tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16478227144757499092024-02-20T20:30:52.273-08:00Gingerly Entertaining in the World of Chocolateblog about my travels in Europe and my many months as a Rotary exchange student in Dour, Belgium!ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-35065339666124409002012-05-04T06:16:00.000-07:002012-05-04T06:16:50.399-07:00The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on Exchange Students<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spain crew Rotary Exchange Belgium !<br /></td></tr>
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So , It's the day after my parents and brother left for the states. I'm feeling miserable. Curled up on my bed sobbing because I missed them so much. Then it occurred to me that . I'M GOING ON AN ELEVEN DAY TOUR OF SPAIN. So I should cheer the hell up .<br />
This post is going to be me doing a half ass job of trying to recall everything we did in Spain , more or less , day by day.<br />
Day 1 : Meet in Bruxelles to catch the charter bus and a good 3/4ths of all the exchangers . The bus then stops in Liege to collect the others. AND THEN DRIVES ALLL THE WAY BACK TO WHERE I LIVE . Literally the first rest stop we went to on the 24 hr drive was at the rest station like 5 minutes from my house. 0_o ... yeah . wasn't thrilled. We drove all night and day leaving Belgium via Lille-Paris and working our way down the eastern side of France . I'll probably mention this several times in this post but the group of kids we had on the Spain trip was THE BEST. So many kids I had never met. Newies and Oldies alike.<br />
Day2: STILL DRIVING . Make it to Salamanque around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Tour the city a bit .<br />
Day 3: Tour of the city with guide , LOTS OF FREAKING RAIN.... Salamanque is known for its university and also the fact that on their Roman age cathedral there is a detailed carving of a astronaut in appropriate garb .<br />
Day4: Up early to Drive all the way to Avila - HOLD UP<br />
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OKAY so i started writing this post a while ago and now i'm failing at remembering every day and each significant detail , and plus i have another post to do anyway. SO i'll give you a vague-ish overview.now<br />
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I don't think Americans think that much about Spain, Especially for a vacation in Europe. With the exception of the mega rich party island of Ibiza . My reasoning in saying this is that we never had any kind of intervention with spain, in recent history. Spain wasn't apart of WWII and I don't really think WWI either. Plus this trip was at the same time as one with rotary to Italy and you can guess which was more popular initially . I think its worth it to take the "road less traveled" in this case. Italy will allllways be there as a travel option , everyone wants to go to Venice , Rome ect, and , yes i've already been to Italy once and it was alright . But SPAIN <3<br />
Sure they're going through a bit of a rough patch . LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD, but it really was amazing. The landscape was probably one of the greatest parts of the trip , I've never been to the Southwest in my own country but I imagine it looks a hell of a lot like spain which would explain why the Spanish settled there . The history is diverse , at one point there were Muslims , Jews and Christians all living together. Although for the most part , now and then Catholicism was dominant . This was the Rotary in Belgium's first time doing a trip to Spain so, we were the test group. I'm just going to come out and say it though . WE did wayyyy tooo much church related stuff. The schedule for the day sometimes ended up being : Church followed by Cathedral , basilica and several monasteries. I understand that Spain is right up there with Italy on beein' keen on jesus but there are plenty of other things to see . So much art , music, nature. Just giving us time to wander around cities and find things for ourselves. But it didn't work out that way.... the motto for the trip became : Churches by day , Clubbing by night. Although. the one house of worship I was completely and utterly amazed by was the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I've been in Europe for a while now so I've seen my fair share of Churches. But this. This is the most beautiful building I have ever seen . And it's not even half way finished. I will go back to Barcelona if/when they finish it .<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sagrada Familia<br /></td></tr>
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On another note, this trip was also a chance for me to meet new exchangers. Most of the newies (kids from austrailia and new zealand that got here in jan) were on the trip and it was so cool to hang out with them .There were even kids that have been here all year that i had never met before and had an amazing time with . As expected most of the latino kids went to Italy but the ones that came to spain were all so nice and it was so great to talk to them. We taught them how to be "gringas" ( white girls) and we were taught how to be latinas .<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barcelona!</td></tr>
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PHOTO TIME.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Malgrat Del Mar </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salamanque<br /><br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avila (?)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toledo</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Segovie</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It snowed. NOoooONE was prepared<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Escorial (where the whole spanish royal family crypt is )<br /><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Madrid</td></tr>
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<br /><br /><br />sidenote* the reason for the title -the weather kindaaaaaa sucked. Rain, cold , snow. ya know .<div>
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</div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-10911109919332393682012-04-16T04:40:00.000-07:002012-04-16T04:40:54.849-07:00BACK FROM HIATUS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hello world . I know you have all been wondering what to do with yourselves without my blog to read. BUT I'M BACK NOW . Dry thine eyes , I'm going to give a rundown of the last month :)<br />
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First thing<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeQf2Zb2UzjEQMRTCab3i1pkLTwDd5gVCFZ3YzwPMJn7qRh_SSRka-6RyfSl-aERw8SV-1aHdcJqyglEpNmnxZdryZe5gEKR2UnV7PbT5ZGO4hLEei-SiZXT1IX5diu4ten_XFxYG14jU/s1600/DSC01588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyeQf2Zb2UzjEQMRTCab3i1pkLTwDd5gVCFZ3YzwPMJn7qRh_SSRka-6RyfSl-aERw8SV-1aHdcJqyglEpNmnxZdryZe5gEKR2UnV7PbT5ZGO4hLEei-SiZXT1IX5diu4ten_XFxYG14jU/s320/DSC01588.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> BRUXELLES : Bruxelles is pretty much like my second home. I've been there more times in 8 months than i think most of my classmates have in their whole lives ... don't wanna brag or anything. We visited the Musee Magritte ( famous realist painter) and the Musee de Bande Dessine ( Comic strips) . It was a great day , the best part was when i was leading all of the Belgians around Brussels though . Another way you know that you're in a small country is when you rent a two story charter bus to drive 45 minutes.......<br />
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</div>NORMANDIE: Surprise trip ! That was ruined by my host dad the day before but it was great all the same. The funny thing about France is that its sooooo big that you can visit one Region and so SOOO much and yet it still won't even be half of whats there. We saw Rouen ( the captial of Normandy) Etretat ( the suppperr pretty cliffs) Honfleur( the quaint fishing village) The Benedictine Palace ( Palace made for booze ...and art... but mostly booze) and THE OCEAN. One of the weirdest parts of the trip was that we ended up staying the night and after searching allll over for a hotel we ended up staying at a bed and breakfast . This particular bed and breakfast was also a snail farm.... A SNAIL FARM. So i'm sitting there on the bed , dumbfounded and perhaps a little out of it asking my host mom WHY WE ARE SLEEPING AT A SNAIL FARM. It actually ended up being really nice though :).<br />
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SENSATION WHITE: This is a giannnt 12 hr dance rave thing that is all over europe , south america, and australia . The idea is to dress in all white for effect and you get to see some pretty awesome dj's live. The very very ironic part about the whole concert was that the majority of people that were there were .... AMERICANS . College kids on study abroad ... i met lax bros from near and far . Even a kid from the college i'm going to attend next year . GO GENESEO KIGHTS ;)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUYwBeCp-q747ripL10Dih1cdtRk5VT4yKrhbwFfGdzv1XX_6r0N1lHtoTXDtUnPtTVL37lG7cqktQLsN7s9bfwhLTyC9IVIp8KhdU68UWV5nr2td8T7ibLiJjreYQ2JovqxJ6PFlXX-U/s1600/DSC01915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUYwBeCp-q747ripL10Dih1cdtRk5VT4yKrhbwFfGdzv1XX_6r0N1lHtoTXDtUnPtTVL37lG7cqktQLsN7s9bfwhLTyC9IVIp8KhdU68UWV5nr2td8T7ibLiJjreYQ2JovqxJ6PFlXX-U/s320/DSC01915.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>STANDARD LIEGE : The day after staying up 24+hrs i went to a Standard Liege match with my friend Tucker ! It was one of my goals to see a professional soccer match here and STANDARD was not a let down. They beat Leuven 4-0 :)<br />
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PARENTAL INVASION: For the first time in Seven months i was reunited with my Family . It was so weird to take the train to Brussels and have people from this other world i left behind , there, to meet me . Luckily my parents and brother fell in LOVE with Belgium<br />
heres what our schedule was like :<br />
Wednesday: Bruxelles<br />
Thursday : Bruges , Ostend(e?)<br />
Friday : Binche, Mons , Tournai ,DOUR<br />
Saturday: Bastogne , The Ardennes<br />
Sunday: Antwerp<br />
-3 am monday morning . GET ROBBED IN OUR HOTEL ROOM WHILE WE SLEEP. the window was open in our SECOND story room . Some scumbag saw that it was open , climbed up and took my dads wallet. After no help from the police and the hotel and little sleep we booked it out of Brussels and headed off to paris.<br />
Monday- Paris<br />
Tuesday- Versailles, Monmarte<br />
Wednesday- Louvre, more Paris<br />
Thursday- Leave.<br />
I didn't think i was going to be as emotional as i was to say goodbye to my family a second time, but i was. It was terrible. Having to say goodbye a second time . They were only here for about 10 days and at the beginning it was a little too weird to have them around for the first time in half a year and then by the time I was finally used to having them around , it was time for them to leave. I took the train back to Belgium thursday morning while my family flew back state side and i cried ALLLL the way back home. I kept my sunglasses on the whole time but my muffled sobs were obvious enough to scare the korean woman next to me . SCORE**<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYEZvAk-LL-LKH_fogB_kXH3yOg4wzDwG3Snw9oI7OFC6qXDqGAB53-NXvntAWsq0x6MuFOijvTv5gImwaG0CZM4YtjwEp7ahRdZlt5gTDkc5Q54xC1xeCF6acFQxpJTeu7-Mz4yWbAmB/s1600/IMG_0404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiYEZvAk-LL-LKH_fogB_kXH3yOg4wzDwG3Snw9oI7OFC6qXDqGAB53-NXvntAWsq0x6MuFOijvTv5gImwaG0CZM4YtjwEp7ahRdZlt5gTDkc5Q54xC1xeCF6acFQxpJTeu7-Mz4yWbAmB/s320/IMG_0404.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4lKvUXQg72ZHOwP6BEokXhcmm96vcBMPBsrbowoPRKlwaSXkQz6EGQDRV1-tJuBFwnagtSIRmNRRO_wBijicuDks76FJHJjQRrat9iwWc5Ly22DFfokFCC7_z4L5Z5cfKrfkhOgmH5yL/s1600/IMG_0593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD4lKvUXQg72ZHOwP6BEokXhcmm96vcBMPBsrbowoPRKlwaSXkQz6EGQDRV1-tJuBFwnagtSIRmNRRO_wBijicuDks76FJHJjQRrat9iwWc5Ly22DFfokFCC7_z4L5Z5cfKrfkhOgmH5yL/s320/IMG_0593.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> The best part about the trip was that my American family got to meet my Belgian one . My host family did soooo much for my parents and brother , that they didn't have to . They drove us all over , had a huge dinner for us , and even had my family stay with them for a night. My parents tell me over and over that what they did for them really made the trip , and they're happy to see that i'm with a great family. Since their visit i think its safe to say that the american family and the belgian family are one in the same now :)<br />
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NEXT POST : rundown of my trip to catholicland- AKA spain</div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-32799956894038739762012-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:002012-03-05T09:30:41.200-08:00WHY YOU NEIGE?!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> So this update will be exponentially less exciting than the previous one , but what did you expect. It's not like Belgium is one big Carnaval or anything.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenjS0iyubT4dX4tez719RJflus3zQmcmiYTqm94UIDgue1G85JjNzoRfYKZ1g4HiCu6Z8hLf5EQsjOfTCU1VyseBEBm8zhf_4CrfORptCN-Alz8OIE0f9Pk65WvmXfia5uDoPw86Rx-GZ/s1600/DSC01585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenjS0iyubT4dX4tez719RJflus3zQmcmiYTqm94UIDgue1G85JjNzoRfYKZ1g4HiCu6Z8hLf5EQsjOfTCU1VyseBEBm8zhf_4CrfORptCN-Alz8OIE0f9Pk65WvmXfia5uDoPw86Rx-GZ/s400/DSC01585.JPG" width="400" /></a></div> So it decided to finally start snowing here. Right after it decided to start warming up . Makes plenty of sense . I woke up this morning to a flurry of snow that just accumulated into wet slush , it only takes 4 cm to shut down the whole country , i sware.<br />
* Side note I changed back to my first host family on Saturday morning. With about five bags ..... My regular suitcase, carry on, two backpacks and a tote bag( with exclusively all my shoes) . I'm going to have to give away some stuff . I'll go to Brussels and just give all my stuff to the homeless people. It won't buy them drugs and booze but it'll keep them warm .<br />
Saturday I went for a run in shorts and a t-shirt. It was 53 degrees I'd guess. Maybe I'm just a little too upstate New York to be running in shorts and a t-shirt then because EVERY person I passed was wearing a parka. Saturday night was a birthday party for my friend from school in the next town over , called the Archangel . ANNNND ever second Saturday of the month its a tranny bar...if that's what you're into.;) Anyway we got there and the Miss and Mister. DOUR beauty pageant was going on. Granted half the people in the compition were dour so i dont see how anybody could be merited a winner..*play on words , TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR . Eventually most of the wierdos cleared out and we finally got to party. This was essentially the first time I was in a non-school environment with my classmates, and I had a really awesome time. Which in turned making me feel super regretful. Let mama tell ya why.In the beginning of my exchange , Sept-Nov I got out every chance I got. One weekend in Ghent one in Namur ect. I would go out because 1. I wanted to see Belgium and 2. I wasn't really getting anywhere with the kids at school ( i don't know if i wasn't trying engough ,probably, or it was the other way around) But NOW. I'm upset that i spent that time away , not speaking french , hanging out with exchangers every change i got . Don't get me wrong I still enjoyed it and I wouldn't have made such great friends within rotary , but I feel like my french could be better . My host mom has to correct me a lot but she does tell me my french is good. It's frustrating sometimes because I know that I'm not speaking correctly but I don't know how to correct myself so I just keep going. My host brother in Colombia speaks great Spanish now and even gives French lessons. It's really cool , but Spanish and French are closer than French and English . The only other romantic language that's closer to French than Spanish is Italian . Unfortunately I'm going from a Germanic language to a Romantic one. Sometimes i get so upset i just want to bang my head on a wall for a few minutes but I really do enjoy speaking french , and compared to some of the other exchange students i'm practically a savant. Actually now I'm realizing that I'd very much like to try and go to a Francophone college. Not here in Belgium but Quebec. Granted their french is going to sound really weird after spending a year here. The "Dialect" they speak here is called Borain , and theres also a bit of the dialect called Ch'tis .There a pretty famous french movie called Bienvenue Chez Les Ch'tis , about a man that lives in the South of France that is forced to move to the North for work . The accent , in my opinion sounds like more of a speech impediment . They add the Ch sound to everything. But while I was watching it I understood the collocations because ..we use them . I'm trying to watch a lot of french /french-belgian cinema just so i can really learn more of the language.<br />
