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.)

What's new?

I know I haven't written a full post in a little over a week, so here goes:

Saturday, 4 Septembre

Adrien was leaving for England the next day, so we were going to go out for dinner as a family. For some reason, dinner didn't work with everyone's schedules, so we went out for lunch instead. We drove all around Hannut searching for an open restaurant, but every single one was closed. This is not a joke. Every restaurant we drove by was closed; it was lunacy! We ended up driving to Pizza Hut in Liège, and many a joke was made about Adrien's last dinner being at a fast food restaurant. Anne-Michèle, Amaury, and I ordered off of the menu, while the men (Adrien, Etienne, and Arnaud) went the buffet route. It took upwards of half an hour for our salads to arrive, which made me wish I'd just eaten from the buffet. However, once that plate of Cesar-y goodness was set down before me, I forgot all of my qualms about waiting and simply stared at the lettuce like it was the most beautiful pile of greenery I'd ever set my eyes on.

That salad is probably on the list of most delicious foods I've ever tasted. No, I'm not kidding. I miss vegetables so much! We have them here, of course, but my host family likes to stay within the realms of potatoes and green beans. With extra tomatoes. Yes, I know that tomatoes are a fruit and potatoes are a starch, but whatever. That doesn't make me miss lettuce any less.

After that divine salad, Anne-Michèle and I went to Liège to buy a hand-held translator thingy majig for Adrien. We went past a bookstore I visited the first time we went, and there was a guy there giving out free little pots of Ben and Jerry's ice cream! Anne-Michèle and I both ate one, bought Adrien's translator thingy, and then walked by again to get ice cream for the rest of the family. :) That ice cream was seriously delicious.

Sunday 5 Septembre

Anne-Michèle, Etienne, and I went with Adrien to the train station in Bruxelles. Adrien checked in or something of that sort (I'm not sure how the train station works, to be honest) and then we lost Etienne, so we had little detour while we searched the train station for him. Once we were all reunited, we went to lunch at a little sandwich shop (I didn't eat anything, as I wasn't hungry). After that, Adrien walked through a little gate thing, and that was it! He's in England right now, and I really hope he has a fantastic time!

Monday and Tuesday, 6 and 7 Septembre

Back to the lovely life of a 6ème student. I have the schedule figured out now, which is really great, but the classes are difficult (made even more so by the fact that I don't understand most of what's going on...) and they're not always in the room that's listed on the schedule. I don't know how people figure out where the class is instead, but they all seem to know. I need to figure out how that works.

I went to English class for the first time, and it's definitely going to be a challenge. I speak, read, write, and think in English, but in the class, the students translate from French to English. I don't know a lot of the French vocabulary, so I can't translate. I failed a test (I got 0 out of 10, I'm not afraid to admit it), but I've studied the vocabulary and the verbs and all of that business, so I think I'm going to do better next time. I talked to Sofii, a girl in my class, and she said not to worry, it takes a looooooong time to learn this stuff. She knows all the verbs, but she has been in the class for four years with the same list. I know it'll come eventually, but in the meantime, it sucks feeling like a fish out of water.

OH. I'm in calculus. It's nature's idea of a sick, sick joke, I think. I'm not in the beginning calculus class, I'm in the second year of it or something. I don't understand a single thing that has been reviewed so far. We don't have the real teacher right now either, we have a substitute (I have no idea why) and she's a chemistry teacher, not a math teacher, so she doesn't really know what's going on either. It makes me miss my Unit Circle back home. :(

I think my favorite class so far is Science Sociales (Social Sciences). It's taught by a woman named Mme. Gallo, who told me that she exchanged to Oregon when she was my age. She's verynice and really understands how difficult it is to be an exchange student. She's also one of the few teachers who actually expects us to work. She gives us the handouts, she expects us to take notes, etc. It's so refreshing! My French teacher (it's the equivalent of an English class in the U.S.) didn't give me the handouts last class. I don't know why, he just didn't. I don't know if it's because it's something I don't have to do or if it's because he thinks I can't handle it; either way, I wasn't thrilled. I don't want to be one of those exchange students who just floats along, not really doing any work and not participating. I like to work, I like to learn, and I like being a participating member of a classroom. *sigh* It'll all work out. I just need to take it one day at a time.

Wednesday, 8 Septembre

I went to the mine in Blègny with the other Rotary exchange students in 1630. I had a blast! It was so much fun to be down in an actual mine and to be able to see where people had actually worked (kids as young as 6 worked in mines, opening and closing doors!) and changed the earth so many years ago. Granted, I don't support the exploitation of nature, but it was still super cool to be inside Mother Earth that way.

