christmas :)

Wooh, so. where do i begin??
OK well i'll start from where i left off. On the 23rd (the evening) i went and watched Ter and Shan do their christmas concert for school. it was so good!! :) Also that night we can just say that my host father said some things about me and to me that made me happy again that i was leaving the next day :) also that made me cry, but that's all good! it was dark haha.
On the 24th i woke up in the morning to find it had snowed like 30cm overnight (no exaggeration). first thought that came to my mind = shit. haha at first we thought we couldn't get out of the house but then realised we could. so we went to school to get the reports. before we left i gave my host mum a letter explaining all my feelings etc, i could tell it meant a lot to her (she said it was so beautifully written and the best present i could have given her) and she cried a little with me :) At school when i got my report and saw i'd passed everything (woohoo!) my host mum told me she was so proud of me :) my host dad said to me "well at least you've succeeded at something." i had nothing to say to this so kept my mouth shut, thus he repeated it to make sure i understood. lovely :) We then met with the family i would (and am) staying with for one week. and thus the changeover began!!
On the way to my new house i learnt a few things: that we'd probably be having a christmas party that night, that the wind had made the snow 1m in some places, and that the three youngest kids in the family are deaf (but have hearing aides etc). I felt immediately at ease with this family, it was really nice :) At the christmas party we had some of the family over. we opened the presents (i got three from my family :) ) and then tucked into the feast haha. it was really different, the mum had made lots of different little appetizer things in cool shotglasses and they were so fancy and cool!! :) i really enjoyed also how the whole house is decorated for christmas :) We all hang out as a family, or just us kids and we eat or we play board games or we watch a movie or something, and it's really cool :) today we went for a walk in the snow and went on the luge, then we came home and made a tintin snowman :)
Also mum and dad and em and nana rang on christmas day, and it was super cool talking to them :) So   yeah.. i'm looking forward for whats to come!! and i'm feeling so relieved and lighter in spirit now :)

:)

Ok, so my life has been sorted out for at least the next two weeks! (thank God..)
Tomorrow i am going to school in the morning to collect my report, then i am meeting the family that i will spend the first week of the holidays with there, and going home with them! phew! haha. They're a family who have a son in Holland on AFS who knows Abbey from Columba. so she hooked me up and he called his family and they were all for it!! Then for the second week i am going to stay with the family nanny, Jackie, who is super nice :) By then, hopefully, AFS will have found me a new family for the next 6 months! It all sorta happened really fast, but i feel like i made the right decision. i don't want to have regrets about my exchange, i don't want to be wishing that i'd spoken up. after all, i'm here for me, so i don't think i should be spending my time pretending to be happy when i'm not...
Last night i felt almost a littl sad to be going. Everyone is kinda making an effort before i go, and it's actually really nice! I especially feel bad for my host mum, because she feels like she's failed me and is actually really sad to see me go. but i can't stay just for her.. I do hope that i see them again, because i do still care about them! So yeah.. i'm alittle mixed with emotions at the moment. a little sad for leaving, and for being a little alone at christmas (although i think i'll have fun :p) and happy to have made such a big choice for myself, i feel a little grown-up! haha. also anxious as to how this next wee slot of time will all turn out.. whether i'll fit in all well etc :) and also relieved to have found somewhere to stay over the holidays. i really don't know what to expect, but i'l sure it'll be exciting :) at least i know i have a home haha. one feeling i know i'll have over the holidays is cold! It's been snowing constantly... and its pretty and all, just... not all that convenient.. haha but that's all part of the experience!!
I was telling a girl from school about me changing family and she got all sad saying "aww, but you'll no longer be at school with us!!" it made me feel really good that she'd miss me :) haha. it's good to know i'm not alone here. that i have friends and .. yeah.. i dunno, it's just nice :)
So yeah.. interesting times lie ahead... and i'll just have to wait and see how they turn out :) :)

hooooommeless :) :)

