tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51468116270167330892024-02-02T16:24:24.965-08:00Nicole's Adventures in BelgiumNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-10567348039564688262013-10-20T19:45:00.000-07:002013-10-20T19:45:42.742-07:00Full Circle.I haven't posted since the day I left. Life just sort of caught up to me, and every time I felt like posting it felt too late or not the right time. But I guess now is the right time. I left over one year ago for Belgium, and my life has been exactly the same but also irreversibly changed by it.<br />
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I didn't feel like I was going home when I did. I don't know what it was, but I felt like I was just going to another orientation or something. When I saw my family at the airport, I talked to them like I hadn't just spent a year abroad. Maybe it was the jetlag. I don't know. I had the same headache I had when I arrived in Belgium. After not being able to understand everything for a year, I could now understand <i>everything. </i>It was a blessing and a curse.<br />
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Life resumed how it normally was, which was weirder to me than anything else. I expected something to be different, but I still knew where all the cups were, I knew my favorite channels on tv. The things that I had to figure out in Belgium were the things I already knew back home, and that was very strange to me. I was expecting culture shock with the small things like in Belgium, and me actually feeling like I was at home without anything being different was very strange for me. I eventually got over it. I occasionally had to think too long about what to say, and sometimes a French word would slip out, but that doesn't happen anymore. I miss French a lot. I miss Belgium a lot. But it is also so good to be home.<br />
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I have been doing a lot since I've been back. I'm enrolled in college, where I am majoring in International Relations. I'm still with my boyfriend (we managed long distance the entire year I was away. I cannot even fathom how we did it, but we did and it is possible). We are dreaming of going to Africa to volunteer. I volunteer with AFS and this past week I went back to my old high school and talked to the students about going. It was wonderful. Everything is back in order again. But AFS has forever impacted my life. I'll leave you with a few photos of what I have been doing lately.<br />
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I know that I will probably not return to this blog to write again, because my experience in Belgium has ended, and a new one is beginning. Thank you to everyone who read this, if there were any at all. La Belgique me manquera toujours.<br />
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Bisous. Adieu.<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-79490375223675181912013-07-06T16:02:00.003-07:002013-07-06T16:02:54.090-07:00JFK International AirportJust a quick post to let everyone know that I made it back into the USA. I'm sooo tired and I have a massive headache because I'm actually able to understand everyone rather than just being able to tune out French unless I wanted to listen. I'm going to board my flight to Sacramento in ten minutes, and I really truly can't wait to be home.... it just doesn't feel as if I've even left Belgium yet..<br />
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I'll let you know how my transition back home goes<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-14516709834682125302013-07-04T15:17:00.000-07:002013-07-09T14:30:31.101-07:00It's time. Last Friday I went to Kaari's graduation party and then went to the AFS End of Stay camp.<br />
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Tonight is the last night at home for me. The last night I will spend with my host family for the foreseeable future. My suitcase is laying on my floor, as well as two boxes of stuff because I'm stupid and have accumulated way too many things these past ten and a half months. An entire life in a year.<br />
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My host mom brought home frites for my last dinner with her. She gave me a photo book of Namur and a glass for peket.<br />
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My room looks almost the same as when I got here, but it feels as if though everything has changed. Now that it is 12am, I can officially say that I am going home tomorrow to see the people I have missed so much this past year. But now it is time to miss Belgium. And I will.<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-69109957959049610002013-06-27T08:30:00.001-07:002013-06-27T08:30:17.579-07:00End of the year parties Okay I think I've put off writing long enough....<br />
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On Monday I went to Brussels with Caleb. We (I should say I) bought souvenirs and walked around the city doing some shopping. After that we went into ChiChi's for some margaritas and chips and salsa. I really miss good Mexican food. A couple days later, we did the same, but with Madeleine and Skyler and an XXL margarita. We're shameless.<br />
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A couple days after that (sorry, everything is starting to blend together so I don't know exactly how many days are in between things) I went to a party at my friend Marine's house. We played drinking games and had a BBQ before we were all to find out whether or not we passed. Everyone was incredibly stressed out, some were even crying. I was not (for obvious reasons). Mostly everyone passed. Only eleven have to take exams over again in August, and four have to redo the entire year over again.<br />
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I had to chug an entire (really disgusting) beer because of the game we were playing (I didn't lose or anything, I just had really bad luck)</div>
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After that, I went to a party at my friend Maxime's house. Everyone had to call me "Nicole Nicole" or else they'd have to take a drink. We stayed up allllll night (which looking back now, it wasn't very smart of me to do that) and it was a lot of fun. I took the bus at 7am and I got home at 8. I slept for three hours and then Keaton woke me up and I had to go meet him in Namur so we could go to Kaari's. Kaari and I got ready and then we all headed to the ball at the Château Vivier L'Agneau. It was so much fun! I saw all of my friends there and I had a great time. I was deadddd tired by the last hour though, so I sat it out and talked with some other friends, which is okay because the music got worse and worse. After that we headed back to Kaari's and went to sleep.<br />
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My principal lol </div>
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On Tuesday, I went to the proclamation. It was the last time all of the rhétos would be together, which was really weird. I saw all of my friends go up and get their diplomas, and then my principal decided to embarrass me by talking about the exchange students at the school, and he made us go up too in front of everyone. After that, we all had to walk out and say goodbye, but I absolutely hate goodbyes and just couldn't do it so I left earlier.<br />
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The next day I was supposed to go kayaking, but AFS Namur cancelled the activity because of the weather, though it didn't rain that day. Oh well, maybe later on in life. Now I'm just waiting for the orientation this weekend, our final one. Mostly everyone should be there and it'll be great to see everyone again. After that, I'll have only four days left until I have to get on a plane back home. But worst of all, I'll have to start packing (ugh). I'll update after the orientation if I can.<br />
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À tantôt,<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-26829515311296480942013-06-16T04:10:00.000-07:002013-06-16T04:10:01.364-07:00Bruges for the fourth and final timeHey everyone. My year is quickly coming to a close. I'm trying to fit in as much as I can in these last few weeks. I bought a go pass yesterday and I went to Bruges with my friends Caleb, Claire, and Madeleine. We had a great time just wandering around the city.<div>
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I can't believe this is the last time I will go to this city for at least two years. It's such a beautiful place and I will miss it. </div>
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I've been doing exams these past two weeks, but I'll be done on Tuesday. After that I have a few parties to go to and my bal des rhétos. I'm going to Brussels on Monday and maybe somewhere else to use up my go pass. I'll keep you updated.</div>
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Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-24824096535110729452013-06-08T11:14:00.002-07:002013-06-08T11:21:02.529-07:00Less than one month left in BelgiumAs you read in the title, I have less than a month left to go... and I'm definitely in full panic mode! Everything here is getting better and better, and I've been doing so much. But without further ado, let me talk about all of those things that I've been doing.<br />