Anyway , My family will be here really soon and I'm bracing myself for the tedious task of playing translator. Last night I was on skype with them , and every few minutes i'd turn to my host mom and start speaking english and then look at my parents and start speaking french. WAY TO GO BRAIN * high five...</div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-46882222396941295332012-02-23T08:17:00.001-08:002012-02-23T08:23:48.700-08:00Carnaval<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> So when people talk about Carnival or Carnaval (in french) you think instantly of Rio , Venice or New Orleans but another carnival that is of equal importance and just as popular is the Carnaval de Binche. If you've read my other posts you know that I play in a wind ensemble in Binche so I've been told many times before about Carnaval. It was actually one of the first things my host family told me when we met. This post is going to be kind of long because I'm going to do my best to explain the history and the tradition of Binche. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> BACKGROUND: Back in the 1500's Belgium belonged to Spain. Yes, I said Spain ... the emperor Charles Quint ruled over Spain's empire. His sister Marie of Hungary built a Chateau in Binche . The main figures of Carnaval emerged there ( Gilles de Binche) . There are a lot of theories about how the Gilles de Binche came about but the one with the most proof behind it is that of a legend written about the Incas of pre-colombia america and the way the indians were dressed were reciprocated in an show for Marie of Hungary . Although if you mention this to anyone from Binche they'll tell you its bull . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The Carnival itself is three days long and based on the holy calender so the actual dates change every year. Other cities in Belgium do partake in their own version of Carnaval but Binche is the first and Original . The Gilles are in full costume only on Mardi Gras and there are rules to being a Gille that must be followed : </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> * Women are not allowed to be Gilles</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> * a Gille must not misbehave ( drink , smoke ) while in costume in public</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> * To be a Gille you must have been a resident of Binche for three years.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> * If you are a Gille and you have moved away from Binche you must go back for Carnaval</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> * Gilles can only dance to the 27 sacred songs of the Carnaval </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> * If a Gille needs to leave the group during the Mardi Gras they must be accompanied by a drummer ( The Gilles are followed by the tambour ( drums ) and tradtional ensemble ( trumpet, baritone, tuba, clarinet) . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> * A Gille can only wear the mask on the morning of Mardi Gras and the hat in the after noon of Mardi Gras.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoPmf9uCaVeN0Q_-FZVkIEwmaKWmeFfB8_YuQvehyphenhyphen0rMlb30tiTzONJhMkQKH9kdhyenaZERa8j53MA1OaW8uNa8rXFbBH9hc1xXzIsTl1TGZ8nqTbJT9OL5_sJ5bA8vNxkfzDYBAmqRr/s1600/DSC01351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoPmf9uCaVeN0Q_-FZVkIEwmaKWmeFfB8_YuQvehyphenhyphen0rMlb30tiTzONJhMkQKH9kdhyenaZERa8j53MA1OaW8uNa8rXFbBH9hc1xXzIsTl1TGZ8nqTbJT9OL5_sJ5bA8vNxkfzDYBAmqRr/s320/DSC01351.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the costumes :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> there are actually a lot more that I can't think of at the moment but i'll mention them later if they come to mind</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlHhh2ql2j568ilFEpB8B_KZVHkJ9RDVgt752SU8xRiA4WcIPxgl61cwKCeifLfte_acH2qPKb03wt8zOWhLhldUZd2XDZ3KBiOph8OHceiZtOl5IOROHvvfWr9pYYYVYvaUtZWL2o0ey/s1600/DSC01398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlHhh2ql2j568ilFEpB8B_KZVHkJ9RDVgt752SU8xRiA4WcIPxgl61cwKCeifLfte_acH2qPKb03wt8zOWhLhldUZd2XDZ3KBiOph8OHceiZtOl5IOROHvvfWr9pYYYVYvaUtZWL2o0ey/s320/DSC01398.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoQLLyh5o9QH6JEzh9Siqti8a9rrsBnUEN6WEP5JAKyZw0w7jgQqefs4CQ7K6i-iPJNjGMLuMM0ChuXakHox2Cr8IAr7PVTp3A_ScI2v8sNP3VHToxWk93m-BiyIpob-vy1WxZK0f6r8L/s1600/DSC01365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwoQLLyh5o9QH6JEzh9Siqti8a9rrsBnUEN6WEP5JAKyZw0w7jgQqefs4CQ7K6i-iPJNjGMLuMM0ChuXakHox2Cr8IAr7PVTp3A_ScI2v8sNP3VHToxWk93m-BiyIpob-vy1WxZK0f6r8L/s640/DSC01365.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">INTRO. My whole host family is involved with the Carnaval in some way or another so when I went I got the REAL experience not the tourist version. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> SUNDAY: ( Dimanche Gras) or Shrove Sunday is when all the men in Binche who are Gilles dress up in costumes, not the traditional ones, usually something transgender or comical . There are different costumes for every society of Gilles . This year there were cave men, female flight attendants, smurfs , ostrich riders ect. They are always accompanied by a viola ( not the alto violin ) . A viola in this case is a very old instrument that plays melodies by turning a crank on the side. They dance all around the streets of Binche for the day and at night they are accompanied by the drums and brass. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> One of the cool parts about Binche is that it's a walled city , and for part of the tradition we all went into the underground part of the walls and drank champagne . The cool part about the room is that its spherical and there is one part of the room where you can stand on one side of the room and talk to someone on the other side . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> My friend Audrey was with us for Carnaval and we were walking around with my host mom when the mayor of Binche walked by and gave her the traditional flower of Binche. And then not two seconds after we accidentally ran into the Prime Minister of Belgium Elio De Rupo. NO BIG DEAL.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The day was spent walking , dancing and following the Gilles until all hours of the morning.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> MONDAY: ( Lundi Gras) Shrove Monday . This day is more for the kids of binche, it has a Halloween feel to it . They all dress up and dance throughout the city with the viola also they have huge bags of confetti that they throw mercilessly . There are usually themes to the costumes as well and this year it was Italian. My wind ensemble got together to play in the cafes and we all put on Italian themed stuff. I played my host mom's soprano sax and it was such an honor to be able to be an actual part of the Carnaval . ** FUN FACT : the Carnaval of Binche is officially recognized and protected by UNESCO** Also you play games in the street , I don't know the name of it but it works like this : You line up in the street , men on one side and women on the other and in the middle is the bass drum player and the man that runs the game and when the base drum player hits the drum the two sides switch . But if you get stuck on your side you go into the middle , inbetween the two groups and you have to do whatever the man running the game says. OF COURSE i got caught and in the middle of the confetti covered streets i was told to do push ups. I did rip my jeans in the process but they were the best push ups ever . Towards the evening the little kids are still dancing in the cobblestoned streets but this time they're followed by the drummers and musicians ( i forgot to mention that my host dad is a baritone player for them ) but this time they start burning sulfur in the streets which actually glow red . I know this sounds a little weird but its just tradition. The groups of kids and musicians make their way towards the train station where there is a fireworks show and even while the fireworks are going on they still dance around the sulfur and the musicians still play . The cool part is when the shadows of the dancers are up on the walls of the city . Luckily my host parents know everyone in Binche and they have friends who live near the train station so we all got to go up to their balcony and watch the fireworks. Lundi Gras is the shortest night , IN THEORY. because the next day is the hardest. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3r9VjnuhBgjuOdRYp4imGBWkAcWqfd7RxeUj0wi3tfuUo-Ac4MQQiILCcdwq-uyp2WWtt4gH8BtDbogU-4cpIK9p_FBjyMw6sM0NC580PNvlWBPwD0PMSAPKzQXBNf8Ly_WsCWSwDRfz/s1600/DSC01456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3r9VjnuhBgjuOdRYp4imGBWkAcWqfd7RxeUj0wi3tfuUo-Ac4MQQiILCcdwq-uyp2WWtt4gH8BtDbogU-4cpIK9p_FBjyMw6sM0NC580PNvlWBPwD0PMSAPKzQXBNf8Ly_WsCWSwDRfz/s320/DSC01456.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpOhMl_FkPYr8UEZDRyeHkaG6gC6X8WoELHOP19q-76ofPjUpUEbLxdCa4LSSYzL4XH6t1aRcjsBBsrPcaO06ccP8k6aEs6NJfzLVg8sfVqtKfwNIjLUgbJRkpwklLjBWzj7gMNpmlWewd/s1600/DSC01434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpOhMl_FkPYr8UEZDRyeHkaG6gC6X8WoELHOP19q-76ofPjUpUEbLxdCa4LSSYzL4XH6t1aRcjsBBsrPcaO06ccP8k6aEs6NJfzLVg8sfVqtKfwNIjLUgbJRkpwklLjBWzj7gMNpmlWewd/s320/DSC01434.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> MARDI GRAS : Shrove Tuesday , THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY. This is when the Gilles come out. The day starts at 2 am. We get up and drive to the house of some friends, because our friend Sylvan is a Gille de Binche. We show up and we get to watch him get into his costume and everything . The Gilles Dance ALLLL DAY on Mardi Gras Starting at 3 am and ending just before sunrise the following day . The whole aim of dancing is to welcome spring and chase away winter.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhQFH_ZomsrJqz4tayThbFJ1IUNDHiBdudJNUHFXfkBG5SuRQ6xTEIQc6Z74si-rIr8dhdoAm0xxRHbSij1rvDCxCuQCwnlgbmZEjxJuBRSGPz3YK-VeUKwUptaS-G5xGM2DVjpMNAkiM/s1600/DSC01477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhQFH_ZomsrJqz4tayThbFJ1IUNDHiBdudJNUHFXfkBG5SuRQ6xTEIQc6Z74si-rIr8dhdoAm0xxRHbSij1rvDCxCuQCwnlgbmZEjxJuBRSGPz3YK-VeUKwUptaS-G5xGM2DVjpMNAkiM/s320/DSC01477.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><h3 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: initial; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0.3em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0.17em; padding-top: 0.5em; text-align: -webkit-auto; width: auto;"><span class="mw-headline" id="Klederdracht"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Costume</span></span></h3><ul style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; list-style-image: url(data:image/png; list-style-type: square; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 1.5em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.3em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A mask.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A hat with ostrich feathers.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A belt with bells.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A bundle of willow twigs.( they use this to chase away winter and wake up spring)</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A spherical costume.</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Clogs.( the wooden clogs are worn and when they dance they are waking up the earth )</span></li>
<li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Basket of oranges, oranges or blood oranges.</span></li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAZefGhS4MFd_ZAmNvEh1SWUGoSeK1gaFlEBMJj8mvn7SlA3wTRJAkKPBh-YlcnB5vSdAuAyKCJDNeHnVn9rLEulZZvbzYlYYQ1L0QumwQBqAXGKIBkZ3j_KCgbWXnuBns_S4L2GVF_e6/s1600/DSC01495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAZefGhS4MFd_ZAmNvEh1SWUGoSeK1gaFlEBMJj8mvn7SlA3wTRJAkKPBh-YlcnB5vSdAuAyKCJDNeHnVn9rLEulZZvbzYlYYQ1L0QumwQBqAXGKIBkZ3j_KCgbWXnuBns_S4L2GVF_e6/s320/DSC01495.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"><span class="goog-text-highlight" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 170) 2px 2px 4px; background-color: #c9d7f1; box-shadow: rgb(153, 153, 170) 2px 2px 4px; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"> one can easily recognizes the costume: a linen suit with colorful lions and crowns, which is filled with straw, so the front and back creates a hump. </span>They wear </span><a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klomp" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19px; text-decoration: none;" title="Lump">wooden shoes</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px;"> and a white collar.<span class="">On their face they wear a mask (so everyone is anonymous), and a white hat on their head, then sometimes a big hat with ostrich plumes. </span><span class="">Around their waists they wear the "apertintaille, a belt with six to nine bells.</span></span> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtB7XFEo4jzPl-IfOFWHvwp37kWqYWsj7LQe6_Ad9AOtZHKDeHyPAL1qq-eQflu8OH61fBfLWpyAu2QzfKIEl9LIKKofXF6pfZY1Hnih5VhjS2ztubr0mVUBZEzFHyKXAuHaeRy4DYslZv/s1600/DSC01534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtB7XFEo4jzPl-IfOFWHvwp37kWqYWsj7LQe6_Ad9AOtZHKDeHyPAL1qq-eQflu8OH61fBfLWpyAu2QzfKIEl9LIKKofXF6pfZY1Hnih5VhjS2ztubr0mVUBZEzFHyKXAuHaeRy4DYslZv/s320/DSC01534.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> In the morning the Gilles are called together by a fife and drum ensemble. Fifes are kind of rare so if there isn't a fife a clarinet can be played as well. For Sylvan society Les Recalcitrants my host mom plays the clarinet to gather all the gilles. Before we all left to go everyone was piled in to Sylvans parents house with champagne ( that you don't drink out of champagne glasses , in binche you drink them out of glasses a little bit larger than shot glasses). There was even a news crew inside , and right before we left Sylvan's father played one song for him as a tradtition . For the next few hours we go from house to house waking the Gilles and bringing them together . Every house we go to we're welcomed inside and offered food and drinks. Every time another Gille is added to the group my host mom would play one of the twenty seven sacred songs<br />
