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

Sad news.

I hopped over the English Channel on Monday morning at a rather unfortunate hour (something gross like 6 am...), arrived at 7 am local time in Dover, and headed off toward Cambridge and Newmarket. The weather was AMAZING in England. Really. It was warm and SUNNY, and the air smelled like springtime, which was WONDERFUL. It's really a beautiful country, with rolling hills and tiny villages. Driving on the left side of the road is pretty fun too. :)

I know I promised pictures, but here's the thing....

I only got about 20 pictures the entire day, because we were in the car the WHOLE day. I'm not kidding. I got out three times: once to go into each of the John Deere stores we visited, and once to eat lunch and go to the bathroom. Seriously. No exploring, no visiting towns or interesting sights. So, all of my pictures were from inside the car, so they weren't that great.

Here's the other thing:

They all disappeared.

No, I'm not kidding. I uploaded all of my pictures just now, and they're mysteriously... not here. I checked my memory card, and they're not there, either. I must have accidentally deleted them. It's unfortunate, to be sure, but that's the way these things go, I guess. I wish I still had them, but at least I didn't lose a BUNCH of pictures, like the 150+ I took today in Bastogne. Ah well, life goes on. :)

So. I finally got home yesterday at about 5:30 pm. My host dad had a dinner of some sorts to go to, so he left, and my host mom and I had dinner, then I came up to my room and went to sleep. I'm lame, I know. I go to bed at about 8pm every night, but I'm TIRED people. It's exhausting to be an exchange student.

Today, I woke up at 8 am to catch a train at 9:22 so I could be in Liège to meet up with everyone else from Rotary and go to Bastogne, a city in southern Belgium. Christian, my Canadian buddy, and I sat together on the bus, which was quite pleasant. When we got to Bastogne, my favorite New Yorker, the fabulous Emily Snell was waiting for me, so I was STOKED about that. We started off having lunch (it was like 11:30 or something by that time) at some sort of petting zoo/farm thing in Bastogne. It was a pretty cool place: it's a petting zoo/farm as well as a home for people who are mentally handicapped. The residents take care of the animals and help out with general farm work, which I think is really cool. The land was very beautiful. While we were there, we saw goats, rabbits, llamas, chickens and sheep, including a lamb that was born this morning! One of the workers caught a lamb and we could pet and hold it as well, which was so cute!

Christian and a llama.

After that, we piled back in the bus and went to a museum about World War II. The guide is a member of Rotary, and he had Harry Potter glasses. SO awesome. The museum was WONDERFULLY done, and very interactive. There was a lot of information and a lot to see. There were little video screens everywhere, playing videos of people who had lived in the region during the war. They shared their memories, which were heartbreaking, more often than not. One woman told how her father had told them to go on ahead as the family was fleeing from the Germans; he would catch up with them later on his bike. He never came.

A letter written during the war. It was giving information about people selling on the black market, which was a booming business at the time.

After the museum, we went to the Mardasson Memorial, which is in honor of the Americans who fought and died in Belgium during the war. Over 70,000 American soldiers died there. Isn't that number mind-blowing? The monument is in the shape of the star, and it has every state engraved on it. You can climb up a spiral staircase to the top, and look down over the city of Bastogne, which was really cool.

Yours truly in front of the crypt. There's a memorial in there for Catholics, one for Protestants, and one for Jews. They're absolutely BEAUTIFUL mosaics.

Christian and I on top of the Mardasson Memorial.

After that, we climbed back into the bus and drove to a random building (that's not an exaggeration... none of us knew where we were) and where we were served pie, waffles, coffee, and soda by Rotary. They have a thing for giving us pie, seriously. There's almost always pie at Rotary events. I sat with Emily and Kryston (New York and Missouri), Christian (Canada), and Siddhant and Aditi (both from India). We had a very interesting conversation about geography. I learned that India has 28 states and that Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories. Also, Aditi and Siddhant tried to name all 50 states. They got quite a few of them too, which was very impressive, I think. The first three they named? Washington, New York, and Ohio. Emily and I thought it was hilarious that Ohio was the third, out of all the states they had left to choose from...