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Last Friday I went to the Lana Del Rey concert in Brussels. It was amazing! For those of you who don't know, she's a singer who lent her voice to the soundtrack of The Great Gatsby, and her most popular song is probably Video Games. She's an acquired taste for some. I'd been waiting for this concert since October or November, and it was well worth the wait!! I went to Kaari's after school, and after eating a little bit we went straight to Forest National. There were tons of people in the venue, but it was quite small. Lana Del Rey was so nice! She spent over 30 minutes greeting fans - thanking them for coming, signing autographs (even searching for a pen for over a minute from her staff), accepting gifts, and taking pictures (even taking them herself), and she never rushed through it. I was envious of the people up front, but we had a great time. She sounds just as she does on record. It was a great concert, I sang along with all of her songs.<br />
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The next day, it was finally nice outside in Belgium so Kaari and I decided to lay out in the sun. It was the first of June, and it was really the first real sunny day that has stuck around. It's odd; the first snow was on the first of December, and the first sunny day was on the first of June. I guess it's full circle now.<br />
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On Tuesday, I had my last classes in Geography, History, French, and my main English classes. On Wednesday, I had my last two English classes, and I said goodbye to the deuxième class I had been with nearly the entire year - people I know I will never see again. At times they were exhausting, but I'll miss them. I spent the break teaching them how to say random words in English (most of them were vulgar of course, but what can you do). I went to my last class of my year in Belgium with mixed feelings. I was sad it was the end for me, because I know there's an incredible finality that comes with the end of the year. It was strange, because everyone was sad about their last class, panicking as if they wouldn't see each other in such a small country. It was different than my last day of my senior year, because I wasn't as sad this year, and I knew that everyone here would see each other again, or at least the people that mattered. But (selfishly, of course) I was thinking about how my year here is ending, and in all likelihood I won't see many of these people ever again.<br />
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My last English class</div>
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My last afternoon of class at Institut de la Providence Champion</div>
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The next two days, my exams started. French was the first exam, and I think I did okay. I wasn't able to finish because there were so many questions, but I did as best as I could. I had my main English exam, but I did it in French. I think I did rather well on that one. She said I didn't have to do the oral exam because she knew I could speak French, so I was able to leave early. The past three days have had glorious weather, so I've been sitting outside and studying or reading because I'm more pale than I have ever been in my entire life.<br />
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I have a few exams left (French oral exam, English + oral, geography, and socio) and then I'm completely done. I'm going over to a few Belgian friends' houses after exams, and then it's my bal des rhétos on the 22nd. After that I'm going kayaking with AFS Namur and then to the end of stay orientation. I can't believe I'm even typing that. I'm sorry if I'm sounding redundant, but I can't believe I'm about to leave. I think I'll have a huge culture shock going back compared to when I came here. Anyway, I'll keep you updated.<br />
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À bientôt,<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-83283202814372492262013-05-30T14:56:00.001-07:002013-05-30T14:56:29.383-07:0010(0) Jours des Rhétos, The Great Gatsby, and plans for the futureHello everyone!<br />
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Last Wednesday, my school had their 10 jours des rhétos. Normally it's 100 jours, but a bunch of people got us in trouble on our voyage, so we had it a bit later. On this day, all of the students of rhétorique dress up in costume and run around terrorizing the other students. When I got to school, I was immediately greeted by my fellow classmates, yielding hair gel, confetti, zip ties, and more. It was a nightmare. As everyone (besides teachers and rhétos) entered the school, they got globs of hair gel all over them, and were drawn on with lipstick.<br />
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At first I felt really mean, and I didn't want to put gel on anyone. My friends explained to me that they've gone through it for the past five years, so they had a lot of steam built up. They also said that with each passing year, it gets more and more tepid, so I felt a little better. Apparently they used to be able to use eggs and flour, but now it's forbidden. During my host sister's year, they put garlic in the hair gel and it smelled for months, but that was forbidden now too. I got into it when I saw some students trying to hide from getting gelled, those people got it worse than anyone else (and rightfully so).<br />
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Besides terrorizing the younger students, the rhétos were also exempt from all classes that day, and we did activities the entire day. My class even won the costume contest! Because it was a Wednesday, we were all finished by around 1 or 2, so many went to Namur afterwards to get a drink.<br />
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Sixième B</div>
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les rhétos</div>
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Representing the US, of course</div>
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<br /><br />On Friday I went to Louvain-La-Neuve and met up with Madeleine. We ate dinner at her house and then watched The Great Gatsby. After that we went to a bar and had a few drinks, then went back to her house to sleep because it was past midnight by then. The next day, she and I went to Brussels. Avenue Louise is where all the shops are, so we decided to do some retail therapy.<br />This past week was my last full week of school. I'm going to a Lana Del Rey concert in Brussels with Kaari on Friday (I'm super excited for that one, but I can't believe it's already happening, I bought the ticket in November!) and I start my exams June 6th. <div>
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My first exam is French, which really sucks. I'm also taking English, English (but I'm doing it in French), Geography, and Socio. So we'll see how that goes. Then I have my bal des rhétos on June 22, which is probably the last soirée I'll have a chance to go to. I'm inviting a few exchange student friends too. In between all of that, I'm gonna try and find time to go to Bruges and Ghent, and maybe a few other cities too. Maybe Maastricht or Cologne as well. I also might go kayaking! It's AFS Namur's last activity, and if the weather is alright and it's not too expensive I'll go. But hopefully they're double seat kayaks so I can just have someone paddle for me... and hopefully we don't flip over!</div>
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As I'm writing this, I have 36 days left in Belgium. I don't even know how to feel about that yet. Part of me is so happy to be going home, but part of me is starting to panic. Belgium is part of my life now, and I don't know how it will ever <i>not</i> be. I don't know how I'm supposed to live without something so ingrained in me. I'm so grateful for my life back home, but which one is home? I'm being pulled from two different directions, and each day seems to be getting shorter and shorter. I can imagine how my life would have been had I been born here, lived here, so easily. But I wasn't, and I must go home eventually. </div>
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“We exist because we exist... We could imagine all sorts of universes unlike this one, but this is the one that happened.” Jonathan Safran Foer, <i>Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close</i><div>
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I know, even now, that my life will forever be impacted by this year. </div>
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À la prochaine,</div>
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Nicole</div>
Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-50267113731117349312013-05-18T15:49:00.001-07:002013-05-19T03:30:42.652-07:00Malines Holocaust Museum/Fort BreendonkIf you're reading this and you haven't read my last update about parties in LLN/MeF, Mexican food, or Brussels, STOP. But if you have (and maybe, it's been a week) keep reading.<br />
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The museum is near Antwerp, which is almost two hours away by train, so my school wanted us to be there early. I got there at 7:15, and we loaded onto the travel bus. It was close to a two hour train ride, so I popped in my headphones, put on some music, and fell right asleep. We got to Malines around 9:30, but apparently that was too early. Our tour wasn't until 10:30, so we all went to a Panos (kind of like a Subway but worse) and got coffee.<br />
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Our group split into two and we started off with the tour. The first floor was about the lives of Jewish Belgians before the war.<br />
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They had to register as Jews or face penalties</div>
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Every wall was covered with photos of the over 25,800 people who passed through Malines. </div>
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Some were of silhouettes, some of young children. </div>
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A photograph of the entrance into Auschwitz-Birkenau</div>
