Sorry for the giant delay-- I will try to stay more punctual with weekly posts :)
I am getting really used to reading temperatures in Celcius- the system makes sense actually because when you're taking the bus to school and you see that it is 1 degree outside, it's really cold! Yes... we have already entered the scarf, hat, and coat wearing weather- I can say that one item of clothing that I have yet to touch are my shorts and flip flops... oh well- it's a good thing I know how to layer from years of backpacking trips (thanks Dad)!
We have had some very important anniversaries around the house this last week. Oct 13th was my sister Pauline's 16th birthday so we had Chinese food (her request) the night of and that weekend we went out to a restaurant with family and friends. Although she can now legally drink and work, sixteen is not that big of a celebration here like it is in America. The 14th was Margaret the Cow's one month mark-- my how she's grown! And I'm pretty sure she'll be an award winning cow if she has the chance to compete... but I suppose I'm bias... Finally- Benoit and Nicole celebrated 22 years of marriage and I think that they are just as in love as the day they met. They are such loving couple- it's really sweet.
I don't think I would ever call myself a shy person, but getting in front of the whole class to speak- in a foreign language- wracks up some nerves... Well I've done that a lot lately. I am taking a drama class here and we are doing improv so not only do I speak in front of everyone, but I don't have time to plan!!! (In retrospect this is probably a good lesson for me in letting go of control once in awhile). Then last Tuesday I did a presentation to my whole class of the USA and my life- everything from family and school to government. It took 25 PowerPoint slides and 2 hours, but the class loved it and my teacher wants me to present to other classes as well!
I love going to the pre-school every Monday morning! Some of the kids even know my name by now and know that I will be the one to read lots of stories to them! One little girl even cried when I left- so that's a good sign I guess :)
In school here there aren't substitutes really, so when a teacher isn't there for a week, like this past week, and you have her for 10 hours of classes a week, you get a lot of free time! One day I didn't have school at all! And then of course I spent the day working on the farm with Benoit which I love, but it was a hard day, my back was so sore from shoveling, not to mention that it was so cold AND there was a major hail storm!!! Hey- at least now I know the word for hail!
The best moment of these past days was going to the Natasha St Pier, a Canadian-French singer's, concert-- for free! My Rotary club offered me and the two other girls in the club free 50 Euro tickets! It was so fun! And I had recently bought her CD while I was searching for French music I liked so I was singing along with the rest of the Belgians :)
Well I am off to run a race this afternoon with my Track club, apparently the newspaper is going to be there to interview me- Yikes! The pressure!! Hopefully all goes well, although I am sure it will, this country never lets me down :)
Welcome!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
I'm about two seconds away from singing to birds and talking to mice...
Yes-- life here is so close to a fairy tale it's scary...
In this past week I have had a lot of time with the Rotary exchange students which has been fun and productive because now my blazer is SO full with pin that I could probably really hurt someone! Wednesday after school we went to a World War II Fort which was somewhat astonishing that people can live for years in essentially a cave. I was feeling antsy to get back out into the sunshine just after two hours- I can't imagine what life was like for the soldiers... afterward was great because we got to play with the cutest donkeys ever, we went on a beautiful hike among all the trees that are already changing colors, and then we got pie! That night I made me specialty, quiche from scratch, for the family- another huge success : )
It's really fun here when a teacher is sick or has a meeting because you just don't have class!! It's great for us too because we have two teachers that are pregnant so we are getting a lot of free time at school where I answer a multitude of questions about America for all my Belgian friends!
Friday, I went over to a friend of mine, Celine's, house for dinner with our group of friends and then we all dressed up into tacky outfits and went to the soiree Kitch which is just a big tacky dance party! It was so packed with people that we had to go outside just to breathe about every 10 minutes but it was still a blast!
Saturday I woke up at 5am to catch the train to Namur where I met up with the Rotary kids again and we saw the Parliament of Namur and then took a 2 hour boat ride in the 70 degree, cloudless, sunny day! It was blissful and afterwards we got waffles so you really can't complain!
