I've been home for a week

and a lot has already happened.

I've been to CSU for Preview (orientation). I've seen the horses, been to a Renaissance Festival, found a Work-Study job, given my Rotary Presentation, seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (in 3D!), and seen my aunts and uncles. I also received some DELICIOUS lasagna from Ericson.

It feels good to be home, but I miss Belgium and my Belgian friends. I want to sit down with Pauline and watch XFactor, listening to her stories from Romania. I want to spend the night at Talia's, watching Pretty Little Liars. I want to eat a waffle from the best waffle place in Liege. I really, really want to speak French.

Finishing up.

Today is Friday; it's 1:44 pm here.

On Sunday at 11 am, my plane will take off, and I'll be on my way to Colorado.

I know that there are a lot of posts I haven't put up here. I made a list a while back, but I haven't gotten around to writing. I feel that I owe the rest of these posts to those of you who read this, so here's what I'm going to do: I'll keep posting after I get home, tying up loose ends, etc. I have to write about Paris and Prague and the rest of that list. I'll get around to it, I promise. It might take a while, since lately, I haven't been in the mood to write. I think it's because in my head, my exchange is over. I put things in a certain place mentally, and that's where it is. I'm ready to go home, but I will miss Belgium. Keep looking for updates, as there will be quite a few coming up.

Thanks for reading.

Mikayla

Belgium is crying.

I like to think it's because I'm leaving on Sunday.

But really, I love the rain.

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.

-- Marc Brown

Hannah.

For those of you who haven't seen on Facebook, my best friend Hannah is one of the top 10 contestants for Stuck at Prom, a scholarship competition that requires a couple to make their prom outfits out of Duck Tape. It took her about 30 rolls of Duck Tape and 130 hours of work, but she made it happen.

This is the link to vote for her:

http://www.duckbrand.com/Promotions/stuck-at-prom/approved/5824.aspx

Of course, feel free to browse the photos, etc. In order to vote, you have to make an account on the Duck Tape website, but you can opt out of receiving emails from the company. If Hannah wins first place, she will receive $5,000, her partner in this, Luke, will receive $5,000, and her high school will receive $5,000. ALL of this money will be going toward education.

If you have any questions, please ask! You can vote every day until the 11th.

I'm going to miss listening to Pauline sing.

Camille.

Coucou ma belle.

Je voudrais te remercier pour tous les bons moments de cette année. Même avant d'arriver en Belgique, je savais que tu serais quelqu'un de très importante dans ma vie. Au début, quand on a commencé parler, tu m'as beaucoup aidé avec tes gentils mots et drôles histoires. Merci pour les crêpes, pour le thé, pour les rires, pour l'encouragement, pour les photos, et pour la benevolence. T'étais une grande soeur exceptionelle, et je garderai les bons souvenirs pendant toute ma vie.

Bisous, et à bientôt,

Mikayla

Goodbye

Today is the last time I'll see my group of exchange student friends.

I keep waiting for it to "hit me," but it still hasn't. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for. That sucker-punch feeling in the pit of my stomach? Uncontrollable tears? Anger? Sadness? An even stronger desire to return to Colorado?

I was writing goodbye letters to my friends, and I was thinking about this. I thought about when I left Colorado. I hadn't really cried or made much of a fuss about leaving for Belgium, until the night before my flight. I bawled like a baby, and curled up in my mom's bed. I ended up crying hysterically until 3:30 am (keep in mind I had to be up at around 5), and finally fell asleep for a little while.

I cried waiting for my plane to come in Denver, and I cried for a good portion of the flight to DC. But when I got there, I told myself that that was enough; the adventure was beginning NOW, and I wanted it to begin on a good note. After that, there were no more tears. I didn't really feel a huge slap from culture shock. Life here just became my routine.

Now I'm wondering if that will happen when I return in just under two weeks (I still can't believe it's that soon!). Will I fall back into life the way it used to be? Am I different? Are my friends? What about my friends from Belgium (exchangers and Belgians alike)? Will we be able to keep in contact other than the occasional "Hey, what's up?" and a Facebook "Happy Birthday!" ?

I don't think it'll ever really "hit" me that I'm going home. I think it'll just happen, and things will continue. I've come to the conclusion that that's just how life works. Things don't come in great waves and uncontrollable bouts like in movies or books. Life just keeps trucking on, like little waves hitting the shores of a lake.

Greece IV.

Day 8

April 17

The 17th was a pretty miserable, rainy day. We spent a lot of time in the bus (comme d'habitude), and drove around to see the Tomb of Agamemnon and Mycenae. After that, we drove to the ruins of Epidaurus, home of the famous theater. This theater has AMAZING acoustics. You can hear everything, regardless of where you're sitting in the stands. Tour guides will often have the groups of visitors scatter throughout the stands and then will light a match from the stage. Everyone in the crowd can hear the sound. An exchange student from Florida, Lily, sang the Star Spangled Banner for us, and we could all hear her perfectly. It's really quite extraordinary.

Overall, it was a pretty low-key day. We didn't do anything super exciting (and we were all exhausted!) and everyone went to bed and waited for the next day.

Day 9

April 18

OLYMPIA!

On the 18th, we visited Olympia, our final stop in Greece. We saw Zeus' Temple (which used to contain one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World), Heras' Temple and the Philppieon. We weren't there for long, and after a quick visit and some pictures, we got back in the bus to go to Patras, where we were catching our ferry to Italy.

While driving down the streets of Patras to the port, we all received a rather massive shock. There were mobs on both sides of the road trying to climb into the truck in front of us, and when that didn't work, they tried to climb under our bus and into the luggage compartments.

Needless to say, some of the exchange students were terrified and with good reason. Throughout the year, we have all learned that there are many "sans-papiers" (without papers) living in Europe. Many, many immigrants come from Romania, Moldova, Turkey, Serbia, etc to live in Western Europe. They're the equivalent of illegal immigrants from Mexico in the US, except that once they arrive in certain countries in Europe (like Belgium, for example), they are given papers and benefits like social security and unemployment. There are huge political wars raging over this right now, but that's not the point of this post. The point is that it was SCARY when the bus was mobbed by people. Granted, they didn't try to harm us, but it was scary knowing that they were underneath the bus, practically dragging along the ground. It made me realize how lucky I am in life; I'll never have to experience that level of desperation, trying to make a better life for myself in another country. I'm lucky to be an American citizen.

After a few scares with people underneath the bus, we made it onto the boat and settled in for a night of sea-travel. We arrived in Italy the next day, ate at Gino's restaurant again, and finally made it home on the 20th.

And that, my good folks, is the end of Greece!

Who am I?