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This transport really stuck with me. 1000 people left on Transport 4. One (Simon Gutfreund, age 18) escaped, but was later captured and sent to Auschwitz in the next transport. 82.5% were immediately gassed upon arrival. Of the 104 men and 71 women who weren't gassed immediately, none survived. </div>
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Every transport would wait in this room before being shipped to Auschwitz-Birkenau. There were 28 transports. It was only until you sat on the chairs could you hear the names and ages of all of the victims, and they sounded like they were whispering in your ear. While you were standing in the room, you could only hear voices, but as soon as you sat down, it was as if they were speaking right into your ear. Only 5% of those who passed through Malines survived past 1995.</div>
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After our visit, we ate lunch and then headed to Breendonk, which was about 15 minutes away. </div>
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Fort Breendonk was used in WWI, but by WWII it was considered obsolete. When the Nazis occupied it, they turned it into a forced labor prison camp. </div>
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Whoever passes this limit will be shot.</div>
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So much barbed wire</div>
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Respect these places</div>
Men suffered so you could live free<br />
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Swastika with the official motto of the SS</div>
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My friend Loïc standing against the wall, as prisoners had to do when they were being processed</div>
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They had to stand for a long time, some up to ten hours, and if they moved, they would be severely beaten.</div>
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The camp commander Lagerkommandant Philipp Schmitt was known to set his German Shepherd dog (called "Lump") loose on the inmates.</div>
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Our guide</div>
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Inside one of the interrogation cells</div>
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Inside an interrogation cell, looking out. This was what the prisoners saw while they were trapped here</div>
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Each bunk had 3 levels, each level had to accommodate 4 men. There were 48 men in each room.</div>
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The torture chamber and its hook.</div>
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Men were handcuffed and the hook was attached to the handcuffs and then raised. Because their hands were behind their backs, their arms would be contorted into painful positions. Doctors were there, but only to make sure the prisoner wouldn't die prematurely. </div>
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Posts where they would assassinate the prisoners</div>
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Much more barbed wire.</div>
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It was truly a humbling experience going to Breendonk, and I couldn't stop talking about it with my family. I hope you and I have an opportunity to visit more of these places, so we never forget this part of history.<br />
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Nicole</div>
<br />Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-64872118681010485992013-05-11T10:20:00.002-07:002013-05-11T10:20:39.013-07:00I'm a pretty terrible person...It's been almost a month since I've written in here, and I'm really really sorry!!! Writing in a blog is kind of like writing an essay - you always procrastinate, but as soon as you're done, you're glad you did it.<br />
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I'll stop stalling and just tell you guys about what's been going on! A few days after I published this blog, Madeleine came to Namur and we hung out. There was some super weird festival going on in Namur, and parades were everywhere. We ate "Mexican" food at ChiChi's, and then we climbed the citadel and it was wonderful!<br />
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This is part of a really weird tradition in Namur where men get on stilts and try to knock each other over</div>
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The next weekend, a few of us got together in Namur. We were supposed to have a picnic at the citadel, but we ended up going to cafés and Pain Quotidien (a restaurant in Namur) because the weather wasn't very great. </div>
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After, I got some great news from our principal that we're going to have our 100 jours de rhéto! In this case, it's going to be 10 jours, but we will be keeping to tradition nonetheless. 100 jours is a really popular tradition for 6ème classes here in Belgium. All of the rhétos dress up in costume and terrorize the younger students by putting gel in their hair, throwing eggs, etc. I'm really glad we'll be able to do it, but I haven't figured out a costume yet. If you have any ideas, let me know!<br />
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On the first of May, I had an AFS activity to go to. It was the fête du travail (Labor Day) so everyone had the day off. It was a BBQ/game day, and while the games were okay, it was nicer just hanging out with the other exchange students, like always.<br />
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On May 4th, I went to Marche-en-Famenne. My friend Keaton had a bal des rhétos, and a really famous DJ/singer was performing there. I got to meet Ashley, who goes to Keaton's school, which was great because we've been trying to meet each other since we got here! Caleb, Will, and Evan also went, as well as this girl named Emily from Rotary. We had a great time, and Ashley's family was so accommodating! We got back around 4am, and I took the train home at around 10, so I was really tired!<br />
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That next Wednesday, I went to Liège to the carré to meet up with Madeleine. I had the worst travel day of my life, and I ended up being three hours late, but you live and learn. I'm not really a fan of the carré, but seeing people was nice. Then, Madeleine and I went back to Louvain-la-Neuve to get ready for a party. It took us three hours to get home (see what I mean by the worst travel day ever??) when it usually takes 1 1/2 hours! We ate dinner at her house and then went to her friend's birthday party, which was a costume party as well. Madeleine was Dora the Explorer (sort of) and I was Cleopatra (sort of). Our costumes weren't done very well, but that's okay because no one else really dressed up very well either. We were so exhausted, by the end of the soirée we walked home and went right to sleep! </div>
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Liège Guillemins is one of the most beautiful stations in Belgium </div>
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We got up at around 10 and I made my way over to Brussels at 11:30. I met up with Keaton in Ottignies, and we got to BXL Central at 12:30, just in time for lunch. I was sort of an idiot, because I organized a trip to go to BXL to get some shopping for my 100 jours done, but I forgot that the only reason why I was able to go on a Thursday was because it was a holiday (duh)! We met up with Caleb and then went to the Grand Place, my favorite place in all of Brussels. Every time I walk into it, I can't help but thinking of how I would look on the internet from back in California, one, two, three years ago. It really lives up to my expectations. We were really hungry, so we decided to just have a tourist day and at the Hard Rock Café. Then, we decided to go to the Atomium, because I had never seen it before. It was really pretty, and because it was such a nice day out, it made it even better. There was a soccer game that was going on in the nearby stadium, so there were tons of people out! </div>
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After, Keaton said he wanted to watch Jurassic Park in 3D, so we went to the nearby movie theater! Movie theaters are way different here than in the US. There's assigned seating, and the concession stand is more like a buffet because you choose what you want and grab it yourself (except you have to pay for everything you get, it's not one set price). The chairs are way more comfortable, but there was a ten minute intermission in the most random part in the movie, which I didn't like. I was really glad that we just had a nice tourist day together, it was really nice to just step out of the exchange student life and live as a tourist for a day, doing whatever you want.</div>
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We wanted to go get beers after, but the movie ran a little long, so we didn't have enough time. I ended up getting home at around 10, and I was exhausted! I had to wake up really early the next day, so I took a shower and then went to bed! The next day I went on a field trip with my grade, but I'll talk about that in another post because this one is really long!<br />
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À bientôt!<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-50427992915337975872013-04-18T12:06:00.001-07:002013-04-21T04:20:11.739-07:00AMSTERDAMNow that I've been back for almost a week, I figured it was time to post about Amsterdam. I had a great time, despite the weather. The city is so incredibly beautiful, and I could definitely see myself living there.<br />
