First week of school , after a month off. OOOH LA , not easy. Well in terms of doing stuff like homework, yes ,but in terms of getting up before ten . NO . its a good thing good ol coffee is there to make me face the day unwillingly.
So I've started to speak with the slang/dialect from around here and I don't even mean to . I was talking to a classmate at school and I replied with some slang and he applauded me . All in all it is cool to speak like the locals and what not but , you know who won't understand it. THE REST OF THE FRENCH SPEAKING WORLD. It's insane really , there is slang and dialects for every city and town around here. I need to work on my proper French. After many emails and pleadings with my rotary councilor , he sent me information about a French course for non-Francophones in Mons ( the city near me ) . The sign up for the course was on Friday and I had to take the bus to get there. I normally DON'T EVER take the bus . If I do , it's because I'm with a friend that has to . My host family normally drove me everywhere **SPOILED**. The bus route went by my school so I got on after classes on Friday . Even though Mons isn't far away it still took about 56 hours to get there because of all the students who take the bus too. It took way too long and I was running late . PLUS I missed my stop and didn't realize it . The bus is at the train station in Mons and I go up to the driver and ask if my stop is close. He says that he's already passed it * WELL DONE SARAH *. This whole time I'm contemplating just getting off , scraping the whole thing and taking the train home in defeat. BUT I DIDN'T I found the city bus that runs for free and found my stop. I was really late...but I got there. I find the room for the signup and its full of people from all over the world. Belarus, Uzbekistan , The UK ect.. and they aren't kids. All immigrants , or people sent to work here because of the NATO military base nearby. I sat down and it took forever to finally talk to the woman . The first thing she asked me was if i was an exchange student , is it that obvious? . The whole time I'm thinking I'm going to be put in the beginner class and the woman is like you'll be in the advanced class. FOR ONCE , I felt smart. Luckily there is also another exchange student who goes to the class that i know. Because in Belgium all the exchange students know each other. I'm excited to start and glad to know that I'll be with another exchanger because some of the people in the class seem PRETTY SHADY.
It's weird here, the weather. It's not cold at all really, it feels like March/April and its January. No snow , temperatures in the 40's, SUNNNNY( an unknown heat giving orb not known to this region). I kind of like it . It makes me want to go outside and do something. UNFORTUNATELY I can't. Well.. not completely true. I have a lawn now ! (thankgod) so I might go outside and kick the ball around. But there isn't a place to run , I don't know the neighborhood well and it doesn't seem very accommodating to runners anyway. There's a gym in the next town over but i can't get there by walking. This all amount to the fact that i miss being active. I miss riding my bike , i miss running , i miss soccer OH MY GOD HOW I MISS SOCCER. I wasn't sure how much Belgium had for women's soccer but just in case i packed my cleats, and forgot my high heels. turns out i needed the latter more than the former. There are clubs in every town around here and i pass dozens of pitches when i take the train anywhere. I see them and i press my face up against the train window ,so desperate to get out there and play . I want to play in college and the fact that i haven't played in months is not good at all. There are rumors about women's teams, but you have to really ask around for information, I've sent emails out to coaches and sports clubs and they're like oh we stopped the women's club a while ago. It's sad really , the emphasis on sports for girls here is practically non existent when you compare it to the united states. Gym in school doesn't do much either, i mean now we're swimming so that will be a good workout but when there's 35 girls playing a modified version of baseball which includes a foam bat and ball , holding hands to run the bases, and throwing things into cones. IT DOESN'T INSPIRE MUCH CONFIDENCE. Then you have to factor in that its the 24/7 bread diet , and then you go shopping and the sizes are so so tiny its crazy. These people are genetically engineered to eat bread all the time and not be overweight. Americans don't work like that.
Anyway I haven't been up to that much , I went to Namur yesterday with my friend Chelsea from Liege. It's a cool city , historic without all the industrialism . I didn't take any pictures though , even though the last time i was there i took hundreds , but those never saw the light of day because my camera got stolen :D YAY! The shopping district was packed because in Europe for some reason the Crazy sales start after Christmas. I had to restrain myself from buying anything . hardest thing ever.
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