There's nothing more awkward...

than family fights at dinner. Especially if you're an exchange student, and you only know half of what's going on. And especially when your awesome little host brother starts to cry. Ah well, I suppose it's part of the life of an exchange student -- seeing things you normally wouldn't see in your own family. Coming from a household of two (my mom and moi), it's really weird for me to see other families fight. I've never liked it. It totally freaks me out when I'm at a friend's house and their parents argue, or my friend gets chewed out for not doing something they were supposed to do. I've never liked it. I prefer to pretend that family problems don't exist when I'm visiting someone. I know it's a tad cowardly, but much easier for me (and far less disconcerting for the people doing the actual fighting), to stare off into space, or down at my plate, eating furiously, pretending not to notice that they're fighting. Les Cartuyvels are great people, and they do their best to make me feel comfortable and help me know what's going on, even if I'd rather be left 100% in the dark. For example, today, after they solved whatever problem was going on (I didn't catch that; the fork I used tonight was exceptionally lovely), Etienne turned to me and said, "Les garcons! Adrien est gentil mais..." and smacked his head in his hand. (The boys! Adrien is nice but...) I looked up, and he seemed to expect an answer, so I did what I usually do in this sort of situation: chose something random and inanimate and say something about it. I said, "J'aime bien les fleurs." (I like the flowers.) The whole table roared with laughter. It's a highly effective method of avoiding awkward topics, I recommend it.

In other news, I spent most of today with Talia, an American exchange student from Minnesota. She's super nice and we spent most of the day talking about home, being an exchange student, and French. It was nice to speak so much English, and I was surprised at how easy it was to understand the French later. I still have a LOT of work to do, but I like where I'm at. I need to be happy with it and just accept the fact that I'm not always going to pick things up right away. I'll forget stuff, I'll screw up, I'll mix up the words for "decided" and "dead." But hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Mikayla

P.S. I really need to get some books written in French. Oh, do I want Harry Potter!

By the way... I got a clock. :) And a "GSM" (cell phone). I have to buy minutes for it, which is a little weird, mais c'est la vie. I like it in Belgium. A lot. :)