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The day started with me going to the Brussels-Nord station to catch the Eurolines bus. I met up with Claire around 11 or so to catch our bus at 12, but it ended up being late... by an hour and fifteen minutes. It came all the way from Barcelona, so that was excusable. We didn't get the best seats on the bus (we were by the toilet) but we were able to sit next to each other. We made a stop halfway through at a restaurant for 30 minutes, and then we started on our last leg of the journey. We were supposed to get there at four, but we ended up getting there around 7:30pm, and not even to Amsterdam Central, but to Amstel. That was okay though, because it was closer to our hostel anyway. We ended up getting to our hostel just after 8, but it was really easy to find. The only bad part was that because we were on the bus the entire time, we didn't have a chance to eat. And because Europe is Europe, all grocery stores closed at 8, if not before. So after putting our stuff in our room, we decided to head to the center of the city to grab something to eat.<br />
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"Have a good trip in the country of tulips"</div>
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My host mom can be so cute</div>
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We headed to a pizza/pasta place, and we (surprisingly) got a good amount for our money. I also realized for the first time that people weren't actually joking about the bicycles here. They really don't stop, and there are so many of them. It was also the first time I was able to appreciate how beautiful Amsterdam is. It has such a cool vibe. After dinner Claire and I headed back to the hostel, because she wasn't feeling very good. I stayed up a little late that night to feel out the hostel because it was awesome, and then I went to bed so we could wake up early the next day.<br />
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(Panorama of my hostel..... click to see the full size) </div>
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For the next two days, Claire and I walked around the entire city, looking at the beautiful houses, the canals, the bikes, all of the different shops, and more. We went to cafés and had an excellent time. The weather was in the 50s and it was cloudy/rainy the entire time, but I've gotten used to that by now. All of the beautiful black houses near the canals had gold signs next to the doors that said "advocaten", and because I want to be a lawyer, this was especially cool for me. I'd give you a detail of everything we did, but I think pictures will suffice. One thing we did in particular was go to a whole bunch of cheese shops. I didn't believe Claire at first, but they are amazing! Some of them have factories in the US, so I will definitely be ordering online. I wanted to buy some but I couldn't eat it all myself and I want my family back home to try it.<br />
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Pesto cheese! </div>
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As an extra treat, watch me go from enjoying the canals to being shocked at how cold my hands got!</div>
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After just a short time, our trip was over. We had a little trouble getting on the bus because Claire forgot her ticket at the hostel, but the bus was much nicer! I was able to sleep a little bit, but I also got to see some nice clouds, which meant the end to all gray skies (the only reason why I took pictures)! </div>
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When I got home, I was really tired. I unpacked, put away all of the souvenirs I got everyone, and was greeted to this outside. It was a really nice way to end the trip.<br />
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I'm back in school now, but it's much better because the weather has improved. My first week went by really quickly, and on Wednesday I went to Louvain-La-Neuve and met up with Madeleine from Kansas. It was nice just being able to talk and shop, it felt more normal because LLN has a shopping mall. We got amazing waffles and just relaxed in the nice weather. I think I'll go there more often to meet up with her, there's only a short amount of time left and I want to make the most of it. Speaking of making the most of it, going to Amsterdam has made me want to go to Paris, so I'm going to try to go in June.<br />
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<br />Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-29950905313213080032013-04-08T11:13:00.004-07:002013-04-08T11:13:45.172-07:003 Months Left: House-hopping, LLN, and Namur! Hello everyone!<br />
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I'm back at my house, and I leave for Amsterdam tomorrow (!!!!), so I figured now would be the perfect time to update. On Tuesday I went to Florennes to Mind's house, which is about a 50 minute bus ride away. Her host family is really nice and let me stay over at her house because my host mom had a bunch of work to do. We visited an abbey (Maredsous) where they specialize in beer and cheese. We also watched Disney movies and went shopping. Early Thursday morning I left with Mind and we parted ways in Namur. I went home to get ready to go to Callie's.<br />
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I got to Ottignies around 1pm. Callie and her host dad picked me up and I ate lunch and then we went to the store with her host mom. We bought stuff to restock her fridge, as well as ingredients to make fried rice. Callie's mom sent her fried rice seasoning packets, but I figured since I knew how to make it I'd just go ahead and do it. Callie and I don't really know too much about cooking, but we were still able to cook it without spilling too much. It turned out so much better than the fried rice I made for Chinese New Year and everyone liked it so that's a relief. After dinner, Callie and I stayed up watching hilarious videos.<br />
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The next day, Callie and I (mostly Callie) made pumpkin pie. Then we went to the mall in Louvain-La-Neuve and met up with Mie from Denmark and Keaton from Michigan. We drank coffee in a café, and I am officially awesome now because I totally guessed the wifi password to Manhattan-LLN coffee... it was manhattan, but still. Then we went back into the mall. We found root beer in America Today (the clothing store I would scoff at) and we had Mie try it. She said it tasted like hand cream, which is just blasphemous. Then Callie bought strawberries and we all ate them.... until we found one covered in fuzzy mold. That sorta killed the mood, which is saying a lot because strawberries are my favorite and I haven't had them since I've been here. Afterwards, we had dinner and we finally ate the pumpkin pie. It was so good, I should've taken a picture.<br />
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Before I left on Saturday, Callie's host family and I went to Carette, which is apparently the best ice cream store ever. I got a scoop of mocha ice cream between two round wafers. I have to say, it was pretty good. After that, Callie's family dropped me off at the train station and I went home. My host mom and sister went to a fundraiser dinner, but the places were 50 euro each, so I decided I'd save that money.<br />
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On Sunday, some of my extended host family came over and we all had raclette for lunch. On Monday I met with my liaison in Namur and we ate lunch, did some shopping, and then drank a beer. It was really nice to see her. She lives in Liège right now for university so I don't see her very often. Tonight I'm eating dinner with my host family and then I'm packing for Amsterdam! I'll be sure to take tons of pictures while I'm away. I'm taking the train at around 10:30 to meet up with Claire at Bruxelles-Nord and then we're taking the long bus ride. I'm so excited, even if it looks like it's going to rain the entire time we're there. I'm used to it now after being in Belgium anyway. I hope you guys have just a great of a week as I will!<br />
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À la semaine prochaine!<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-76194021654082665032013-03-31T15:40:00.003-07:002013-03-31T15:49:26.383-07:00Quick Update.... Not many pictures, but more to come! Bonjour (or bonsoir) à tous!<br />
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Yesterday I went to Namur to hang out with a few of my exchange student buddies. It was really refreshing to see some old faces that I hadn't seen since orientation (but even then for a few moments) and talk and drink beer. Namur is great because of the Place du Vieux/Marché aux Legumes seen here:<br />
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There are no tables out right now because of the terrible weather, so we have to go inside. We went to L'Havana this time. They just finished remodeling, and it looks so much better.</div>
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My friends were so nice, they even bought me a beer after I dragged them shopping with me! You know your friends love you when they spare no expense, Chimay Bleue is the best. Unfortunately I had to leave almost immediately after, so I had to drink it as fast as I possibly could. I felt bad about leaving, but I'd been there since 1:30pm and it was almost 8! I had a great time though, and it was great just hanging out with the guys (and Skyler, who is super easy to be around) when you're living in a house full of girls and all of your friends are girls!<br />
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That's really about it for now (I know, how boring of me) because last weekend we didn't really do much in class. On Tuesday I'm going to go to an exchange student's house until Thursday because my host mom is busy with pharmacy work and feels bad that I'd pretty much be left alone to fend for myself. After that, I'm going to Callie's house near Louvain-La-Neuve for a day or two. During the weekend I'll probably go to Namur and do a repeat of this past weekend. Then on Tuesday I'm off to Amsterdam!!! Pretty much everything is in order for that trip, and I'm getting really excited besides the horrible turn in weather we're going to be expecting. Seriously if it snows I'll be so upset!<br />
