23/9/2012

Okay, I haven't updated in a while so brace yourselves this is probablly going to be a long one. So I leftheit off on what I believe was Thursday night. Friday was just a normal day so I'll  skip over that. Saturday I played games with my host brother and made plans to go to La fete de Wallonie t他和he next day. This included my host mom teaching me how to use the train and telling me where I had to switch trains. Not to complicated but a little scary when it's your first time alone. So Sunday before I left we had dinner with the family of my host mom. There I met her brothers and their kids. (host uncles and cousins?) After dinner there was dessert and I had what was called a Brazillian (I have no idea how it got its name) But it was delicious, it was like a mixture of a cream pie and a cheese cake! After dinner my host mom drove me to the train station where I boarded the train to Liege. When I got to Liege I had to find where my next train would stop so I could get on. I very quickly learned what that number my host mom wrote down next to where the train was going. It was the platform the train was on. So after roaming the train station for a bit trying to find out which platform was which I finally found the right one. Oh I forgot, before the train stopped at Liege there were other stops and so when the train got to Liege I decided to talk to the person across from me to make sure I was at Liege and didn't get off in the wrong place. Well it turns out that I appeared to have picked the only person on the train who spoke only Russian! Luckly the girl on the other side of the isle assured me that this was Liege. So fast forward a bit and I am finally getting on the train to Namur. The train ride from Liege to Namur was about an hour so I just kinda hung out and listened to my ipod the whole time. When I arrived at Namur I met up with my friend Henna (who's an exchange student from Ohio) and her host family. Her family took us around the town and showed us the fete. The best way I can describe the fete would be like a mixture of the farmers market and the state fair. There were several smaller concerts and lining both sides of the street were people selling various things. Fries (some of which I bought because I never got supper as a result of the train ride) and clothes and shoes and even intricate wooden carvings. After a while I had to return to the train station and go home. I ended up getting back home around 10 that night. The next day I had a meeting with the teacher who manages the exchange students to discuss my final schedule. (She's the english teacher so it didn't take very long). Afterwards I had my last French class with the kids in my grade because the next day I moved to french with the deuxieme class (I think they are about 12 years old) It is easier for me to understand and they work on vocabulary and grammar instead of philosophy so it's better for me.That day she only had half the class so we all made acrostich poems (did I spell that right?) I discovered quickly tht acrostich poems are much more difficult in other languages. Especially when there is a W in your name. I looked in my dictionary and there were only 7 words that started with W. 3 were parts of trains and one was the french word for Wiskey. I ended up using the word western.  So Wednesday because school ended at noon I went shopping for some warmer clothes (which is good because it is freezing here all the time.) So two sweatshirts one coat and two shirts later I am now much warmer. So the next day before I left for school I checked my schedule to see what I had first. I had English so I went to English first. I later find our that I missed my first day of real French class because me being the genius that I am looked at my old schedule and not my new one. Whoops.   The next day I had french again and there I was given a homework assignment where we were given a short story and had to come up with a title and cover and back page for the story. Me being me ended up spending almost two hours on the front cover. I'm pretty sure the other kids in the class spent about 10 minutes on it at the most. I then had my first real math test which I am pretty sure I passed. Saturday was an awesome day. I started by playing a game with the scouts here where I was a "thief" who had supposedly stolen several things. In reality I was given several objects and told to go and hide them around the whole city, but keep the ring that I was given and wear it. After hiding everything I returned to the little prarie that the scouts use as like a base. When all the groups returned and had found everything they were told that I had the last object. At this point I had to run and try not to get caught by the groups. Whats cool is that I was allowed to run anywhere in the city to avoid being caught. So after about an hour to an hour and a half of running. (or what seemed like it at least.) The groups worked together and cornered me in an allyway and finally caught me. At that point I was exhausted. Later that night was a concert. The singer apparently was friends with Bob Dylan and had actually translated several of his songs into french. Some of which I recognized but not all. I then went home and went to bed. Today I finished the rest of my homework and went and atee dinner with my host moms family again. There I had rabbit (which I'm pretty sure is a first). What's funny is that I didn't know it was rabbit until I had pretty much finished it. I figured the chicken here just taste different than it does at home. I suppose I was a little off. Afterwards we returned to my host dads house and played a board game. After the board game I skyped my little brother while he was at church and said hello to all my friends. I then skyped my parents and now am updating this blog.