SOoo.. i am currently searching for a home over christmas (As nicole suggested i should go to the railway station and pretend that i'm Paddington Bear). Seeing as my family is leaving the 24th, i'm stuck in that awkward situation of finding somewhere to stay for the holidays toute de suite!! Obviously AFS won't leave me on the street, but i'd rather be with someone i know at christmas than a random volunteer...
I've been trying to hint to friends to take me in, and sometimes not so subtlely, but to no avail... I went to brussels today to meet with someone at the AFS office, and we talked about my options.. there's the possibility that the family nanny can take me for the first week, we just need her to say yes (fingers crossed!!) and i will be seeing her tomorrow, so hopefully we get that sorted out (unless she says no, that'd suck..). Now i'm searching for the second week. Abbey (from Columba) had said she's ask her family if perhaps i can go stay with her in holland, i'd love that! but i need to know now haha because a) i'm almost homeless and b) they have to send a permission slip to my mum and dad in NZ. sooo... it's kinda rushy. this all means that i'm super super stressed, and easily prone to tears! haha (i made the mistake of wearing eye makeup today ... :p) but i'll keep ya'll updated!
Today in Brussels this little boy came up to me and was shaking his money cup at me. i tried and tried to ignore him. he eventually left, but the second time i saw him i gave in (by now i have a slight feeling of what it's like to be homeless. even if he's just gonna give the money to a druggie, at least he'll get brownie points for it) so i emptied out all my coins (about 23 cents) and gave it to him, he was thrilled! but then his companion came along. i had to say no, i had no more! and i felt less guilty cause i knew they were working together. later in the day the first boy came up to me again (i think he didn't realise it was me at first) but i just laughed and shook my head, he understood and moved on nicely :)
Ok. so tomorrow, hopefully i'll have my life sorted out slightly... but... no promises :p

so this week has been a biiiggie ..

Soo.. this week brought around the end of exams.. don't know how well they went but we shall see...!
On thursday i went with some of the girls from my class to Brussels. We looked arounf the Christmas market (so cool) and at the big christmas tree in the Grand Place. We were going to go ice skating.. but it was raining and we didn't much like the thought of falling on soaking ice.. so we went and drank hot chocolat instead. :) After we did a spot of shopping and had a wee munch of Quick. It then started snoooowwing :) So we decided instead of drinking in Brussels we'd buy a bit of alcohol to take back home :) it was very exciting. we drank and ate chips in front of a woodstock video :)
on Friday i went to see harry potter (finally) and it was A W E S O M E. but not long enough!!
On saturday. . . some AFS people and my counsellor came over to our house so we could all 'talk'. It was a little awkward. but basically both my family and I are not so happy with the way things are with each other and.. it's just not really working out.. Thus I am changing family. However, this poses the question as to what I am doing over Christmas... i'm currently a little homeless. AFS is  trying to find someone.. and have asked me to ask friends, but that's a little difficult to do.. people already have plans and.. yeah. but we'll see how that goes. In the meantime i'm just hanging out with the family.. it's a little awkward now, but at least it won't last long :) i'll keep you all updated on that..
It snowed majorly the past day, at least 15cm i'd say, it's insane !! but so pretty :)

exams

this week on monday morning i had my english exam. it was ok, but kinda annoying how i had to write half of it in french. hopefully that doesn't mean i end up with an embarrassing result!
hmmm... we haven't really had more snow, and on thursday it stated to rain meaning that it's byebye to most of the snow for now :( but winter hasn't even started yet (it starts the 21st Dec) so we have a loooong time for snow just yet :)
hmmm my week has been average really, studying for exams :) - although i got a free coffee. a lady ordered wrong so they gave it to me :) aaand... i sent a few christmas cards too, still a couple to send though. also .... hmm... on friday i did a little christmas shopping,; so that's sorted :) although i forgot to get something to wrap it in... :p
Next week i'm on holiday on wednesday afternoon, so i might try to go see the christmas market in brussels, and perhaps another town in belgium, who knows? should be fun :) :) and i'll see who else in my class is keen too :)
I'm terribly sorry, this post is fairly dull - my mind has turned to slosh after all my studying, but i'll try to make the next one a little bit mmore fiery :)

salut snow :)

well now... this week has been fairly cold! i can tell you that! On monday evening it started snowing :) it was super exciting. Then it pretty much continued to snow the rest of the week. This means that it's very dangerous walking outside during the breaks at school. not only because you risk both embarrassment and death from slipping  over, but also because there seems to be a constant snowball war. they appear from nowhere!!
On thursday i had my first exam, science. It went pretty well i think, i was only unsure about one question, seeing as we hadn't convered it in class. Luckily i didn't choose to do the science exam so i had a bit of free time :)
On friday some of the girls from my class and i went luging in the snow! it was excellent fun! although i think my technique needs a little work cause i ended up covered in snow from head to toe!! took a while for my jeans to dry off... haha. That evening i went home with a girl from school (who's mum happens to be my english teacher - but we only spoke french!) They have six children. SIX! but the family is really nice. they play board games and sing st nicolas carols in front all the fire, and all things good :) :) On saturday we took the donkey for a walk in the snow (it was more of a snowstorm really), then on the way back, St Nicolas appeared!he came home with us and gave us all speculoos and mandarins. it was magical!! :) :).
So yeah, christmas is coming, and its snowing! crazy crazy crazy... :)
anyway.. that'ss allll really, so salut!!
xox

st nicolas!

