The latest.

I know, I'm getting really bad at regular updates. I'm sorry, I'm just super busy! I'll try to post more often, okay? :)

Here's what's been happening:

Friday, 24 Septembre

Friday was a regular day at school, culminating in a fabulous geography lesson. Okay, not really, but the teacher did let us pack up five minutes early, which was nice. Friday night, my host parents hosted a dinner party kind of thing for Talia and I. All three of our host families came, in addition to some Rotarians. I had a lot of fun talking with people and gossiping with Talia and Camille, my very awesome host sister from my third family. Most of the people I talked to told me that my French has already improved, which makes me very happy. I don't want to get into a huge spiel about language right now, so I'll put it in a paragraph at the end.

Saturday, 25 Septembre

In all honesty, I don't remember what I did on Saturday. I don't think it was much of anything. I probably read a little bit of Lord of the Flies and watched "The West Wing" (I do love that show). It was a pretty calm day.

Sunday, 26 Septembre

On Sunday, Etienne and I went to a horse show near the border of Belgium and the Netherlands. It was rather chilly, but I loved it, of course. There was a competitor from the stable up the street that lets me ride, which was super cool. Etienne and I also got bracelets that gave us special access to the barns and such, but we didn't get a chance to tour them, which was unfortunate.

After the show, we tried to drive home, but the GPS we were using went a little crazy, and Etienne and I ended up in Maastricht, which is a city in the Netherlands. So, I've officially been to two countries in Europe, which I think is pretty awesome. Talia, Emma and I are hoping to go to Maastricht in the not too distant future to do some shopping and to find the Domino's (yes, the pizza place).

Sunday night, Etienne and I drove to the forest about half an hour from the house to listen for elk mating calls. Yes, I'm serious. Apparently, Etienne does this with his friends every year. It was actually really interesting. We got to see some elk in a field probably... 400 yards from where we were in the forest. It was interesting to watch the dynamics of the herd and how the males interacted. Yes, I'm a little bit of a science nerd. :) Anyway, Etienne and I left after about an hour, since it was VERY cold. We stopped at McDonald's on the way home and I had my first "American" food since being here. The menus are different here though, so that made ordering a challenge (along with the fact that I didn't know what the worker was saying to me...). But it was yummy at least.

Monday, 26 Septembre

Monday I had off from school for some sort of holiday. It's only in the Walloon region (the southern, French part), and if I'm correct, it was merely so that people could have a chance to celebrate being French. I stayed home all day and relaxed, reading and catching up on things.

OH.

A great thing happened on Monday. A fantastic, amazing, wonderful thing.

We got tickets for Lady Gaga.

November 23rd at 8 pm in Antwerp.

I am SO excited! I'm going with Talia, Emma and my host brother, Arnaud. We're all dressing up (okay, maybe Arnaud isn't...) and it's going to be CRAZY. Our seats aren't very good, but that's not the point. I'm so excited just for the music and the atmosphere. It's going to be absolutely incredible. And it's right after my birthday! I canNOT wait!

Tuesday, 27 Septembre

I had to go back to school, but Amaury didn't (LUCKY), so I drudged along trying not to fall asleep in my last class of the day. Arnaud picked me up afterward and we had a lively conversation about Valentine's Day (he's very amused by the fact that I come from Loveland), spiders and Lady Gaga's meat dress. It was rather pleasant.

That night, Amaury made waffles, and oh my goodness, they were INCREDIBLE. People don't make waffles here like we do in the U.S. You don't use syrup or peanut butter or fruit or whipped cream on waffles here, and you eat them with your hands. They're absolutely delicious, too. I told Anne-Michèle that I would like waffles for my birthday; she laughed, but she agreed.

Wednesday, 28 Septembre

Went to school. Got out early. Came home. Read The Great Gatsby (I finished Lord of the Flies). Talked to mom. Ate fondue. Went to bed.