When I came to Belgium ten months ago, I was Mikayla, a 16 year old American girl.

That has changed. I am no longer just that Mikayla.

I am not just American. I am Korean/Australian, Canadian, Mexican, Indian, and Belgian.

I am a rhéto.

I am an adult.

I am a world traveler, and I have become a global citizen.

I am bilingual.

I am part of a bigger picture.

I am a New Yorker (thanks Em-Bem).

I am free.

I am a revolutionary.

I am a teacher.

I am a giver.

I am a dreamer.

I am a learner.

I am a laugher and a crier.

I am full of hope.

But most importantly, I am Mikayla, and I have become who I am meant to be.

Out of sync.

Hey folks.

I know my blog has become... sporadic. I have lots of posts to finish and lots of stories to share.

I need to finish:

Greece (no WAY was that 2 months ago...)

Rachel! (and our adventures)

Amsterdam

and just a regular life update as well.

I'm sorry I'm so behind, really, I am! I'll catch up soon.

I'm leaving for Prague tomorrow though, so these updates will take a while.

Mikayla

P.S. 24 days left!

It's exam time.

And it's a wonderful time to be in Belgium.

Why?

See, normally, people here get dressed up. Every day. They wear sweaters and cute skirts and boots and scarves. What girls wear to school here would be considered high-class formal wear in Colorado.

They NEVER wear sweatpants. Sweatpants are for the barraquis (the equivalent of trailer trash) and other street urchins. A respectable person would not be caught DEAD in a pair of sweatpants.

Even when people come home from school/work, they stay in the same clothes until 10:30 at night when they go to bed. People do not wear t-shirts, except for sleeping. Everything is kept presentable and classy, all day long.

Except during exams.

During exams, Belgians try to make their heads explode with as much knowledge as possible from the school year. They study 10-12 hours per day, every day, only stopping for 5 or 10 minutes to eat/go to the bathroom/have a breakdown about failing all exams and doubling (failing and retaking the year) once every 5 or 6 hours. They are so focused on studying that they don't bother to get dressed in the morning, since they'll be staying home all day. They stay in pajamas all day long, and simply fall onto their beds at night. They get up the next morning and they do the same thing.

And it's wonderful.

See, I LOVE sweatpants. They are my best friends in the world. There were many days when I went to school in sweatpants (in the US. I wouldn't DARE do it in Belgium). I will happily go just about anywhere in sweatpants (there have been weeks at a time where I wear nothing but sweatpants. It's lovely), and I think nothing of it. But here in Belgium, coming down to breakfast still in sweats is considered... not very classy. It's been killing me all year to have to be presentable all the time. A few months ago, I came up with a system to get my sweatpants fix. Here's how it works:

1. Wear sweatpants to sleep, and sleep as much as possible.

2. Wake up in the morning, complete total morning routine (shower, brush teeth, pack school bag, do makeup, etc) while still wearing sweats. Put "real" clothes on at the last possible second.

3. Eat breakfast, leave house, go to school.

4. Daydream about glorious sweatpants laying across the bed, just waiting to be worn again.

5. Come home from school, walk home as quickly as possible.

(This one serves two purposes: 1. it gets me to my sweatpants faster, and 2. it prevents my host siblings from seeing if I fall down the hill again on the way back to the house. Another story for another post)

6. Grab quick snack

7. Go upstairs, release self from evil, inhibiting jeans

8. Put on glorious, loving, soft sweatpants

9. Sit up in room for about 2 hours, doing homework, etc while basking in warm glow from sweatpants

10. Take off sweatpants

11. Change back into evil monster jeans

12. Go to dinner/hang out with host family, etc

13. Hear plaintive calls from sweatpants, begging not to be left alone

14. Finish dinner/hang out with family a little more

15. Bedtime! Run upstairs and hug sweatpants before putting them back on and falling asleep enveloped by their warm embrace

It's a great plan, I know.

Except right now, I can wear sweats ALL day long, because my host sisters are doing it.

Dear Exams:

I love you.

Fondly,

Mikayla

Yesterday was my last day of Belgian school.

Talia, Emma and I presented an oral exam together in Social Sciences, which we passed with flying colors (45/60, a GREAT score by Belgian terms). It was a pretty simple exam, but it was nice to finish on a good note like that. It's weird to think that I'll never have a class there again; that it's all over.

After we finished our exam, our super awesome teacher, Madame Gallo, drove me to my second host family's house so I could pick up a package from my mom. I ate lunch with my family and caught up with them, and then my host mom drove me home.

I spent the rest of the day bumming around, talking to my host sisters and to friends back in the States. It's nice to finally be on summer vacation!

Countdown: 29 days left in Belgium!

I have been in this country for 10 months, and I have yet to master the ability to pour liquids from boxes.

I'm learning a new language! Milestone 2.

2. The Silent Treatment

This comes right after you realize that no, in fact, you do not have any idea what's going on. It's much easier to sit in silence than to try to join in the conversation.

It's kind of like this post.

Empty.

Rachel is here!

Coucou les amis !

Hier, mon amie, Rachel, est venue des USA me rendre visite ! Je suis hyper heureuse qu'elle soit ici. Heir, on est allée partout à Bruxelles avec une autre amie, Netta, qui habite en Allemagne. On a visité le Royal Musée des Beaux Arts, l'Automium, la Grande Place, le Mannekin Pis et pleins d'autres choses aussi. Elles ont essayé les gaufres belges, nous avons mangé des frites (avec la sauce Brésil !) et on a acheté du vrai chocolat belge ! YUM !

Hier soir, Rachel et moi, nous sommes revenues à la maison, et elle a rencontré ma soeur Camille et ma maman d'accueil, Fabienne. Aujourd'hui, elle à rencontré ma soeur Pauline et mon frère Quentin. Maintenant, toute ma famille est en blocus (ils étudient pour leurs examens), donc Rachel et moi allons voyager en Belgique ! On ira à Anvers, à Oostende (et la mer !), à Bruges, et à Maastricht (aux Pays-Bas) et à Aix-la-Chapelle en Allemagne ! Je suis contente. :)

Pour le moment, Rachel est super fatiguée, et elle dort beaucoup. Mais ça va. On va regarder les films en français (oui, elle parle français !) et on va marcher dans mon village aussi.

Je sais que je n'ai pas encore fini mes posts sur la Grèce et Paris, et j'ai pas encore mis les photos de l'Espagne. Bientôt, je vous promets !

Bisous,

Mikayla

P.S. Il me reste que 42 jours en Belgique ! Le temps passe vite, n'est-ce pas ?!

SPAIN!

Hello all.