Soo.. It's not actually time for St Nicolas (he comes the 6th December), but it was our AFS St Nicolas day today :) So i have learnt some things about him - he used to some and give things to poor children (or people - obviously children aren't people..) but now he comes and gives bonbons to children. The children leave their shoes by the chimney and he puts them in there overnight. Gutted if you haven't put your Gran's Remedy in them for a while!! When the idea was brought from Europe to America, they couldn't quite wrap their heads around him, so they turned him into Father Christmas (Santa). Then Santa travelled back to Europe, meaning those lucky Europeans now get the both! (they just want more presents...). We learnt a little about other country's special holidays or special ways of celebrating christmas etc. It was cool :) We learnt the song that the children sing to make St Nicolas come, and (wow) he came!! he handed out speculoos and mandarins (yum yum yum) and then we each got a little gift. We'd all brought something and did a little out of the hat pick and choosing :) I got a fondue set - not gunna complain!! :) Afterwards Eliza, Valentina and I sat in the park and had a little beer and took (awesome) photos. Mmmm at home we had another raclette for dinner - sooo goood :) :)
This week it snowed!!!! Already! I was like OMG it's November, and it's snowing! But it was also very cool :) I was sitting in french class when it appeared. I'm expecting to see a lot more of that! especially seeing as I was told last year in winter it was -15° here. That's a NEGATIVE 15° my friends. none of this wishy washy -1° i'm used to...!
hmmm so not much happened at school this week, but next week exams start. I have one next week, one the week after and then two the week after (Physics, English, Maths and Geo), and in the third week if i don't have an exam, i don't have to go to school! So that's not bad :) :)

hmmm.. i think that's all i can think of for now, sooo bye bye :)
Don't forget to write and email and all things awesome :)

Soo.. one more week. Yesterday i hit the 3month mark! that's pretty exciting i guess! ummm... soo whaat's been the haps?
well.. i went to school, just the usual.. umm on Wednesday after school i sent my care package back home :) full of beer and chocolate and speculoos and other great stuff!! woohoo, 4.5kg for 50€! that's all you're getting.. haha. I'm also very excited because mum is sending me some converse (yay!) seeing as it's cheaper to do it that way than to actually buy them here.
On Monday i bought some new skinny jeans, seeing as i made a small hole in my old ones. The new ones are super comfy, and more importantly, super stretchy! So i'm fairly glad with that purchase. I was COLD this week! haha and it's Autumn.. All everyone said to be was "welcome to Belgium!" lol that's their response to everything!! So I decided i should probably buy a coat, so that's now done :) it seems to be lovely and warm.. so hopefully thats enough to last what could be the coldest winter of my life!!!! :)
Yesterday the weather was pretty nice! and I actually went for a walk/run. It was nice :)
Today I talked to Simon and Nicole on Skype, seeing as it's Mole's big 18th!! It was nice to hear from them, although i felt a little bad because they both have a chem exam tomorrow... and i don't think much study has been done!!
I myself have school exams in a couple of weeks. Luckily I only have to do four, one of which will be english :), so it means i get some time off school :) :). But I will at least try to do ok.. so I may try to get some study done today.. :)
ummm... That's all i have to report for now I think, Bye bye lovelies, don't forget to write!! xoxo