Thursday, 29 Septembre

Today, I went to school, again. I do that a lot. At lunch, Florian told me that he heard that the actors in the Harry Potter films might be here for the premiere. HOLY CATS, I hope they are! That would be AMAZING, and would totally satisfy my desire to go to a premiere in London. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....

Anyway, after school, Talia, Emma and I went to GB (a kind of grocery store Wal-greens combo) and picked up a few things (an eraser for school, gum, chocolate, Q-tips, etc. All the essentials) before heading over to a makeup store. I'm not usually big on makeup, but I liked that store a lot. I managed to find a new mascara that I really like, which makes me happy.

Now, I'm home reading The Great Gatsby and talking to Talia and Emma about food (of course).

Here are a few things that didn't really fit into my description of the last week:

Language:

I'm still thinking in English most of the time, and I haven't had any dreams in French (that I remember, at least). However, I do find it easier to speak in French at school and with my friends. I'll ask them if a word is masculine or feminine, and then continue my sentence. I'm way more comfortable with object pronouns now, which makes me very happy. I'm starting to use "one" more as well. Last week, I was journaling while I was in étude (it's not like I actually have to do homework...) and I actually found it easier to write in French! Florian read it afterward, and politely told me that I didn't have any spelling mistakes. I know my grammar was horrible and most of the sentences probably weren't complete thoughts, but still. I journaled in French!

At the dinner party, I talked to Camille for a while, and she told me my French is better, which made me feel quite proud. I also talked to my second host family's daughter, Valérie, and she told me that I'm speaking very well, too. I've decided not to stress too much about the language, and just let it come. Life is more fun stress-free.

Homesickness:

I was a little homesick today in math class. As you may have read, I'm in calculus, which is just NOT okay. I have absolutely NO clue what is going on. It's not because I'm not trying; believe me, I am. But there's a gap between where I finished math at Loveland and what they're learning here. I can kind of follow what the teacher is doing algebraically, but after a certain point (derivatives...) I get lost. Talia said she'd help me though (THANK YOU!) and Ericson offered as well. I think I'll make it. And if not, hey, it's Monopoly School.

Okay, you're probably confused now. Talia, Emma, Eduardo and I call everything here "Monopoly" because it feels so unreal; it's a play off of "Monopoly money." We have a lot of time on our hands.

Chocolate:

I'm getting sick of it. Seriously. I just want fruit. And vegetables. Right now, I'm craving Broccoli. With a capital B.

Well, I think that may be all for today. I hope everyone's doing well and enjoying life!

Oh, I would also like to throw out a huge "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" to Mr. Jordan Blevins, my exchange buddy from Florida. :)

La Fête de Wallonie.

The group.

Arnaud and I.

The Mac n Cheese.

Boiling water. It's a skill.

I was so happy when I saw the powdered cheese.

The lovely table.

The finished project. :)

They liked it. :)

Anne-Michèle and Amaury, my youngest brother.

Anne-Michèle cooking.

I've been sick for the past week and a half.

And I'm soooo sick of it! My host family doesn't use tissues, they use hankies, which, quite honestly, have always kind of grossed me out. Don't you want the germs to get away from you? Alas, I have been craving tissues for the past week. I go to school every day and take a bunch of paper towel from the dispenser in the bathroom and use that. It's worked quite well so far.

Tonight, Anne-Michèle asked me if I wanted to make "pâte avec le fromage," commonly known as mac n cheese in America. Of course I said yes, and ran up to my room to retrieve the boxes of Kraft goodness. While cooking, I talked with Anne-Michèle and Amaury, which was fun. I was almost moved to tears of joy when I opened the package of powdered cheese. I do think Anne-Michèle was a little surprised when I didn't bake the final product in the oven for a few minutes. When we finally sat down to eat it, Anne-Michèle and Arnaud both wanted salt and pepper on theirs, which was fine by me. The only thing that freaked me out was when Arnaud added ketchup. You just don't do that to mac and cheese. You just don't.

While we were eating, Arnaud asked me if it's a common American dish. I laughed a little and told him yes, yes it is. I eat it at least... 5 or 6 times per month, right mom?