Sunday morning I ran a 7K race that was only open to women. There were 205 participants and I came in 2nd place!!! Not too shabby : ) In the afternoon I was cleaning my room and Nicole tock tocked on my door and told me to come downstairs-- so I walk downstairs and there in a horse-drawn carriage standing in the lush green grass with blue skies all around waiting to take me on an hour long ride! My counselor here has horses and thought that I would enjoy a little Sunday afternoon ride!! What a dream!
Today I started working at the pre-school that is a block away from my school. I get to go over there every Monday from 9-11 instead of taking English classes at school. The kids are 18mo-3yrs and I am enjoying learning the words for bib, pacifier and other baby vocabulary!
Time is flying by so I am trying to soak up every minute, but I really do feel like I am just in a fairy tale because everything here is so beautiful and quaint. And really, who would complain about living in a fairy tale for a year : )
In this past week I have had a lot of time with the Rotary exchange students which has been fun and productive because now my blazer is SO full with pin that I could probably really hurt someone! Wednesday after school we went to a World War II Fort which was somewhat astonishing that people can live for years in essentially a cave. I was feeling antsy to get back out into the sunshine just after two hours- I can't imagine what life was like for the soldiers... afterward was great because we got to play with the cutest donkeys ever, we went on a beautiful hike among all the trees that are already changing colors, and then we got pie! That night I made me specialty, quiche from scratch, for the family- another huge success : )
It's really fun here when a teacher is sick or has a meeting because you just don't have class!! It's great for us too because we have two teachers that are pregnant so we are getting a lot of free time at school where I answer a multitude of questions about America for all my Belgian friends!
Friday, I went over to a friend of mine, Celine's, house for dinner with our group of friends and then we all dressed up into tacky outfits and went to the soiree Kitch which is just a big tacky dance party! It was so packed with people that we had to go outside just to breathe about every 10 minutes but it was still a blast!
Saturday I woke up at 5am to catch the train to Namur where I met up with the Rotary kids again and we saw the Parliament of Namur and then took a 2 hour boat ride in the 70 degree, cloudless, sunny day! It was blissful and afterwards we got waffles so you really can't complain!
Sunday morning I ran a 7K race that was only open to women. There were 205 participants and I came in 2nd place!!! Not too shabby : ) In the afternoon I was cleaning my room and Nicole tock tocked on my door and told me to come downstairs-- so I walk downstairs and there in a horse-drawn carriage standing in the lush green grass with blue skies all around waiting to take me on an hour long ride! My counselor here has horses and thought that I would enjoy a little Sunday afternoon ride!! What a dream!
Today I started working at the pre-school that is a block away from my school. I get to go over there every Monday from 9-11 instead of taking English classes at school. The kids are 18mo-3yrs and I am enjoying learning the words for bib, pacifier and other baby vocabulary!
Time is flying by so I am trying to soak up every minute, but I really do feel like I am just in a fairy tale because everything here is so beautiful and quaint. And really, who would complain about living in a fairy tale for a year : )
Monday, October 4, 2010
I Am Really Becoming Belgian!
SO sorry for the delayed post! As usual, things are crazy busy on the farm and it's always hard to find a good time to write, but here are some fun new updates...
I have started, and almost finished, my first novel for school. It is called "Le Bruit des Trousseaux" by Philip Claudel and it is about his experience in prison. I am very pleased that I am getting through it fairly easily, needless to say, I read with my little dictionary right next to me, but it is good and I am happy that I haven't had too much trouble!
Last weekend was "La Fete de Thimister" which is the town party for my little village! It is very similar to our Greentree Festival or a Fall Fest. It was really fun-- very American except for the fact that they have waffles instead of funnel cakes : ) There were lots of rides, gambling games, prizes to be won, and a big fireworks display! The last day of the Fete there was "Le Case du Savon" or the Soapbox Race. The main street, a giant hill, was blocked off and people work all year building a creative race car-- ages ranged from 8 to at least 50 and everyone in the town comes out on the Wednesday afternoon to cheer on the cars as they come down the hill! It's quite the show!
One evening, I went out with Nicole and Pauline and a friend Odile, and we went to my very first fashion show! It was really entertaining! There was a long runway, music, and lights- it was the real deal! Nicole kept on telling me to keep a look-out because this is the style for this winter and we want to be looking good! I'm starting to discover how to not stick out like a sore thumb now and becoming a little more Belgian everyday.