Last Friday, I jetted off to Barcelona, Spain with my second host mom (Malou), my host sister (Valérie) and her boyfriend (Lionel), my host mom's nieces (Marie and Guillaumine) and two of Valérie's friends (Oliver and Laura). We arrived late Friday night (after a bus scare -- my bus was 10 minutes late and we weren't sure I'd have a way to get all the way to the house... but it was fine. :) ) and, after dropping our suitcases off at the apartment we rented, we headed out for a glass of sangria and something to eat. It was a lot of fun just sitting around with everyone, talking and relaxing. When we arrived, we saw a large protest going on at the Plaça Catalunya (this will come back into the story, promise).

The next morning, we got up at about 10, and after everyone got ready, we walked to a boardwalk-like area a few streets away and began meandering around, taking pictures and embracing the Spanish sunshine. After a little while, we came across one of those tourist buses, and decided to tour Barcelona that way. I've always laughed at those tourists in the buses, snapping pictures everywhere, etc. But the bus ride was very informative, and I saw a lot of parts of Barcelona that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. After driving around that first day, we went out to dinner at a seafood restaurant. As I'm not really one for seafood, I had pasta instead. After that, we walked around the boardwalk a bit, before heading back to the apartment. On the way there, we decided that Olivier, Lionel, Marie, Guillaumine and I were going to go out and celebrate Lionel's birthday (June 7). We went out boire un verre (have a drink) for that, and partied it up with some natives. We didn't get home until about 3, so we were wiped out the next day.

Sunday, we took the bus again and went to La Sagrada Familia, the most beautiful church I've ever seen. Pope Benedict XVI visited a few years ago (2008?) and named it a basilica. It was started by the artist Gaudi in the early 1900s, and construction has been going on ever since (over 100 years!) and it's still not finished. The interior was completed a while ago, but the towers and the exterior are still being worked on. At the end, the church will have 18 towers:

1 for every apostle (12)

1 for each Evangelist (4)

1 for the Virgin Mary

1 (the largest) for Jesus. The work that has already been done is just extraordinary. The attention to detail is staggering. There are details in places I didn't know details could be! Visiting La Sagrada Familia was probably one of my favorite parts of the whole trip, because I knew I was standing in a part of history. It wasn't just some old church, it was a piece of art that has been worked on by countless men and women throughout the last century. Isn't that amazing?

After that, we continued our bus tour, but this time on a different route, and headed over to the Gaudi Park. While the word "park" usually invokes images of grass, trees, and greenery, this park was architecturally-based. It was full of colors and swirls and designs and shapes. Being in there kind of felt like being inside a kaleidoscope. We stopped and had lunch there, before going back to the apartment. That night, Lionel cooked pasta and a tomato/ham sauce, which was DEE-licious!

Monday, we all split up to do different things for the day. Lionel, Olivier and Guillaumine went to the beach and got some lovely sunburns; Malou, Laura and Valérie went shopping; and Marie and I were supposed to go to the Picasso museum, so we could at least say we did something cultural on our trip. ;P The museum was super close to our apartment, and we marched off in that direction after breakfast. We arrived a whopping 8 minutes later, only to discover that the Picasso Museum is closed on Mondays. Well then. We took some pictures of the signs that said it was closed (so we could give proof to Malou, haha) and then we jetted off to the Plaça Catalunya to pick up some gifts and to see what we could see. When we arrived, the afore-mentioned protest was still going on. We stopped and looked through some cardboard signs that had been left on the ground, and Marie took one home for a souvenir. It has a hand painted on it doing the rock symbol:

\m/

You know? With your pinky and your index finger sticking up, but your middle and ring fingers folded down? When I upload pictures to my computer, I'll put one up, okay?

After that, we hopped over to the Hard Rock Café so I could pick up a gift for Jordan. Marie bought one for her boyfriend, Hugo, as well. And we both bought bracelets for 2 euro to aid people in India. The woman working at the Hard Rock was super nice, and very interesting. She's originally from Columbia, and she had one of the most AWESOME tattoos I've come across. It's on her forearm, and it's an elephant from a Dalí painting. I don't know if you know much about Dalí, but he experimented with surrealism and such. His work is very interesting, I suggest you Google him.

After the Hard Rock, we went back to the protest and walked around some of the booths, talking to the people there, and learning about the protest. We found a guy who spoke French, so he explained it to us. That man speaks 5 languages: Spanish, Catalan (the local dialect in Barcelona), English, French, and Arabic. He was with the environmental group at the protest, who were making little ashtrays out of old soda/beer cans and giving them away for free. They made them the same way we made Christmas ornaments in RiverWatch last year. Just goes to show, the function of an item depends on how you look at it. He told us we were allowed to take one, as they were being given away for free, so we did, as a souvenir. After that we continued to walk around, and walked through an area where people were selling books as part of the protest. Next to that, there was a booth where you could get your shirt spray-painted with a message about the protest. Well, not being ones to miss out on the opportunity to get a protest shirt, Marie and I ran to H&M to get cheap tank tops to spray paint. We came back, and we found someone to explain the phrases to us in English (I then translated for Marie), as they were originally in Catalan, a language neither Marie nor I can speak. :P

Our shirts say:

HEM PERDUT LA POR

which translates to

We have lost the fear.

I like it a lot.

Note: Does anyone know the history of the Catalan language? I think it's a combination of French and Spanish, but I could be wrong. I've come to that conclusion for 3 reasons:

1. Barcelona is pretty close to the French border, so it's normal that the cultures would have inter-mixed

2. There is a ç in the word plaça, and probably other words as well. As far as I'm aware that little tail (called a cedille) is only present in the French language, and does not exist in Spanish.

3. The words "la por" mean "the fear." In French, the word fear is "la peur." Kinda similar, no?

After making our shirts, Marie and I went to one of the large fountains in the park to cool our feet off and to relax and enjoy the Spanish sunshine. While over there, we took some pictures, rocked our new shirts, had a random woman take a picture of us in the fountain, and met a group of Catalan teenagers. One of the girls in the group spoke English, and she and I talked about the protest (she told us we weren't allowed to wear protest shirts if we didn't know what they were protesting), the government, and corruption. Marie and I then explained to her that Belgium hasn't had a government in over a year (that's a record, folks). She didn't understand how that was possible, so we did our best to explain. But, in all honesty, I'm not even sure how that's possible. It's a bit of a pickle we're in, no?