Anyway, as we were eating, Anne-Michèle was saying that it's made with cheddar cheese. I responded, "Well... I'm not sure I'd call it "cheese" exactly...." (come on people, the stuff comes in powdered form...). I don't think I was very clear though, because Anne-Michèle started explaining cheddar cheese to me. Of course, being a Wisconsinite, I could live off of cheddar cheese (and often eat little else for days at a time...), so I found it kind of amusing that she didn't think I knew what it was. On a related note, I've been missing cheddar cheese. If Anne-Michèle knows what it is, it must be in the country somewhere, right? I have a new mission. :D

I'm going to post pictures of the mac n cheese in a different post; the photo uploader is acting funny, unfortunately.

Here's a recap of the things that have happened lately:

Friday I was in a stupendously happy mood, and I have no idea why. I was jumping around with happiness. My adrenaline was insane. It hasn't completely worn off yet, either. I'm still walking on air!

Friday night Etienne and I went to a concert in a nearby town. It was the Belgian band October. They do U2 covers, and they were pretty good. Unfortunately, they totally butchered "Sunday, Bloody Sunday", which is my favorite U2 song. That put a bit of a damper on it for me (that and the fact that I was so cold I couldn't feel my feet), but otherwise it was a lot of fun. I met some of Etienne's friends (I'm not kidding when I say my host family knows EVERYONE) and two little guys who were 13 and 14, the sons of one of Etienne's friends. The friend kept trying to force them to speak English with me, which was a little funny. They did try a little bit though, which was nice. And they didn't laugh at my mediocre French, which was a relief.

The concert ended at midnight with some fireworks (I enjoyed those, of course) and Etienne and I left right away. It was SO cold! But I'm really glad I went. It's nice to get out and see things once in a while.

Saturday I slept in for a bit, and then Anne-Michèle and I went shopping after lunch. I didn't bring nearly enough warm clothes along, and my school doesn't allow shirts that expose our shoulders (that includes tanktops, unfortunately), so I needed to get a few things. I managed to find a warmer jacket that I really like as well as a sweater and two pair of tights, one black, one gray. At the next shop, Anne-Michèle and I found a pair of black heels and a necklace for the soirée I'm going to with Arnaud at the beginning of October. Funny story: when we got home, I realized that the shoes were both for the right foot. Anne-Michèle exchanged them today. :)

Anyway, Saturday night, I went to Namur with Arnaud for the Fête de Wallonie. We went in a big group with his friends, which was a lot of fun. There was the usual exclamation of "You're only 16?!" and one guy thought it would be funny to ask Arnaud if he was babysitting, but aside from that it was a pleasant evening. I met up with Talia and Emma (other exchange students who go to my school) for a little while, which was great. We had a good time laughing and joking about school and exchanges and life back home and all of the rather drunk people we were surrounded by. Talia and Emma left at about 11:30, and Arnaud and I went with his friends to a tent with a DJ and we all danced until about 3 am. Arnaud taught me a swing dance move either called "The Rock" or "The Work" (his English wasn't too good at that point), which I enjoyed. The DJ stopped playing at about 3, and we were home at 4. I only slept about 3 hours, but I really wasn't too tired the rest of the day.

Sunday at noon, we had lunch at Mami's house again, and I got to meet one of Etienne's sisters, which was nice. Her name's Sophie.

The past two days I've been doing school stuff, and tomorrow is a half-day, so I'm very excited.

Oh, I've also had some new problems with the shower. It seems that it wants to be one of two temperatures: freezing or third degree burns. This should be interesting.

I hope everyone is doing well!

The chipmunk is gone.

It's kind of weird not having him here...

I wanted to share

that I am in an INCREDIBLY good mood today. I don't know why. I just am. I am SO happy. I can't stop smiling. I hope everyone experiences happiness like this from time to time. It's truly a mood lifter.

Be the smile you want to see on a stranger's face.

I definitely hear the sultry sounds of NSync.

Coming from Arnaud's room. That was just followed by "Dancing Queen." I do appreciate his taste in music.