13/9/2012

So this monday was my first at the new school. I started with the upper level English class. Here we talked about American steryotypes. The one that came up frequently that I did not expect is how we all drive big cars. It is somewhat true, compared to the cars here our cars are gigantic. But our cars are getting smaller. Afterwards I had Religion class. I understood very little in that class because the teacher talked really fast and had a deep voice which was hard to understand. Afterwards I had Social Sciences. Which turned out to be to Psychology. I didn't really understand what was being said but what was written on the board was pretty funny. One of the sentences said "I hide my self in the toilet." I don't know why it was there but it was and it was pretty funny. After Psych I was supposed to have gym but instead there was an informational meeting on an end of the year project that I am not required to do because I am exchange student. Afterwards I had French again. Which I still didn't understand very well. But I was able to write two paragraphs for the class and the teacher was impressed that I was trying to write them. Next was physics where we talked about magnets and how they worked. Then I had the lower level english which was quite fun, and afterwards Geography. Geography was quite fun and the teacher is really cool. After Geography I went home and at 7:00 I had dinner with the rotary. For dinner we had the closest thing to steak that I have had for quite some time. It was delicioius. The next day I had english once again and we talked more about the Belgian and English school systems. Afterwards I went again to the higher level english class where we talked more about steryotypes. And then History. History that day went much better than it did the first time and I actually have quite a bit written down for notes. (However the notes are written in Franglais) I then again had english (I like Tuesdays) and then Geography. Geography was still quite fun and we talked about an upcoming project. I then had French again and it was difficult this time because she talked about the renissance and wrote very little on the board. At the end of that day I had a 2 period version of gym called sport. There I played floor hockey and volley ball. The next day I had Biology where we talked about genetics and the reasons why anti-biotic resistant are resistant. (Thanks for the background Mom it helps me understand whats going on.) I then had religon where we watched a movie (unfortunatly without subtitles in any language) I then had Chemistry were we played a game and I think my team won. I wasn't much help though because by the time I came up with the french to answer it was too late. Ensuite I had the Upperlevel English where we finished up our discussion about steryotypes. I got to go home after that because school on Wednesdays here ends at 12. So I went home and ate lunch and soon after we left for the Belgny Mine which was an old coal mine that they now give tours through. It was pretty cool and I got to see all the machines and the elevators they used to go down. After wards on the way home we were on the bus the AC units fluid thingy exploded causing the fluid to pour out of the AC so as a result we had to pull over for about 10 minutes and hang around until a new bus showed up to take us back. We then got home where we had dinner and I went to bed. Today I started the day with what was supposed to be english but it turned out to be another informational session. This ran over into the specail open hour afterwards and so my first actual class of the day turned out to be chemistry again. There I learned about how to name certain things (Organic Chemistry is rather new to me as I have discovered) I then had english where I found out that not only do belgian students just have to turn in their diplomas to get into any college they want they only have to pay 800 Euros for it!!  After lunch I had math which I discovered is taught somewhat different so half the stuff they teach I know and can do and the other half I have never heard of before. I had math for two periods and then History. Today in history I was able to understand even more and the person sitting next to me pointed out that I had written even more than I had the other days so I was quite proud. After history I went home where I did my homework (which isn't near as much as it was at home) and started on this huge blog update. I think I need to update it more often so they don't get this long.

9/9/2012

I've noticed that it gets really cold at night here in Belgium. Friday morning when I stepped outside to head to school I could again see my breath. After my walk to school I went to gym class, which is now one of my favorite classes. There I played floor hockey and the only bad thing about it was the fact that since there is a dress code for gym it is very difficult to tell who is on your team because everybody is wearing the same type of clothes. After gym I had science 6. It is only labled as science 6 on my schedule and as a result I don't know which science it will be. It turned out to be what I think is Nuclear Physics, which is awesome given that my dad works at the nuclear plant back in Iowa. Afterwards I had science 6 again but with a different teacher which meant a different type of science. Turns out I ended up in Biology, which works out well because mom teaches that back at home. After science 6 I went to French 4H (the 4H means I have it 4 times a week). This turned out to be what I think is a philosophy class. It is rather hard being it is all in french and requires some writing of your own thoughts about a specific topic in french. It is somewhat difficult to understand but I think I am going to stick with it. It will help improve my french and what I do understand of it I find rather interesting. So after French I had lunch where I had a sandwich and some mini cookie things. After lunch I had Math 4. I asked a kid where to go and he said he was going to Math 4 as well. Well it turns out there are two Math 4 classes at the same time and I ended up in a different on than the one I was at the day before. I was told to stick with the most current one so that is what I am going to do. After Math 4 I had French again and we continued the discussion from the previous class. After French again I had Math again. Here we continued learning about the stuff from before. Afterwards I went home. I had to walk home by myself for the first time because my host brothers were in class still. So I am proud to say I can now get to and from school on my own without getting lost. Afterwards I worked on some stuff for school and we watched a movie. The next day we went to a castle, which wasn't castle ruins like the last one was. Inside there were many interesting and old things, but you weren't allowed to take pictures. There was a tour guide but it was difficult to understand what she said because she talked kinda quiet and fast. After the castle We went to a hydroelectric dam (which was very cool to see) and after that we went to the highest point in Belgium which is apparently 700 meters. After standing up on top of that we went and saw another dam. This time on the dam was an incredibly large statue of a lion. After looking at this dam we went home. After we got home my host dad went to go get supper while we relaxed. When he came back he started putting plates and silverware on a tray and handed the food to my little brother who walked passed the dinner table with it and started walking upstairs. He handed the juice to my little sister and she did the same. At this point I was incredibly confused as to why we were taking our food upstairs. He then hands me a jar of mayonaise and grabs the tray and tells me to follow him. After walking up two flights of stairs we came to what looked like a closet. Inside the closet was a step ladder that led up to a trap door, and on the other side of this trap door was a flat roof that actually had a picnic table!! So we ate our supper of special belgian fried fish an sausage and fries on the roof of my host dads house. After supper we went back down stairs and we watched Back to the Future in french with english subtitles so I could understand everything still. Afterwards I went back to my room and went on Facebook, Skyped my parents and then went to bed.