( SIDENOTE ABOUT THE SACRED SONGS) the 27 sacred songs of carnaval are the only songs allowed to be played in Binche 25 of them are for the musicians and then there is one that is the cadence for the drummers and one is the song played with the viola . </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeA8IMBjUiTaLfcCvRrj5ou832_hWW4dHHLsHY2EaRZM4zuTuxY4VAOb6lrCklJrJhUeL1xxe643OAX2rBNqvUI6BvajO7SodnqUKsaQNBVPtCQsEORjnC_Ta2LK1h6nCxVxDKxmsVS_cQ/s1600/DSC01544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeA8IMBjUiTaLfcCvRrj5ou832_hWW4dHHLsHY2EaRZM4zuTuxY4VAOb6lrCklJrJhUeL1xxe643OAX2rBNqvUI6BvajO7SodnqUKsaQNBVPtCQsEORjnC_Ta2LK1h6nCxVxDKxmsVS_cQ/s320/DSC01544.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWw8Q8OekgqvDcOvedP7CP0BjgZchqMYngsWkEk5Eb_lRd_h8gJu9yoR-k_gKbDxrcVv5Q0fF7dcs27sN7sQry2EA6D3Kpjmo9FLAZoGXm1yG0Ln_n6xFk0nWQXqzvnbm_Jm6shxnb_kk/s1600/DSC01566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwWw8Q8OekgqvDcOvedP7CP0BjgZchqMYngsWkEk5Eb_lRd_h8gJu9yoR-k_gKbDxrcVv5Q0fF7dcs27sN7sQry2EA6D3Kpjmo9FLAZoGXm1yG0Ln_n6xFk0nWQXqzvnbm_Jm6shxnb_kk/s320/DSC01566.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object id="BLOG_video-FAILED-0" class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="FAILED" width="320" height="266" ></object></div><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"> After all the Gilles were together we went to a cafe to eat oysters and smoked salmon, Not exactly something you'd eat at 5 am but what the hell it was good . There are dozens of other societies of gilles in binche but eventually after everyone is all brought together they make their way dancing to the train station . Where they are joined by the other costumed groups , ( Le Paysans and Le Pierreos which are usually kids , but little kids are allowed to be Gilles as well). Also during the parade the gilles will throw their bundle of sticks at people in the crowd and whoever catches it is allowed to go into the group of gilles and dance . My host mom was very lucky and a friend of hers threw one to her , women aren't normally the ones that get to go in . From the train station the Gilles make their way to the Grand Place of Binche. And half way there they put on their masks. The mask of the Gilles are sacred to Binche , there are no other Carnavals in Belgium that have the same ones . It is tradition for a woman to give the Gilles their masks a girlfriend , mother, sister ect. All the masks are the same to symbolize how a poor man and a rich man could both be Gilles and be equal. Once they arrive at the Grand Place of Binche they all hold hands and dance in a circle . I was lucky enough to be in the circle ! There are thousands of people there , news crews from all over i acually saw one from China . Meanwhile the musicians are playing for them, and after they finish dancing they get to take a break . After lunch they return to dancing but this time with the hats made of ostrich plumes. The hats aren't always manditory but the gilles in le Recalcitrants have to wear them . They make their way through the streets yet again and this time they have baskets full of oranges they throw to the crowd. The blood oranges are for good luck and are only lucky if they are given to you by a gille. YOU MUST NEVER THROW AN ORANGE BACK AT A GILLE IF HE GIVE YOU ONE , But now a days kids from university come and start little wars with them. The dancing goes on and on into the night where they start burning sulfur again and their are the shadows of the dancers , which is easily the most beautiful part. At the very end all the Gilles make their way back to the Grand Place for a huge Fireworks display !</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> This was probably the most Belgian thing ever , and i loved every minute of it . My host dad explained to me that people in Binche are different than others, he always would tell me that there are no other cities in the world named Binche. Also everyone in binche knows eachother and somehow they all knew who i was, they'd come up to me and say OH you're the american who sang in the concert last week , I LOVED IT . It was amazing to meet these people who had nothing but good things to say about me even though i had no idea who they were. Actually last night i was still in Binche for a Dinner with the Gilles and i met a woman who asked me what i thought of carnival and i told her i loved it and It was my first one but DEFINITELY NOT my last one . She cried when i told her that. But its true , I want to come back for Binche every year and hopefully play the 27 sacred songs with the people of Binche.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span></div></div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-47044877618372743432012-02-12T09:10:00.000-08:002012-02-12T09:12:14.200-08:00So Hainaut<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> This week has been pretty busy. I don't know if I mentioned it previously but I was going to sing in a concert with my host parents wind band ensemble in a concert. The past several days have been a push to the finish with rehearsal . Half my time has been spent in Binche *the town where we play * which isn't too bad because its a pretty cool town .<br />
Also I started my french courses finally , in Mons . I'm in the expert class , somehow , with another exchange student from conneticut ! We're the youngest in the class, the others are immigrants , ex pats ,ect. In some of the other classes there are americans and a few brits because theres a NATO base not far from Mons. The class covers exactly what I need ; the grammar , structure the base of the language that I don't really have the best understanding of from time to time.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUO9JZrMz-diSxp3_IwCrciUgULaEo7k-8jOAVNeTU47FJIdaidnKZuoW-XpuOXxHtddH0vm4HDm8KGMKGAuvtBeW3mBZMVFOWnHDagzD2eUvQf3IS_MFQINYn_qyw6Z_ScBp5U410njKb/s1600/422076_3260924362565_1250869286_3370163_630512811_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUO9JZrMz-diSxp3_IwCrciUgULaEo7k-8jOAVNeTU47FJIdaidnKZuoW-XpuOXxHtddH0vm4HDm8KGMKGAuvtBeW3mBZMVFOWnHDagzD2eUvQf3IS_MFQINYn_qyw6Z_ScBp5U410njKb/s320/422076_3260924362565_1250869286_3370163_630512811_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Friday was the concert, and I was not nervous, even though it was the first time I ever sang by myself . EVER. The only thing that kept me from being nervous was the fact that less than 5% of the audience speaks English, and since i was singing in english I could of gone up there and sang the New York State penal code and they wouldn't have known the difference.<br />
Once again my host family surprised me , They sent out an email to my host club president and councilor asking them if they wanted to come to the concert as well as the other exchangers in my club. So im walking around in the lobby during the intermission and I start seeing exchange student faces that i recognize ......and then my president and councilor come up and tell me about the whole thing! I am very much on the good side with the rotarians now ;) . Also there was another surprise i was in on for the concert. The concert was to commemorate my host dads 15 years working as the cheif of the ensemble and right before i went on stage to sing they pulled up a video of my host brother Pierre , who's in colombia right now for his exchange and he said a few words about his father and introduced his little sister ;).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqjlgFtiV2iCUml_iyJxC29mU9-xgGOEO2g9r3gK8f90in9QO86akoWCJTz0-s1xyqFoPb6cO1vkuIFMElIKj92ONLcBnb1annOCY6fCJWfZb6XxfXfES6vZDSBAkaMq74GK15a1WTDHVc/s1600/403282_3260924882578_1250869286_3370164_653485018_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqjlgFtiV2iCUml_iyJxC29mU9-xgGOEO2g9r3gK8f90in9QO86akoWCJTz0-s1xyqFoPb6cO1vkuIFMElIKj92ONLcBnb1annOCY6fCJWfZb6XxfXfES6vZDSBAkaMq74GK15a1WTDHVc/s320/403282_3260924882578_1250869286_3370164_653485018_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhReUsdUKsQABE5l__ICRqdPrLMahXe7ymzcsyUzkQpqaGLfEafiRouujh94APJdYqHLFO1OuwMmotFfe8tD4hhKhWTCjkMbbEfjd0Sj0Dyk4G5-X5HejM2N-yDQynHHZ_qKnLefSkXs9Vs/s1600/427400_3260944603071_1250869286_3370196_1190664823_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhReUsdUKsQABE5l__ICRqdPrLMahXe7ymzcsyUzkQpqaGLfEafiRouujh94APJdYqHLFO1OuwMmotFfe8tD4hhKhWTCjkMbbEfjd0Sj0Dyk4G5-X5HejM2N-yDQynHHZ_qKnLefSkXs9Vs/s320/427400_3260944603071_1250869286_3370196_1190664823_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> After a late night of reveling in the success of the concert Saturday was spent getting ready for my host brother Clement's surprise 18th birthday party . My host dad got to use a really nice room at the military base in Mons . It was an Ireland themed party so there was Guinness , naturally. I also got to see friends that I haven't seen in a while because I don't live with Clement at the moment . At 8 clement showed up at the party blindfolded and dressed up as a leprechaun . Everyone was dead quiet and when they took off the blind fold , Patrick a friend of my host parents came out in full dress playing the bagpipes. It was awesome! Since my French is so much better ( not perfect) it was so easy to move from group to group and be able to talk and make jokes. Finally at midnight my host parents and their friends from the ensemble in Binche came out and played all the songs that are for Carnvial . COMMENCE AWKWARD CIRCLE DANCING AND WAVING NAPKINS AROUND EVERYWHERE. Still very awesome either way. Plus I learned how to work a tap. Belgification complete.<br />
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Next week will be the start of Carnival in Binche which is one of the best places in the world to go for carnival , its up there with Rio, Venice, New Orleans ect. Theres wayy tooo much to explain for this post so I'll leave it for later !<br />
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* reason for title , Hainaut is the name of the Province i live in and i'm currently trying to learn all the provinces and their captials<br />
i'll give it a go<br />
Namur- Namur<br />
Liege- Liege<br />
Antwerp-Antwerp<br />
Hanaiut - Mons<br />
Limburg- Hasselt<br />
Luxembourg- ( not the duchy) Arlon<br />
Brabant Walloon- Warve<br />
Brabant Flamand- Leuven<br />
Flanders Occidental- Brugge<br />
Flanders Oriental-Ghent<br />
<br />
Someday i'll make an effort and explain the clusterfuck that is belgium but i want to give a quick example of what we're dealing with here.<br />
the captial of Wallonia - Namur<br />
the captial of Flanders - Brussels<br />
The majority of the people in Brussels speak French. CLEAR AS MUD, NO?!<br />
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</div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-74871420578092392212012-02-07T09:14:00.000-08:002012-02-07T09:14:52.580-08:00BienviNewies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"> So finally the new crop of exchange students arrived for lil ol district 1620. Numbers wise I think we're the smallest district. About thirty of us all together , which sounds like a lot for such a small country but seriously all together theres about 200 of us rotary misfits.<br />
It's been cold in Belgium... but the sun has been out which is better than being warm and raining i guess...? Saturday started off , cold like any other day, but with FRESHLY FALLEN SNOW. Which actually means it was warming up . ( Upstate new york logic) . I took the train to Brussels with my friend and fellow exchange student Tucker from California. Tucker lives about 10 minutes away from me and yet the last time i saw him was... October, because his other host family was very stringent with rotary rules. a bitttt too extreme if you ask me , but in his exile he has managed to speak excellent french! better than me . which doesn't count for much anyway. but still.<br />
We trucked it across brussels in the cold with no immediate aim until about noon or so when we took the train to the PRETTIEST CITY IN THE WORLD. Charleroi. look it up if you don't know what i'm talking about. Upon arrival we met up with about 10 other exchange students who were all en route for the welcome meeting for the new students. After getting off at the wrong bus stop and mom walking through the cold we got to the school. fashionably late. There were about 8 or so newies , from Argentina, Australia and Colombia. Ironically enough the new exchange student from Colombia is from Tunja , the city my host brother Pierre is in right now . SO of course they know each other ! His name is Jose and he live in Mons which is close to where I live and he's also a musician so my host family was really excited to hear that there was a friend of pierre's near by ! Most of the others either live in Tournai or Charleroi(they'll be dead within the month).<br />
School has been good, I'm being super social FINALLY, but it's also because I'm so comfortable with my french that i can finally make jokes and whatnot. Theres a couple of people ....dare i say it ....."FRIENDS?!?" that want to learn english so i kind of give them lessons during lunch and they help me out with my French. I'm actually supposed to be starting a french course in Mons soon but its just not super easy to get there with public transport but it should be a bit easier when the weather doesn't suck so much . Plus i really need to work on my tenses . If you asked me to translate something with " shouldn't" or " wouldn't" i really can't do it.........<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju6XC2C9SqDL601ncJuieFFi5JSjz10sMxtR9w35BsfzMm-PuyEixqP7NQAY_1jFIa6afc3CzLu3m42KvAnmLtloHhT6REMES9NH_Y8SDZe-kSTMxRW6rJBH7MtHKZBw2amvwNkI4jokfh/s1600/DSC01332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju6XC2C9SqDL601ncJuieFFi5JSjz10sMxtR9w35BsfzMm-PuyEixqP7NQAY_1jFIa6afc3CzLu3m42KvAnmLtloHhT6REMES9NH_Y8SDZe-kSTMxRW6rJBH7MtHKZBw2amvwNkI4jokfh/s320/DSC01332.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZAzRY5kdW7qmTzCYjM20TM7HaMq9nSlv0V2trcexDmqMIhHrLboR9X9fe_-IIQrSD68QBPBT67PT1l4x7O2WeP6kUGruDsggnLKQvSb7pk0KglRlv_if0MKxe0QhGrrOaI0VM98CyLyp/s1600/DSC01334.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZAzRY5kdW7qmTzCYjM20TM7HaMq9nSlv0V2trcexDmqMIhHrLboR9X9fe_-IIQrSD68QBPBT67PT1l4x7O2WeP6kUGruDsggnLKQvSb7pk0KglRlv_if0MKxe0QhGrrOaI0VM98CyLyp/s320/DSC01334.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> I've been pretty busy lately nonetheless. I'm singing in a concert with my host parents so I'm at rehersals a couple times a week and we don't get home till 12-1 am . I'm pretty excited for it though !<br />
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</div></div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-87202841673730244672012-01-29T11:52:00.000-08:002012-01-29T14:21:27.499-08:00I get around...... Rotary has a way of connecting people, which makes living abroad so much easier. When we had exchange students in my school I'd make friends with them right away . Not just because it gave me a place to stay if i was visiting their country but also because it was amazing to meet people that come from a different background and culture. This week I made three crazy rotary connections .<br />
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1. This past spring my home district had a weekend camping orientation for all the rotary kids , inbounds and outbounds. My rotary councilor took me and the two exchange students from my school where we met up with all the others. A midst the twenty some odd exchange students there , was a girl from Belgium! Elise , lives in Brussels and she was really awesome and easy going . Willing to help me out with anything , and when I arrived in belgium i got in contact with her. Finally yesterday we met up . I took the train into Brussels to see her because she has this week off from law school . She was so open and excited to show me the parts of Brussels that aren't so touristy. I stayed the night with her family who were the most welcoming and gracious people ever. They were genuinely interested in me and impressed by my french. Which was awesome , i felt very relaxed around all of them so my french was even better. I went out that night and met Elise's friends . all of them were really cool and even though she warned me they might talk fast i understood everything. All of them told me to come and stay with them whenever i wanted. and I AM DEFINITELY going to take them up on that because one of the hardest things i've had to deal with here is making belgian friends. They all understood that things are a bit different in my part of belgium so i was glad they were really cool with me :). Today Elise's parents had a huge brunch with dozens of family friends over and it was such a great time, they all were interested in meeting me and talking about how i felt about belgium and the united states( rotary says i'm not here to impose politics and everything but i ask about belgium and i like it when people ask me things about the united states) . When it was time to go i didn't really want to but her parents told me to come WHENEVER i wanted. Just if i want to get away for a little while or longer. I am so greatful for meeting them and I plan on spending more time with elise for the rest of my exchange anyway.<br />
