First Trip to IKEA

Wow time goes by so fast Belgium. I can’t believe it’s almost November! This week was pretty normal. Monday I presented my project on Ile-de-France. I think it went pretty well for being an exchange student. Tuesday I worked salle (service) in the area where the students eat lunch. I was super nervous but it went pretty smoothly. Wednesday I went shopping in Brussels with Sarah and Rachel. We went to Primark, H&M, and Hema. I got a warm trench coat to wear for winter from H&M. We spent about 2 hours in Primark. Primark is this massive clothing store that has every piece of clothing you could imagine for a relatively great price. It is really crowded all the time and usually there is a line to get in! After a rainy afternoon filled with shopping I came home and had dinner with my host family. Thursday was pretty normal, nothing too exciting happened. Friday I worked in the kitchen for the restaurant at school. I was stationed on desserts (which is my favorite) alone. Being alone was really stressful because I was learning how to make the dishes/decorations, trying to go fast, and speaking/listening to French all at the same time. It was so stressful but everything turned out okay! Friday night we stayed in. We watched back to the future in French because Wednesday was back to the future day. I went to bed pretty early that night and slept very well. Saturday I worked a banquet with some of my classmates. We went to a new elementary school and served drinks and food to little kids and their parents. Some of the little kids were so cute! It is always a fun time with the kids from my school. Saturday evening I went to the Flemish part with my host mom. We had dinner with her friend Martine. I had a yummy Belgian Waldorf salad and tried a White Belgian beer. It was a nice dinner and a calm end to a long day. Today, Samantha and I are planning to stick around the house. We went to Ikea (it was my first time ever so I was excited!) I am going to pack for Paris and skype my parents. This next week is a week I am really looking forward to because Tuesday I am going to Champagne with my school and then Saturday starts my trip with rotary to Paris. I am too excited to go back. Less than a week!! I will be sure to take tons of pictures and share them on my blog next week, which I will write after I get back from Paris.

Talk to you soon!

Shelby

Shopping in Brussels

Fall in Belgium is so pretty!

A Snapshot of Sunday's Walk

IKEA Meatballs

Macas d'Or & Beautiful Badness

Hello All.

So in this blog I am going to write it in French and in English (French for my Belgian friends and English for my friends back home.) I hope my French isn’t too bad! Anyways here we go!

Monday I had touristic geography. I have been working on my project on the Ile-de-France all week last week but I didn’t get to present because there wasn’t enough time. I think I will present tomorrow! On Monday, I also found out about a school trip I will be going once. We are going to the French region of Champagne for a day during the end of October. It sounds really fun and I am really excited to go with all my classmates. On Tuesday, I cooked in the cafeteria. There was carrot soup, pork and apple crumble. The apple crumble was my favorite. Wednesday started the trend of coming home and going to bed late. After my 3 classes, I went home for 2 hours then went back to school in my clothes to work in the restaurant. My school catered a huge event for the city of Wavre, the capital of Barbant-Wallon and the city where my school is. I worked the event with my other classmates. It was so much fun and reminded me so much of home when I used to work with my mom and Ms. Becky. I cleared tables and served the amazing masterpieces of the students who were cooking back in the kitchen. I was really nervous to carry things (I actually ended up breaking a couple wine glasses that night oops!) but I did pretty well. My favorite part of the night was taking pictures with all of the IPES students together at the photo booth. The night finished around midnight and I was in bed by 1 am. Thursday was a long day mostly because I was super tired. In my economic class (honestly it’s more like government class) we had a quiz on last year’s topics so I pretty much knew nothing, but my friend gave me his notes from last year and I had made copies. The test was open note but the teacher literally sat next to me and worked through it all with me. Even though I understood almost all the questions and had the notes. Thursday evening I went to a concert with my host mom in Brussels. We saw Beautiful Badness, the band of her music teacher, perform. They were amazing and their music was so cool. We bought their CD and jammed out on the car ride home. Friday was another day in the kitchen for me at school. We had some left over merchandise so our teacher gave us a challenge. It was like a simple version of the TV show chopped. We had to make a plate with a sauce, salmon, 3 different vegetables and a potatoes. The chef said I could do it American style so I cut the vegetables like I would if I made a fajita and grilled the salmon with the veggies. I made mashed potatoes and garlic cream sauce too. It tasted pretty yummy. Friday night I spent with Rachel! With the crazy long, exhausting week I had we pretty much walked home from the gare, ate dinner and went to sleep. The next morning we woke up at 6 am to catch the train to Namur. In Namur, we met up with other rotary exchange students to visit the parliament of Wallonia. Belgium is split into 3 different governments, The Flemish government (Flanders), The French government (Wallonia) and the Brussels government. It is complicated to explain so watch this video to help get your head together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9_nWglRDX0
After we sat in the seats of the members of parliament and listened to speeches about the government, we went on a boat ride in Namur. It was cold but worth seeing the beautiful houses right on the edge of the river. After Namur, a few of the students (including me) went to the Horta Museum in Brussels. Horta was a very famous architect from Belgium and the museum is his house. It was so pretty and the tour felt like we were back in time. I could imagine living in his work of art. After the tour, I stayed at my host dad’s apartment in Brussels. I love coming to the big city for the weekends when I can. Sunday, I was finally able to sleep in. Then we had some friends over for lunch. I took the little girls who were here to the park to play. It was really peaceful and fun to see everyone again. Countdown to Paris is 12 Days y’all! I am so excited to go back to one of my favorite places ever.