Side note:

Some of you may know that one of my passions is education. I believe that the American education system is broken and needs to be completely reformatted. Schools should be palaces. Teachers should be paid like kings. Kids should wake up every day excited beyond all imagination because they get to go to school. Courses should be challenging. Graduation rates should be 99% across the country. All of these things are POSSIBLE. But as of right now, are any of them true? No, unfortunately. But I digress. The point of this was to explain a few differences between American schools and schools in other nations.

Did you know that in Canada, kids can (and DO) choose to take a 5th year of high school to bring up their grade average and thus give them a better chance to be accepted to college.

Siddhant and Aditi could name about 35 of the 50 American states. I couldn't name 5 cities in India. Nor did I know that India has states. I took World Geography sophomore year. I passed with an A. I took a full year of World History Sophomore year as well (1st semester Pre-AP, second semester regular). I earned an A in both of those.

Siddhant and Aditi are fluent in English, German and Marathi, as well as 2 or 3 other native tongues from India. They are here in Belgium, learning French. They are both 18 years old, and they speak 5 languages each, FLUENTLY.

At the end of this year, Siddhant is returning to India for 2 months, then moving to Germany, where he will study to be an engineer for FIVE years. He won't return home during that time. He will be going to university in GERMAN.

And to think, kids in America whine about having to take 2 credits of foreign language.

Just some food for thought.

Tomorrow, Amandine and I are going to Oostende, so I can touch the ocean. I've never touched an ocean before. Heck, I didn't even SEE the ocean until 2 weeks before my 17th birthday! I'm super excited. After that, we're going to take the train back down to Bruges and spend the day there. I'm excited! :)

Friday night, we're all meeting up in Hannut to celebrate Amandine's 18th birthday (WOO!). Then, Saturday, I'm hoping to go to Maastricht (in the Netherlands) with Christian. I love having a week off of school. :)

Biosus,

Mika

(that's what all my Belgian friends call me. I LOVE it.)

Switzerland.

Switzerland

My host sister Valérie took me to Geneva at the beginning of this month, and I must say, Switzerland is a GORGEOUS country. We arrived on Thursday night at about 9 pm, and went straight to her friend Laura's house and to sleep, as we were both exhausted. Friday, Valérie and I walked around Geneva, poking in stores and taking pictures. The entire city is surrounded by mountains, which made me a bit homesick. Although the Alps are beautiful, from what I could see, they didn't have nearly the majesty of the Rockies. I miss my mountains. Friday night, we went out to dinner with Valérie's friends, which was delicious. We had Chinese food, and it was wonderful. Note about America: America has AMAZING variety of food available. For those of you lucky enough to live there, PROFIT FROM THIS. You never realize how much you really love cashew chicken until you're sitting in a foreign country eating nothing but potatoes.

Saturday, we all piled in Laura's car and drove to Gruyère, a city in the mountains that is famous for its cheese. Let me tell you, this is DELICIOUS cheese. We toured a sort of cheese museum/factory and saw how Gruyère cheese is made and how long it takes to mature. We also walked around the village (yes, village. It was TINY, and I don't think many people live there) a bit, and it was breath-taking; the way the sunshine fell across the cobblestones and fountains was very picturesque. (Side note: The weather was AMAZING the whole weekend. The SUN was shining and there was a cool breeze hopping from here to there. SO wonderful). After our little walking tour, we decided that we were all hungry, so we went to a restaurant for lunch. Everyone was trying to get me to order the fondue because apparently it's mind-blowingly delicious there. All I really wanted was a salad, so that's what I went with. It's not that I didn't want to try the fondue... Well yeah, it is. I REALLY don't like fondue. I think it's disgusting. I always feel like I gained 438 pounds after I eat it, and all greasy and gross. To put it simply: I DO NOT LIKE FONDUE.

But that's the thing about being an exchange student: NO ONE BELIEVES YOU WHEN YOU SAY YOU DON'T LIKE SOMETHING.

You start out the polite way: No, thank you, I don't really care for fondue. I'd rather have a salad.

That is ALWAYS countered by: Well, you just haven't had it made like this before. It's not the same as what they make in America.

(That "America" is usually said in either a rather snide way, as though everything we come into contact with is of lower quality than the stuff you find in a foreign country, or with pity, as though you can't possibly know the quality of whatever it is you're being forced to try, because, after all, you've eaten only McDonald's your entire life.)

Your response: Yes, I've had fondue before, and I really just don't enjoy the texture. I don't find it to be delicious.