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À tantôt~<br />
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Nicole<br />
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P.S. Right around now is the time I got accepted into both AFS USA and AFS Belgique.... if you're in the position I was in exactly one year ago.... try to deal with the anxiety/impatience and good luck! I wish you all the best and I really hope you get to experience what I have and more. It's the best decision I've ever made, and I hope you'll think so too.Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-42242228192850333682013-03-23T10:58:00.001-07:002013-03-23T10:58:17.877-07:00A Busy WeekendHello everyone. As you can tell from the title, I've had a busy weekend so far. I've actually had a very busy week, but I only have pictures from the weekend so I won't waste your time.<br />
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On Friday in Socio, our class started making a huge sign for our school to educate and motivate them about social movements. When we were first brainstorming, I thought it'd turn out terribly. It has actually turned out really well so far, but we are going to add the words "BOUGEZ-VOUS!" which basically means "move" or "get moving". Here's a picture of all of our class (except our wonderful teacher) and preview of our sign.<br />
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After school, I went home with Kaari. We went on a long walk through Dhuy and saw many beautiful things, including a large estate surrounded by a lake and a tunnel of trees.<br />
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We also watched movies about Paris and made banana pancakes for breakfast. I ended up putting nutella on mine because, duh, bananas and nutella are awesome together.<br />
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I'm so creative, I know</div>
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We had the idea that we'd go to Bruges the next day. I know many people back home (and by home I mean CA, I know NY is still pretty cold) are enjoying mid 70º weather, but we have plunged back into winter. It was very cold and it was even snowing, so we all decided to go to Namur. Kaari and I met up with Claire, Emma, Madeleine, and Skyler, and we also ran into some other exchange students occasionally.<br />
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We did some shopping and we ate at Exki because we wanted soup. After that, we all headed to the train station to part ways. When we were walking to the station, we ran into two missionaries, one from France and one from Utah. It's weird to think that some people get placed in the same region I'm living in, right around the same time I know people from high school who are getting ready to leave or have already left on their missions.<br />
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That's all I have for now! After this week I'm on vacation, so I will update you when anything happens.<br />
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Nicole<br />
<br />Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-47216870730288488682013-03-15T14:32:00.000-07:002013-03-15T14:41:15.341-07:00Soirée des Rhétos & Flight ItineraryBonjour à tous!<br />
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Last weekend was my last soirée des rhétos and I had so much fun. I stayed out until about 2 or 3 am and had such a great time. I had a great time at the last one my school organized as well. I didn't get in for free, but I got a lot of free drinks, so that balanced everything out. I went with Kaari, the Finnish exchange student who goes to my school as well, and I was able to go back to her house afterwards to catch up on some sleep. After a quick breakfast, I made my way back home. I was so exhausted after the entire night, but apparently the soirée was successful because we were able to raise around €3500, which is great because with that and the last soirée we've raised over €7000 for our bal des rhétos<br />
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Something weird happened over this past week. I woke up today to three emails, one from AFS, one from my dad, and one from JetBlue. I officially have a flight itinerary for my departure from Belgium. It feels so weird just typing that. I'll be back home (it's weird even typing that, Belgium is also my home....) July 6 at 11pm after traveling for almost 20 hours. It's just enough time to stop by at In N Out before crashing in my bed with my dog (that's the part I'm excited for... MY bed!!!!) and then I'll wake up le lendemain matin and everything will be different, but not at the same time. My life will have forever been altered by this experience, but I'll be in the same place I was just 8 months ago. My experience, my other life, will have come to an abrupt end. I'll go weeks (or even months) without speaking a word of French. I won't be able to see my beloved exchange student friends or Belgians. Life as I know it now will be different, and I'm positive that I'll miss it. I'm incredibly excited to go home, but that also means losing the home I've come to know here. I don't know how I feel about that yet.</div>
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Bisous et à bientôt,</div>
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Nicole</div>
Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-23514418527784229192013-03-07T10:13:00.000-08:002013-07-09T14:57:17.825-07:00Four Months LeftHello everyone!<br />
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It is now March, which means I only have four months left in this tiny, beautiful country. I was going to write about how spring has sprung, but I looked at the weather forecast for the next week and temperatures are plummeting 30 degrees........<br />
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I haven't been doing much besides school. However, last weekend we had two extra days off, so I went to Louvain-La-Neuve with my Belgian friends. We were a group of 8. We walked in first and weren't carded, but when my other friends tried walking in, they couldn't get in because they got carded. I didn't bring my ID card and my other friend was 17, so we couldn't leave. The other girls decided to go home. While I felt bad for them because LLN is about 30 minutes away, I didn't want to ruin my night.<br />
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I ended up staying with 3 of my closest school friends and we had a lot of fun. We stayed out until 3am though, and then went back to one of the girl's houses to rest. I had to be up at 8am to catch a bus, and I was dead tired. After such a crazy night and having to wait for two buses, I was ready to go home. I spent the next day recuperating and then I went out to Namur.<br />
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I am doing it all over again this weekend, because I have another soirée des rhétos on Saturday. I'm pretty excited for that, my school throws excellent soirées and all of my friends will be there.<br />
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I'm thinking about planning trips to Amsterdam and Paris if I get more organized. Other than that, life is pretty normal around here. School does a pretty good job of making things normal. Something cool though: I realized during my socio class today that I understood everything that the students were saying during their presentations, and I didn't have to try ridiculously hard. I've got to go, I'm being called down for dinner.<br />
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I'll leave you with some pictures I've taken this week.<br />
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View of Namur Train Station from Point Chaud</div>
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Spring has, in fact, not sprung.</div>
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I walk across this court every day and go downstairs (just left of the dumpsters, fancy, right?) to catch my bus after school. This is the view from the local des rhétos</div>
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The empty local des rhétos after school. See where those calendars are hanging up on the opposite wall? That wall was knocked down a few months ago to expand the room. Which means 100 students crammed into a room half the size it is now. </div>
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À plus tard,<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-59852286262454351532013-02-21T09:59:00.001-08:002013-03-31T15:42:24.685-07:00An Overdue Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Now that I have time to write, I'll try to update you on what's been going on. </div>
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The first Saturday of Carnaval I went to Namur with my friend Kaari. We went shopping and then to a bar to get some beer. </div>
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On Sunday I talked to another Belgian who lives about 5 minutes away from me. We did his at home interview so he could go to the Philippines next year. It was a very bizarre experience because I remember my at home interview very well, and to be on the opposite end of it knowing all that I know/experiencing all that I have experienced, it felt like I had come full circle. I remembered how nervous I felt, and though I knew my life was going to change, I wasn't aware that it'd change this much. I was so glad I went though, and I'm looking forward to being an AFS volunteer in the future. <br />