After a bit, Marie and I headed back to the apartment and we met up with everyone there. Laura and Olivier were leaving that night, so we all said goodbye. That night we stayed in the apartment and ate the leftovers of Lionel's pasta, which was just as good as the first day. The next morning we were up bright and early (8 am or so...) and we packed up our things before heading out for just a little more shopping. A day or two earlier, Marie and I had found a super cool store called Happy Pills. I laughed when I saw the sign, and explained to Marie why we call anti-depressants "happy pills." We decided to go inside anyway, and it turned out to be a candy store! You choose your bottle size, and then fill it with any type of gummy candy you want. There were chili peppers that were super spicy (Marie and I found that out the hard way), giant strawberries, eyes and teeth, eggs sunny-side up (all candy, I promise!), and gummy worms!!!! We decided that these would be perfect gifts for some friends of ours, so we each made a bottle. After you fill it with candy, you can choose your "prescription." Most of these prescriptions were in Spanish or Catalan, but a few were in English. There were things like:

So the Force is with you

For days and nights without me

For all thoughts (positive or negative) about your ex

Against all stress

etc. etc. We took some extra prescription stickers just because they were so funny!

Anyway, on Tuesday we went back with Guillaumine, and she made a bottle for her boyfriend. While we were there, Marie decided to try one of the candies shaped like an eyeball. I am really freaked out by most body-shaped candy, and this was no exception. This was a BIG eyeball. Marie bit into it and there was goo inside of it!!!!! Ew. She said it was yummy, but I'll take her word for it.

We all met up at the apartment one last time, grabbed our suitcases, and off we went! We arrived back in Belgium at 5:45 or something, and I got home at about 7:30.

I must say, Spain was probably one of the (if not the) best trip I've been on so far. I really loved the atmosphere in Barcelona. The weather was beautiful (HOT!) and the sun was always shining. I would have liked to go to the beach, but unfortunately I didn't make it. I did see it, though, and it was gorgeous. Barcelona, while being a city of 3 million people, didn't feel like a big, dangerous place. Everyone was welcoming, the food was good (especially the ham. I LOVE Serrano ham), and it's a very liberal-feeling place. There were a lot of people with tatoos and piercings, a lot of different clothing styles.... It just seemed to me that even if you weren't what one considered "normal," you were still accepted and you were allowed to be yourself. I love that kind of place. Honestly, when I arrived, one of the first things I said to myself was, "Wait... Why didn't I exchange to Spain?" I really hope I'll be able to go back some day.

Greece III.

The view from our hotel in Porto Héli.

Day 5

April 14, 2011

We left Delphi and headed toward Athens in another multiple-hour bus ride. If I remember correctly, we were watching the movie “Troy” in the bus. Ironic, isn’t it? We were watching a movie about Greeks while in Greece. It was a nice little history lesson though, because a few days later, we saw the Tomb of Agamemnon, and Agamemnon is a character in the movie.

Anyway, we finally arrived in Athens. And drove around. And around. And around. And around. We passed the Olympic Stadium three or four times at least. We just kept driving in circles. Eventually we stopped and asked for directions to get to the restaurant we would be eating at that night. We drove a little bit more, and then turned down the street to get to the restaurant. And catastrophe struck. Again. I swear that bus was alive and purposely trying to make things go wrong on this trip. See, the bus got stuck halfway through the turn to get onto the street with the restaurant. We couldn’t go backwards, we couldn’t go forward. We could move about 10 inches in either direction. Add this to the fact that many, many, many people on said bus needed to get to a toilet, and we were all STARVING and exhausted, and you have quite the situation on your hands. After about half an hour of going back and forth, pushing parked cars out of the way, and with the help of a few Greek men, we managed to escape. This is when we found out that we had been approximately 20 steps from the restaurant, and we could have easily walked there and not had to sit through the torturous wait on the bus. But hey, that time just gave us more opportunities to bond.

The restaurant had floor-to-ceiling windows and we were literally out ON the water. We could see boats coming in and out of the port and all of the people milling around after a long day’s work. It was another magical moment. The awesome view was the icing on the cake; the food at this restaurant was DELICIOUS. We had calamari for an appetizer, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Then we had some sort of fish for the main course. I wasn’t a fan of this fish, as random fragments of bone kept popping up while I was chewing, but regardless, it was yummy. And it was a wonderful change from the chicken and fries we’d been having EVERY SINGLE DAY.

That night, we stayed in a hotel in Athens. Our room was super awesome; we had 2 separate bedrooms and a large bathroom to share between us. The boys were always jealous of our awesome hotel rooms, which we found to be extremely funny.

Day 6

April 15, 2011

The next morning, we were up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to take on the city of Athens. We drove into town and parked, then headed off in our different groups. Our first visit was a museum across from the ruins. It was quite large and very, very white. It got to be a little much after a while… all of the white statues with white pedestals and white floors, white walls… It was kind of like the color was sucked out of the world. I thought it was very interesting that the Greek statues used to be colored, but the colors have faded away over time. You can still see some traces of color on some of them; bits of red and blue, sometimes green. It’s hard to imagine those things being bright and eye-catching, when I’ve always seen photos of them in their current state (white marble). Another cool thing about this museum: as you’re walking in, the sidewalk becomes plexiglass (I’m assuming… or fiberglass… some sort of hard plastic) that you can see through. Underneath are a bunch of ruins, and you can watch workers restore them. It’s amazing how what looks like a bunch of rocks and dust and dirt can come to life! There’s also a wishing-well part. Yes, I did wish. Hey, you never know!

After the visit in that museum, we went to the ruins. There were TONS of people there, as is to be expected. But still, it was a bit overwhelming.

TIP: The Ancient Greeks were very fond of making their pathways out of very smooth, very slippery rock. You MUST wear shoes that have grippy soles, or you will fall. Be careful even with the grippy shoes. You never know.

We walked up the pathways to the temples and listened to a couple explanations about the history of the site and how the temples were built. Did you know that the temples are actually an optical illusion? The four corner columns are made to lean in about 7 centimeters (they don’t go straight up, like the other columns) so that the eye is drawn upward, toward the heavens/Zeus. If you look closely, you can actually see how the columns tilt. While on said site, we saw: the Acropolis, the Parthenon, Zeus’ Temple, the Temple of Hephaestus, and the Theater of Dionysus. It was a lot for one visit! I was, again, blown away by the fact that I was SEEING history. These are monuments that I’ve learned about in school, seen in movies, and read about in myths. It seems as though I’ve always known about them… ever since I was a kid in elementary school and we learned about the Ancient Greeks and how advanced their society was. The number of people who have marched the same paths I did, and seen the same things… It’s impossible to describe. After we finished our visits, we ran around taking pictures and marveling over the amazing views of Athens. The ruins are up on a hill, you see, and you’re able to look over the entire city. It’s just SO BEAUTIFUL!