Unfortunately, my camera has decided to suck through batteries like mad, so I only have about 8 pictures from the mine and none inside the mine itself. :( If anyone has any tips on extending battery life in a camera, or if you'd like to send me a new camera that has a rechargeable battery, lemme know.

Friday, 10 Septembre

After school, I went to a cafe and bowling with my friends from school. I had a blast laughing and telling jokes and just enjoying being a teenager. Here's a picture of my friends:

Left to right: Mathieu, Marie, Florian, Amandine

They're seriously awesome people. They show me around school and help me when I get lost (Florian was late to his French class because he was helping me find my class... once again, they had decided to have class in a room besides the one where it's normally supposed to be...) and I eat lunch with them every day.

Florian is a total Harry Potter junkie too, so we talk about Harry Potter and the new movie coming out and which book is our favorite and all manner of things like that. It's quite enjoyable. Florian is actually like my own mini-translator; he translates the French most kids speak into Mikayla French. What is Mikayla French? It's sloooooooow, uses small words, and doesn't use any type of slang. It's quite convenient.

Saturday 11 Septembre

It was a little weird not seeing the replays of 9/11 on tv. No one was talking about it, no one was wearing red, white, and blue to show their patriotism. And then I remembered that I'm in Belgium. 9/11 didn't affect Belgium the way it affected the U.S. It was very different from the mood I'm used to on this day every year.

I went over to Frèdèric (Etienne's brother)'s house to meet his wife (Caroline)'s aunt -- she's American, but she lives not far from here with her husband. It was nice to speak English again and to meet other people who have learned foreign languages. Caroline's uncle told me to watch the news in French every day. Not just have it on in the background, but actually watch it. He said that it helps one learn a foreign language very quickly. I'm going to give it a try.

After that, Anne-Michèle and I went to my third family's house for a large Thai meal. Apparently, a group of people who took some sort of cooking class get together every few months and have a themed dinner (this one being Thai, obviously). It was really nice for me because I got to hang out with all four of my future host siblings (Kaki, Camille, Pauline and Quentin). I actually met Kaki, Pauline, and Quentin for the first time last night! They're all extremely friendly and welcoming. They asked about school, how I like it here, what I miss about home, etc. Camille and I ended up watching The DaVinci Code until Anne-Michèle and I left at about 1:15. In the morning. I was so tired! But I had a really good time, and I'm glad I got to know my family better.

Last but not least, I'd like to congratulate my friend Shannon and her new husband Dustin. They were married on September 11, 2010. I wish I could have been there to celebrate with you, and I hope you have a wonderful life together. Congratulations. :)

Sunday 12 Septembre

Today, I lazed around, studied my irregular English verbs some more, and went to lunch at Etienne's parents' house, like we do every Sunday (this is actually only the second time I went, we've been busy every Sunday since I've been here), came back, read, and studied my irregular verbs again. I'm about to head to bed as my eyes are getting tired and I have the beginnings of a sore throat (ugggggh!).

Ohhhh wait! Two more things:

1) The chipmunk will be departing soon. I must say, I've gotten used to him being there when I wake up, staring at me from around the massive nut he's trying to crack and making obscene amounts of noise.

2) I braved the dryer! And it totally worked out! I'm SO proud of myself!

The laundry turned out okay.

I let it all hang-dry in my room, which works just fine for me. Back in the states I let my laundry air-dry all the time. I prefer it, actually.

I have yet to discover the chipmunk's name. Right now, I'm just calling it "the chimpunk." I know, I'm just that creative.

Aujourd'hui, I figured out how to get accents on my computer. C'est magnifique!

I'm still plodding my way through Harry Potter. I'm only on page 46. If I was reading it in English, I'd be done by now. But I realized that that attitude is part of the problem. I can't expect to learn French (or any other language) overnight. It's a process. Everyone I talk to here has been speaking it for their entire life -- I've only been able to speak French every other day for 90 minutes the past three years. There's no comparison.

I've only been here for a week, but I've realized that languages are taught WAY differently than they are in the U.S. Back in Loveland, I had French class every other day for 90 minutes. Over here, my younger brother (Amaury) goes to a school that's taught in Flemish. He has been going for a few years, and I'm willing to bet that he's 30 times better with Flemish than I am with French. I can't say I'm surprised, either. When he's at school, Amaury is surrounded by Flemish all day long. Heck, he even watches cartoons in Flemish when he's home! But in the U.S., we get one little dose of French (or Spanish or German) every few days. It's simply not enough.

