well, well, well.. here we are yet another week later. i must say, when i first got here i was thinking "wow! i have a whole flipping year here, that's so much!" I had heard people say that time flies, but i must admit that i didn't completely believe them! However, now that i think that i am already halfway through, it kinda shocks me! like, 'oh dear, how'd that happen??'
During the week it was school as usual, but i did have one fairly exciting thing happen! So I have a fair amount of free time at school, and often go to the coffee shop 5mins away. the owners are really nice and we have a few chats. I was talking with one on Tuesday and she kinda asked me if i'd ever be interested in a job! i was kinda shocked, but unfortunately had to go catch my bus so couldn't discuss it with her. obviously i'd have to see what it involved, cause i'm not allowed to sign up to do any work or anything, just odd jobs. so i guess i'll see if that goes anywhere..
I am now a little stressed about what to do for my community service thing. i totally can't think, but.. i'm hoping something will come to me.. haha.
We got given some information about morocco at school, and its making me fairly excited!!
On Friday we went, as a family, to Brussels to this big outlet store thing which was super cheap anyway and outrageously cheap now because of the sales. I found an awesome pair of converse which turned out to be only 25€, compared to 80 odd normally - and then in the end my host parents bought them for me as a gift :) it was super nice :)
On saturday i went to Liège with Lila and Nicky (USA) and we did a little shopping, then had pizza hut for dinner (yum) then went to the carré - its like a block of bars and restaurants. Usually it's the place to be and is packed with exchange students, however this week there just happened to be a big festival thing on so it was a little empty. not to worry though - we ended up in maccas eating DELICIOUS McFlurry's =) When i was taking the train, i had a hot chocolate with me. this creepy old black man sat down opposite me and started making movements towards it (it was empty by now, anyway). i gave him my best WTF are you up to? face, and he was like 'can i have some?' 'ummm... no. it's empty anyway.' 'please?' 'no! it's empty!'..... 'where are you going' 'i'm getting off at the next stop.' 'really?' 'yes' 'really?' 'yes' 4really?' 'yes! (i really was!)'..... 'can i have some?' 'no, it's empty! (come on you slow poke...)' 'well... how much was it?' 'i dunno, like 2€, ' 'OK, just give me that.' 'what?!' 'just give me the 2€' 'wtf, no.' 'c'mon i'm hungry' 'no. (stared out the window, pumps up the music and ignores his moving mouth.' - it was both very frightening and very annoying!!! luckily my stop came soon. also i was like wtf, cause he was playing with these two cellphones the whole time..
This week and for two days next week, i have NO school! i am fairly excited about that :) so i may get a chance to have a wee look around at various places in Belgium! i dunno yet, for the moment i'm just enjoying a sleep in :)
Ok then, i'll keep you updated on any travels i make this week :) see ya!! xo
Monday, 31 January 2011
Sunday, 23 January 2011
lets get a government..
well hello there, it seems like quite a while since i've last written anything, but that'll just make this one extra good :)
school's been continuing as usual, possibly even getting a little boring. I feel like i want to do something different, interesting. like i dunno talk to people i wouldn't normally or anything like that. That sounds a little lame but i feel like even just a little change like that would shake me up a bit!
Last weekend i stayed at a girl from my class' house and some other girls came over. we made crepes, a galette du roi and had a few drinks. it was pretty fun! on saturday i went home and hung out with the fam :) on sunday it was a really nice day and we all went for a bikeride outside which was really fun!
On wednesday this week i went with AFS to the European Parlement. Instead of taking the train like normal, Eliza (Latvia), Liam (USA) and I decided to take the bus. That way it was a little adventure! i googled mapped it a bit but really we had no idea where we'd be when we got there and how to get where we wanted to go! Luckily we had a very enthusiastic bus driver who gave us all the directions we needed, and with only some slight illegality we snuck onto a train and BAM! were there in one stop! We unfortunately had about 3 hours to spare, so went in search of a pub (we are in belgium after all). We ended up in an irish pub, and in search of something interesting i wanted to try a stella and coke, but the coke machine was broken so i settled for a stella and cider (called a snakebite!). So yeah, the actual parliament was pretty fancy! we got airport securite checked as we came in. the room was so clean! and nice looking. it was cool! That evening i took a ride with a stranger. haha. i got off my bus and a guy who occasionally gets off with me had a car waiting for him so offered me a lift home. i figured i could always army dive out of the car so i accepted. but it all turned out fine :) except that his maniac son drove through the village at about 75km/h!!
on friday i decided to finally take a little advantage of the sales. i bought an AWESOME hoodie and a cool book about india. so that excited me a bit :)
Yesterday we went to the new Clint Eastwood film, the Hereafter (Au-Delà), in english. it was REALLY good! my host mum talked to me in english for the first time there and i got such a shock because she had such an american accent! almost not french at all! haha i wasn't prepared for that!