After that visit, we were given free time in Athens. Jordan, Emily, Christian and I found the BEST GYROS EVER and ate outside on a park bench. There were pigeons everywhere, and they took a distinct liking to Jordan, which kept us amused. Once we had finished our gyros, we walked around a bit and did some souvenir shopping before meeting up again at the bus. Emily and I bought matching bracelets and we ate some very yummy ice cream as well, so I think of it as a successful day.

We drove the rest of the afternoon to Porto Héli (quick stop by the Corinth Canal, which I didn’t bother to go see, because the plan they gave us stated that we were going to take a tour through it. We didn’t.), a sea-side resort town on the western coast of Greece. We stayed in that hotel for two nights, and it was LOVELY. The views were spectacular; we were literally ON the coast, so we could see the sunrise/sunset, and walk a little bit on the beach. Emily and I went down one morning to take pictures, and they sure are beautiful.

That night, we had dinner at the hotel, which was a buffet, so we could opt out of the chicken and fries (halleluuuuujah!). I think I ate mostly salad. I miss vegetables. We were also told that the hotel would be holding a “soirée” that night, which is to say, a disco, which is to say a dance. There was a lot of loud, techno music (which I have learned to love) and very over priced cocktails. As it turned out, there was a group of rhétos (seniors) from a school near Namur (about ½ an hour from me by train) who were doing their voyage de rhéto (senior class trip. Yeah, they do those in STYLE in Europe). We ended up hanging out with some kids from that school, and it was nice to make new Belgian friends. Whoda thunk that we’d make Belgian friends while in Greece?! Stranger things have happened, I suppose…

Day 7

April 16, 2011

This was arguably the best day of the entire trip. We got up nice and early, as usual, and then headed off on a boat trip to the island of Hydra. The boat ride to the island was about 2 hours, and we spent most of it asleep. When we finally arrived, we were told that we would have the entire day to ourselves to do what we wished, we just had to be back at the boat at 3:30. After stopping to use the washrooms (as Christian calls them) at a local restaurant, my friends and I headed off to do some souvenir shopping and exploring. There were all sorts of cute little shops and such, so we poked around those. On the main “road” (there are no cars on this island, only donkeys. Wait. The police have a car. But they’re the police, so…), there were men standing around with donkeys, offering to let us ride for 10 minutes for 10 euro. HA. No way, José. That’s a ridiculous amount of money. It was cool, however, to see how the donkeys were used for transportation. As we watched, a group of men strapped a TREE to the back of a donkey and started leading it down the road. An entire tree. It was amazing. We also saw cats. Cats cats cats cats cats. Cats EVERYWHERE. All shapes, sizes, ages, colors, etc. Just EVERYWHERE.

The donkey carrying the tree. Just in case you didn't believe me.

After poking around for a while, Christian, Jordan, Emily, Aditi, Gabby and I decided that it would be a good idea to climb to the top of the island to see the view from above. There are monasteries or something of that sort up there as well, so we didn’t plan on hiking into the wilderness… To get our adventure started, we asked a local lady how to get to the top and how long it would take. She said it would be quite a while, and that all we had to do was to follow the steps going up up up. This sounds simple, I know. But, in Greece, there are steps EVERYWEHERE. There was no defined path up the mountain, just loads and loads and loads of steps, so we just headed off in random directions. Jordan and Emily got lost for a while, and then Gabby disappeared (don’t worry, we were all reunited – this story has a happy ending). After Christian, Aditi and I had reunited with Jordan and Emily, we realized that we weren’t exaaaaaaactly on the right path. Jordan, trail blazer that he is, said something like, “Well… this looks like a path up here…” and hey, if it looks like a path, that’s good enough for us. We started following said trail and ended up in some sort of donkey pasture on the side of the mountain. There were pricker bushes and big rocks and flowers and dirt and bugs and sticks and donkey… leavings and all manner of random things in this donkey field. We went up up up up (Aditi decided to stay behind halfway through) and finally, after probably an hour or so of climbing (in a dress and flip-flops, carrying a purse and waving a camera around), Emily, Christian, Jordan and I made it to the top. We sat down to enjoy the view, and I can’t possibly describe it. The moments when we all sat together on the mountainside, talking about everything and nothing, watching boats go by and seeing the miniscule people move below us; those moments will stay with me forever. Needless to say, we took loads and loads of pictures, some of which can be seen below. Aditi popped up below us, lower on the mountain, and she snapped a picture as well, which is one of my favorites from the entire trip. Just being up there made me realize how much I’ve experienced this year. The friendships I’ve made and the new things I’ve tried… it’s amazing to look back at the month of August and to think about the person I was at the beginning of this adventure.

After we took all of our pictures and marveled at the view, we worked our way back DOWN the mountain, which was somewhat easier than hauling ourselves up it. It was a bit nerve-wracking all the same, as there was a dog barking and donkeys braying around us (luckily, none were in the pasture with us… that would have been quite terrifying). When we got to the bottom, we were all starving, but decided to stop and take some pictures anyway. I was rather homesick at this point, because all of the water reminded me of my grandparents’ house on Lake Michigan, and the mountains reminded me of Colorado.

I’ll throw this bit in here: As we drove through the mountains of Greece, everyone kept exclaiming over their beauty. I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t quite as enthralled as everyone else… I see beautiful mountains every day, so I’m used to them, you know? Still, it was funny to see everyone’s reactions. Every time we turned a corner, there would be a collective gasp of amazement.

Those two homesickness triggers combined had made me quite melancholy, and I really just wanted to be alone. I let everyone go on ahead and I spent a little bit of time by myself, trying to clear my mind and relax. Jordan came back and sat with me for a while, and he really helped me handle my feelings. I’m lucky to call him my friend.

We went to lunch after that, and then Emily and I ran back to a jewelry store we had visited earlier in the day. A very cute little old man owned it, and he spoke 6 languages! Greek, English, French, Arabic, Italian, and another one I don’t remember. He was a very interesting man, and we spent quite a bit of time chatting with him. He had some cute rings, too, and Emily and I were both duped into buying one. Mine broke not 24 hours later. But oh well, sometimes you just have to be a tourist.

That night, there was another soirée at the hotel, but instead of going to that, I hung out with some new friends from the school near Belgium. It was a bit of a rough night, and I was glad to finally go to sleep.

Now, photos!

Restaurant on the water.

Athens, Greece.

The wishing well.

Jordan and I with Zeus' Temple.

Aditi and I on the Isle of Hydra.

On top of the mountain.

The view.

Twilight.

I'm having a movie night with Pauline and Quentin, my host brother and sister. We're going to watch Twilight 3. I like to think of it as family bonding time. Who would have thought that a crappy series like that could bring us all together? :)

M. Flemal

I have geography 2 hours every week.

