Shelby's Year in Belgium: August 2015

It’s been two weeks since I arrived in the beautiful country of Belgium. My flights went really well and I was lucky to have my friend Rachel with me. In Atlanta, we met another exchange student, Kristin who was also going to Brussels. We had a lot of fun together when we had a 2 hour delay. I was glad to have a little bit of home with me! I have already seen so much and met so many people from all over the world. I love how rotary can connect people so easily. My first ten days I was able to spend in the capital city, Brussels. I absolutely loved it there. It was super convenient to meet up with other exchange students and explore the city. My first day in Belgium was spent with my host father and host step mom. We went to a Thai Market in Waterloo. Sao (my host-stepmother) is from Thailand so I ate a lot of amazing Thai food when I stayed with them. We joke around that on my first day I saw more Thai people than I did Belgian people. My first meal in Belgium was with Léon (host dad) and Sao and his sister’s family (Sandra, Rapheal, Jérémy, Ilana, & Rebecca). I had a typically Belgian meal of mussels and fries. After eating Belgian fries, I refuse to call them French fries. His family is very nice! Monday I spent the day with my host mother (Samantha) and her two children, Luna and Elliot. Luna is going on an exchange to Chile soon so I am super glad I got to meet her. Elliot is 8 and very funny and adorable. He likes Black M and we listened to him once or twice in class at Central. We ate American (which is raw meat) for lunch. I thought it was so bizarre to call it American when Americans would never eat something like that. I spent the rest of the day helping Luna pack for Chile. The first week I was able to go to Brussels and meet up with my friends from Rotary. The first time, I took the tram with Sao then for the next few times I navigated the Brussels tram alone. Now I think I am expert at it! I met friends from all over in Brussels. The first would be my friend Brier from Canada. Her host sister showed us around Brussels and took us to all the touristy places there. It was my first time seeing the Grand Place in person and that was an unforgettable. The next day I met up with Rachel who I had flown to Brussels with. I was really happy to see her again and we had a fun day of shopping at City 2, a shopping mall a few blocks away from the Grand Place. I was also able to meet more of Léon’s family. I met his cousin and her husband and two daughters, Sarah and Giulia. They were also so nice and very friendly. On the 21^st of August I met up with some “oldies” in Brussels to celebrate one of their birthdays. An oldie is someone who’s been here before all us newies come! Most of them are either from Argentina/Australia/New Zealand. They are all super friendly and it was cool to have them show us around. That night I ate dinner at Sandra’s house with all of her family and Léon and Sao. They are Jewish so Fridays are always a huge family meal. It was really yummy and a lot like a BBQ at home (minus the hamburgers). Rapheal told me the secret of Belgium fries that evening. It was a lot of fun with good food and great company. The following day I spent with Léon and Sao in Brussels. We went to a cute little bakery called Charli and it was amazing. We had a small breakfast and then went grocery shopping. I love grocery shopping here because you can see how different and similar it is from the US. My 2^nd Sunday, we went to a friend’s house in the south of Belgium. The house was so beautiful and being in the country, it reminded me of home but with more trees. I met Eloise, the daughter of Marc and she was very sweet. We watched movies together and she helped me with my French and listened to Stromae with me. We ate a wonderful Thai meal at their house and I really liked how much it reminded me of home. The next week I had French courses with some other Rotary Exchange students in my district. We had a lot of fun together working on introductory French and then spending the rest of the day together. Mondy after class we went to my 2^nd host family’s house. They are super nice and I am really excited to go and live with them! A their house, we were able to eat and play outside. We also had AMAZING crepes and then went to see the movie Vice-Versa (Inside Out in French). It was super fun to hang out with everyone and meet my second host family. Tuesday after class we went to Musée Hergé. Hergé is the cartoonist of the famous Belgian character TinTin. I had read a little bit of TinTin in French class in the states so it was really cool to learn all the history behind it. Wednesday we had a scavenger hunt for class and that was a lot of fun. We went around the town Louvain-le-Neuve and asked questions (in French of course) to people about where things were and how to get to places. We had an awesome Rotex (a person who went on exchange a few years ago) to help us out! Afterwards, we had a quiet afternoon at a house in Wavre. Thursday was probably my favorite day yet. Every Rotary exchange student came to Brussels for the day. There was so many people from all over the world together in one place and it was super cool to meet everyone. The only bad thing about that day was the weather. We were fortunate to take a tour of Palais Royale, the building where the king works. It was so beautiful and I took a lot of pictures of the chandeliers because they were all different. After our tour, we walked to Grand Place together and then went to lunch with our respective district. Belgium has 3 rotary districts, 1620, 2170, and 1630. Districts are based on the area and my district is 2170. I ate a great lunch of meatballs and fries with some oldies from down under. They are super nice and wonderful people. After lunch we went to the Belgian Senate. It was super cool to see the history in the building and learn a little bit of their government (which is super complicated!). we were able to have our own seats in one of the rooms and a women from the Belgian parliament welcomed us to Belgium which was definitely so cool and a once in a life time thing! Afterwards, I had a family dinner with Ilana, Jérémy, Rebecca, Luna, Léon and Sao for Luna’s trip to Chile. The meal included some delicious Thai food. Samantha then came and picked me up. Thursday night I was really tired so I took a shower and went to bed. Friday I had a meeting with the director of my school. I got super lucky and will be in a tech school and will be studying cooking. It seems like a very nice school and I am really excited for it! Then I went to French class and we worked on translating Stromae songs. Stromae is a very popular Belgian singer and one of the reasons I wanted to come to Belgium! After French class, we had the BBQ at my house. It was a lot of fun and a little chaotic but a really great time. Friday night I went to a music event with my host mom. We watched her friend play in a band called Mango Moon. They were super amazing. Saturday was a day I was able to be a little lazy. I lounged around the house for a little bit and then went shopping with Samantha. We went shopping for school supplies for Elliot and I was able to go around to a couple clothing stores alone. Afterwards we met her parents in waterloo for lunch and got to do a little more shopping. I got a super nice blue coat for the winter! Samantha’s parents and very nice and super friendly. They were watching their little grandson for the day and he is the cutest little baby ever!! Saturday night we went to a party for one of her friends and it was pretty fun with lots of good food. My throat has been bugging me the last few days so I have been drinking a lot of tea here. Today, we are having a meal with Samantha’s parents and brother’s family for Luna before she leaves. I am really excited to meet some more of the family and eat some of food that Samantha’s mom is making. It should be a lot of fun. Then Monday we say goodbye to Luna. The next week is my last week of summer before school starts so I am gouing to meet up with a couple of my friends from rotary before we all go back to school. I am really enjoying it here and trying to take a lot of pictures. I will make sure to update again before I start school! I am really lucky to have had such an amazing first few weeks in this beautiful country.