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2. since there are 200+ exchange students in belgium the rebounds are bound to meet the inbounds(lots of bounds there ) yesterday elise told me , Oh i met a girl from dinant thats here with rotary and she knows you . Turns out to be my friend kenzie from wyoming !<br />
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3. On my way to the train station in brussels i ran into my friend alex from canada who lives in namur , he was showing around his friend morgan who's doing her exchange in switzerland. Shes here for the week visiting and so i walked around a bit with them . She tells me shes in the german speaking part.... I HAVE A FRIEND FROM MY DISTRICT BACK HOME THAT IS THERE. I go out on a limb " do you know mark?" SHE SURE DOES.<br />
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Right before i met up with alex i was walking . alone .in brussels. and i have to say it was one of the most satisfying things ever. just being alone no one really knowing who you are. Plus it was a sunday so there aren't crowds .<br />
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Monday and Tuesday i was in Antwerp.<br />
FOR THE BLACK KEYS.<br />
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My friend audrey and i decided we'd go and see them and the tickets weren't that expensive. I splurged a little and got a hotel room for the night and everything. Antwerp is a great city , clean , safe , people speak english.... On our tickets was a little yellow stamp that let us use all the public transport for free to and from the concert! There was an opening band Portual.The Man, they we're pretty good , they covered the beatles which isn't always doable, but they were nothing compared to the black keys . They have this sound thats so raw and soulful and goddamnit ZEXY. It was an excellent concert , one of the best groups to see live by far. Plus this was their first show of their european tour and they played some stuff live that they've never played before.<br />
The next day we wandered around Antwerp. Its a rich city , thats a given. but theres also this laid back artsy feel to it that makes you just want to take any ol street. Theres such cool architecture and street art the mix of traditional and new . Just a great city overall.<br />
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So my parents and my brother are coming to visit soon . Former exchange students have expressed their troubles from when their family came to visit them . " i would get so confused with the two languages" , " i didn't want them to come " " this is my year " "my world here and my world back home shouldnt mix" and i understand all of that. But . I really can't wait to show my family around. My Parents have always wanted to come to europe and now i finally have a chance to share this with them . Whenever i was traveling i would stop and think for a moment " wow my dad would really like this" and i'd feel bad. so i cant wait !ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-10070006711959916172012-01-22T01:27:00.000-08:002012-01-24T08:17:19.841-08:00Five MONTHS ALREADY?!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFEbOUFzgDqDNhbHjOjIbrzPmugjCW91pKhm0J8ZU1vSRdCiN0cRZo21iM-9wcCbdFJ4LRa2NQv99Dopln_aMufH-pAZTeaGvvnNIIz4un7irrklDUhLkBSWZC09Q0e4eQGB0SflzH2s9D/s1600/DSC01186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFEbOUFzgDqDNhbHjOjIbrzPmugjCW91pKhm0J8ZU1vSRdCiN0cRZo21iM-9wcCbdFJ4LRa2NQv99Dopln_aMufH-pAZTeaGvvnNIIz4un7irrklDUhLkBSWZC09Q0e4eQGB0SflzH2s9D/s320/DSC01186.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view from my bedroom<br />
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</tbody></table>On friday january 13th I had my 5 month anniversairy of being in belgium ( super lucky) .<br />
It doesn't feel like it's been 5 months , honestly . Being half way through doesn't seem real, I don't even want to think about the day when i have to pack up my things and say goodbye. I didn't really even get to be comfortable and used to everything till about october/november, so i don't really understand how anyone could to a 3-5 month exchange. You'd still feel like a tourist after everything in my opinion. Everything would still be new and confusing . Plus you probably wouldn't learn much French.<br />
My french , is okay.I get complimented on it a lot but I feel like I'm not that good. I can speak well when i know exactly what I want to say. Now i'm having trouble with past tenses , ironically enough the section my English class is working on is EXACTLY what I need to learn in French. Ex: " I wouldn't have come if i couldn't get a ride." stuff like that . Hopefully when I start my French class next month they'll cover that.<br />
I know I've probably covered this before in earlier posts but its bothering me more and more . It being the random English that is on everyone's sweatshirts here. Things like America College #1 Team 1945 or Atlanta Football Club . I'm just like YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT ANY OF THOSE THINGS ARE!!!!!!!!!! And yes i know there are plenty of shirts buried somewhere in a forever 21 stateside with random french scrawled on it , BUT my point is ,that Europeans are notorious for loathing Americans or at least our way of life. Yet... you listen to our music, wear Converse and Nike, drink coke like water, and all have dreams of going to New York or Los Angeles . It also seems a little hard to find good music here, there are several belgian groups that i've heard and liked but the radio is domniated by weird club music with dubious lyrics . All sounding eerily similiar * BOOM BOOM BOOM THE SOUND OF YOU LOVE MAKES ME HIIIIGGHHHHHH*<br />
The official name of where i live here , the region , is called Le Borinage. and it's known for the now not so functioning coal mining industry . My host sister and I were talking about it yesterday and its .... not very prosperous. I'm actually in the poorest Provence in Belgium. It wasn't always this way , we were on top of things during the Industrial Revolution. You can tell this area used to have money because there are plenty of really nice houses left over. Now its ...yeah... there's an incredibly high amount of unemployment and apparently there's a mafia type family in the next town over. Sometimes i think the main attraction of this area is that you aren't far from a train station to take you somewhere else. It's a good thing everyone i've met here has been incredibly welcoming and nice to make up for it :)<br />
Speaking of somewhere else I went to Lille yesterday! My host sister , Elena, her friend from school and I all took the train for the SOLDES ( sales) . The trip wasn't even that long , 45 minutes i think. I went out with the intention of buying a new purse and pea coat, I got half of my objective accomplished. Unfortunately my debit card was empty and i got to have that nice awkward moment at the cash register when you're card gets denied. It was still really cool , the city is beautiful and i was going to take photos but we were on a mission of consumerism NO TIME. La prochaine fois<br />
After shopping we went on a night walk with my host brother and sisters youth group. It's kind of like the Scouts you find all over belgium but a bit different. I don't know the differences really i just know that they don't want you to call them scouts. we walked 12 km and it was much needed . WHAT IS THIS CALLED AGAIN , Exercise?! After the walk my knee locked up quicker than all the stores here at 5 pm. ( old soccer injury from my glory days *sniff) I'm actually going to try and join the indoor soccer club in my town and wednesdays i'm going to go running with my host sister and host mom in their jogging club. I'm going to get fit if it kills me ...which it probably will.<br />
I'm pretty lucky , my host siblings are great they always ask me if i want to go out and do things with them , more time to work on my french and be SOCIAL.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhjPgeoPhoJHGpJIFh9hOhac9DdA-kXrhQ6-f4KpGOoW900gRbPt7emn1WgAg1i6PZv9EG9Yk3xze7bLRDH0UTIc1L32xJ7U2SwbRlxNdcrSBgZMr6epdp88XzfTWxwqcGE7H81yJ84NR/s1600/DSC01187.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhjPgeoPhoJHGpJIFh9hOhac9DdA-kXrhQ6-f4KpGOoW900gRbPt7emn1WgAg1i6PZv9EG9Yk3xze7bLRDH0UTIc1L32xJ7U2SwbRlxNdcrSBgZMr6epdp88XzfTWxwqcGE7H81yJ84NR/s320/DSC01187.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bedroom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-33491734708444032782012-01-15T03:55:00.000-08:002012-01-15T03:55:42.212-08:00Le Foot , Tu Me Manques! 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.<br />
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.<br />
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.<br />
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.ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-37337519601616777042012-01-08T00:44:00.000-08:002012-01-08T00:44:10.501-08:00Skiing with Pat and other storiesSo I've been bad about blogging since the last time I posted , but the holidays happened.<br />
Christmas: Went to host grandparents house just over yonder in France , where we started eating at 9 pm and didn't stop roughly until 2 am. We all dressed up , which is kind of a doubled edged sword because by the time you're done eating you're practically bursting out of your nicest garments. Circus' are apparently pretty popular here so they televise a lot for the eve , so we ate and watched the Circus festival from Monaco . At midnight we exchanged presents. My host parents got me a really nice pair of earrings , that I saw them buy but that's so they knew what i would like :D. Christmas morning , still stuffed and dazed from all the food , we went home and I gave my host family my presents . I made them cry , i consider that a perfect ten on the scale of gift giving . Especially because one of the gifts was a frame with a few photos of all of us together . Then my host grandparents came to our house and we continued again with the feasting. Plus skyping with family . It wasn't as commercial and blown up as it is in America which is fine but definitively not something i was used to . Nevertheless i was still completely satisfied that i got to spend it with great people.<br />
New Years: The day before New Year's Eve I changed families. To be honest I really wasn't looking forward to it. A few day's before the switch I was talking with my dad on Skype and he said " I don't know how you can go through all that emotional stress, you finally get settled with a family and you have to leave again." and he was right it is weird. Especially because I have such a strong connection with my first host family. ANYWAY ...New Years , was spent in Brussels with about fifty other exchange students. It was amazing we went clubbing and danced all night. One of my friends who lives right in Brussels had a friend on an exchange in France with her visiting and shes like " We never do this in France, its too strict" and then i gave myself another pat on the back for choosing Belgium. Everyone stayed up all night , the club we went to had a good dj and some live singers and an awesome saxophonist . New Years day I went back to my first host families house just to say hello and spend some time with them . I do miss them but I'm lucky because I'll be going back to them for my third family !<br />
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SKIING: January 2nd , 4 am ..... 4 AMMM up and attem to go skiing in the alps with my 2nd host family . It was me my host mom , my host brother and his girlfriend. My host sister couldn't come because shes in Uni and her tests start soon. We spent this week Skiing in the French Provence of Haute Savoie , its about 8 hours away and very very very close to Switzerland. The station we skied at was called Praz-de-lys and was 2000m or about a mile and a quarter above sea level... kinda big . I mean they are the Alps , actually the tallest mountain in Europe , Mont Blanc was right next to where we were .Driving up the mountain to get there it was raining and then the higher you went it turned into snow , SNOWWWWWWW something unfamiliar to belgium . There had to be about 4 feet ! It was amazing , the views of the mountains just outside our apartment window, but the views from the top of the slopes were even better. Now i'm no expert skiier , actually i just started last year... which is kind of ironic because i come from a region of new york with plenty of skiing. But i did pretty well, i could handle the blue and red slopes . AIN'T NO WAY I WAS TAKING THE EXPERT SLOPES. I know its not "cool" to wear a helmet , but i think its "cool" to have a functioning brain so i wore one. Especially because i'm a little over-confident when i ski. . One slope went from the very summit all the way down, and was considered a blue (intermediate) slope . We took it and it was gorgeous the views were amazing ...but then it got steep and i tried to be careful but then i found a patch of ice and i pulled a yardsale. A Yardsale is ski lingo for when you fall and LOSE EVERYTHING; poles, skis, skis hat, goggles. I wipe out hardcore and its a damn good thing my helmet didn't fall off until i stopped rolling down the slope or else i'm sure i'd be in a hospital eating my meals through a tube. Other than that i didn't take any super big falls, but i have a nack for falling on the easy slope for stupid reasons, or the TELESKI... my sworn enemy . I'm sure they exist in the united states but all the places i've been skiing back home never had them. You put this metal pole with a disk on the end between your legs and it pulls you up the slope, romantic i know. problem is that if you're not paying attention you will fall. a lot . as i did. Your skis can cross or you can hit a gash in the slope where someone fell before you and off you go hobbling down the slope back to the lift like a loser. I fell in the middle of the lift and had to wait for my host brother to come back down to help , and it wasn't easy to wrangle the lift from half way up the slope! One time I fell and it was too steep for me to ski down so I had to walk down carrying my skis and i passed the people going up and they we're all giving me these looks and asking me if i was alright .. Did i mention i looked like a pat. I had to borrow some of my other host families ski stuff because i really wasn't interested in buying a bunch of new ski things for a week. SO in my opinion i looked like a pat. or someone with and indistinguishable gender....no cute snow bunny here. just PAT. but all in all it was an amazing week , I mean i got to ski in the alps , who knows if i'll ever be able to to do that again. <br />
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UNRELATED CONTENT: So in these past few days I think I've realized i'm not European enough for Europe. Before I left I thought oh I'm going to fit right in , and that never really seemed to pan out. For example: The school system bothers me way too much, you don't get to pick your classes , no extracurriculars, no enrichment . Just school . They don't even have as much homework as Americans do and yet they spend their time after school studying. Sports: There are no sports for girls. we not none but very few. Especially soccer, which is king here . BUT APPARENTLY ITS TABOO FOR THE QUEEN TO PLAY. I miss soccer so so so so much , and I really can't join the boys club. I miss the competitiveness and skill of soccer. I know i'm not here to play but ...MEH , I miss it . Dressing up: everyone here takes pride in their appearance and i like that but sometimes i'm like just SCREW IT wearing jeans and a hoodie.<br />
Although , my host brother and i have been talking a lot about stereotypes , government and politics , and its really interesting to see the differences in opinion . With the stereotypes as well , there is always a little bit of truth behind all of them. Don't get me wrong I love it here but there are some things that I don't think I'll ever come around to liking or understanding. Same with some things in the United States! It's all relative.ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-15209439806139313362011-12-23T04:25:00.000-08:002011-12-23T04:25:09.262-08:00JOYEUX GREVE I was supposed to post sooner ... MY B .<br />