6/9/2012

Well today was my first day of school, but before I tell you all about it I'll take a few steps back. After my last post I ate supper and decided to go to bed. The next day we went bowling and shopping for things for school. Bowling here is pretty much the same as it is at home. (the weights of the balls are even still in pounds). For school I had to buy gym clothes. The only dress code for school is the clothes you wear for gym. Plain white shirt, plain black shorts, and plain white shoes, absolutly no brands on anything. So we had to shopping for things for gym. Afterwards we went to a store called Trafic. I have decided that this is the Walmart of Belgium. They have a little bit of everything there for really decent prices. Speaking of prices although clothes here are really expensive I've noticed that all the shoes I have seen have been rather cheap. Anyways, while at Trafic we bought me a binder (the binders here are wayyyy better than they are at home, two or four holes and super easy to open and close, and they have niftly little thingamagigs on the rings that slide down and lock in place to keep your papers from flying about) and a pen. Apparently the fountain pen is way more popular than the regular pen (which they call a bic). After sitting there on google for about 15 minutes trying to figure out how on earth one actually gets the ink to come out of the pen I finally gave up and asked my host mom. Turns out you gotta like pop a hole in the end and scribble with it until ink comes out. This occured at about 9:30 last night as I realized I oughta figure out how it works before I go to school. So on to school today. We left the house at around 8:10 which means we had to book it to school to be there on time. The strangest part about this morning was the fact that when I stepped outside I realized I could see my breath!!  It was freezing outside. So after arriving at school (on time) I went to where I was supposed to meet the other students. After a brief meeting with the english teacher she sent me to a room. I believe it may be the same as like a homeroom at school. I am not entirely sure being I did not understand most of what was said in the room. Afterwards we actually walked up to the castle that I talked about earlier and we took a class picture there. We walked back down and took a second picture. More things were said that I couldn't understand and then we made our way to class. It is more difficult to understand people in large groups because of all the background chatter going on. I signed up for science 6 which is the hardest one. I believe this was the right choice because during class we played a game with several chemistry questions. I remember more than I thought I did from chemistry and am rather proud that I was actually able to participate. The hard part is the notation is different here than in America and it took some time to figure out what the question is asking for. After chemistry I got to go to what is probably my favorite class so far, English. Not like English writing but like as a foreign language. Its a pretty easy class and the teacher is super nice. For right now we are comparing the education systems between America and Belgique. After English is lunch. For lunch one has to either bring their own food or buy it from a local sandwich shop not far away. Except on Tuesdays, where one can get fries and spagetti.There's no cafeteria so everyone eats ouside either infront of the school or in the courtyard. After lunch I have two periods of Math. For the first period I was in Math 6 which is the most difficult math. After about 5 minutes of that I realized that I had no idea what kind of math they were even doing. I decided that I was in way over my head and my first thought was that it was like they were speaking another language. (which they obvoiously were) and I didn't even think about how funny that thought was until later when I got moved to math 4 the next period. Math 4 was much easier and I can handle what they're doing in both languages. After math is History. History is really hard. The teacher only talks and you are expected to write what she says and take notes. I personally didn't understand most of what she said. She talked so fast!! I wrote what I could but it wasn't much. Afterwards I had Math + which is like math six but harder. Fortunatly I don't have to take it after today. So after all of this I returned home and the weather was much nicer. Today school ended at 4:30 but tomorrow I can go home at 3:30. So That was my first day of school and the two days leading up to it. I feel like I just wrote a book so I hope it's not to long.

3/9/2012

Well today I finally caught a bit of a break to update this. The day after I last posted I went and signed up for school. There I was given a rule book, but the book is all in french so it takes some time to actually read and find out the rules. Turns out St. Roch is a Catholic school. I'm not sure what that entails but I guess I'm going to find out. Students thre are required to learn two foreign languages so now I'm learning not just french but german as well. I also intend to take calculus, which could be rather difficult in a different language. The next day I left for the orientation in Brussels and Huy. There I visited the Grand Palace and the Parliment. Both were very large and ornate. The next day we toured Huy and looked around a very large, very old church. Afterwards we had a few powerpoints that explained the rules. These took some time because translators had to translate every slide from french to english and spanish and portuguese. There were many other Americans there and it was nice to speak some English for once. The next day we returned home and I relaxed for the rest of the day. Yesterday I visited the Chateau de Franchimont, which are ruins of a very old castle and the surrounding area. The castle is actually within walking distance from where I am living and I am pretty sure if the trees weren't in the way I could probably see it from my bedroom window. Today we aren't doing much My host sister Line started school today and tomorrow I go to school to tour and sign up for classes. Fortunatly the person giving the tour is also the english language teacher at the school. Wednesday we're going bowling so I am rather excited for that as well. Oh, and please excuse any of my poor grammer and spelling. It is rather hard to switch back and forth between languages for me right now.