Tuesday, September 21, 2010

1 Month!

So, yesterday marked 1 month in Belgium for me!
It has certainly been hard at times, but I can say that I am having a great time! Liège is a beautiful city, and I believe (hope) my french has already improved! At least my confidence in speaking french.

Some things I have learned are:
  • You kiss everyone (as a greeting, of course)!
  • The chocolate is fantastic
  • Everyone is curious about America - and surprised when they learn that I don't watch tv or eat at McDonald's often.
  • Scouting here is not at all the same as in the US.
  • Almost everyone is very friendly
  • The littlest things can set off homesickness
  • How to use the buses
  • That gestures are completely different (tapping my head to say "I've got it, I understand" probably translates to "I'm crazy")
  • Ballet is the same in every language - contemporary dance is not.
  • And, even if I am completely bonkers to leave everything I know and love for a year - it is completely worth it!
School is certainly hard (even English). And the subjects I thought would be the same are not in fact the same at all. For example in math - here the imaginary number doesn't exist at all!
And it's hard (and a little strange) to try and make friends in another language - luckily for me everyone seems to be super nice.
I consider myself incredibly lucky in my placement in a host family - they're perfect! And especially lucky when compared to other exchange students who already have issues with their host family.
Everything is going well, and I love Belgium!

3 comments:

  1. YAYY!! I'm glad you're doing well!! And what is scouting?
    I love and miss you dear!
    <3 Krissy

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  2. I'm so happy for you and so glad that you are staying with a host family. I try to stay with a host family everywhere I go. Speak as much French as possible!

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  3. Thanks! I'm speaking lots and lots of french! And I'm getting kind of confused with my french and english! We are watching a movie in my english class (in english obviously), but in the beginning I was just reading the subtitles - then I realized I could understand everything they said!

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