I'm going to blame it on the string of events that have happened in the last week or so.<br />
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First thing's first . The strike. Europe is notorious for having strikes, its part of the culture. LUCKY ME was affected by the impromptu public transportation strike that happened on Tuesday. Normally the company workers give you a bit of warning before they go on strike. NOT THIS TIME . I was in Liege for the day with some friends when I got about a half a dozen calls and texts from my host mom telling me that the trains had gone on strike. SO I was stuck , in Liege, 2 hours away from home ( that seems like nothing to us but its far for Belgium). Not to mention it was exactly one week after the grenade attack in Liege as well. We were actually at the memorial service when I found out.<br />
I wasn't concerned about finding a place to stay in Liege because there are plenty of exchange students to grovel to that live there. I had a place for the night with a friend and woke up the next morning thinking it was like 8 or so ... it was 11 . WELL DONE. We get up get dressed and try to find the bus stop. As we're waiting two empty buses pass us and we instantly thought that the buses had gone on strike too. Luckily we just we're looking at the wrong schedule . The bus came , we took it in vain to the train station, only to find that there weren't anyyyyy trains going anywhere. Except out of Belgium. I felt bad when I told disoriented travelers that there train was in fact not going to be showing up any time soon. We were waiting inside the INCREDIBLY FREEZING train station when a man asked us if we wanted to split a taxi with him to Brussels for only 45 euros per person. WHATADEAL.. He was pretty convinced that there were going to be trains in Brussels , he must have not been Belgian. The strike was all over Belgium so we would have just been stranded in another city.<br />
So I called my host dad and explained that there weren't any trains going anywhere and the strike was going to last until ten pm the following day. I didn't really feel like spending anymore time in Liege too. He drove all the way to Liege to pick us up ! He's a great guy really , and its not like we had any other way of getting home. I felt bad that he had to do it though, I know it wasn't my fault but just to be nice I bought him a bottle of champagne and greeted him with JOYEUX GREVE when he showed up.<br />
Since we had PLENTY of time on the ride home , he explained to us why the government workers were all one strike. They raised the retirement age . I think it was to like 55 or something . I wasn't impressed with their reasoning for the strike when Americans retire much later in life, but I also think we work a lot more.<br />
Going in reverse chronological order... Sunday I went to PARIS.<br />
It was supposed to be a surprise trip from my host parents but they're like you're always busy with plans so we had to ask ahead. I WILL CLEAR MY PLAN BOOK FOR PARIS. We we're really lucky the weather was GORGEOUS , sunny, not cold at all. Plus the drive isn't far for me because I live on the border ! <br />
The city was amazing , I didn't think I'd love it as much as I did just because its cliche . Nevertheless it was amazing. I don't know why but the size of everything impressed me . I knew that the Eiffel tower was bit but not THAT BIG . We started out tour with Sacre Coeur in the district of Montmartre . Easily my favorite because it has the atmosphere of a small town , quiet , artsy but its set up on a hill and you look out and the rest of Paris is spread out before you.<br />
After we went to the Eiffel tower and after waiting in an incredibly long line we took a lift all the way to the top ! We ate at a Brasserie that is popular with Parisians and tourists and it was delicious. After we ate we just drove around and saw the sights by night. The Louvre , Champs De Elysee, Moulin Rouge..ect. One day was not enough time to see everything fully and experience all Paris have to offer but I can promise that I will be going back .<br />
Christmas is ALMOST HERE, and its raining... and warm. It snowed last Friday but it was weak sauce... Apparently they don't get "serious snow" until next month , so like 10 centimeters . It will be weird to be away from home for the holidays , I'm not going to lie. On the other hand though I've had 17 years of American Christmas' I think i can spare one for Belgium.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgcRSpY0gpI7JFiHojnoYCluvNtcApNRz_paLOt4NdElUWfHuVcg5YSlzcMFbPeoUVs9kgBUkIe_25_LppEwxXCX932LgWNJ2QhmMaCeOURJXTk6AOKf37PLXH66XwFvbJBYzsITXliXZ/s1600/DSC00964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlgcRSpY0gpI7JFiHojnoYCluvNtcApNRz_paLOt4NdElUWfHuVcg5YSlzcMFbPeoUVs9kgBUkIe_25_LppEwxXCX932LgWNJ2QhmMaCeOURJXTk6AOKf37PLXH66XwFvbJBYzsITXliXZ/s320/DSC00964.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> In closing I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ( because it'll be your last ,the world is ending next year, dontchaknow?) . But Seriously... Good health , good times , and best wishes for the rest of this year and the next. And a big thank you to those serving in the military , big milestone ending the war in Iraq!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't think I need to tell you what this is.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top of the Eiffel Tower with my host parents !</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Paris from Sacre Coeur<br />
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</div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-91800943764714248622011-12-13T11:12:00.000-08:002011-12-13T11:12:03.183-08:00LiegeNormally I don't post this frequently but when something happens like this I should say something.<br />
Today , Ironically enough is the 4 month anniversary of me arriving here, and to celebrate. There's an attack in Liege. This morning in the christmas market in liege a 33 year old man , a known criminal in Liege , launched an attack.He threw four grenades and opened fire into the busy Christmas market. So far four have died and over seventy have been injured including an infant . He took the lives of a 15 yr old boy , 17 yr old boy , 63 year old man and a 75 yr old woman.<br />
This is where it gets scary for me , there are probably twenty plus exchange students living in and around Liege. I had a friend who was held up in a hair salon just behind the square where the attack happened. Even worse is that I was supposed to go to Liege tomorrow , to visit a friend.CAN YOU IMAGINE if the killer waited a day JUST ONE DAY , I could have easily been apart of it , i could have been the victim .<br />
Luckily I live pretty far away from Liege and the attacker actually killed himself during the attack. But either way my thoughts are with everyone in Liege , the families of the deceased , the injured , the exchange students there ,ect. Reste forte la belgique <3<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2JkbOOUAQGlfRwpbktdRJfMZ3lKkyne9aAA6FIS7VSDxKw51hOISW0QvCC9KSZdaroiscwNExUn6dRZMUJ9R4gDQ98f4DkpOdIYeWM9_AUQiOqghWfTTduaNVWmsV7R4hn74DXPTgASY/s1600/liege-460_2083196a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2JkbOOUAQGlfRwpbktdRJfMZ3lKkyne9aAA6FIS7VSDxKw51hOISW0QvCC9KSZdaroiscwNExUn6dRZMUJ9R4gDQ98f4DkpOdIYeWM9_AUQiOqghWfTTduaNVWmsV7R4hn74DXPTgASY/s320/liege-460_2083196a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsAoAdmdE-iVtjqW1w62bCOhWCe7ulCXXcQIixYcdqpf5qtJRan_fbRh1FPgN8OVa32k8cx05WvtXYJiUYZEcoE-ofP8U5-2mT_HGouXPKUWDoeBJfFY2aYk92OvY95vKlqKBVKO7l6sY/s1600/1412-Liege-attack_2083512c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsAoAdmdE-iVtjqW1w62bCOhWCe7ulCXXcQIixYcdqpf5qtJRan_fbRh1FPgN8OVa32k8cx05WvtXYJiUYZEcoE-ofP8U5-2mT_HGouXPKUWDoeBJfFY2aYk92OvY95vKlqKBVKO7l6sY/s320/1412-Liege-attack_2083512c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-61674556255154162242011-12-12T07:02:00.000-08:002011-12-12T11:51:34.029-08:00I dunnoCreative title for the post, I know<br />
But I really don't know what to talk about. This past week I... didn't do that much. Testing has started in school so I don't have to do much . It's not mandatory for me to take the tests but I'm taking a few to work on my french. The time I'm spending at home is nice though I do get to work on my conversational French , for some reason I feel like it's gotten better. This past weekend I went to celebrate a birthday party for an Australian and a goodbye party for an Argentinian . It was pretty cool to hang out with a bunch of exchangers I usually never see. In my district there aren't many people from the southern hemisphere so I don't know many oldies (the kids from austrialia, south africa, new zealand ect,) but I got to hang out with some of them this weekend and all of them were awesome. It's too bad that they're all leaving within the next few weeks :( . But on the up side that means new people are coming too ! The new kids from the southern hemisphere will be here soon and i'll be able to BOSS THEM AROUND BECAUSE I'LL BE THE OLDIE ( the ones who have been here longer). Brussels is a cool city , everyone knows that but now that it's the holiday season it's gotten sketchy. When my friends and i were waiting in the train station two of them got their bags stolen and when we were in mcdonalds one girl got her iphone stolen. Part of it is us not being careful enough and the other part is us being north americans and not having to deal with petty theft on a day to day basis. It's almost a rite of passage as an exchange student to get something lost or stolen. But the Police really don't seem to care . We went to them to report the stolen things and they're like if we see the guy we'll tell you ... not "we'll look out for them" , and to top it off the computer system was down so they couldn't report the case electronically. I'm sure they're used to foreigners losing stuff all the time and they know that once its gone its gone but they could at least pretend to care.<br />
Sunday I went to a christmas market in Tournai, I've been there a few times before and its a really pretty city , and even prettier with the christmas stuff out. It's interesting though because Tournai is in wallonia but its close to Flanders and it was occupied by the Spanish way back in the day so it has all these different influences . My host parents asked me what the christmas market in my town was like and i'm like..... hahahaha we dont have one. they didn't believe me .<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKbZ-RluciQ13S6FkwlbwoJILEDIOxzwzjMiH3D6v6UpLkBgDvbsGf7FKxN_0JvjQxCci_eNUyx5V71jm8YhAwRaxccV6OWQnr9L4poD1Pywma3EVyIGFdVVYgFMh6RDPtG8C4bljnO-a/s1600/DSC00902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="70" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKbZ-RluciQ13S6FkwlbwoJILEDIOxzwzjMiH3D6v6UpLkBgDvbsGf7FKxN_0JvjQxCci_eNUyx5V71jm8YhAwRaxccV6OWQnr9L4poD1Pywma3EVyIGFdVVYgFMh6RDPtG8C4bljnO-a/s320/DSC00902.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Kindof like when i had to explain to them how we dont have train , taxi or bus systems all over the place like they do here. They asked me how i was to get to the town next to mine if i needed to and i said i would drive and if i didn't have a ride i was pretty much SOL. :D I even drew them a map with the train line for commuting in new york , it's pretty much new york city to montreal and albany to buffalo . THATS IT . I feel like a train system that was in almost every town would be a fantastic idea , people wouldn't have to use cars as much and it would be easier for those that can't drive. But us americans are pretty committed to our 4 mpg suvs and what not ....<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie44kXL57QQv1VNOZSZ63xKu02cizVNBwJi-vJuwivW9u3ic4_w6cqFwpx5rHk502bVkBaXXiL5P6-6Hp9nYnbtn-3drfZ4kCqj9gZFQQ7AAWYfOTmR6lyrodQROBHqEJzpqc_ojTgn5Tv/s1600/DSC00886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie44kXL57QQv1VNOZSZ63xKu02cizVNBwJi-vJuwivW9u3ic4_w6cqFwpx5rHk502bVkBaXXiL5P6-6Hp9nYnbtn-3drfZ4kCqj9gZFQQ7AAWYfOTmR6lyrodQROBHqEJzpqc_ojTgn5Tv/s320/DSC00886.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> I forgot to mention that we got a REAL Christmas tree the other day, it isn't huge but neither is our house so it's fine. I love it ! We have two now actually and today we were talking about the photo of the Christmas tree my parents just got back home . It's 9.5 feet tall .. ahahahah. and probably cost less then 15 dollars. and then i casually asked how much the tree they got was . 30 euro. thats like 42 us dollars?!?! and they didn't have to buy one they got one because i had mentioned that we always have real ones back home. I'm pretty lucky.ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-22749991446407161992011-12-06T11:09:00.000-08:002011-12-06T11:09:33.813-08:00FETES This one is a bit late.... LIKE THE BELGIAN GOVERNMENT. But TODAY after 540 some odd days Belgium got it's government back . And i was here for it . booyah<br />
Bonne Saint Nicolas everyone!!! Okay non-europeans: Europe, if they want to admit it or not seem to have a deeper connection with religion than the United States , but I think that's because they have more history than us. Saint Nicolas is the Saint for children and suspiciously looks like Santa. And Today is Saint Nicolas day , for kids and students. Some schools have the older kids dress up in lab coats throwing eggs and flour at the lowerclassmen unless they give them money. My school had Saint Nicolas come into the class room with his creepy ( BLATANTLY RACIST) helper , Black Pete. I say blatantly because the person who is to dress up as him is in black face and has red lips... i just end it there and if you're lucky i'll add photos! But when Saint Nicolas comes you have to sing to him and he'll give you Speculoos (this part is unique to belgium). When i got home from school there was a bunch of candy on the table for me because its my holiday I AM STILL A CHILD.<br />
On Saturday , Audrey Quinn and I went to Brussels AGAIN for the Marche Noel , the Christmas market! It was awesome so much food and hot wine. There was also an ice skating rink , polar bears and a giant Ferris wheel . I'll post the video of us on it. The views were pretty awesome. We also found a giant Asian grocery store which was really cool so i went in and bought a bunch of random food because it was cheap and i like trying new things . <br />
Sunday was the start of the three day festival of Sainte Cecile , The saint of music ( like the simon and garfunkle song) . The Festival takes place in the city of Binche , Where I'm apart of one of the three Fanfares that play there. SO I HAD TO PARTICIPATE. Sunday we got up very early and the three groups play in the streets from bar to bar . so you just drink and march and play and have a great time. After that there was a big meal for the fanfare i belong to with my host parents, and i was given an award. I am now an honorary member of the musicians association of Hainaut ( My Provence) ! I didn't really expect it but I was very flattered! The festival is Sunday , Monday, Tuesday but I really don't have the energy to do all three days. I may have been the youngest one there. but they go hard!!!!<br />