I wish to continue writing about this, but as of right now, I can't keep my thoughts straight. So ça va.

Anyfunk, you can see that I've got accents now! I'm very pleased. :) It took me a while to figure it out, but after some Google searches and several minutes of confusion, I have it figured out. I quite like the system -- it's not complicated at all.

I'm super stoked to start school here. I know I'm going to be incredibly nervous on the actual day, but I know it will do wonders for my French. I'll be going with Talia, another exchange student (she's from Minnesota) so I won't be completely alone. I'm also curious to see what the "special program" is for the exchange students. I'm really hoping to take some art classes while I'm here. I think that my "creative juices are flowing," as my mom always said.

If you ever travel abroad, take more socks than you think you'll need.

Thank you: Michelle Skeens, for reminding me that it will all be okay, and that I should try new things.

Marianne Deschodt, for being an exchange student before me and reminding me that tomorrow is a new day.

Toni Theisen for being the most awesome French teacher ever, and for answering all of my random, half-formed questions at all hours of the day.

Mikayla

P.S. I kind of miss being called Ségo.

You forget you're en Belgique when...

it's sunny ALL day. Beautiful clear sunshine, surrounded by a few puffy clouds and a big blue sky. It's a lot like the sunny days in Wisconsin -- days that make you happy just to be alive. It's not oppressive, like the sun in Colorado. :P

I went downstairs for breakfast today, and Anne-Michele said, "I'm feeling good because of the sun. Do you want to go to Liege?" Of course, I said yes, and within ten minutes we were off. We stopped at Carrefour, a grocery-type store here in Belgium that we went to on Sunday as well. I had to buy some cell phone minutes (prepaids are expensive!) and I think Anne-Michele bought something as well. After that, she went to the bank to try to work out some problem Alix was having with her debit card over in Florida. I think it's because in the U.S., we have a magnetic strip on the back of our cards so we can buy things, whereas here, there's a chip in the card and you have to insert the card into a machine instead of swiping it. Anyway, that took forever and a day, and I think Anne-Michele parked illegally (I wasn't sure there was such a thing, but she kept muttering about "la Police" as she pulled into the spot). So, naturally, I stayed in the car while she went into the bank, running through scenarios in my head if a police officer actually did approach the car.

When Anne-Michele came back from the bank (the cops had left the car alone), she had a book. She gave it to me, saying it was a gift. It's titled: BRAFA 10: BRUSSELS ANTIQUES & FINE ARTS FAIR. The beginning is in French and Flemish, but the other parts of the book are in English. I haven't quite figured that out yet. Anyway, it's full of museums and art shows and the like, with three pictures of what you can find at the various art places. Some of the art really popped out at me, like Happiness in crime by Felicien Rops, a Belgian artist, as well as Metamorphose and Woman by Joan Miro. I looked online to see if I could find pictures of them, but I couldn't. :( I'll have to show you when I get home. I seriously love Happiness in crime. Seriously.

Anyway, after we parked the car in a parking garage designed to hold match box cars, Anne-Michele and I walked around Liege a little on our way to an art museum. She pointed out the Palais de Justice (which, I believe, was the home of a prince many years ago) as well as La Meuse, a grand fleuve en Belgique. When it reaches Liege, La Meuse is divided into two pieces as it gets close to Liege. On the outskirts of the city, it is redirected into one river.

The museum we went to is called "Le Grand Curtius." The main gallery (is that what you call it?) starts with Neanderthals and has artifacts and art all the way through the French Revolution and beyond. There were a lot of coins from different eras and a whole section devoted to depictions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. There were tea sets, clocks, robes for clergy, different types of jewelery, bones, a painting of Napoleon twice the size of my bed, and some furniture, to name a few things. The exhibit seemed to focus a lot on the region and what has happened here over the last.... 10,000 years or so. It was really cool to get a grasp of how many different cultures had influenced the area.

There was another exhibit at the museum as well, and Anne-Michele and I walked through it. It was much, much smaller than the general gallery, but still just as interesting. It was an exhibit featuring Santiago Calatrava, who is part artist, part genius, and part architect. He designed the train station here in Liege, which is brand spanking new. Calatrava also designed the Milwaukee Art Museum. there was a little area featuring his drawings of that building as well as pictures of the real thing. I don't want to say that it was odd, or weird, but how... coincidental that the first museum I went to had a blurb about Milwaukee. I feel like it's some sort of sign or symbol. It was such a strange feeling to look at the photos and think "Oh, I've been there. I stood right there with Hannah and Shannon; I have a copy of the picture in my room at home." I think it was a "world traveler" feeling, for lack of a better term. It was my first taste of being able to say, "I've seen that. I've been inside it. I know what it's like." It's a pretty cool feeling. I recommend it.