I keep my head down, I take notes, and I attempt to follow the class. I can't always keep up, and I get confused a lot, especially when they talk about politics. It's way more complex than back home.

It was March, and Mr. Flemal, my geography teacher, still didn't know my name. He had called me Clara one time, and the second time he called me Emma, I was a bit frustrated. So I made a sign on the back of an old piece of paper with my name spelled out on it in big letters. Just to help him out, in case he needed to call on me for some reason. Mr. Flemal is a pretty cool guy, and he laughed when he saw my giant name tag. I've switched to a seat at the front of the room now, and I put out my name tag every day. He's been using it, too. He greets me when I sit down now, and looks over my notes to see if I'm keeping up (which I am... the unit we're doing now is pretty simple, and I like it a lot).

Last week, at the end of class, Mr. Flemal asked me for my name tag. I gave it to him, and left.

Today, I came into class, name tag-less. I sat down, and Mr. Flemal said "Salut Mikayla."

That's the first time he has used my name without a visual aid. This teacher has taken the time to learn my name. It is one of the nicest things any teacher at school has done for me since I arrived. Today, I didn't feel like an outsider. I felt like every other kid in the classroom. And I felt respected.

Thank you, M. Flemal.

PRIDE.

Christian and I.

Saturday I went to Brussels with Aditi, Jordan, Christian and Pius. We met up in Central Station, and walked a few blocks to the Grand Place, before settling down to faire la fête (party). Why? GAY PRIDE. The parade was on Saturday in the streets of Brussels, and it was one of the most magical atmospheres I've ever experienced. It was not just a celebration of sexuality, it was a living, physical representation of love. There were couples of every orientation there, people of all ages, Dutch, French, German and English speakers. There was even a gay-rights group from Africa. We were all celebrating LOVE.

I stayed with my friends for most of the day, but I did run into my old host sister's boyfriend, Lionel. He's a police officer in Brussels, and it was nice to catch up. He offered to drive me home, which was super nice, and saved me the cost of a train ticket! There were all sorts of booths and stands all along the parade route selling drinks, souvenirs, rainbow bracelets, necklaces, rings, flags, banners, leis, and all sorts of other things. We took pictures, we danced, we laughed, and we celebrated. I looked at the stats online, and over 45,000 people were there. Isn't that amazing?! 45,000 people all supporting the one right we all share: to love and be loved.

It was magical, plain and simple.

The Parade.

The Main Stage.

I said I wanted a piggy-back ride, and this is what I got.

Me, Jordan, Aditi and Pius.

Greece II.

Day 4.

April 13, 2011.

On the 13th, we all hauled ourselves out of bed at a rather early hour (I believe it was somewhere around 7 am). Emily, Gabby, Aditi and I all packed up the rest of our stuff and headed down to breakfast, which, if I remember correctly, consisted of bread with various toppings. After we finished eating, we loaded the suitcases into the bus, and returned to the lobby for a rather stern lecture. You see, the night before, most (if not all) of the students on the trip had decided to celebrate our first night in Greece in a rather... less than sober fashion. Rotary took about 15 minutes that morning and explained that we were, from then on, forbidden to have alcohol in our rooms, could not have any empty bottles, and would have very restricted free time from then on out. After that bit, we piled back in the bus and began the picturesque drive up the mountains to see the Météors.

What are the Météors?

They're a group of old monasteries built into the mountains near Kalambaka. During various wars and revolutions in Greece, people would come and hide out in the monasteries to avoid danger. At one point, there were 24 buildings, but now there are only 6. Monks and nuns still live there, and can be seen walking around the pathways. There are some that have not left their home for years and years, and do not even see the visitors that come by; they are always behind high, locked doors. It's a very holy place, and the churches are beautiful. The paintings are truly mind-blowing. You can see the features that most of the churches have in common: Jesus in the center of the ceiling, at the highest point, different scenes from the Bible, etc. It's quite extraordinary.

After our lovely visit with a very awesome tour guide named Georgia (she speaks 5 languages: Greek, her native language, Spanish, English, French, and German) who gave all of the tours in French (we had 2 tour groups, one French, one English. Emily, Christian and I were with the Frenchies), we hopped back in the bus to drive to Delphi! We did squeeze in a teensy bit of souvenir shopping before we got on the bus, and Em and I found some super cute pins to put on our blazers to represent GREECE. I still can't believe I was actually there!

The rest of the day consisted of driving, for the most part. Google Maps says that from Kalambaka to Delphi, it takes almost 4 and a half hours if you drive. I feel like it took longer, but hey, I could be wrong. Most of my memories of the bus blend together at this point.

Fast forward to the end of the bus ride. At this point, we arrived in Delphi, which was very cute and had those lovely little European streets that a greyhound dog can barely fit through, much less a greyhound bus. We received more than one disgruntled look from local Greeks when we had to park in the middle of the road to unload our suitcases.

After everything was out of the bus, Emilio (the bus driver, who became a sort of celebrity in the eyes of the exchange students) parked it, and the exchangers were assigned our rooms. I roomed with Emily, Gabby and Aditi again. We got our key and climbed a few flights of stairs and arrived at our door. After having stayed in a GORGEOUS hotel with a beautiful balcony, 2 queen beds and a large, functioning bathroom, we were quite excited to see what new extravagances waited for us on the other side of the door. Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed when we opened the door to find a queen bed and 2 tiny, flimsy cots that took up 86.3% of the room, a non-working tv, a balcony that had a sign on the door saying we weren't allowed to go outside (though there were some pizza boxes and soda bottles strewn around out there) and a chunk missing from the bathroom door. Why, you ask? Well, it seems that the sink was installed before the door in this bathroom, because the door wouldn't have been able to shut if the missing bit was still there. It had been modified so that the sink didn't prevent it from closing. Classy.

That night, we had chicken and fries for dinner, LIKE EVERY OTHER NIGHT ON THIS TRIP. We had some sort of Greek desert, which was oily and tasteless, and I didn't really enjoy. After that, we hung out downstairs. Jordan, Emily and I played Pitch, a card game that involves two teams of 2 people and some mind-reading. I love it. It was our go-to game the whole time we were stuck in the bus. While we played cards, Aditi wrote sentences about each of us in Hindi and we marked where we live on a US map. It was a lovely night. During the conversation, it came up that our room was not, in fact, the most ghetto fabulous room in the hotel. In Christian's, apparently, there was blood on a towel. At first, we all thought it was his blood (he had cut himself when the guys in his room decided to move the rusty cot to a different location, don't ask me why), but then he realized that he had used a different towel. Needless to say, after that, we were no longer fans of this hotel. No siree, not at all.