So you may think , SARAH , You've been in Belgium for a while now , you much be really good at french. and the answer is NO . NO I'M NOT. And I'll tell you why. Because I'm getting the two extremes in school , when I speak with friends they use a lot of slang and local dialects and then when I'm in class I'm getting advanced french , Symbolism , Sciences all in French... I need that middle ground , NORMAL french . So I'm going to.....sign up for courses. I'm really trying to do a lot to keep myself preoccupied here because i know i complain about not hanging out with Belgians outside of school but its somewhat unfair of me to expect them to have a lot of free time. All the 6iemes (seniors) are now cramming for exams and getting ready for college while I get to sit around and maybe do a few tests if it catches my fancy . I'll give it more time. Nevertheless I go to the gym , play in the ensemble with my parents and I wanted to join a volleyball team at the indoor sports place down the street but apparently i don't have enough experience..... SCREW YOU. If anyone knew that i went to Salem for high school they would know i have plenty of experience . We go CRAZY for volleyball. Maybe I'll give Zumba or *shudders* basketball a try.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx4xH_R8Tf7gY8qO2IFySoQh2wAZ1oT860JYpfKwAWOZinrssdfVrjFZUBZ1q7sUi5SvhXtLSMl8u6TulDkig' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOrqWruoC0ls_OHw21fk_EklU-2834-6K91XwiCsbW2ic0ovprj0V2pyn5SN8qFUJq5TcSwar_HfVlY6QIoRyjNPCUx29r5lSzU9IKEn0B70js8NsEjHFcPGaWCmUM_VXV4vscGmj6Jc3/s1600/DSC00793.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOrqWruoC0ls_OHw21fk_EklU-2834-6K91XwiCsbW2ic0ovprj0V2pyn5SN8qFUJq5TcSwar_HfVlY6QIoRyjNPCUx29r5lSzU9IKEn0B70js8NsEjHFcPGaWCmUM_VXV4vscGmj6Jc3/s320/DSC00793.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Recently a lot of people have been asking me I'm going to be going home for the holidays and even though that would be ideal, I can't . It's not allowed . Then they ask if I'm homesick and and I say not really. It's more of an indifference as of now .ALTHOUGH i'll probably be feeling super crappy on christmas anyway. I'm here , I'm gonna do this. Overall I've realized that Americans are way more independent than Europeans. My main reason, here everyone goes to universities that aren't terribly far from home. they think two and a half hours is a lot. And then they come home every weekend. Americans do the exact opposite , we go to schools across the country , across the continent even , and we stay there, until the holidays. I was trying to explain to people that the school I'm going to be attending when i go back is about 6 hours west. People looked pained . " You're going home every weekend though, right?" they would ask . No .... No i'm not .... To them going home is normal , to us it's a sign of defeat. NOBODY wants to be that kid that leaves for school august 25th and comes home for labor day weekend, the one that's wandering the halls of the school looking for teachers to visit...ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-88361932881663266302011-11-28T11:52:00.000-08:002011-12-07T14:09:26.894-08:00Holidays<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVulvowS5vvaUbvShoMKqNL73UKIzbqTExEQUBbhu6UwthzHqjHjGOIpxXNiupNl-_2Fv-nA9VSWMtV36xAr0vHIilSnNg6zTza3yubcGtmHzNBjzS6NeS2VxLfxM2h7jf37auzcMpi8_/s1600/DSC00752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVulvowS5vvaUbvShoMKqNL73UKIzbqTExEQUBbhu6UwthzHqjHjGOIpxXNiupNl-_2Fv-nA9VSWMtV36xAr0vHIilSnNg6zTza3yubcGtmHzNBjzS6NeS2VxLfxM2h7jf37auzcMpi8_/s320/DSC00752.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i dont know how to rotate this</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I'm pretty lucky. Any American/Canadian expiereced a dull ache in their chest when they spent this past fall away from home . Not being home for Thanksgiving is a rough thing to go through. You're whole family sitting around at home trying to go on with the festivities even though you aren't there . While you sit in school and try to explain this very North American holiday to a bunch of Europeans . BUT let me tell you why I'm lucky. My host family made me thanksgiving dinner MUAHAHAH so lucky.turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes . This made me sooo happy , because the day before I received a Thanksgiving card from my Grandma in the mail and promptly wept shortly after opening it. Even better we went around the table and said what we were thankful for before we ate. It wasn't home but it did feel very homey, these people that have only known me for 3 months or so went through the trouble to do that for me. It's an amazing thing. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Today ; we set up the Christmas tree ! It was so nice ,I came downstairs with my laptop and put on some Ella Fitzgerald , Boston Pops , Vince Geraldi wholenineyards and decorated. I mean the tree wasn't real but Apparently we're getting a real one just for me !!! Now all i need is snow. but i guess it doesnt really start to january ....disappointment . It snows on Halloween back home . Here i've yet to break out my BRING IT ON winter coat. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Other things slightly unrelated to holidays, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Doing things solo. I do a lot by myself . and I don't mind it at all. It's actually nice . It will sound weird when I say it but its nice not to have entertain someone with my french or english. just to sit there in a train car and watch Belgium go by. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">and now i'm going to contradict myself</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Allllthoughhh... I do wish i did more with other kids in my school like on weekends, but on weekends I want to go EXPLORE. Its a trade off , do you want to see all you can while you're here or do you want to hang out with belgians. But then again I've never even been asked to do anything so i'm not so sure if i'm actually missing out. ZING.... I know i kind of sound whiny because there are people in the world with real problems , not problems like " I want to travel and hang out with the locals" . more like" I need a job to support my family" . and I understand that there are exams coming up for them too .. so I guess i just need to give it more time....</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Belgium is pretty , and in some parts . not at all. either way you find that places look just like america . It's starts to feel exotic when you're driving through Liege and you feel like you're in downtown Albany . Or the miles of farm land ....S-A-L-E-M . I think i'm just very much accustomed to it now that i'm letting it infiltrate my memories of America. Although every time i walk into the grand place in Brussels , with the giant christmas tree and the buildings all lit up I know that there is nothing like that back home. Yesterday my host parents took my friend Juan and I around Brussels and it was so nice to finally see</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">everything. The atomium , the royal family's house, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 38px;">St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral , really cool japanese and chinese bulidings that are also from the worlds fair like the atomium . </span></span>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-88720991485721403532011-11-21T05:03:00.000-08:002011-11-21T05:03:23.237-08:00Beaucoup de petites choses<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> This post really doesn't have much of a theme to it ,just a bunch of things I've been thinking about and want to share :D.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Sympathy for Flanders: I'm a Walloon , technically...but on my flight home from Prague I found myself sitting next to woman from Flanders. we ended up talking for pretty much the whole flight, just about the differences between the provinces. I realized that, for me, a faux Belgian i have no reason to be against it. Sure they all speak a language thats completely archaic to everyone else but its their identity . Flemish , ISN'T Dutch. Its Flemish.The woman told me that Flanders wouldn't ever want to break away from Belgium and join the Netherlands but its in a position where they have so much pride for their province that it seems as if they care more about it than they do the whole country. I mean i would two if the other province didn't really like you that much . But I have to admire their patriotism , every year languages die .. they're trying to keep Flemish alive. Plus they are doing a bit better off than Wallonia. I expressed this to my host parents; Its easier for me to travel in Flanders than in Wallonia because Flemish people know that not everyone is going to speak Flemish , everyone speaks some level of English. I'd rather ask for directions in English in Flanders than take a gamble with my mauvais francais in Wallonia. Plus the cities are really really really pretty and everyone rides bikes and look like supermodels.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> English: In the beginning I would be jealous when I would meet people that we're multi-lingual . Speaking French, Italian, German, Spanish ect. But most of the time they didn't know English. I'm super thankful that I am a native English speaker because its will get you way farther than German . I promise.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Sports: So up until last week ,gym class was pretty much just running. Last week we started playing handball... and the lack of athleticism was astounding. I'm that girl that takes gym class TOO SERIOUSLY. here not so much.There were a few girls that were athletic but there were a lot more that weren't . I was incredibly disappointed. I mean I know I'm not in the best shape here but I'm still not tired after ten minutes of passing around a handball..... I've even gotten a gym membership! I mean I'm not exactly doing it to lose weight but in stead slow down the weight gain process . Just realized that theres a indoor sports building like 500 meters from my house too. I need to be sporty.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Clothing: People here care about how they dress. This isn't like back home where every guy is wearing gym clothes and sweatpants. They try hard here , some girls even do heels. The problem is that they dress to look nice not to keep warm . It's not as cold as Salem right now but its not summer and these kids are like not even wearing coats ... I don't get it . I had my mom mail me my " BRING IT ON" winter coat. Also guys spike their hair here... everyone ... i'm like you probably spend way more time on grooming than i do . That scares me. I actually realized that Americans may not always be the most stylish but we are way more open and nicer than Europeans . </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Habitude: It took long enough but I finally feel settled here. I'm not sure how to accurately describe it but its like I've finally realized that this is my life for the time being. I recognize roads I know how to get places where to go and where not to go . I always felt super comfortable with my host family but now even more so . We're on the level where they tell me they love me and i'm like OMG <3 guyssss!! I suppose its more of a okay this is how life is going to be for a while, I know this isn't everything you thought it would be but this definitely doesn't suck . I don't know how to say it without making it sound like I'm disappointed , because I'm SOOO NOOTTT its just I'm fully adjusted now.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Holidays: I miss the commercialism of the holidays in the States. I keep telling myself that I'm not missing anything on 25th....I know I am though. THANKSGIVING, so much food and family!!! It will be weird to not have that , no parade, no lounging around stuffing your face with turkey . NO BLACK FRIDAY :( . I'm trying to do christmasy stuff already , Already started watching Elf and a Christmas Story and I listen to Christmas music. I know it isn't as big of a deal here , It's not as driven by buying gifts and wearing giant ugly sweaters .I might have to add some crazy american style cristmas to the one here.</span>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-80192063913190362252011-11-14T09:56:00.000-08:002011-11-14T09:56:06.521-08:00SUPRISESo all this past week I was in a bit of a funk. I was like oh I guess they really don't do that much for Birthday's here.... One morning I wake up and go downstairs for breakfast and my host mom is making a cake. " It's for Audrey" she says ... I'm like oh... (inside i'm sobbing because it's not like its my 18th birthday or anything). So the week goes on I just pretend I'm too mature to care about my birthday being a big deal. Friday morning my parents and I go to play in a Armistice day memorial service . I figured that'd be the highlight of my day plus my friend Audrey thats was coming over was suddenly not able to come over until 9 that night. I'm sitting in my room listening to music , whats new. Suddenly my host mom yells COME DOWNSTAIRS . I'm like oh boy shes probably going to just have laundry for me or something. She says to me Theres someone on the computer for you and theres someone at the door. OKAY...... i look at the computer and its my parents on Skype still in their pajamas. i wave to them and my host mom rushes me to go get the door. There are Balloons everywhere . I open the door. Standing there are my best friends from rotary and classmates from school !!!!! SUPRISEEEEEE. They really got me . I didn't know a damn thing and everyone was in on it even my parents back home. I mean granted it was a little awkward to have the mix of classmates from belgian highschool and friends from rotary together but i could have been worse. It was really incredible of my family to do all this for me . It really made me feel like i belonged. that they care. It was such a great weekend . My friends audrey and chantal stayed the night and went with me to a party one of the classes were having to raise money for the "senior trip" . I love having people stay over at my house because i have a big room and a big bed. and sometimes...its tooo biiggg :(. The next day the party continued in Brussels with more exchangers . so great and then i spent the night at Audreys. This was just what I needed. I have been in a funk for the past few days and this past weekend got me right out of it.<br />
Ya see ... Kids at my school aren't like kids in america. You don't go out and do things after school . You go home. You study . the end. But when you're a free student like me that doesn't have to do anything really , you get super bored. I'm normally really good about doing things on my own but it does get a bit tedious. I get a little envious of the other exchange students that do stuff all the time with kids in their school. Plus here the mind set is a bit more closed off so its just the luck of the draw. What I imagined Belgium would be like and what it is are two different things and you can't break down and sulk because everything didn't go as planned. My dad told me to make a list of things that have gone right and things that have gone wrong here and the former outweighed the latter by a hell of a lot . I mean i'm only here for a short period of time in the grand scheme of things . and if i never went on an exchange i wouldn't have ever made such great friends in rotary . And who knows maybe things will be different when i change families. It will be pretty awesome to have a sister for the first time.<br />
In the meantime i've started going to the gym because la vie Belgie is not figure flattering especially if you are an exchange student . PLUS exercising gives you endorphin's and endorphin's make you happy !!!ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-77179060757534747532011-11-07T11:18:00.000-08:002011-12-07T14:02:08.825-08:00It's been a while.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDUA0e4V62V6Lul52lTRsdCnJytO1chJ39l6zQxuBHOJHfZ37hNJ8kZu_UUXqRXnsqAz8SGW99w2yIMdP5ztI7BGCyT2Ly-E3Z_ozmLqfGPXWAoj5_rhJ3uhIWwAhAYUcOwrl5yMPXQrXB/s1600/S6000543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDUA0e4V62V6Lul52lTRsdCnJytO1chJ39l6zQxuBHOJHfZ37hNJ8kZu_UUXqRXnsqAz8SGW99w2yIMdP5ztI7BGCyT2Ly-E3Z_ozmLqfGPXWAoj5_rhJ3uhIWwAhAYUcOwrl5yMPXQrXB/s320/S6000543.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> THE CZECH REPUBLIC. THE END. </span><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> No just kidding I'll write more. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