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On Tuesday I went to Binche with Madeleine from Kansas. The city is famous for its parade on Carnaval, and has been proclaimed as a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO. They've been holding Carnaval there since the fourteenth century. Anyway, we got there a little bit too early and didn't see much throughout the entire day. We did see the Gilles, the costumed men who walked around the city throwing oranges at people. And yes, they really did throw them at people. I was warned ahead of time but it still caught me by surprise. Apparently it's good luck if you receive an orange, but bad luck if you throw them back. I think that's just so people don't throw oranges and the guys... We left around 4 because we were freezing so we probably missed the big parade, but I don't regret missing it.<br />
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On Thursday, I invited a few of my friends over for a Valentine's Day Pity Party. We made homemade pizzas (as homemade as you're ever going to get with me), cookies, and other delicious things. We drank wine and watched Titanic and Amélie, so basically the typical girls night in. I was so glad I did it because I didn't want to be bitter over missing my boyfriend, and I always have fun with them! </div>
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On Friday I went to Namur with Claire and Skyler and we went window shopping and we grabbed lunch. It's always great to talk with other exchange students about our experiences and thoughts about being here, because not many people can understand. I don't know what I'm going to do at the end of this experience when it will no longer be plausible to meet up for some lunch or something. </div>
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On Saturday I went grocery shopping with my host family because we were going to celebrate Chinese New Year. We were a week late, but we figured it wouldn't matter too much.</div>
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On Sunday I woke up at 8 am and after skyping my mom for help, I started cooking. I made tea eggs, fried rice, miso soup, noodles, and Chinese hot pot. Most of it was just a mix of my favorite things. My host mom invited close to fifteen people so it was extremely hard to cook for all of them. I don't even cook for myself so that was definitely challenging! I ended up messing up a few times, (including buying the wrong kind of rice for fried rice) but they ended up loving what I messed up on anyway. I was incredibly exhausted after the end of the day, but was so grateful to eat some familiar, flavorful things that I had missed. I think I'm going to try to make sushi with my host sister next, because I really miss Mikuni sushi.</div>
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I'm back at school now. I got sick after Chinese New Year (NOT from my cooking, I think I overworked myself and I had a cold) but I'm feeling better now. It snowed today after a few days of "nice" weather, but I'm getting used to the cold. The days are getting longer as well, which is great because I hate coming home when it's already dark. </div>
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That's all for now. I'll update you when exciting things happen.</div>
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À tantôt,</div>
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Nicole</div>
Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-58197126473870636192013-02-07T09:42:00.000-08:002013-02-07T09:42:01.257-08:00AFS Mid Stay OrientationHi everyone!<br />
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This update isn't going to be very great, but there's not really much to talk about anyway. I had my Mid Stay Orientation last weekend, and it was okay. It was absolutely wonderful being able to see people again, and the volunteers kept us pretty busy. The activities are never as great as exchange students just talking, but I had fun. My friend and I were talking about how weird it is that we haven't seen some of these people in 5 months, and the next time we'll see them is when we go home. Very strange.<br />
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Anyway, here's some pictures from that weekend.<br />
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My last day of school is tomorrow and then I have Vacances de Carnaval, which will be a nice break. Over the weekend I'm going to talk to a Belgian in the area who wants to go on exchange. A few girls are going to come to my house on Valentine's Day and we're going to throw a pity party with pizzas and pastries (there's some alliteration for you). I'm also going to go to Namur for a few beers with friends towards the end of the vacation.<br />
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As for what's been going on since my last update... It's been snowing every day. Not a lot because it's Belgium, but enough for it to be annoying. I miss blue skies so much I took a picture of a sliver of it after it stopped snowing. I've gotten used to the cold though, so that's good. I've also been reading the Harry Potter series in French, but it gets kind of difficult to get into it when Hogwarts is called "Poudlard", Snape is "Rogue", wand is "baguette de magie", Hufflepuff is "Poufsouffle", Ravenclaw is "Serdaigle" and Tom Marvolo Riddle is "Tom Elvis Jedusor". Yes, Elvis.... it's just not the same. It's great though because it gives me something to do and I can understand everything. Well, not every word, but every idea.<br />
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I think that's it for now. I promise my next updates will be more entertaining than these past two. School is the same everywhere and doesn't leave me much to talk about. Okay well I'm going to go eat dinner!<br />
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À la prochaine!<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-86860735717004717872013-01-31T15:05:00.003-08:002013-01-31T15:05:52.631-08:00RetraiteHello everyone!<br />
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Sorry this is sort of a late update, but I've been sick... that's totally not an excuse because I've been watching reruns of <i>Suits</i>, but oh well.<br />
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I went on my retreat for all the rhétos last week from Wednesday until Friday. It was a lot of fun!!! I didn't take any pictures because I didn't bring my camera (didn't want it to get stolen) but I've got a few from friends. I wasn't looking forward to it before I left but I ended up having a great time.<br />
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Lucie, Lucas, Ben, Emilie, Emilie (again), Adéle, Odile, and Cristina</div>
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Elysa, Jodie, & Cristina</div>
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Amélie & Lauriane</div>
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Alicia & Camille</div>
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We did tons of activities, including a walk with another person. I went with my friend Jodie. We ended up getting really lost with 6 other people and it took us two hours to get back, but it was still very fun! It was really hard to walk (not for the others, but for us) because we had to walk through two fields to catch up with the rest of the other people, but we kept our spirits up.<br />
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Odile, Jodie, and I were a trio sticking together while all the guys walked super far ahead</div>
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The teachers kept us busy the entire time, so I ended up being really exhausted after all of it. Not to mention my suitcase handle was broken as well as the zipper for my sleeping bag!!! I was roughing it for sure, but I had a lot of fun and the place was beautiful. We stayed at Domaine de Mozet. They have a website if you're interested in checking it out. It was snowy (icy is more like it actually) while we were there, but it was still really beautiful. </div>
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Also, today is January 31st so I'd like to say Happy Birthday to the most supportive woman in my life, my mother! If you know her, give her a call and wish her a great day. Or take her out for sushi or something :) </div>
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I'm off to my Mid-Stay Orientation this weekend so I'll write about that when I come back! Time really flies.... </div>
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À tantôt</div>
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Nicole</div>
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Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-19466794383131011072013-01-22T09:18:00.002-08:002013-01-22T09:28:38.801-08:00Quick Update, Month #5School is pretty much all I've been doing lately! My teachers still have very high expectations (too high in my opinion. I had to write a 20-40 line poem in French and it took me 3 1/2 hours because it had to rhyme...) but I'm trying to work through it.<br />
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It's been ridiculously cold lately, and my heart aches for Californian winters. It was -10ºC when I got into the car the other day (14ºF) which is just ridiculous. But it's been snowing!!!! This is the first time I've ever had to go school in the snow, and it has been both good and bad. Good because walking on snow is more satisfying than walking on crunchy leaves, bad because I slipped walking <i>up </i>the stairs, and now I have a fat bruise on my knee.<br />
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snow day selfies </div>
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Tomorrow I'm going on my retreat with my grade from Wednesday-Friday. I hope it's going to be fun! I already know it's going to be cold so I've been staring at all my clothes deciding what I should pack. I'll update you about the retreat when I come back.<br />