One other change that I have had to my school schedule is that I am now taking "Technique d'Expression" which is like a drama and public speaking class. I think that it will be really fun and hopefully it'll help my French as well; although, I am really happy with how my language skills are coming along. I sometimes catch myself just speaking and not thinking about how to conjugate each verb, or what tense to use, and I am surprised how quickly I am becoming so comfortable with the language. It's great though because then I really fit in!
This past Saturday, I went with seven members of my Track team, and we ran a marathon relay! We each ended up running equal parts of the mileage and as a team we came in 4th out of about 40 teams! The course was in the woods and was really muddy so it just made it that much more entertaining, and as usual, we ate waffles afterwards so it's always worth the work!! That same evening, the family and I went to Justine's, my sister who is doing her exchange in Texas right now, English teacher's home for a lovely exotic dinner. They were a very interesting couple who do a lot of work in South Africa, so it was a really nice evening.
Sunday I went to a member of my Rotary club's farm because he had all the Rotary men and their families over for an afternoon of eating, cow watching, and of course some more prairie golfing! It was a gorgeous day and I have met a lot of people who are all willing to take me to different places-- I might be going to Holland and Germany fairly soon!
Finally, today, I made the cut.... a new haircut for the year! I think that Nicole, a hairdresser, how convenient, took off about 4 or 5 inches! I like the new look and I think it kind of symbolizes me taking the plunge and being immersed in the Belgian life! I still wake up every morning and look out my window over rolling green pastures and think how lucky I am to have landed in this incredible country! I couldn't be happier!
I have started, and almost finished, my first novel for school. It is called "Le Bruit des Trousseaux" by Philip Claudel and it is about his experience in prison. I am very pleased that I am getting through it fairly easily, needless to say, I read with my little dictionary right next to me, but it is good and I am happy that I haven't had too much trouble!
Last weekend was "La Fete de Thimister" which is the town party for my little village! It is very similar to our Greentree Festival or a Fall Fest. It was really fun-- very American except for the fact that they have waffles instead of funnel cakes : ) There were lots of rides, gambling games, prizes to be won, and a big fireworks display! The last day of the Fete there was "Le Case du Savon" or the Soapbox Race. The main street, a giant hill, was blocked off and people work all year building a creative race car-- ages ranged from 8 to at least 50 and everyone in the town comes out on the Wednesday afternoon to cheer on the cars as they come down the hill! It's quite the show!
One evening, I went out with Nicole and Pauline and a friend Odile, and we went to my very first fashion show! It was really entertaining! There was a long runway, music, and lights- it was the real deal! Nicole kept on telling me to keep a look-out because this is the style for this winter and we want to be looking good! I'm starting to discover how to not stick out like a sore thumb now and becoming a little more Belgian everyday.
One other change that I have had to my school schedule is that I am now taking "Technique d'Expression" which is like a drama and public speaking class. I think that it will be really fun and hopefully it'll help my French as well; although, I am really happy with how my language skills are coming along. I sometimes catch myself just speaking and not thinking about how to conjugate each verb, or what tense to use, and I am surprised how quickly I am becoming so comfortable with the language. It's great though because then I really fit in!
This past Saturday, I went with seven members of my Track team, and we ran a marathon relay! We each ended up running equal parts of the mileage and as a team we came in 4th out of about 40 teams! The course was in the woods and was really muddy so it just made it that much more entertaining, and as usual, we ate waffles afterwards so it's always worth the work!! That same evening, the family and I went to Justine's, my sister who is doing her exchange in Texas right now, English teacher's home for a lovely exotic dinner. They were a very interesting couple who do a lot of work in South Africa, so it was a really nice evening.
Sunday I went to a member of my Rotary club's farm because he had all the Rotary men and their families over for an afternoon of eating, cow watching, and of course some more prairie golfing! It was a gorgeous day and I have met a lot of people who are all willing to take me to different places-- I might be going to Holland and Germany fairly soon!
Finally, today, I made the cut.... a new haircut for the year! I think that Nicole, a hairdresser, how convenient, took off about 4 or 5 inches! I like the new look and I think it kind of symbolizes me taking the plunge and being immersed in the Belgian life! I still wake up every morning and look out my window over rolling green pastures and think how lucky I am to have landed in this incredible country! I couldn't be happier!
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