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</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> This past week was vacation time for us Belgians and it was probably the best vacation I could ever ask for. Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon , My friend Audrey came over which is pretty much synonymous with awesome things happening. We camped out in my room, watched musicals, went to Bruges and Brussels. That's the Beauty of Belgium , you want to go to another city , you get on the train and go to another city because you know the ride wont be long. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Monday morning 4 am or so to be exact- I get my ass out of bed ( I don't know how I did it) and grab my suitcase and head to the airport. I got there with plenty of time to spare I'd rather be early than late especially at the airport. Nothing evokes more pity than the traveler sprinting to their gate with their luggage and everything they had to take off to get through security. SUPER LUCKY ME , I'm in the plane the pilot mumbles something in Czech and then in English, we don't have clearance to leave yet. No biggie just twenty minutes. finally get clearance. JUST ABOUT to take off. They put the wrong luggage on the plane.SOMUCHRAGE. An hour late, I arrive in Prague. My whole reason for going was to see my friend Verca . She was an exchange student in my school in 09/10 , and we just happened to become really great friends. Even after she left we would send each other post cards , emails and skype . I walked out to the arrival area and it was so crazy to see her again after a year and a half . </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> She studies at Charles University in Prague and her dorm is really close to the center so everything was so close and the public transportation system is very easy. Monday night we went out with some of her friends all of them were really great and all spoke some level of English, which is good because all I can really say is 'Beer' in Czech. But what else do you really need to know?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> The rest of the week we were in her city , Ceske Budejovice. It's in Bohemia and its one of the main reasons why i love European cities . It's a city without all the overwhelming-ness of giant, tall, crowded American cities. In stead of up its more ...out. We spent the week visiting everything we could , we biked to a castle , hiked in the mountains near Austria/Germany, visited Ceskey Krumlov ( A baroque city) and at night there was always something to do in the city another hang-out to visit . Friday night we went to a concert , I didn't know the band until she showed me the night before but they we're really great. The lead singer of the band, a guy from New York . After the concert a dj took over and the guy came out from backstage and i'm just like HEY YOU'RE FROM NEW YORK ?! ME TOOO. This startled all the other Czech people there, Americans aren't afraid of being forward. He was really great though and we actually got to go backstage and hang out with the rest of the band , the members we're from all over the world which was really cool and they all didn't mind hanging out .All of her friends were really great too, one of them was a former exchange student a rebound from Brazil and she kept telling me " You aren't like other Americans" which made me so happy ( yay defeating the stereotype) . Saturday morning we went back to Prague , bright and early and saw ALL THE SIGHTS or most of them , there are so many. Granted it was a Saturday so you had to beat your way through droves of Russians and Chinese tourists but the city is amazing. It has so much history , art , music , colors. It's overwhelming you get scared that you'll forget something and so you take a picture but you know that the picture will never be the same as actually looking at it . That night we were pretty tired so we went to a tea room and just sat and talked , catching up , looking back, it was great. Sunday we went to the Mucha Museum , if you don't know who Mucha is you should look him up . </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> It was hard to say goodbye Sunday afternoon , because you don't know when you'll see each other next . She's in college now and soon I will be too , and unfortunately its not on the same continent . But I've said this before when you make a friend in rotary you're friends for life. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Either way it was a phenomenal week , I could have gone to Prague with the rotary but it would have been a packaged tour where they truck you around like cattle. I wouldn't have been able to hike in the mountains, go to concerts, go to authentic Czech pubs or get a tour of an awesome country by a good friend. </span></div><div><br />
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</div>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-14087828434730109052011-10-26T06:04:00.000-07:002011-10-26T10:46:06.841-07:00Ryan Air<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwpHsLlS7UVcQJ9D_KyJ7oqQlMVZR1SM7w-kppCfaPErk1UduxAuGBoxJ0PqPN-VI3G0ZCjT6QsIhtIue91ow' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzqKIvGc6lfE95iNx96umUfV5Xd337ZRHPGJvijh35FjO5s_eVYH86px3pKLX2Rt0qNFbffuIRUJMGr96V5Xg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzW4ubb9OPu9XiEgYyFeK7Pn4mDrQ8iMTxi0Gq1p2hr6WVnaY-UxBo6ZCBfc0Fghl-HXiWPp5HCEhqp1z4jMQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> What'd you do yesterday? I went to Milan. YEAH. So Europe you have these airlines that are very inexpensive that lets you fly for less than €50. Ryan Air par example is the carrier that my host family and I used . And since the u.s dollar is so weak i was all for traveling on the cheap. Here's how it works. You can fly to a cornucopia of cities in Europe and Northern Africa but the catch is that its' not really the city . Normally what they do is fly to a city not far from the destination and then you take a bus to the city. For example we left from BEAUTIFUL Charleroi ( Brussels-sud) and landed in Bergamo Italy and then took a bus to Milan which was like 45 minutes. I mean its not terrible to do it this way but its just a little less convenient .I want to use ryanair again for more trips but its hard because they only allow you one small bag so you either have to be really good at packing or not go on long trips.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><object class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="FAILED" height="266" id="BLOG_video-FAILED-0" width="320"></object></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><object class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="FAILED" height="266" id="BLOG_video-FAILED-1" width="320"></object></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><object class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="FAILED" height="266" id="BLOG_video-FAILED-2" width="320"></object></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><object class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="FAILED" height="266" id="BLOG_video-FAILED-3" width="320"></object></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Anyways Milan, RAINY :( but still awesome. We saw the Duomo and the Grand Place I guess is what its called. There were so many people though. I felt like a salmon trying to swim upstream getting through the duomo except in place of water there were swarms of Korean tourists. but the best part was that i got to meet up with my friend Sarah !!(We couldn't do everything in one day and plus we were kind of there for the shopping too.) She was an exchange student in my district last year in NY (D 7190 represent!) It's funny because this was only the second time we'd met but she's like " I feel like we've known each other for a long time" .. but this is because Exchange Students have different friendships. You don't have to know a fellow exchange student for a long time to figure out that you understand each other more than a non-exchanger . The world seems smaller and less scary when you know that there are people all over the world that care about how you are and know what you're going through. I remember my rotary orientation weekend back in New York and every inbound I met told me to look them up if I was ever in their country or city . It's the connections that you make and they'll last forever . The weather may have been terrible in Milan but the fact that i got to see a good friend made up for it immensely .I think i have other things to say but as of right now I can't remember them because i was up for 25 hours and It wasn't for the 24h festival in Louvain La Neuve . But i can sleep in America or when i'm dead. whichever comes first.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">ONE OTHER THING ABOUT RYANAIR. They say that they're on time 90% of the time . Yeah my plane was delayed for 3 hours.</span>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-66281456860719360002011-10-24T00:19:00.000-07:002011-10-24T00:44:56.887-07:00DAMN YOU FLANDERS <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> I remember it well, it was December 23rd and I'm casually checking my email and I see a message from my rotary councilor . I open it , not thinking there would be anything important in it . JUST KIDDING . All it said was "Congratulations , first choice, Merry Christmas, coach" After I ran around the house screaming in pure ecstasy. I realized that I knew NOTHING about Belgium . In the following months I started doing some research . I didn't know that there were 3 official languages and when I put down Belgium as my #1 country the fact that I could have been put in Flanders never crossed my mind. I knew they spoke it there but I didn't know it was .... half the country. Shortly after I found that out ,I discovered they hold the record for longest time without a functioning government *pumps fist in solidarity . Yeah they even beat out every middle eastern country JEALOUS MUCH?! It doesn't really matter that they don't have a government anyway because there is separate bodies of legislation for Flanders, Wallonia and the city of Brussels. So for example the legislation for schools in Flanders is different than that of Wallonia and you bet your sweet ass they aren't going to give that up any time soon.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><object class="BLOG_video_class" contentid="FAILED" height="266" id="BLOG_video-FAILED-0" width="320"></object></span><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzqtlatXmZuKJv8xPmpt7YZpRtW06GkyoFelzozBZ7ZpjZfxc3aKZ1NZgJ9L9tO0eMvSSFKqNJyRlYhOESBNQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyzhvDZ0DlfIgJSRXPpVMiSvLsplcSX33NyjxSg8u4zABO76f_lA1tavUDJmMPZUBu0TnZA6_t4RGEotFNY' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Continuing with my story , this past weekend a few other exchangies and i made the trip to Antwerp . This was my second time to Flanders. My first time was to Oostend , the ...Belgian "seaside". I noticed some huge differences , some are a bit obvious because Antwerp/Anvers is a very wealthy city. They owe their wealth to the Diamond industry ( yay little african kids in mines) and the fact that it's a huge port city .I think it's one of the biggest port cities in Europe. And the fact that Flanders is doing better than Wallonia only accentuates their wealth . Besides several cross dressers Anvers is beautiful. Most of they city has classic Flemish/Dutch guilded architecture. It's very clean and I didn't see any homeless people. EVERYONE rides bikes but thats a very Felmish Dutch thing anyway . People ride bikes in Wallonia too but its just a bit more hilly and you know you're in Flanders because of the bikes. Also NO ONE was ugly . no one. I mean everyone wasn't drop dead gorgeous but there you didn't come across someone that you wanted to put a bag over their head. Then you had the shopping. OMG THE SHOPPING. there's one main street for us commoners and then you can wander off to the Dolce and Gabannas and Armanis if you've got paper to spend . I took a few videos and I didn't get to see the port because i mean i'm a girl and i want to shop . but i did see a really cool cathedral ;)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> To get a little bit into politics here , I'll explain why Flanders is doing better than Wallonia. There are several reasons but here are some of the major ones. Just like the "rust belt" in the USA Wallonia was the industrial center for Belgium with plenty of factories and mines. They were the powerhouse and would take in millions of immigrants from Italy , Poland ect.. to work in the mines. Now the Industrial age is well over but Wallonia still takes in immigrants and now you have to factor in all the Arabs too . There are millions of Arabs in Belgium .It's actually the second largest in Muslim population in Europe. What happens is that Wallonia doesn't have enough sense to say no to them and the welcome them with open arms but , they don't assimilate to the culture . There are parts of Belgian cities that are completely arabic Mosques and all . They're here because they can be . Plus they will get medical attention if they need it . In Flanders they are more stringent with immigration . If you aren't an actual Belgian citizen and you show up to a hospital they'll send you on your merry way. Flanders is putting the actual Belgians first . But theres a compromise and its more or less like this . Flanders , Socially well off UGLY language ( DUTCH/FLEMISH) . Wallonia , Not so well off socially Pretty language (French)<3<3.</span>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-27403080748116793922011-10-20T04:51:00.000-07:002011-10-20T05:00:33.772-07:00If you're going to be poor...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwfh--kF_F37Sc8FcypoDeBaL_3evBH0isv3-gqYUwlg7CCOLP4oot6O_FO-XagjP2z14ddhfiXAzN_-jNe' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I know that I've already expressed my opinion on the poor people one finds in Belgium , but I need to bring it up again . I've been to Brussels twice in the past week and its really started to bother me . I know every time I'm in Brussels I'm in the SUPER touristy part but after visiting multiple times I can now categorize them . You have your standard beggar that just sits on the ground with a sign and a cup, hanidcapped people , ex: Missing limbs , deaf what have you , the idiots with dogs ( I don't know why you'd have a dog too because that just another mouth to feed) and sometimes they have like 5 dogs !!! The most popular seems to be the Arab women , with their children . They usually sit on the street as well with their babies and it really does pluck at the heartstrings when you see them sitting there begging with a child but if you notice , the child is never skinny or malnourished. They're pan handling because they can not because they necessarily need to . Yesterday I went to Brussels for the afternoon to meet Audrey and I didn't have school so I took an early train which gave me two and a half hours to chill until she arrived . It's kind of hard to pretend you have something to do when you really don't so I just walked around Brussels Centraal for a little while but there was another Arab woman with a baby and this one was aggressive she was like going up to people who were sitting and eating and would like whistle and shove this poor baby in their faces. I mean no one really gave her money ....also she had a kid with her too like 10 or 12 . He would ask for money as well BUT they really didn't look that poor , he was kind of dressed nicely . You don't really inspire that much pity when you're dressed nicer than some of the people here.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> I walked into a Relay ( Magazine shop) and was hoping to find some English books , I'm frantically searching the shelves till I see a title in English : <u>Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk</u> by David Sedaris I grab that thing like it was the last can of beans in a USSR designated food center . Although I didn't feel very Belgian buying because the man at the counter spoke to me in English . I'm like MEH FINE, but he's one of my favorite authors , I recommend any of his books ! But I'm trying not to read it too quickly , i have to make it last ahaha.