In between the exhibits, Anne-Michele and I stopped for lunch. We split a long, sub-like sandwich that contained a large slab of brie and some walnuts. I liked it, but I can only handle brie for so long. I ordered Apple-Cherry juice to go with my half, and Anne-Michele had a glass of wine. My juice came in a bottle and a glass to pour it into came alongside it. Normally (well, in the U.S.) I would have skipped the glass and just sipped straight from the bottle. I'm 100.2% certain that that is a huge faux pas here, so I used the glass. It'll take some practice for me to become good at pouring things from container to another. I'm not blessed with that skill as of right now.

Tonight, we had pizza for dinner. I'm pretty sure that Etienne ordered a pizza just for me, and it'll probably take the rest of my time here for me to finish it. For some reason, even though I'm hungry, I get full here REALLY quickly. I had the equivalent of one piece of pizza in the states and I'm stuffed. I don't really know why it is. Oh. And we eat pizza with forks and knives. I felt like I was breaking the American Code or something. Etienne and Anne-Michele were teasing me, saying that I would have to eat pizza tomorrow for breakfast, and the next day, and the next, and the next. That's fine by me. There's nothing quite as delicious as cold pizza first thing in the morning. I'm serious. :)

At dinner, Anne-Michele and Etienne were harping on Adrien to study some more. Apparently, he doesn't like to (please introduce me to a 19 year old that does). They kept telling him to practice his English with me. I'm fine by that, but I'm afraid it would take us about a million years to have a conversation. He was trying to say the word "schedule" and it took me about 10 minutes to figure it out. It wasn't his fault, I was just trying to think of what it was in French so I could ask him if that's what he was trying to say. I'm still not entirely sure what that conversation was about. Something about schedules and when Anne-Michele works, Etienne doesn't, I think. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon.

Language:

My first... 2 or 3 days here, I was hellbent on learning as much French as I could as quickly as I could. I was listening to everything everyone was saying, all the time. I was talking more than I am now. I think I've fallen into the "silent period." It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I don't want to miss out on opportunities because I'm afraid of saying the wrong word. The huge barrier is speaking. I know I've said that before, but it's true. There's something so terrifying about uttering a sentence in a foreign language. I'm afraid that if I just try to "let it flow," I'm going to end up all backwards, saying the equivalent of "I like well these flowers. They pretty are." I know that that will happen, but I want to avoid it. I never liked feeling foolish. I've always been a know-it-all (imagine that), and being in a position where I hardly know anything is rough. But I know it'll be worth it.

The other thing I've realized is that my accent is HORRENDOUS. In French class throughout the years, I was always told by my peers that my accent was soooo good. Here, I sound like I'm chewing cement when I speak. It's just hard for my mouth to figure out what to do with the words. I feel like Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady" when Rex Harrison makes her put the marbles into her mouth and try to speak. It's horrible. And in case you were wondering, the American accent is not a pretty one.

One thing I find frustrating is the lack of "Oh rats!" words. In French class, we were told we could say "Zut!" or "Zut alors!" I've been saying 'zut' while I've been here, but Anne-Michele told me that it's something you say only with family, not with other older guests. So... what do you say? Her suggestion was "Awaaaoooh." (a combination of "ooooh" and "awwwww"). It's not cutting it for me. I guess I'll just have to say zut in my head.

Fast food is a French word. I tried explaining how many "magasins de la nourriture vitesse" (stores of speedy food) there are in the U.S., and Anne-Michele laughed, saying that they say fast food as well. So there ya go.

Well, I finished reading my English books (I highly recommend Ishmael by Daniel Quinn as well as anything remotely involving David Sedaris) and I'm moving on to Harry Potter in French. At the party on Saturday night, a guy I was talking to said that when he first started learning English, he was still writing in French and reading in French, and it was hindering his learning. He said that once he started reading in French, he learned a lot quicker. So I'm going to try that. I figured Harry Potter is safe because I've read it about a dozen times, so I know what's happening. Amaury handed me a little kids copy tonight, which I'm grateful for. It has smaller words and a simpler story (it's only 302 pages as opposed to the actual book's 422 or something like that). It's made for people at about a 10 year old reading level, and since (in French) I'm at about a 4 year old reading level, I think it's a good match. Maybe it'll help me learn French faster? J'espère.