another week in belgium

So the biggest part of this week has definitely been the rain. It rained and rained and was cold, then rained :) excellent. I'm told it should be like this all of November, so that's awesome. So school went along as usual.. there's not really much to report. We had another test in maths. This time it definitely sucked haha.
On wednesday afternoon Eliza came home with me - well, actually we took the bus to Wavre with Julie from my science class, and went to see her mum in her mum's shop. They have a parrot! it was pretty cool. We bought some hair dye, looked around a little, then Jackie came to take us home.
So, at home... seeing as we'd bought hair dye, i guess you'll assume we used it? well done!! Eliza seems to be quite the hairdresser, so she kindly cut and coulered my hair. It was very tame, a slight trim and a now mocha chocolate colour :) So that was cool. Umm.. we had two games of monopoly (it was still raining), and in the first she ended up winning more money than was actually in the bank!
Thursday night i went with the family and family friends to see a musical (where my host dad's son was singing in it) - it was pretty cool, it had like dancers and singers and actors. I guess that's what most musicals have.. But yeah, it was good.
On friday we had a day off too (thursday was a congé). So we all (not the parents) just hung at home. The two little ones were insane though, i just can't handle too much of them!!
Saturday i slept in :) :) and was pretty much home alone until about 4, me and coca. I was so brave though, the phone kept ringing and i've always been too scared to answer it, but finally i did! It ended up being my host brother's friend, but i managed to understand what was going on :) That night we went to the LMV (my school) Cabaret, a concert for the last year of the school - it was really good, it had singing and dancing and sketches. It was funny and i liked it.
Today i got up at 9, and it seemed like an awfully early hour!! But i wanted to skype mum and dad, which i did. unfortunately i got a little EMOTIONAL haha. I don't even know why, but i guess it's about time, i am kinda a cry-baby lol. But no, it was still good to talk to them :) But yeah, i think i'm a little tired and maybe a little sad. Maybe today is going to be a harry potter day haha.
Oh yeah, one of the things i was telling them started me off! On tuesday my class went on an excursion, and to get back we had to have our own means. I went to take the bus. I saw one with a girl i know on it, and saw the place i wanted to go in abbreviation on the front. So i got on and asked the driver if that's where it was going. So it turns out the driver was a penisface. He and his friend were like "ohh it's written on the front where i'm going, i'm not going to tell you. If you can't read you shouldn't be here, if you want to come on, do it but i'm not telling you where i'm going." so yeah. Penisface. So i assumed it was going where i wanted to go when i asked for a ticket to where i wanted to stop. he's like ok it's 1€40. Just my luck, i only have 40cents change. So i take out a 20 (usually they accept up to 20). He looks at me as if i'm a shit on the ground and says, that's no good here, give me the right change or get off the bus. Great. So with my 40cents i'm just magically supposed to turn it into 1€40. So by now i'm a little annoyed and freaked, because i have to get back. LUCKILY a boy from my class had come on behind me and heard a little of the conversation, he came up to me and realised i didn't have the right change. Most people in belgium are nice. This boy is one of them, the driver was not. So, the boy paid for me. I was so happy. Then for the rest of the trip i sat in the back and bitched about him. Made me feel a little better. So yeah, that was pretty exciting :) :)

Have a good day!! xx

First day back

So today was my first day back at school - i guess i should fill you in on what's been happening!!
So I was staying with Poon (the other AFS girl) and we watched season 1 of prisonbreak :) :) ahhh love it.. One day for lunch we ate sardines and cream cheese on toast - it was OK! cause i could hardly taste the sardines lol. We also went to Walibi (the amusement park) on tuesday evening - it was fun!!
On thursday i came back home. Most of the day there were people downstairs practising for a concert - so we heard quite a bit of music! On Friday Shanel and i did some drawing, then painted each others nails then played scrabble in english (luckily i won! haha). Oh yeah, thursday night wwe went to the cinema. I saw "the social network" - it was pretty good, not great, but not how i expected it to be.. On saturday afternoon Shanel and i went shopping in LLN (she wanted to find some boots). I bought a scarf. We ate dinner there together (pasta) and then met the family to go to the cinema. Shanel and I saw "the man who wanted to live his life" - a french film about a man who accidentally killed his wifes lover, then stole his identity and career. I thought it was quite good, but Shanel got pretty bored. I also bought some things to send in a package to my friends, i hope they like it!! =i can't see how they wouldn't though.. :)
Annnd Sunday i did a little work and just kinda chilled. It was nice.
Today was back to school - the hardest part was waking up in the morning!! Luckily it's only a three day week then a four day weekend.
Oh yeah, sunday i also cut myself a fringe - it looks ok. I'm thinking of getting Eliza to maybe dye my hair and cut it a little - just for fun. Nothing too extreme, just a little change.
THAT'S ALL :) :)

forgot!

yeah also today I had my first sandwich "american" - the whole raw beef in a sammy thing. It was pretty good! We had it in a yummy yummy baguette with pesto, parmesan and lettuce :) :) yum!

Toussaint

Woohoo!! So, I'm on holiday now and it's gooood :) I get to sleep in for a whole week!
Tomorrow it's All Saints Day, so people in Belgium go to lay flowers on graves.
I was going to go to the North Sea with my family, but then my host brother decided he wanted to come too - causing a space problem in the car. So in the end, i'm now staying with another AFSer's place until Wed/Thurs. So that's all cool with me. Today we went to Namur to a Thai shop (the girl is Thai) and tonight we are going to a Halloween party! Also I think we may be going trick or treating afterwards too haha. I'm dressing up as a cat! woohoo, exciting :)
Tomorrow I think we will go to Walibi (an amusement park); so that should be fun!!
I dunno what else we'll get upto but it should be fun :)
This week... hmm.. We got our first school report, and when the teacher was giving them out he got me to stand up the front and told everyone to congratulate me because I am foreign, but I have an 'impeccable report'. Everyone clapped and it was rather embarrassing. I ended up getting 70% in Religion, nothing in french (haha), 10/10 in a test in history (it was the first day and was copied off somebody else), 78,5% in english (excellent! haha), 66,5% in Maths, 100% in Science (very surprising!) and 90% in Geography. So overall, it was pretty pleasing! The guys in my class were shocked (it was a scandal that i did so well), some of them even took photos of my 100% cause they'd never seen it!
hmm.. Oh yeah, my English teacher has a friend who wrote a book. It's in French but has conversations in English. My teacher doesn't have the time but she asked if I would be able to correct the English that's already there and do a little translating. I was all keen to do it, and then she told me i'd get paid too!! So, of course, i've accepted that offer haha. It's not exactly bad for me cause i get to read the book too :)
Well, that's enough information for now. I may have a more exciting week this week seeing as it's the holidays not just school - but we'll see.
BYEE :)