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My host sister and I might try to make sushi, and my host mom and I want to have a dinner party for Chinese New Year, so I've been emailing my mom back and forth to get some recipes from her! Apart from that, I have my Mid Stay Orientation on the 2nd and 3rd, as well as my mini camp for Scouts that same weekend. I hope I can try to go to both, but I doubt it. After that, I have a little bit of school and then another vacation!<br />
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I miss California and everything/everyone in it so much! But my French is improving so much, and no matter how much I miss everyone, Belgium has always been my dream and I love it here so much. My time is almost halfway gone here, and I don't know how I'm going to leave this life behind!<br />
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Bonne semaine et à bientôt!<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-22686137954538493552013-01-08T08:22:00.003-08:002013-01-08T08:23:40.711-08:00Bruges v3 and Back to School BluesHi everyone!<br />
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A couple days before winter break ended I went to Bruges with a few other exchange students. It was a lot of fun but typical Belgian weather. The best part was seeing swans super up close! Way closer than before. I forgot my camera but I had my iPhone with me so I'll share some pictures from there.<br />
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Panorama of an old church</div>
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I'm officially back in school. I have the same schedule as before, only now it's much harder because the teachers suddenly expect me to do just about everything the other students do, as if I would have suddenly become fluent over break. It's incredibly frustrating, especially because I'm trying my hardest. In my opinion, I'm trying harder than all the other students, because it's in their natural language. I feel as if I never get allowed a break. Oh well, I'll stop complaining now.<br />
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Friday I'm having a few people over at my house, and in a few weeks I'm going to a "retreat" with my grade. For now though, it's just school and scouts (exciting, right??). I hope you guys had a great return to school/work!<br />
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À plus tard!<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-72318664253913521312013-01-03T15:07:00.002-08:002013-01-03T15:07:24.988-08:00Bonne année et bonne santé! Happy New Year everyone!<br />
Not many things have happened since I last updated, which is good because I have to go to sleep really soon.<br />
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Mary Kate, an American who was hosted by my family in 1999-2000 came over to visit for a day with her husband. It was great! She brought over dishtowels with the days of the week on them. It's kind of a running joke to bring up the dishes because there's no dishwasher in the house, and the days of the week are in English to help my host mom improve her English (another joke, my host mom swears she's terrible with languages)! They were very nice and it was great to see that she could still speak French very well after so many years.<br />
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For New Year's Eve, I went to Brussels with Julia from Australia and Caleb, who lives in Brussels with his host family. We first went shopping (SUCH a disaster, all the stores closed super early and I couldn't find any shoes. I had snow boots with me.... finally we found a store that agreed to stay open for five minutes so I could buy flats) and then back to Caleb's for dinner. Then we got ready and went out. Almost EVERY bar was carding that night, and while that isn't a problem for me because I'm 18 now, it was a problem for my friends because they aren't. I wasn't just going to leave my friends so we searched and finally found some places that weren't carding. For the countdown to midnight, we were in a pretty nice bar drinking my favorite beer, I can't complain about that! It rained all day and night, but the next morning, it was beautiful and sunny, a great way to start the year.<br />
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(This isn't my favorite, my favorite is Lindemans Framboise, but close enough!) </div>
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Tonight I went to visit another AFS host family, because they also had one of their students come back to visit, and she's from Boston. We had Chinese food for dinner (first time having it in four months..... let's just say it did not satisfy my craving, I miss my mom's cooking!) and stayed until 11 talking about Belgium vs the US, other exchange students, and more. I'm going to Bruges tomorrow with her and Skyler, so that should be fun! I'll end this now because I have to wake up early, but I'll tell you about Bruges later! It's my favorite city in Belgium so far.<br />
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À tantôtNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-25454440328878822002012-12-27T18:44:00.000-08:002012-12-27T18:44:55.534-08:00Mon Bulletin, Quatre Mois, Noël, et plus! Hi guys..... it's been a while! Totally my fault but my weeks have been booked up and it's hard finding time to just sit down and write.<br />
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Last Tuesday I met up with some exchange students and then we went to Namur for a drink. I had to leave early because I met up with Kaari, the Finnish girl who goes to the same school as me. I went to her house because there was a party to celebrate the end of exams (appropriately named Examend) and then I slept over at her house. The next day, I went to Liège and got some Christmas shopping done.<br />
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Last Thursday a few exchange students came over to my house and we watched<i> A Christmas Story</i>, my favorite Christmas movie ever! It took a while for everything to get going, but it ended up being great! My two friends, Julia from Australia and Claire from Oregon, spent the night and we stayed up super late talking about Belgian/exchange student life.<br />
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Friday I went to school to pick up my bulletin. It was actually better than I thought, but I did fail one of them. In my defense, I thought I would have the same exam as the other students, so I studied for it. It turns out I had something completely different, so I failed by about 6 points or so. No big deal. I did great in my English exam (obviously) and the other exam that was English but I took it in French. I also did "well" on my French exam (38/60). My teacher is notorious for giving out low grades, I think I got one of the highest grades in the class which is just really sad. Before you're amazed at my amazing intelligence, I had a different exam than the others (you should still be amazed though, I did a really great job and it was all in French).<br />
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After, I went to Namur and we met up with exchange students and got some shopping done. It was finally the start of vacances de Noël! After, Claire and I went to my scouts meeting and I tried vin chaud (hot wine) for the first time. I was actually kind of surprised because it was really good until it got lukewarm. I got asked what Scouts was earlier, and I figured I'd just explain it here. It's kind of like summer camp, but it happens during the school year rather than the summer. It's for really young kids all the way to adults, and every Sunday we all meet up. I'm Staff Baladin, so I'm partly in charge of the youngest kids (around 6 or so). We keep them busy and play games, and there's also a retreat for a few days. I'm not really sure what the older members do on Sundays because I'm not with them, but outside of that we all hang out, organize fundraiser dinners, have more retreats, and just talk with one another. It's like a club in school. The members of the club (the staff) hang out, but they also organize events to keep people busy and socialized, and in my case it's for the Baladins.<br />
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Just a few days after that, it was Christmas Eve! My host family celebrated Christmas Eve with my extended family rather than Christmas day, so that was a little weird for me. Most of the family was there and we had a lot of food! It was my first time eating foie gras too. That's definitely an acquired taste. The dinner was a little bizarre actually, because it was food I'm used to eating for Thanksgiving. We had turkey, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce! It was great though and I love giving gifts so I was glad I be apart of it. I got the softest blanket ever from my host family, as well as perfume and a ring. The ring opens beer bottles, and my host sister told me it was "un cadeau très Belge" after I was done laughing.<br />
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Our pretty Christmas (eve) dinner table</div>
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I helped decorate that </div>
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Still haven't gotten used to drinking SO MUCH champagne! Oh well, not complaining! </div>
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Christmas day was very relaxing and we had dinner with my host cousin who couldn't be there the day before. From then until now I've been relaxing, so not much to talk about there. Tomorrow I'm going to Namur to meet up with some friends, and then an American is coming over to the house! She was hosted by my family 10+ years ago, and is now visiting them with her husband. I hope I can do the same in ten years!<br />
