Since I last posted, two weeks of the second semester of school have already flown by! Nothing too exciting has been going on during the school day, except for everyone in my class getting nervous about what they are going to do in June. Probably three or four out of the 22 kids in my class are planning on attending University or any type of secondary school; the vast majority are trying to decide how they will make money, where they will work, what they even want to do, which isn't easy with Belgian's economy right now. In other words, "the senior freak out" is in full effect right now and I am so glad that this time I don't have to stress :)
Wednesday the 12th I had a half day as usual, but after school I took the bus to Liege where I met up with almost all the exchange students of our district. We all got together to say goodbye to the exchange students from the Western Hemisphere, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, because due to their school systems, they come in January and leave in January. It was really hard. You make such close friends and then you have to say goodbye but you have no idea when you'll be able to say hello again. I feel really blessed to have friends from all over the world; I just didn't feel so blessed to have to see them all go. After a good cry and a waffle I took a long bus ride home to the farm.
The next day my class went on an all day field trip! We took a chartered bus in the morning to Brussels which would normally take about an hour and a half but because of bad weather and traffic it took an hour longer... Once we arrived we went and toured Breendonck which is the best preserved internment camp left from the second world war. Being there in the cold, wind, and rain was very touching and a very emotional experience. I really enjoyed it because as some of you know I am very interested in the second world war, so to see that history first hand was really special. After that we drove to a gigantic military museum on the outskirts of Brussels. The museum was very interesting, but unfortunately, due to some prank that one student pulled, we were kicked out about a half hour early... highly embarrassing. With the traffic on the way back we ended up getting home at about 7pm- quite the day.
Sometimes I feel like I am living a parallel life here... Here is a shout out to my Grandma and Aunt's birthdays which were January 16th and 20th! I say this because last weekend we had two birthday parties! One was my host aunt's 40th surprise party which was celebrated in our party room, complete with a million balloons and a DJ that kept us all entertained until 2am! The next day, Sunday, we had the birthday of Manu, our close friend of the family, which was much more relaxed, just a fancy three course dinner complete with a celebratory champagne!
However, in the middle of these two events, Sunday morning, I did some charity babysitting which of course is always one of my favorite things to do! Then I was supposed to run a race with my track team, but we ran into a slight communication problem, not with the language, with the coach who forgot to tell us- yes I wasn't even the only one- that the race was moved to a different location! I ended up showing up to a vacant track center and running 8km home with my backpack and everything- finding out later of course that there were two of my friends who did the same thing... I laugh about it now :)
This last week at school has been really fun! I feel like I am becoming closer with a variety of people which feels really good since before I really only had two or three close friends. I have experienced several very difficult track practices which I am happy with because I have been invited to some races coming up. In March I might be doing the "Rheto Trophey" which is the senior class obstacle course, including running, kayaking, rock climbing etc. Apparently they have a hard time finding girls who are interested, so hopefully that will happen. Also in May I will be doing a team marathon with three other girls, followed by a half marathon I am doing in Brussels, and of course our school gym final which is a triathlon! So bring on the chocolate and waffles!!!
Thursday night after track practice, Pauline and I went to a meeting to plan the Reconstruction of when Napoleon came through Thimister and Clermont (our town and sister town) at the very start of the first World War. The show will go on in the beginning of June and I think it will be really cool actually!
Here is one little moment that made me really happy in the last weeks... I was on the bus home from school and a girl I didn't know sat down next to me. She was talking to a boy standing in the aisle and I noticed that they were arguing over the pronunciation of an English word. Just before my stop I decided that I should put an end to the argument, so I kindly let them both know that they were both incorrect and pronounced the word correctly for them. The girl was stunned and said "Wow, you speak really incredible English"- I giggled and said "thank you, I'm American"- at this she was shocked and said "Well then you speak really incredible French" :) It is a moment like this that can make you happy for a week!
Finally, here is a moment that was really odd... I have hit the 5/10 th month of my exchange. I have also hit the middle binding of my journal that I write in every night before I go to bed. I have also ran out of the shampoo that I brought with me from America and worn out my first toothbrush. These are all weird little events that make me feel like this year is flitting by! I still have so much to do, to see, to learn and I see my time limit dwindling. I have to remember to enjoy every single second of the day because if I blink I know some of these opportunities will never present themselves again!
Wish me luck as this coming Friday I start a new adventure, leaving the farm that has served as my loving home for 5 months and go to my second host family. I am very weary about the change, but like I said, will try to appreciate everything that comes my way!
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