Thursday:
Anne-Michèle, Amaury, Etienne and I went to dinner at my second host family's house. I met my second host dad for the first time, which was cool. My next host sister, Valérie and I talked quite a bit, and she said she knew of really cheap train tickets to Paris, and that she was already planning on taking me. I'm very excited! :) I also talked to Valérie's boyfriend, Lionel quite a bit. He's a very interesting fellow. He likes both Star Trek and Star Wars, so I think we'll get along swimmingly.
Friday:
Adrien came home from England. We were all a little worried that he wouldn't be able to make it because trains were being cancelled left and right because of all of the snow. However, he made it home, safe and sound. It's nice having another brother in the house. He and I chatted quite a bit in English, which was pretty fun. When I first arrived, I didn't understand a word of what he said in French, but I can understand almost everything he says now, which, to me, is a sign of progress.
Friday night was the Christmas party with my host dad's family. Everyone who goes to the Sunday lunches at Mami's house was there, and we all had a good time laughing and talking. The food was delicious, too. At the end of the meal, Anne-Michèle came up to me and handed me two presents, which were from the whole family. There were two lottery tickets in an envelope (I won 6 euro!), and a little book Anne-Michèle had wrapped. It's a Tintin story. Tintin is a comic in the French speaking world. As excited as I am about the book, I'm even more excited by what's inside of it: after I opened it, Anne-Michèle pulled out a pen, and the entire family signed the book for me. Some wrote their name, some wrote little messages. Either way, it's one of the most heart-warming, loving things I've ever received. I almost started to cry watching everyone sign it. I haven't had a chance to read what everyone wrote yet, as Arnaud took the book and hasn't signed it yet. He says he needs to think before he writes in it, which I can understand. I know when I finally read everything, I'm going to cry my eyes out. I just felt so loved by these people who have welcomed me into their homes, lives, and family. It's a one in a million experience, I think.
Saturday:
I went to my second host family's house again, for Christmas lunch. I finally met my host brother, Cèdric, as well as a few other family members. It was a very small, intimate group of people, which was a change from the big family I'm used to here. The food was, of course, excellent. We had these delicious seafood scoop things in a really thick sauce... SO GOOD. I also got to ride in a tractor for the first time. Lemme tell ya, that John Deere guy sure knows what he's doing when it comes to tractors. It was like riding thunder. That tractor blazed through snow like nobody's business. SO AWESOME.
Sunday:
Sunday I slept in, which was nice and relaxing. :) We had lunch as a family, like usual, and we exchanged gifts as a family. I gave Adrien his Colorado tshirt, which all of his friends said was cool, apparently. Anne-Michèle gave me a bottle of perfume which smells delicious. I'm spoiled. I haven't given gifts to the rest of the family yet because their gifts aren't here. They're in Switzerland with my friend Evan, who came to visit a friend of his who lives in Belgium. Tiny world, I know. But I'm getting the gifts from him when he comes back, and then I'll be able to exchange with the rest of the family.
We left at 5:30 to go to the Christmas with Anne-Michèle's family. It was a lot of fun talking to new people. It turns out, one of the cousins, Rodolphe, spent a year at Oklahoma State University. We spent a good portion of the evening talking about America: fast food, skiing, life in college, things that surprised him, etc. It was quite enjoyable. As it turned out, he had also pulled my name for the White Elephant gift exchange. He gave me a lovely pair of earrings and a little spa kit, two things I adore. The food was excellent, again, and I had a great time, although by the end of the night I was simply exhausted. All of the parties catch up to you, you know? We got home at about 2 am, and then I tried to fall asleep, which just didn't happen. So I stayed up until 4:45 this morning trying to fall asleep. I finally passed out from sheer exhaustion, I think.
That's the story of Christmas here in Belgium, folks!
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