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I miss home a lot, but I love my life here. It's completely different and I get so happy thinking that I stuck with this idea, my dream, for three years, and now it's finally being realized. I'm so much better at French than I was before and I think I'm way more mature and grateful than I have ever been. I've been here for four months, and while sometimes it feels like I've been here forever, it also feels like I just got here. I don't want to give up my life year, I wish I could have both.<br />
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I promise I'll update more...... (really, I'm serious, believe me.....!!!)<br />
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À <b>bientôt,</b><br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-48323103397842155762012-12-14T10:10:00.002-08:002012-12-14T10:10:18.007-08:00In Bruges (again!)I went to Bruges again last Wednesday. It was MUCH better than before, it was actually sunny!<br />
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First we went to an ice sculpture museum that was Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings themed. It was -6º C in there! For those of you in the states, that means it was 21 degrees. I was freezing.<br />
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Saw this and HAD to take a picture for my dad.... </div>
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Basilisk and an ice bar</div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">After, we walked around the city and just enjoyed how absolutely beautiful it was. My favorite part of Belgium (so far) is seeing the swans. </span></div>
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The speculoos cupcake we all tried to resist</div>
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<br />Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-55176673552334451612012-12-11T14:33:00.001-08:002012-12-13T11:55:37.212-08:00It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Hi everyone!<br />
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I would've updated earlier but nothing really has been going on that was worth creating an entire blog post for. I've been busy pretty much everyday, but it's not very interesting.<br />
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This past week, my school has been taking their finals. I have to take four, so I took geography, French, English, and another English test. So far I've taken three, and I think they've gone okay. I probably failed my geography one (I studied for the wrong thing, turns out I was getting a different exam than everyone else) but the others were fine. My last exam is on Friday, and then I have vacation!<br />
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This is my view walking into school everyday, except now it's a little bit darker because the days are so short. It's freezing every day (literally. I can't stand it....) and even though it hasn't snowed in like a week, there's still snow on the ground because it won't melt and it's just not natural to me.<br />
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My family also put up Christmas decorations, including a "sapin de Noël", or a Christmas tree. And it's real too! That might not mean much to you if you get real trees every year, but if my family even puts up a tree, we use a fake one. This one smells sooo good, but (and I know this is a little blasphemous) I kind of prefer fake trees because they're way less messy!<br />
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I spontaneously went to Brussels today for the Marché de Noël. We ended up not being able to find it (exchange student problems) and it was really cold so we went and got some frites and then stopped by Delirium after some window shopping.<br />
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Tomorrow I'm going to Bruges, using the last of my 10 spaces on my go pass. We might go to an ice sculpture museum, but I'm not sure. The next day, I'm going to sleep in for sooooo long. After that I have my final exam, and then it's vacances de Noël! I promise I'll update this blog more, I know I've been slacking on that. Maybe that'll be my new year's resolution.<br />
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Hope everything is going great stateside, and that you're staying a little bit more warm than I am...<br />
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Bonne nuit et à la prochaine!Nicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5146811627016733089.post-75001619184849745082012-12-02T13:27:00.003-08:002012-12-02T13:31:23.956-08:00A Neglected Blog = A Tired Exchange Student At least one good thing about not updating for over a week means I have tons to talk about. Also, I have a very good reason why... so many things have been happening over here! Every year I forget that this time of year is always extremely busy, and this year is no exception.<br />
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The Scouts camp was very fun, but extremely exhausting. I had gym that day at school, and after getting home, I was told by my host mom that we were leaving in thirty minutes and I still had to pack. I also had to dress up as a patient or doctor in a psych ward, because that was the theme this year. It was also raining, but this is Belgium so I expected that. After scrambling to get all of my stuff together for the weekend, we were off to meet everyone else.<br />
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We were told to split up into two teams, because we were going to have to walk to our destination using a few clues. We were told it'd take about an hour and that spaghetti would be waiting for us when we arrived. The walk ended up taking two and a half hours. We walked through different towns, a forest, up and down hills, and through absolutely <i>massive</i> puddles and heaps of mud. We kept our spirits up by stopping for fries (of course) and laughing at someone whenever they stepped in a particularly big puddle. We ended up running into the rest of the group and decided we didn't want to walk anymore and so we called for help and were taken to a building where our retreat would be held.<br />
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After dinner at 11pm, the parents left and it was just the staff or "chefs" of Scouts. We drank beer, played games, and just hung out with each other. It was a lot of fun, but I was dead tired. I held out until 3am, but I was still the first one to go to sleep. Everyone started waking up at 8am the next day as well. I don't know how Belgians do it....<br />
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The next day there was a competition between the two teams that had to do with Scouts. Then we had dinner and repeated the party all over again, except this time I went to bed at 11pm. The next day we cleaned up and left, and I have never appreciated a hot shower more in my entire life.<br />
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On Wednesday I went to le carré in Liège for the first time for Titles. It's a big tradition for Rotary students, and occasionally AFS students will go. It was pretty crazy and not something I could do every week, but it was a lot of fun and meeting up with exchange students I hadn't seen since orientation was great.<br />
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On Saturday there was an AFS activity with Namur. We went to Charleroi to go ice skating, and after we went to grab a drink and then there was a cheese party in Namur. It was fun but I am absolutely terrible and terrified of ice skating. The cheese party was a little unusual, but it was also pretty good. I was lucky and only had one bad piece of cheese. While I was there, I looked out side the window and I saw snow!!! It was the first of December and the first snow of the year.<br />
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Also, St. Nicolas made an appearance. St. Nicolas is a man sort of like our Santa Claus, except from what I understood from the story, he saved children from being cut up by a butcher. We were called up one by one and most of us had to do something embarrassing to get the bag of treats he was giving out. I had to do the chicken dance. I thought it was absolutely hilarious watching everyone go up there, although the St. Nicolas costume kind of scares me!<br />
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Today I woke up to more snow! This time it actually stuck. There was probably one or two inches of it, which is crazy to me!!! I think it's going to be a very cold winter... </div>
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I went to Scouts again this weekend, and St. Nicolas made another appearance for the Baladins, the group I'm a staff member of. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and loved getting candy after having a moment with St. Nicolas. We also had a snowball fight (I decided to retreat to the radiator after a short while) and then I had to leave to go to my host aunt's house to celebrate St. Nicolas with everyone.<br />
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This was a really fun weekend (with lots of great food) but I am SO ready for it to be over. That sounds backwards - me wanting to go to school?? - but exams start this week and I'm only taking four, per the AFS requirement. Tomorrow is math, and I'm definitely not taking that one, so I get to sleep in! I'm going to go now though, I'm so ready to sleep. Now that vacances de Noël is starting soon, I will update with more pictures and places I'm going to visit.<br />
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À plus tard,<br />
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NicoleNicole goes to Belgiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07247668917053422197noreply@blogger.com2