here we go again!!

soo.. this time i guess i have a little more to say.
so on wednesday i went to the 24h vélo in Louvain la Neuve (where my school is) - it's like the event of the year and there's always at least one death due to the drinking. it was cool. i hung out with a couple of classmates and got to pee in the bush :) my fave. the only poopoo part was that it was pretty rainy.
on thursday i got super excited because i bought some boots that i've had my eye on. they're blue and soft, with a bit of a heel. and yes,  it was exciting :) also, i was super happy because i found out i got 14/20 in a religion test that i had a) made up and b) written in english. stoked.
Saturday morning i took the train to meet Rosie (states) in brussels. we met up with Lilla (hungary) and went to get maccas - my first since coming here! i got to experience a speculoos and caramel mcflurry, it was a dream. then we went over to Gina's house (peru) and made delicious cookies that kinda turned into one slice of cookie. it was so good :p We went out a little that night, cause we wanted to experience gummy beers ( gummy lollies that you put in your beer then eat afterwards ). we cut our night short however when a creepy creepy man kept touching rosie to "tell her future" then brought over her friend who tried to accuse us of being racist. I stayed at rosie's that night.
Sunday we had to get up early to meet all the other AFS kids (from everywhere in belgium) for the flashmob!!! haha. we practised it like all day then finally came time to do it! it was pretty cool in the end :) unfortunately for me my feet were cruciatingly sore from wearing my new boots all around brussels, killing my archilles tendon! buuut i got over it. it was cool to see the kids who aren't in our chapter again, but not everyone was there (no other kiwis!) which was a shame. i had been hoping to see mats, but he wasn't there so i'll have to another time!
yes so, there's me exciting weeek. i'm about to die of fatigue so good night! xox

my weekly post

ha yes, so it seems it has turned into a fairly weekly thing. so i suppose thats good enough!
mum and dad said they always look forward to reading it, so here we go!!
This week has been fairly like the others.. school, etc.
I was proud of myself this week though cause my geography teacher put me in 1st equal place for a map i drew. (even though there are only 7 in the class, this is still good!) AND we redid a maths test, which i got 10.5/20 last time, and this time i got 17.5/20! sooo... that was cool. and i didn't even have to cheat!
hmm.. oh i also got my identity card (finally). it's kinda exciting. although it has an absolutely terrible photo - although not quite as bad as the one on my passport, thankfully!! hmmm.. what else?
Oh, Eliza let me borrow her english-french slang dictionary, so now i can learn all the words and phrases that could be veerry useful.. haha. On friday i had a bit of a spend up in fnac ( i love that shop!) and i bought two books in english, "the devil wears prada" and "veronica wants to die - paolo coelho" (i think its called that). I also bought harry potter #5 because i'm up to the last chapter in the 4th book!! woohoo haha.
hmmm.. what else? Yesterday I was happy because some kids from school asked me to the movies and for a drink. it was just unfortunate that my parents were going out so i had to stay home and look after Shanel. but that's all cool, at least i was invited!!
Annd.. yesterday i skyped mum and dad ( and cinny) and today i skyped the schlumpies ( friends). it was good to get to see and talk to everyone again. haha i miss them, but not enough! ha. so yeah, it didn't make me sad which is good. Its strange hearing about all the things that happen while i'm not there, cause it seems like i sorta have two lives, but i keep missing things in my old one. so its good to get all these updates on stuff, but its still strange! Usually i'm there when its all happenning...
hmmm.... ok, i think that's all for now :) today i'm going to check out a tennis club, to see if i want to join ( haha that could be a very big mistake! but.. could be fun too - although it may be too late to join, i'll have to see)

ok, bye for now dearies!!
xoxo

it's been a while..

i feel like i'm being slack with posts! but i just forget about it!! oh well.. it's good to keep you waiting...