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Even though I didn't really walk around that far from the train station it was still cool to be in Brussels alone. That;s one thing I love ,going places where no one knows who you are and you can just walk around in your own little atmosphere. In a really old official looking building by the train station there was Brazilian music blaring and decorated with this giant tapestry so i went in and it was a 6 month long Brazilian exhibition that includes music , dance, plays ,art... ect. And i'm going to admit i have a bit of an obsession with Brazilian so i oogled a bit and bought some stuff .</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> TOTALLY FORGOT TO MENTION THIS : Cultural note. So here in belgium we have this "thing"..a condiment of sorts , Fillet American . YUM AMERICANS. This orange colored paste goes on tartines or sandwiches and is quite popular. But wait I haven't told you what its made of yet. Raw beef, raw eggs, and mayo i think. I know it sounds disgusting and probably something that would get you sick after one bite. but ... i like it. Mad cow disease anyone? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Friday night: dinner with host parents. Super big bonding moment. Both my parents are musicians and i guess i'm still considered one as well. So we sit around and talk about composers and who we like , which songs mean a lot to us. My host father is amazed that I know composers and I'm glad I have something to talk about with him. I showed him one of my favorite pieces and then he found his on youtube. And it was a great moment , he started getting choked up because the song he chose reminded him of his grandfather who used to play music with him. It just feels good to be able to share these kinds of moments with your host family you feel a little less like an outcast and more like a member of the family. Plus i'm their first exchange student , ever, so it's kind of a big deal . The rest of the night we sat around and talked about politics , history and culture. I know how nerdy that sounds , but , my french has improved to where I can express my opinions and understand theirs. plus this is a cultural exchange so ....</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Saturday . was awesome. thats all i have to say . No i'll say more . I went to Brussels with my closest friends here , Audrey ( from New Hampshire) and Quinn ( from Ohio). The friendship here with Belgians is NOWHERE near as strong as it is with other exchangies. We just spent the day shopping and sightseeing. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Although every time I go to Brussels it's always in the super touristy sections which makes me feel so underwhelmed . Eventually i have to go to Brussels with out the intention of buying clothes and shoes and explore it for real. I stayed the night at Audreys house because she lives right outside Brussels and we pretty much have a kickass time together. We dyed her hair. well I watched because I have no idea how to dye hair. but we just stayed up late and had fun . the whole time i pretty much forgot i was in Belgium , it was a lil slice of AMURIKAH .</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> So my host brother and his class are on a field trip and I decided not to go because i wanted to save money so I have the next few days off . The disappointing part is the fact that I don't have any books to read. I realized that this year would be the perfect time to actually get back into reading like i used to . And then I only bring two books.... I have Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince , in french...... so reading it isn't relaxing its just more like work . At home I shunned kindles and nooks but now IT WOULD BE SO USEFULLLLL. But I think all the other exchangies will get together for a good ol' book swap or something .</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">P.S. i have a nickname here now "97" because a screw up like windows 97. mostly with my english because i don't use it that much. I'm stupid in two languages now.</span>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-52404783848306183892011-10-11T10:49:00.000-07:002011-10-11T10:49:42.728-07:00Uppidy-date <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> I never know how to start my posts..... Dear friends and adoring fans.....</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> I've realized that it doesn't matter what language you speak if you can play an instrument you can successfully interact with anyone who doesn't speak your language. For example . Both my host parents are musicians , and I am too ...barely. They finagled me a tenor sax to play and even brought me copies of sheet music . This was like a while ago and they asked me to join them at one of their orchestra rehearsals, i was reluctant to go because usually they we're late in the evenings and i much rather waste my time on the computer. But I finally caved and decided to go with them to one. It felt good to play again . It was something familiar something that made me feel a little bit more comfortable. Because playing soccer here isn't really amounting to much. There's a team but its actually futsal and they practice on fridays and have games on weekends. But the weekends are when i get to see people and places that i may never see after this. I love soccer but the fact that i'm only here for a limited amount of time makes it hard to pursue . </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> I had my first moment of weakness here over the weekend. My host parents got mad at me and i felt like thirty pounds of shit in a ten pound bag. Ya see it went a lil something like this . I was busy this weekend , like i am every weekend because I'm just super popular and everyone love me and thinks i'm funny . no none of that is true. but i was busy . Friday my class threw a giant party to raise money for our trip to Spain , the next morning i needed to be up ass early to catch the train for a rotary meeting thing. The day went well and I have more fun with my exchangies than anyone else in the world. Heres where it went south. I forgot to take a house key and no one was home when I got back. So I had to stay at a friends house till midnight and wait for my host parents to pick me up after their concert in Brussels, mind you my friend lives in France. I got in the car and they weren't happy and I felt SOOOOO BAD. Not to mention i was cold tired and cranky but i just kind of whimpered in the back like an unhousebroken puppy . I come home and i'm like well atleast i can upload my photos on to facebook and that will make everything all sunshine lollipops and rainbows again. WRONG. Someone stole my camera. I know for a fact that i didn't lose it because i zipped it in my bag the whole time ... I go to bed , in rage and self loathing and wake up the next morning and call my dad on skype. And he pretty much told me to stop dicking around and act like an adult now and thats exactly what i needed to hear. but I also wanted to cry to . so i did . i cried. and it felt good. because i was upset that my host parents were mad at me . I don't want to make them go out of their way to get me because i f*cked something up , yet again ;) . Plus they're really the only thing standing in my way of having a good time . if i screw up my excellent relationship with them then i might as well forget doing anything. Plus i lost my camera no one feels good after that . But my dad's tough love is exactly what i needed to hear. Later that day i apologized for forgetting to take a key , they know i'm not used to having to lock the door . I'm from salem someone smashes a pumpkin on cabbage night and thats about the biggest crime that happens for the season. and then i worked my way back into their hearts like some celebrity fresh outta rehab. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> ALSO i dont think the kids at school realize how excited i get when they talk to me . I doesn't even have to be alot and i'm just like YAYHUMANINTERACTION. I'm working my way into a group of friends but the hard part is that we don't have classes together they're in A and i'm in B so its like meh i don't get to see you :/ But its getting better . </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Okay i have to go now before my host brother finds out that Germany just scored on Belgium again... heheheh</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #333333; font-size: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><span class="hps">J'aime</span> <span class="hps">la Belgique</span><span class="">, mais</span> <span class="hps">pour le football</span><span class="">, en Allemagne </span></span></span>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-37764747874656211722011-10-06T10:13:00.000-07:002011-10-06T11:31:56.771-07:00Words<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> So it took a while but my French is getting better, to the point where people actually compliment me on it !! but there are some methods to my madness. What really helps is that if I don't know a word in French I'll take a stab at saying the English word with a French pronunciation and it tends to work! Also you have to learn like a baby or a parrot hahaha. If you hear a phrase that is used often ABSORB IT INTO YOUR MIND . Soon you'll realize when to use it and after a while you can string a bunch of phrases together and BOOM you've got a sentence. I mean it would probably be more impressive if i hadn't learned anything by now because I rarely speak English maybe a phrase or two that my family will understand but not much else.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> School is better too which is probably because I can actually interact with people and don't scare them away like before . I don't do much though lots of sitting around , making lists ( of the presidents, capitols, states, countries) , and sometimes I feel guilty for not doing anything but then I remind myself that I did my time in high school .This is my year OFF not to stay up late slaving over a paper about Belgian authors. Now that I'm on the topic of school I should mention how often I forget that I don't go to a public school . It's private , all the schools are here , and mine is catholic. So you have to pay for things that you wouldn't pay for back home . Example copies, you have to give the teachers money for photocopies for the year , and I do , But, VERY reluctantly . I'm like that could have been a Chocolate bar *tear. as I hand over the 4 euros. And textbooks too , but I won't pay for those because they won't get used.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> What else.... I remember picking Belgium because it's a semi-francophone country that "wouldn't be popular" . I thought I was being different , different just like the 300 other kids here . At first i was like FUUUUUUU- but now I have to admit i love it . I may not have anyone else in my school with me but there are kids everywhere , if you say i need a place to stay near Anvers chances are that there are 5 kids that will be like you can come stay with me. For me I've met so many people that I have so much in common with which makes me think WHERE WERE YOU IN HIGHSCHOOL?! And you immediately become close with these people because they know EXACTLY what you're going through . It's like you become a big awkward family right off the bat. I get depressed though because everyone else get's Wednesday's off so they all take the train to Brussels or Liege and get together . While I'm in school till 4 :( ... I think i'm going to have to do some serious begging in my future because I love my exchangies <3.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">RANDOM FACT: Tony Parker( aka eva longoria's ex and pro basketball player ) AND Audrey Hepbrun , BOTH BORN IN BELGIUM!</span>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1647822714475749909.post-6132432013536620632011-09-29T07:07:00.000-07:002011-09-29T07:26:27.913-07:00Black Black Girl and the Bastard in the Purple Sweater <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">The other night i was chatting with another exchange student and we came up with the saying "Adapt or die" and that sounds incredibly cruel but it seems fitting for an exchange student. And it also reminds me of a story that really does belong on here.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> So Tuesday was a Francophone holiday ( Suck one Flanders ) and so I went to Mons and met up with some friends where we naturally had a kickass time. While waiting for the train back home my friend and I noticed an ironically dressed inter-racial couple. The black girl was wearing all black and the white guy was wearing all white and I don't think they did it to be cliche. They sit down on the bench farther down from my friend and I and commence with making out . The both of us were just a little taken aback by the super PDA but we didnt have much time to complain about it because my train was pulling in . I'm on the train and it's not a very long ride like 25 minutes and it pulls in to my stop and i get up and press the button for the door and it doesn't open . I sprint to the other door also doesn't open and the train starts to pull away . And I begin to freak the hell out . I look to see who's in my car and its Black girl in black and another girl . WEIRD . So i run over to her and ask her if she can call my host dad with my gsm and explain whats going on and then i realize my card is out of money . so she uses hers and calls my dad and he comes and picks me up at the next station . where she waits with me . It was such a weird thing to happen to me . It's also an excellent example of a WHAT DO YOU DO situation as an exchange student . You have to be comfortable to go up to a complete stranger and use your broken french to explain whats going on to the best of your ability .If you're lucky they'll understand you and wait with you at the train station for your host dad to show up.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> One other thing , My teachers at my school dress a little bit differently than my teachers back home . It isn't all izod and dockers up in hur' . I mean all of my teachers pretty much have modern European style . For example my Religion teacher ( yeah i have to take it , i got to a catholic school) reminds me of someone that would work at Zumiez she has an edgy hair cut and clothes ,nothing i would expect out of a religion teacher, and i'm pretty sure she has some sort of facial piercings but she takes them out for school . Also there's is a Johnny Depp look alike , I don't even know what he does he might be a professor but i doubt it he just kind of wanders around and pops up in random places , because that's what Johnny Depp would do . BUT the worse one is the Bastard in the Purple Sweater. He is definitely not a teacher but just a skinny man on a power trip and ALWAYS WEARS THE SAME PURPLE SWEATER. He supervises study halls and kicks people out of the bathroom if they look like they're just in there for social reasons. Today me and two of my classmates had a study hall and because we're 6iemes( seniors) we were going to walk to the park and just stay there for lunch too because it was the following block anyway. Unfortunately we were turned down so we were forced to go to the cafeteria/etude where the bastard in the purple sweater was currently residing . We were a few minutes late showing up and he starts giving us a hard time . Apparently he has some sort of sacred system in organizing students to the giant tables in the room , like one kid in every table in the third row and they can't be in the shade blah blah blah . So our arrival upset the delicate balance and he's like yelling at us for coming here and splitting all of us to sit in completely obscure seats , He's like " third seat in that table over there" . I'm like is the world going to explode if i sit in the fifth one?! But i sat down and pretended to do work , which means I proof read a friends English homework, tried to text with out getting caught and made a list of all the countries in Africa that I could think of.</span>ThisisSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10747533104392264037noreply@blogger.com1