in the month, I spent a weekend at a family wedding and the following weekend I spent in a castle for a family reunion. I really like meeting the extended family of my host family and it was really neat to see a Belgian wedding. Everyone is all so helpful and kind to me. My host family only speaks French with me, but these extended weekends that are absolutely all in French have been extraordinarily helpful in my learning the language. I now feel rather confident in my ability to speak French (although it was interesting when we went to Paris because the French/Parisian accent is so strong that I had a lot of difficulty understanding the tour guides). At the very least, the shop owners have generally stopped switching to English on me. But I still can't wait until I hit the point of fluency and I am always trying to develop my accent. School is going well. I started playing volleyball on Tuesdays during lunch with some friends and it's been really fun! I've never really played volleyball before, but it turns out it's a pretty cool sport. I hope to start doing basketball on Thursdays soon too. It's really nice because the sports take place during part of the lunch time so it doesn't take any time after school. I had to make my first short speech in front of my classmates a few weeks ago in French class. It was a short, impromptu, summary of a novel I'd read and it went fairly well considering the number of added gestures and acting I had to do to fully get my point across. :) I just love exploring all that Belgium has to offer! Today a friend and I took a day trip to Bruges and the city was so beautiful! It was my first time to really visit a city in Flanders, and the style is so different than anything you'd find in southern Belgium. It was the perfect day (no rain, thank you Belgium) and the streets and everything were so amazing. And then on Thursday I leave on a Rotex trip to London to finish off the Holidays! Et voila! Mon petit l'histoire d'octobre! I still can't believe that I am living in Europe! Just a year ago I hadn't even thought exchange was a possibility, or even traveling abroad for that matter. But here I am and I couldn't be more thankful for this amazing opportunity. Bonjour! This has been really crazy! I've had a lot of fun family events during the weekends and during the week I've been very busy with school activities and exploring Brussels. But now it's the Autumn holidays so I have a week of break and it's been fantastic (I wish the US schools had these nice weeklong breaks every few months). I got back yesterday from a three day trip to Paris (organized by Rotary/Rotex) which was absolutely amazing! Even though it was only three days, I have already fallen in love with the city and I sincerely plan to return someday. It was so fun to go with all of the other exchange students and really spend time getting to know them. There's just such a cool and unexplainable atmosphere in a group of exchange students and it was the best weekend ever! Earlier in the , I spent a weekend at a family wedding and the following weekend I spent in a castle for a family reunion. I really like meeting the extended family of my host family and it was really neat to see a Belgian wedding. Everyone is all so helpful and kind to me. My host family only speaks French with me, but these extended weekends that are absolutely all in French have been extraordinarily helpful in my learning the language. I now feel rather confident in my ability to speak French (although it was interesting when we went to Paris because the French/Parisian accent is so strong that I had a lot of difficulty understanding the tour guides). At the very least, the shop owners have generally stopped switching to English on me. But I still can't wait until I hit the point of fluency and I am always trying to develop my accent. School is going well. I started playing volleyball on Tuesdays during lunch with some friends and it's been really fun! I've never really played volleyball before, but it turns out it's a pretty cool sport. I hope to start doing basketball on Thursdays soon too. It's really nice because the sports take place during part of the lunch time so it doesn't take any time after school. I had to make my first short speech in front of my classmates a few weeks ago in French class. It was a short, impromptu, summary of a novel I'd read and it went fairly well considering the number of added gestures and acting I had to do to fully get my point across. :) I just love exploring all that Belgium has to offer! Today a friend and I took a day trip to Bruges and the city was so beautiful! It was my first time to really visit a city in Flanders, and the style is so different than anything you'd find in southern Belgium. It was the perfect day (no rain, thank you Belgium) and the streets and everything were so amazing. And then on Thursday I leave on a Rotex trip to London to finish off the Holidays! Et voila! Mon petit l'histoire d'octobre! I still can't believe that I am living in Europe! Just a year ago I hadn't even thought exchange was a possibility, or even traveling abroad for that matter. But here I am and I couldn't be more thankful for this amazing opportunity. Hi! Here's my nice "little" report for September!
I'm starting to get into the routine of life here. At the beginning of the month I started school at Le Sacre Coeur de Lindthout taking an art pathway. I never really had time in my course schedule to pursue art courses at my school in the US, so it's really nice to have the opportunity to take them here! My class size is generally just 11 people and at most 20 which is a lot smaller than I'm used to, but I like it a lot because everyone is friends with everyone and I've found it a lot easier to fit in than I had been expecting. The school works a little differently than my school in the states, but I think I've finally grown accustomed to it all and it's actually really great! I also started music lessons at a music school located right on my school's campus. The building is very old and very beautiful. I'm taking violin lessons and I'm in a small chamber ensemble playing the flute. I was very surprised to learn that they have different names for notes here. I thought I could at least rely on music to be the same, but I actually have to go to a special music course to learn the French terms for notes. It's actually quite interesting and I think the people I've talked to in the class were rather interested in the difference as well! Overall, I can't believe it's already been a month, but, moreover, I can't believe it's only been a month! I feel like I've done and seen so much already, its unbelievable! I try and go out and see things as often as I can and its really great to know other exchange students in my area. But its also really cool to have some Belgian friends from school! I celebrated my birthday last Friday and my friends from school surprised me with a cake and they took me to the movies after school! It was honestly one of my best birthdays ever. Then on Sunday my family had a nice dinner with me which was so kind and lovely. The language is definitely getting easier, but the feeling comes and goes. At school I'm still very lost in class, with the exception of Science because a lot of the terms are the same in that class. The other weekend I went out with my host brother and I was able to converse fairly seamlessly with the other Belgians. Yet, other times it's extremely difficult to understand people. I haven't yet reached the point where it makes sense, which I guess makes sense because it's only the first month. I dreamed in French a few times but they were small, basic things that actually didn't make a lot of sense. But at least I know my brain is trying! Tomorrow I'm going to help paint my host sister's new house and then Sunday we will celebrate my host mom's mother's birthday! Also, each weekend my host mom and I go to this amazing outdoor street sale called Brocante. It's located in a different neighborhood each week and tomorrow is a really big one that I think we are going to! You can quite honestly find anything and everything at Brocante and it's quite amazing! So there's September! Everything's great and awesome here and thank you again for making all of this possible! |
AboutThis will include a general copy of the monthly reports that I send to my Rotary Club in the USA. Thus, if I ever do not post for a while, this will always be updated monthly. Archives
June 2016
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