Day 5

April 14, 2011

The next morning, we were awake at another very early hour. We repacked the bus, etc. and got inside, waiting for the day's adventures to commence. We started driving down the mountain we'd spent the night on, and at the bottom of one of the scary switchback turns, we felt a very odd, jarring motion. We were asked to quietly and calmly leave the bus and go take some pictures of the mountainside and the views, which were beautiful, by the way. Why were we asked to get out? Well, it seems we had popped a tire on the way down the hairpin turn. Of course. I'm not kidding when I say that this bus was a monster. So, instead of rolling down down down the mountain with a flat tire, we were informed that we would have the good fortune to walk the rest of the way to the ruins in Delphi. Cool! So we all started trekkin' and actually made it there in good time, despite stopping to take pictures of the scenery.

I cannot express the way I felt when I saw the ruins at Delphi for the first time. I'm a Greek mythology buff, and after reading about the Oracle at Delphi, I couldn't wait to see it. Granted, the temples are in ruins now, and it's not exactly easy to imagine them as they once were, it's still magnificent. The precision and style are evident in every pillar, statue, stairway and wall. I don't know that I can do justice to the wonders that I saw. The Temple of Apollo is there, and is still quite inspiring. It's amazing how LARGE the temples are! We also saw a theater that was used for plays and such during the time of the Ancient Greeks. The acoustics of the theaters are stupendous. If you stand down on the stage and only raise your voice a little bit, you can be heard EVERYWHERE in the theater, even at the very top. That's saying something, believe me. We also had the time to climb up many, many stairs to see an a stadium, which was used for the Pythian Games, precursors to our modern-day Olympic Games.

One interesting thing about Delphi: It was believed (by the Greeks) to be the center of the world. There is a funny little cone-shaped stone near one of the temples, and it is called the "omphalos," which means navel, of the earth.

I have many pictures of Delphi and the awesomeness I saw there, and a few of them can be seen below. :)

Emily and I at the Météors

The Météors.

The stadium at Delphi.

The ruins of Apollo's Temple at Delphi.

Euro.

My host brother just knocked on my door and asked me if I'd be willing to trade 10 euro in coins for a 10 euro bill. After digging through my wallet and subsequently sorting my lovely new coinage (yes, I have to sort the pieces... there isn't enough room in the change compartment of my wallet for all of them), I realized that it might be somewhat interesting to post about the euro on my blog.

Here's some pictures of what the euro looks like:

Aren't they colorful?!

My host sister is sitting on the terrace, singing and playing guitar.

And it's beautiful.

Greece I.

I've decided to do my travelling posts in multiple installments, to save your eyes and my hands from having to to an excessive amount of work. Let's begin.

GREECE

Day 1

April 10, 2011

My host parents drove me to a tiny little train station in Liège, where I met up with a large group of kids who were all heading to Greece with me. This group included the hilarious Aditi, the wise Jordan, and the always-ill Christian. The ever-fantastic Emily Snell joined up with us later, in Arlon, where she gave me a box of Mac n Cheese and a Cooperstown, NY t-shirt. She's pretty much the coolest cat I know. She also didn't laugh when I brushed my teeth behind the bus and spit all over myself, instead of onto the ground like a normal person when I was done (I trust you're not laughing either).

We drove all night long, through France, then Switzerland and into Italy. I didn't sleep much -- only about an hour and a half, which was not pleasant. It was a very, very, very long bus ride. Very long. On a fun note, we stopped at a convenience store and Emily and I bought Bugles. Oh I love Bugles. We also found cheeseburger flavored chips. I just had to try them, so I bought a bag. Surprisingly, they were quite delicious. Just goes to show, you can't ever judge a junk food by how disgusting it sounds.

Day 2

April 11, 2011

We arrived in Ancone, Italy. After stopping to eat at a restaurant called Gino's, where we partook in some scrumptious authentic Italian lasagna, we headed to a port to get on our cruise ship/ferry to go to our final destination, GREECE! The boat was an all-nighter as well, with cute little cabins for groups of four. I roomed with Aditi, Emily, and Gabby (ze spreekt Nederlands). Our cabin was the last cabin at the very end of the hall. Lots of walking was involved.

The next morning, we arrived in Igoumentisa, Greece! I couldn't believe we were finally there. Greece is the birthplace of so much history, it's hard to realize that I was actually there.

Day 3

April 12, 2011

This day was spent in the bus. In all honesty, most of our days were spent in the bus. But this trip was especially long, curvy, and mountainous. Add in the fact that there are very few roadside barriers in Greece, and that we were in a very large, very cumbersome bus. That drive was a nail-biter. During most of the bus ride, Jordan, Christian, Emily and I played different card games.

Life Tip: Always carry a pack of cards. You never know when you'll want to play.

While riding in the bus, we are required to stop every 2 hours. In all honesty, that was a good thing, because 2 hours seems to be the time limit for most 18 year old bladders. At our lunch stop, we had a little bit of time to kill, so we headed out behind the restaurant/gas station (in the middle of NOWHERE), and followed a trail leading down a small trail to an orchard. At the end of the aisle in the orchard, there was another small hill that seemed to be a paved road. Jordan and I climbed over and went down to the other side, which is an old, dried-up river bed. It's exactly how the Pridelands are depicted in the Lion King after Scar takes over (when Simba comes back and reclaims the throne...?!). A bit further on is the river. Jordan and I walked down that way and took a few pictures, in addition to getting our feet wet. The water is super clear, and COLD. It was lovely. I know that that wasn't one of our official stops, but it was probably one of my favorite moments during the whole trip. I love little adventures like that.

That night, we arrived in Kalambaka, our first destination. Rotary let us loose on the town (kind of... this town wasn't very big, and was rather secluded, so there wasn't really much to be let loose on) until dinner time, a span of about three hours. Emily, Gabby, Aditi and I did some souvenir shopping and found some really cool souvenir shops. One of the proprietors was very nice, and all of his prices were cheaper than the other stores around. I bought a number of post cards there and a few other souvenirs, and when we left, he gave each of us a free post card of the Météors (our tourist stop the next day). We continued on and Aditi and Gabby both bought bracelets with their names spelled out in Greek letters (Aditi's broke throughout the entire trip... every time she managed to fix it, it would fall apart again). After taking a large group picture in front of a fountain, we all went back to the hotel for dinner.

We ate, and then headed back to our rooms to hang out until lights out at 11:30 or so. Emily, Aditi, Gabby, Jordan and I all hung out in our room (which had a spectacular balcony looking over the entire town) and had a wonderful time.

And now, for some pictures!

Sunset, as seen from the boat. I watched the sun slip behind those rocks; it was incredibly beautiful.