So... this week has been like many others.. won't bore you too much :)
We have a new prof for enlgish, and the first day she was like "hi harriet, how are you?" - kinda freaked me out that she already knew my name. turns out she's an AFSer too from back in the day!
On friday night we had our class dinner together. we went to a creperie :) ahh how i love those places! i had a chocolate crepe and a kriek (cherry beer - very yum!) Afterwards, some of our classmates took us into the centre where we chilled for a bit. we then moved over to the park, where we drank cheap supermarket-brand beer (only the best in belgium - i think each can costs about 60NZcents..) and listened to some muusic :) it was good.
This weekend was amazing weather :) i now have a slight watch tan! on saturday we chilled during the day, then in the evening we went to the cinema and out for dinner. we went to see a really funny french film- but also kinda romancy. i was so pleased i could follow along and laugh in some of the right places! it was good :) and the food was yuuuuum :) :)
Sunday we had a visitor from spain. she flew here for one night to see my host parents because she has a dental problem. ahhh europe. We decided to have a special belgian lunch - the adults had two MASSIVE platters of seafood, and everyone else had mussels and frites (your traditional belgian meal!) it was good :)
so yes.. back to school again this week!
have fun everyone! :)

woohoo

sooo.. what's been happening this past week?

well, monday was the celebration of the french belgians, so we had a day off school. my family took me to Namur for a bit of a look around, and a little shopping. it was really nice, i like it there :) it's like old and whatnot, but has a really nice atmosphere.
Tuesday was back to school, woohoo!! nothing really to report there..
Wednesday I biked to the nearby village to get my belgian ID card - i have to wait another 2 weeks... Then i went to the post office to buy stamps. the guy at the counter decided to mock me and my accent and pretend he didn't know what i was talking about. it was amusing, after i realised he was joking!
Ha, on friday we had a maths test. yeah.. not expecting much there. and apparently next thursday we have a religion test. i just read a little on what its about. and didn't understand. philosophy and theology in french? Oh, the joys of life.
Yesterday we had our post arrival orientation day. It was cool to see the other AFS kids again - we've decided we really should do more things together. We did lots of activities then tried to relate them to our lives here. it was kinda cool to see how everyone was going through the same kinda stuff. And i bought a cool AFS brabant (my comitee) pull - it's yummy and fleecy inside :) :)
Today was like an amazing day! crazy belgium. haha. i was outside bathing in the sun by the pool, watching the frogs in the pool try to get out but fail.. ahh it was lovely. Then i saw this HUGE dragonfly. it was definitely more dragon than fly. So, i'm thinking that's probably the one lovely day for this month haha. at least i didn't waste it being inside at school!

Ok. BYE BYE :)

So on friday I went home with Eliza (the girl from Latvia) because there was a music festival in her village. We went to it :) It was pretty cool. there were two stages, and the bands switched between them. there were some stalls too, mostly selling beer and food! I had a couple of beers (i am in belgium, after all!) one was a blanche, and the other a kriek - which is cherry flavoured, it was yummy :p We saw a lot of our classmates there, and it was good cause we got to talk to them a bit more. and Eliza was helping out making the pasta, so while she did that, I got to hand out with them :) We got home at 3am, and I was veerry tired the next day!!
It had started raining a little friday night, and its been pretty steady ever since! I kinda like it though, its... homey-feeling :)
Last night we had guests over, so we had another feast :) mmmm and for dessert we had this like rasberry mousse-cake thing. it was delicious.
Now for some things  i've been noticing:

• firstly, I have started to occasionally think in french. i start thinking something.. and the words just happen to be in french. and then i realise when i cant think of the word i want and i'm like wait! i can think in english if i want! I think i had already started dreaming in french.. but i can't be sure..
• i've also noticed something about the way people drive here. first of all, you are always a perfect driver, and everything is somebody else's fault. secondly, the curb is not the edge of the road, nor is the footpath. you can use them to drive on if you want :) The speed limit is the slowest you should be going. if you go faster, you will get beeped at and abused. if you go faster, you will be doing the beeping and yelling. And i have noticed some people feel that traffic lights are more of a guidance than a rule..
• However, i must say that i think people in belgium are very friendly :) they are not up themselves, nor like too proud. they are humble, and mostly willing to chat and whatnot. it's nice :)

hmmm.. soo, i feel thats a good enough update for now :) On monday i have a day off school, as it's the french belgian celebration! so i get to sleeeeep :) (as i am always tired, especially after a music festival)

it's been a while..

So.. i haven't really written anything for a while.. but nothing too exciting has happened.