Nighty night,

Mikayla

Je suis arrivee!

Hey! I made it to Belgium alive and well. I met my first host family, my second host mom and sister, and my third host dad at the airport. They had a sign with my name on it, welcoming me to Belgium, which was so great! After we left the airport, we went to the train station so that my host sister, Alix, could get her train ticket to Paris, which is where she flew from the US. It was kinda sad to say goodbye, because she was my translator for those three hours. She's just so nice and I'm glad I got to meet her. I hope she has a great time in the US!

After we dropped off Alix, we came to my host family's house, and it is SO beautiful. It belonged to my host dad's grandmother. Everything is wood: the floors, the doors, most of the furniture, and I LOVE it! My host mom, Anne-Michele, and Alix decorated my room, and it's so me it's CRAZY. My bed is HUGE (I think it's two twins pushed together) and REALLY comfortable. My bed frame is gorgeous dark wood that matches my armoire (there isn't a closet) and desk. My sheets and blankets are red, with another yellow blanket on top. The curtains are red and orange, and the towels are red and gray. The walls are pale yellow and white stripes. Anne-Michele put up lots of pictures with huge amounts of color. The pictures are of African scenes, and so pretty! They also gave me a HUGE, HUGE poster of Harry Potter. HUGE. It's amazing. Full color, and probably at least 7 feet tall by 4 feet wide. It's BEAUTIFUL. Oh, and I also met my third host brother, Arnaud.

After we came home yesterday, I called my mom to let her know I made it safely, then we had lunch. My host family eats lunch every day at noon. Sundays, they go to Etienne's (my host dad) mother's house for lunch with the ENTIRE family. It's HUGE. Anne-Michele was explaining the family to me yesterday, and it seems that everyone has four kids. I can't keep their names straight at all. I'm sure I'll learn with time though.

Anyway, before lunch, Anne-Michele told me that Amaury wanted to show me the gardens. He took me outside and we walked through the gardens, and he showed me the chickens and the pool as well. We walked up the driveway and across the street to his cousin's house, where I met three cute little ponies and his cousin (Marie?) before heading back to the house for lunch.

After lunch, I napped for about four hours. I was completely wiped out from the plane ride. After I got up, I talked to my host mom a little, and she invited me to meet some of the family. We rode around in the Belgian version of an old VW bug. A Citroen. Il est si mignon! Anne-Michele, Amaury, and I went to Etienne's mom's house and to Etienne's sister's (I think) where we got to meet a cute new puppy.

After we came home, Anne-Michele, Amaury, and I went to the living room, and I went through the first night questionnaire. She laughed when I asked if I was supposed to call her Mme Cartuyvels. She said "Oh no no no. Anne-Michele, Miche-miche, mais pas Mme Cartuyvels." I asked what I should call M Cartuyvels, and she said Etienne. So there we go. :) Anne-Michele showed me how to work their washer and dryer and said that school starts at 8:10 in the morning. Ahhh, relaxation time!

After the questionnaire, Anne-Michele told me I could go to a 50th birthday party for one of her friends. Amaury asked if I would like to take a shower before, which I thought was so sweet. Or maybe I just really smelled like airplane. I attempted to take a shower, and just about froze to death in the process. In this shower, there hot water knob is on the right with the cold water on the left. I tried to turn the hot water knob, but nothing came out of the shower. So I figured that the cold had to be turned on for the hot to work. Pas vrai. I turned the hot water knob every way I could imagine, and still, I got nothing but cold water. So, I took a cold shower. I don't mean lukewarm, I mean cold. I'm going to try again today, and if I still get nothing but cold water, I'll ask Anne-Michele for help. Honestly, I think the house is out to get me, because when I used the sink in my room to brush my teeth later, hot water came out of the cold tap. Craziness, no?