Today we're going to brussels to take part in a protest telling belgium to finally get a government, after 6months without one. so that should be pretty interesting too!!
I'm also very excited because i'm planning a trip to holland to go see My Chemical Romance and stay with a girl from NZ who's there on AFS. And then i could even meet my other host brother in real life!! :) :)
ok then. that's about it. byeeeee xoxo
school's been continuing as usual, possibly even getting a little boring. I feel like i want to do something different, interesting. like i dunno talk to people i wouldn't normally or anything like that. That sounds a little lame but i feel like even just a little change like that would shake me up a bit!
Last weekend i stayed at a girl from my class' house and some other girls came over. we made crepes, a galette du roi and had a few drinks. it was pretty fun! on saturday i went home and hung out with the fam :) on sunday it was a really nice day and we all went for a bikeride outside which was really fun!
On wednesday this week i went with AFS to the European Parlement. Instead of taking the train like normal, Eliza (Latvia), Liam (USA) and I decided to take the bus. That way it was a little adventure! i googled mapped it a bit but really we had no idea where we'd be when we got there and how to get where we wanted to go! Luckily we had a very enthusiastic bus driver who gave us all the directions we needed, and with only some slight illegality we snuck onto a train and BAM! were there in one stop! We unfortunately had about 3 hours to spare, so went in search of a pub (we are in belgium after all). We ended up in an irish pub, and in search of something interesting i wanted to try a stella and coke, but the coke machine was broken so i settled for a stella and cider (called a snakebite!). So yeah, the actual parliament was pretty fancy! we got airport securite checked as we came in. the room was so clean! and nice looking. it was cool! That evening i took a ride with a stranger. haha. i got off my bus and a guy who occasionally gets off with me had a car waiting for him so offered me a lift home. i figured i could always army dive out of the car so i accepted. but it all turned out fine :) except that his maniac son drove through the village at about 75km/h!!
on friday i decided to finally take a little advantage of the sales. i bought an AWESOME hoodie and a cool book about india. so that excited me a bit :)
Yesterday we went to the new Clint Eastwood film, the Hereafter (Au-Delà), in english. it was REALLY good! my host mum talked to me in english for the first time there and i got such a shock because she had such an american accent! almost not french at all! haha i wasn't prepared for that!
Today we're going to brussels to take part in a protest telling belgium to finally get a government, after 6months without one. so that should be pretty interesting too!!
I'm also very excited because i'm planning a trip to holland to go see My Chemical Romance and stay with a girl from NZ who's there on AFS. And then i could even meet my other host brother in real life!! :) :)
ok then. that's about it. byeeeee xoxo
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
latest updates
so now i'm back to school, it's been two days so far, and i guess its not too bad.. It's a little difficult forcing my eyes to open in the morning and forcing my tired body out of the most comfortable cloud of a bed, but somehow i manage...
The last week of the holidays i spent sleeping in late, watching movies and prisonbreak, and enjoying the holiday. it was great :)
On Sunday i moved into my new home! my room is super cool :) and my bed is awesome! We also fed the donkeys, there are two.
school was school, not too much to report there. i now take the bus, meaning i leave the house at 7:30 and get to school around 8:07 :) i haven't yet taken it home yet, but hopefully when i do tomorrow i get off at the right spot!!
i really like my new family, they're so happy and helpful and warm hearted :) so i'm excited to be spending time with them.
yeah, there's not too much to report just now, all is going fabulously boring :) but i'll try to remember to be regular again with postings and report anything exciting.
biisous xx
The last week of the holidays i spent sleeping in late, watching movies and prisonbreak, and enjoying the holiday. it was great :)
On Sunday i moved into my new home! my room is super cool :) and my bed is awesome! We also fed the donkeys, there are two.
school was school, not too much to report there. i now take the bus, meaning i leave the house at 7:30 and get to school around 8:07 :) i haven't yet taken it home yet, but hopefully when i do tomorrow i get off at the right spot!!
i really like my new family, they're so happy and helpful and warm hearted :) so i'm excited to be spending time with them.
yeah, there's not too much to report just now, all is going fabulously boring :) but i'll try to remember to be regular again with postings and report anything exciting.
biisous xx
Sunday, 26 December 2010
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 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 :)
Thursday, 23 December 2010
:)
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 :) :)
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 :) :)
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
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
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
Sunday, 19 December 2010
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 :)
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 :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)