I've been going to school - it's pretty good, gives me things to do during the day. and people talk to me more and more.. although still not heaps! but its good :) I understand.. most (ish) of what we do in class. although i'm hopeless in history and french, and maths is kinda hard!! but i figure, if i don't do very well, it's not exactly the end of the world...
A big thing at school has been organising the school trip away at easter (next year). Students can choose to go to Morocco, Syria, Portugal or Prague - but there is a limited amount of places for each! and not everyone would get to go. I chose morocco (cause its looks awesome!) but it turns out there was one too many wanting to go there. The vice-principal told me that seeing as I am the new kid, i couldn't go. BUT she said i can go to portugal if i want. or not at all. So i chose to go to portugal. It would have been my second option anyway!! So now i'm going to portugal at Easter.
This past weekend has been like a celebration of french-belgium. my family and i went to see some music (all in english, and lots of it very popular). it was pretty cool :) And this weekend I am going to a music festival in one of the villages near mine - i think it should be pretty good!
hmmmm.. emily sent me a package for my birthday :) it was a box of goodies from nz :p - i must say, they're all gone now (although i did share with my family!!)
hmmm... i dunno if theres anything else super exciting right now, sooo BYE!! :) :)

Birthday in Belgium

So today I woke up and realised, "Hello, I'm 18 now." It was rather exciting.
I had a date planned with my parents over skype, so i snuck upstairs and stole the computer. It was good talking to them. but strange too. It's strange to think that i won't really see them for like.. 10months? hmmm yes, strange. I also talked to jas, and met the fish!! It was exciting :) They are very very cool :) I felt sooo loved with all my birthday wishes, like heck yes, go me! Haha.
Then, shortly after I had finished, Shanel crept into my room and gave me a birthday card!! It was very cute, with "Happy Birthday Harriet" on the front and 18 candles, and an acrostic poem inside :) Then the rest of the family came home and said we were going out for lunch, and that we were going to a restaurant to eat meat!! (Because, I am from NZ and I like meat :p) - It was very thoughtful!
Before the meals came; Shanel gave me a little present, it's a wee soft toy dog, very cute!! (It has a little ribbon collar that says "I love you").
For a starter, my host mum had escargot, and she let me try it (my first experience!!) It really wasn't that bad.. a little strange to think what it was.. but it was just kinda like meat i guess.. My host father had the craziest starter though, it was bone marrow!! (Shanel wanted to know if it was human..)
We all had a big steak, it was yum yum yum. But we had to rush home because the boys had a drum lesson and we were going to be late!! But they said we would buy a tart, as we didn't get dessert :)
It was a very pleasing birthday :)

(I hope there was better punctuation for you, Dad :p)

Sooo.. the last week

Lots has happened since i last posted anything...
Firstly I went to paris for the weekend. casually. we stayed with family in the suburbs, and went in to the centre a little, but more for a drive-by. it was all good with me seeing as i've been before. On the saturday night we went to see Fame at the theatre. it was good! even in french!
I also had my first week of schoo. it's not too bad really.. i just copy things down in class, and the teachers don't really mind that I'm not really trying. to them, i don't have to succeed this year, so they don't have to worry about me! I got a shock the other day though, when in english (which i usually find fairly easy) we had to answer questions in french!! it was outrageous! And, i used to think calculus was fairly difficult in NZ. It's nothing compared to trying to learn it in french!!
Today we had another AFS excursion to brussels. we went to a chocolaterie and a brasserie!! yum yum yum. so we got to tast true belgian chocolate and beer.
However... Eliza has given me a cold! friday i came home after school and went straight to bed. i kept waking up totally confused as to where i was.. but it was goood to get some sleep :) I get very tired trying to understand french all the time!
hmmm.. that's really all the's been exciting this week. so i guess that'll do!

School

Soo.. today i had my second day of school. yesterday i went for like an hour and a half in the afternoon. Everyone in my year were herded into the gym thing and then blah blah blah (french) then suddenly me and Eliza (AFS from Latvia) were up the front introducing ourselves!! then.. we were put into classes and sent on  our way. my french teacher is this big fat man who constantly has to wipe the sweat and spit from his face. he smells lovely too.
This morning we had french. i drew a picture lol. we had to copy down stuff from the board, but i don't see how i should do that when i can't even read the words let alone understand them. i think in the end we were told we were going to read and write about french literature. i may just have to play the "i'm foreign" card for that.. then i was supposed to have social sciences, but nobody knew where i was to go. this was a little stressful. i ended up just wandering around a little lost until a lovely girl came up and found someone who could help me!! after like 40mins of researching, they realised i had a bit of a clash, and wouldn't be doing social scences after all. They gave me my timetable (phew!) and sent me on my way. so in the end I only had three classes that day (and four studies) - i think i'm going to like fridays!!
So my classes today were french, maths (we did simple derivatives a super hard and confusing way!) and english - which i must say could be my best subject so far!! :) We're learning about USA, but at least all the words are ... english! :p
LUNCH: So i went and got a croissant, mini baguette and pringles (for in the baguette of course!). then later i got a rasberry sorbet. yum yum yum!!!
Anyways.. i'm casually off to Paris this afternoon for the weekend, so see ya after then!! (yes, i realise i won't actually see you, but you get my drift).