On the left, Miss Emily. On the right, yours truly.

Emily and I at Gino's in Ancone, Italy.

Emily at our lunch stop in Greece, because she's just so DARN cute.

The river in Greece.

The fountain in Kalambaka.

Milestone.

Today, I peeled an orange for the first time in my life. I then proceeded to eat said orange. I ate the whole thing (except for the part that fell on the ground, oops), all by myself. Another first.

It's amazing, the little things that change your life.

Words make life taste better.

La chanson du jour.

I'll be home in 2 short months!

Chez Golard.

Je suis bien arrivée chez ma troisième famille, les Golard. J'ai fini mes valises aujourd'hui, et j'ai jeté beaucoup d'affaires. Je suis fière de moi. :)

Vers 19h35, Malou et moi sont parties venir ici. Nous sommes arrivées, et nous avons bu un verre avec ma nouvelle maman d'accueil, Fabienne, et ma nouvelle soeur, Pauline. Puis, Malou est partie, et voilà ! Le dernier stade de mon échange commence. Il me reste un peu plus que deux mois ici, et je vais profiter !

Les blogs sur la Grèce et Paris viennent bientôt, je vous promets. :)

Bisous,

Mikayla

Oops.

I haven't been able to blog about Greece and Paris yet, and I'm sorry! I'll do it soon, I promise. I'm changing families tomorrow night, so I probably won't have it done this weekend, either. I'll try to get it done by next weekend, okay?

Stay cool.

I'm back!

I have loads of pictures to upload and stories to tell, but I just don't have the time at the moment. I have off of school tomorrow, so I'll try to do it then, okay? But for now, a super quick update:

I'm switching to my last host family next week, the Golards. I'll have three sisters and a brother: Kaki (who went on exchange to Wisconsin), Camille (went to Mexico), Pauline (she's a junior at school with me), and Quentin. I'll be there until the beginning of July when I come back to the Cuyckens' house for the last two weeks of my exchange.

Greece was amazing, especially the island of Hydra. Words cannot describe the beauty that exists there. The whole trip made me miss home, though. There were mountains everywhere, like in Colorado, and we were constantly surrounded by water, like in Wisconsin. I'm ready to come home now.

Paris is beautiful, truly. I can't believe I was there. It's just mind-blowing. I actually screamed the first time I saw the Eiffel Tower (tourist much?).

My host family and I are going... somewhere... this afternoon, so I have to go get ready for that. I'll be back soon, though.

Mikayla

I'll be gone for a while.

Tomorrow night, I leave for Greece! I'm super duper excited. I can't wait to see the beautiful beaches and embrace all of the history that it has to offer. Not to mention delicious food! I promise I'll post pictures when I get back. :)

I come back on the 20th, and then I leave less than 24 hours later to go to Paris with Amandine and Florian. :D <--- that shows about 1/23rd of my excitement. I can't WAIT. I'll finally get to see everything we learned about in French class... L'Arc de Triomphe, LA TOUR EIFFEL, Notre Dame, Moulin Rouge, Le Louvre.... I get chills just thinking about it! IAM SO EXCITED!

So yes, I shall be gone for a while. But I promise to share all of my stories and such when I get back. Until then, enjoy the wonders this world has to offer, my friends!

xo,

Mika

My Belgian Bucket List

I got back from Greece this afternoon, and I'm leaving for Paris in the morning. I'm in the middle of a washing machine crisis, so I don't really have the option of posting real info at the moment. I promise to fill you all in when I get back on Sunday. But for now, here's a post I wrote a few weeks ago that I've been saving. Enjoy! :)

At the beginning of the year, I made a Belgium Bucket List. I haven't paid very close attention to it, just randomly crossing things off if I remembered they were on it. But tonight, after a conversation with the ever-wise Jordan, I took another look at it, and I'm surprised by everything I've done. So, here's my list (slightly modified). I've marked off everything I've done so far, and crossed off some random things that I've changed my mind about... Some of them just aren't important to me anymore.

Belgium Bucket List

1. Have a party with Arnaud

2. Understand lui and leur (French object words)

3. Get above 80% on a science test

4. Try 7 types of Belgian beer and list them here:

1. Jupiler

2. Kriek

3. Maes

4. Pecheresse (Lindemans)

5. Chimay

6. Desperados (technically not Belgain)

7.

5. See the whole Waterloo thing (exhibit)

6. Go to an opera

7. Musée des Beaux Arts (Museum of Fine Arts) to see La Mort de Marat (the Death of Marat)

8. Read and understand Voltaire

10. Smile every day

11. Take pictures!

12. Go to the ocean with Amandine and Florian

14. DANCE!!!

15. Drink fire

16. Make friends with someone I wouldn't normally be friends with

17. Try Chichi's Mexican

18. Anvers (Antwerp)

19. Learn 12 words in Dutch

20. Stay out all night

21. Learn the bus system

22. Learn the rock

23. Get a haircut

24. Try all the fry sauces

25. Go to a football (soccer) match

26. Climb the steps of Liège

27. Understand a French movie

28. Learn to make waffles

29. Learn to dance like a Belgian

30. Learn to cook a traditional Belgian dish

31. Be able to tell the difference between a French and a Belgian accent

32. Go to a fancy dinner party

34. Go to Germany

35. See the peeing statue (the classier name for this is the Mannekin Pis)

36. Go swimming

37. Make a skirt

38. Make good chocolate chip cookies myself

39. Convince someone else to apply for an exchange

40. Find Chinese food

42. Try canned hotdogs

43. Enjoy Christmas

44. Journal in French

45. Go to a French concert

46. Go sledding

47. Forget English

48. Wear heels

49. Go to a party at someone's house

My original list has 50 things on it, but I don't want to share them with the world, so I left them off.

The things in blue I've already done.

Like I said before, some of these things are not important to me anymore. Those things are in pink.

The ones that are left... well, I still have 3 months left. I just don't want to go home saying, "I could have..."

Carpe diem!

Today I am thankful for:

new headphones

meeting Miako and her brother

Italian opera singers

4.981 kilos

gaufres

talking on the bus

longer hair

a queen sized bed

random internet music playlists that speak to my soul

my mom

being American

sunshine and pretty weather

the Greeks

Rotary

Belgian best friends

sleep

trains, buses, cars, and planes

Dr. Seuss

truth

open minds and free spirits

saying YES!

seeing in color

good books

the freedom to fly

quiet babies

wishes

eyelashes

a healthy dog

guardian angels

nature

horses

pianos

running water

leaves and trees

love

playing cards

hugs

scents

zippers

cowboy boots

clean sheets

A bit of humor for today.