The party was pretty fabulous. Another different thing about Belgium -- the party was in a barn. Not an old, refurbished barn, but in a fully functioning barn. There was a pen full of calves right next to the tables where people were talking and sharing beer. It was a little weird, but still enjoyable. I followed Anne-Michele for a while and was introduced to a bunch of people, but I struggle to recall their names. I ended up hanging out with one of my host sibling's cousins (I know he told me his name...) for quite a while. He asked me if I wanted a beer, and when I said no, thanks, I think I pretty much rocked his world. He's pretty nice, and fluent in English, so we got along swimmingly. :) We talked about drinking ages, and he had me try his beer. I can't say I fell in love with it, but it wasn't horrible (sorry, Mom). Adrien (one of my older host brothers) came over and chatted with us for a while too, and he had me try his beer as well. I liked it more than the other, and the cousin told me that most people didn't like it as their first. Well, what can I say, I'm a crazy American. :) After the beer tasting, they told me that there are over one THOUSAND types of Belgian beer. One THOUSAND. We walked around for a while, and I petted the cows. The cousin thought I was crazy because I said that I love cows, they're so cute. The cow I was petting started to lick me, and I couldn't help but laugh. The cousin yelped and backed up a number of steps when the cow went for him. I think it's funny that everyone who knows English also knows English swear words. But anyway, we continued chatting for a while, then I was taken over by two men who spoke English. One of them wanted to practice, because he's going to Iowa on Wednesday to judge a cow show. Yep. I was a little surprised too, but hey, it's pretty cool. That man also has seven horses. If I'm not very much mistaken, he has a young horse that's fairly jumpy that he wants me to train two or three times a week. I'll have to look into that a little more. I wish I'd brought my boots. :(

Anyway, Anne-Michele, Amaury, and I (we're like the Three Musketeers, I guess) came home at about 10:30. Anne-Michele kept saying how early it was, but she was tired and so was I. I went to bed around 11:20 last night, and slept until 8 am this morning, so I feel pretty refreshed. I might attempt another shower later.

As for the language, I'm really surprised by how much I understand. If I don't know a word, I ask the person to repeat it, and they usually do, as well as explain it in French, which is helpful. I'm not yet at the point where I respond well, for the most part I say "oui," "tres bien," "ca va," "okay," or "Je comprends." I also forgot my dictionary at home, which SUCKS since I can't look up things I want to say, like "I can't figure out your shower," or "Sorry I have so much stuff, my mom made me bring an extra suitcase." But it will all come with time, right? :) The easiest person for me to understand is Anne-Michele, because she speaks slower for me and usually asks me "Tu as compris?" (You understand?) after about two sentences. I'm getting better at picking up what Etienne is saying as well, and Amaury is a perfect gentleman, speaking in mostly small words and talking at a snail's pace. The person I'm really struggling to understand is Adrien. I don't think it's his fault at all, but every time he speaks I get lost after the first two or three words. I think it's because he speaks so fast. I now understand why so many people get confused when other people speak French; it honestly does sound like bubbles if you don't know what's going on. But it's really such a beautiful language. I'm glad I have the chance to learn it.

Some interesting stuff about Belgium:

• There was litter EVERYWHERE in Bruxelles.
• If you don't drink beer, something is medically wrong with you.
• Most, if not every single one of the houses I've seen are made of stone.
• There are flies. EVERYWHERE.
• It seems that families (or maybe just les Cartuyvels) live SUPER close together. Right down the street from my house is Etienne's mom, sister, another sister, I think, and probably two or three dozen other relatives.
• People weren't lying when they said that the weather is really cloudy. I woke up this morning, and the sky was a lovely shade of gray. It could have been 4 am or 3 pm, I had no idea till I turned on my computer.
• Clocks. I don't have a clock in my room, and I have yet to see one around the house (I haven't really looked though). I need to get one before school starts though, or at least a watch, because not knowing the time is making me batty. I now understand why the guy in IQ (Walter Matthau plays Enstein) is running around his cell like crazy because he doesn't know the time. It's really quite frustrating.
• Again, the shower. That thing is really getting to me.
• Lights. There are no lights past the third set of stairs on the way to my room. I walk the last 10 or 20 steps to my room in complete darkness. It's not horrible, but just a little odd. I'll have to start leaving a small lamp on in my room.
• They really do eat fruit for desert. Yesterday, I was offered a nectarine or a peach. I think I made an idiot out of myself because I just bit into it. It was delicious, yes, but everyone else who had one used a knife to cut it up. I'll have to try that next time I'm offered. I know it's the American in me coming out, but it just seems so time-consuming to sit there and cut the fruit up before eating it. Oh well, this isn't about being American, it's about being part of the family.
• I realized that I didn't bring enough warm clothes. I have five pairs of pants, but mostly tank tops and t-shirts for tops. I'll have to get my mom to send a sweatshirt/jacket along with my dictionary.
• It's kinda weird being up so high in the house. The view is PHENOMENAL, but I can't really hear what's going on downstairs. Just something to get used to.
• There's a formal living room and a kid living room.

Well, I'm fairly hungry, so I'm going to get dressed and go get some breakfast.

A bientot,

Mikayla