Harry Potter

So last night we went out to dinner because Loan came home. he seems nice :) but anyway.. the restaurant is called Cafe de la Poster, so it has all these letters on the wall.
I swear that one of them was a letter from hogwarts!
Although, yes, I am fairly blind and it was a short distance away.. it was like parchment paper with a red was stamp! thus, my only possible conclusion could be that it was indeed a letter from hogwarts. thus crushing my dreams by confirming i am in fact, not a wizard, and hogwarts do not want me. but that's ok, i can be a Shaman.
I'm starting school today. i've been telling people i'm excited and nervous. i haven't been telling people i'm 2% excited 100000% nervous. lol.

But we'll see how it goes... :) :)

wait a minute.. i forgot one of the most important things!

sooo... i tried my first beer the other day. It was with AFS. I figure there are.. hmm hundreds of beers in belgium, so i was glad to be eased into the trying process gently. I had, i dunno.. a light beer lol. 25cl. it was pretty good.. can't wait to try the rest! :p

31 August 2010

Sooo.. i have now been in belgium for officially 11 days. wow. i suppose thats kinda gone fast. ha, but its 11 days, which i suppose is not many at all.
Let me take you through my experience so far..
So i arrived in belgium sweaty and tired after 36hours of travelling. i was herded into a MINIvan and transported to what i had imagined would be somewhat of a campsite, but which turned out to be this magnificent hotel. (i believe the rooms cost about 450€ per night!) All i wanted to do was shower, yet instead i was forced to interact with others. normally, this would be good, but not when the smell of myself made even me feel sick! You cannot even imagine how i felt when i was allowed into my room for a shower, but i couldnt figure out how to work it!! but my desperation finally gave me a successful result. Excellent.
The next day i met my family. i had been waiting a while so i decided to go to the toilet quickly ( i was, after all, bursting for a pee!) And just my luck, my family came looking for me just then! so when i got back i met Maurienne and Shanel and they kindly took me home :) I was embarassed because i was sweating so much, it was so hot! When i got home i met the rest of my family, then we went out for dinner! mmm it was good :) :)
As i don't start school until 2nd September, I had a chance to chill out the next few days. they have a huge garden and a lovely home, so i was definitely keen for a bit of RandR.
I have since visited Wavre, Louvain-la-Neuve and a bit of Brussels (with AFS). i like visiting places too because its very interesting to see the differences between belgium and home. Also i find if i dont get out of the house, it can becole a bit tedious!
Today... i went to visit my school and choose my subjects. im pretty keen to take it easy this year, and i can actually take art! woohooo :) after that i went and visited a girl who my host family knows who will be in my year at school (Reto). she was really really nice, and showed me around l-l-neuve a bit, which was cool. Its really near to school, so i'll have to learn all the good places to go there for lunch etc. (as food is super important to me!)
Soo... what have i noticed is different so far?

• bugs. there are lots here. yes yes, we have them in NZ too, but we dont have flies landing on you again and again and again and again.. you get the picture.
• The food. well, here, my family is eating healthy. i like it, i've already lost the slightest bit of weight! (although perhaps thats again the theory that in the northern hemisphere there is less gravity so you think you weigh less. and i'm sure ill put it back on!) I had my first gauffre (waffle, my dears). it was ok. not great. but i suppose it was plain and dry. i'm assuming my next will be mouth-wateringly delicous! I have also sampled many chocolates. oh my, my, even if i werent a lover before, there's no resisting the chocolate here!! I am yet to have true belgian frites, but never fear, the day will come.
• The people. hmm... i find some super casual and nice. and others are super super angry. especially when in a traffic jam. Today, my host mum and i were preparing to leave our carpark, and we started being abused by some middleaged lady in her car. it was hilarious, because my host mum then started abusing her back and finished with "well at least i'm not fat and ugly like you". ahhh.. i loved it. as we reversed from our park we were serenaded with a long lasting horn. it was fabulous.

hmmm... well i feel thats a large enough post for now. I dont know how well this blog-thing will go for me, but we will see...