The other party: Well, you have to try it, at least a bite. You'll love it. I know you'll regret ordering that salad, the fondue is just SO delicious.

I have had this experience with the following:

fondue

raclettes (basically the same concept as fondue.... except you put a slice of cheese on a little tray and then melt it)

chicon (the most evil vegetable ever created. I imagine it tastes a bit like death)

beer

wine

raw lunch meat

various unidentifiable animal parts that are served for dinner (my rule for meat: if I don't recognize what it is or what body part it is, I won't eat it until I do)

yogurt

pulp in juice

The list continues, but you get my point.

Anyway. I had a salad, which was delicious, and I did try a bite of the fondue. I will admit, it was a bit better than the fondues I've had before, but regardless, I still felt greasy and sick to my stomach afterwards. For desert, we had something called "double crème" which is a really really really thick cream. Like whipping cream, but denser (not too far from being solid) and a million times fattier. Oh my goodness it was delicious. There were raspberries along with it, which was incredible. SO delicious. My mouth is watering thinking about it.

Saturday night I was exhausted, and ended up going to sleep at about 7:30. I slept until 9:30 the next morning. Yes, 14 hours. I talked to Valérie about it, and she said she did the same thing when she was on exchange. She said it's also because I've never been SO surrounded by French like that before. Yes, I speak French every day, I think in French, I read in French, etc., but I'm also surrounded by English. Lots of Belgians speak English with me for practice, I have to read English books for English class, and I talk to friends from home in English. It's difficult to balance the two worlds.

Sunday morning, Valérie and I took a walk and just chatted about all sorts of things. We also saw a garage for a boat. Yes, a garage built specifically into a house just for a boat. It was insane.

Sunday afternoon, I took a nap because I was still exhausted (crazy, I know). Later on, I went on another walk with Valérie, Laura, and Laura's boyfriend, Olivier. I had a good time, except they kept telling me to "look at the mountains, aren't they beautiful?!" or to "look, look over there, the mountains are so pretty this time of day" or "have you seen the mountains, look, they're all around us!" Needless to say, I saw the mountains. Every time they told me to look at the mountains, I'd say, "Yeah, they're just like the ones at my house." That was met with an "OH! You live near the mountains?!" Yes. I've seen them every day for three years. I think I know what they look like by now.

I'm not trying to be crabby about it, but after three hours of not really being included in the conversation, and the only acknowledgement you're given is being told to look at the mountains, it's hard not to be a little bitter.

That evening we went over to Laura's cousin's house. Laura's cousin makes wine, and I sampled the most DELICIOUS red wine I've ever tasted while I was there. I LOVED it, and I usually am not a fan of red wine at ALL.

Sunday night, Valérie and I packed up our stuff and went to sleep early, as we had to rush to catch our plane Monday morning. We nearly missed it, what with the huge check-in lines and the long line for security. We had another hang up when I forgot my passport in our big luggage bag. However, all worked out in the end and we made our flight. Oddly enough, the flight was 25 minutes to get to Switzerland, but an hour to come back. Crazy, no?

Overall, I had a great time. I really enjoyed seeing somewhere new and taking a little vacation. Switzerland was gorgeous, yes. I wish I had seen more cultural things, like museums and such, but hey, what can ya do? I'm glad I had the chance to go.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, PHOTOS!

The street in Laura's town. She lives right outside of Geneva, in Rolle.

Gruyère

Gruyère

Cheese makin' in Gruyère.

Valérie and I passed this on our walk Sunday morning.

A rant about the U.S., for a change.

Applying to college really sucks.

I know that I'm qualified and capable and whatnot, but it's just such a pain in the butt to have to fill out the same information over and over and over again. Yes, my name is Mikayla. My birthday is November 19th. Have my address again (because you don't already send me three pamphlets a week about how beautiful your campus is, the exceptional cafeteria food, and your Nobel Prize-winning faculty). Yes, I'd love to list all of my courses. Sorry they're in French. I bet you'd like me to explain that! Oh wait... there isn't a box for "Additional Information" about my courses. Well, that's a bit of a problem, isn't it? Oh, I'd LOVE to write an essay about how I'd be an asset to your campus. Yes, I'm a unique individual. Just like everybody else.

Grrrrrr. I know I just need to get it done, but that doesn't stop me from griping about it.

P.S. Corndogs and pizza rolls.