Until Next Time!

 

 

 

En Français:

Bonjour tout le monde.

Pour ce blog, je vais écrire en français et en anglais (français pour mes amies belge, anglais pour mes amies aux Etats-Unis). J’espère mon français n’est pas très mal. Alors, on y va. Lundi, j’ai le cours géographie touristique. Je travaillais sur le projet de l’Ile-de-France tout la semaine dernière mais je n’ai pas présenté parce qu’il n’était pas beaucoup de temps. Je pense que je vais présenter demain. En Lundi, j’ai appris d’un voyage avec école.  Nous allons aller à Champagne en France pour un jour la dernière d’Octobre. Je suis très contente pour un voyage avec mes amis! En Mardi, J’ai cuisiné dans la cuisine communarde. Il était soupe de la carotte, porc et crumble de pomme. Mon préfère est le crumble de pomme. Mercredi a commencé la nuit très tard. Apres mes 3 cours, je suis rentré à ma maison pour 2 heures. Apres les 2 heures, je suis revenu q école avec ma tenue pour salle. Mon école était le traiteur pour les Macas d’Or, un grand éventement dans l’hôtel de ville en Wavre. Je travaillais avec mes amis d’école. C’était très drôle et il m’a rappelé les temps j’ai travaillé pour Mme. Becky (une aime de ma mère). Je débrasais les tables et servi les nourritures des étudiants dans la cuisine. J’étais très nerveuse pour faire le servie (malheureusement, je cassais 4 verres) mais c’était pas mal. Mon part perfore du soir était quand tous les élèves prend une photo ensemble dans le photomaton. Le soir a fini à minuit et je suis allé à lit à 1 heure sur le matin. Jeudi était un jour très long parc que j’étais fatiguée. Dans EES, il était un contrôle du 5ieme année alors je ne connais pas tous mais j’ai fait les photocopies des mots de mon ami. Le contrôle était avec les cours mais le prof a aidé moi pour tous la cour bien que je connais comment faire avec les mots. Jeudi soir, ma mère d’accueil et moi sommes allé un concert de Beautiful Badness en Brussels. C’était magnifique. Elle a acheté un CD et nous avons écouté sur la route à la maison. Vendredi, j’étais dans la couine encore. J’ai faire le saumon avec les légumes <<Fajiita>> et la purée de pomme de terre. C’était très bon. Vendredi soir je suis resté avec Rachel. Nous ne faisons pas beaucoup parce nous étions épuises. Le prochain matin, nous nous sommes réveillés à 6h sur le matin pour aller à Namur. Dans Namur, Nous avons rendez-vous avec les autres étudiants de rotary pour faire une visite du parlement de Wallonie. Apres la visite, nous sommes allés sur un bateau. C’était un peu froid mais la vue était très belle. Apres Namur, Je suis allé à Bruxelles pour faire une visite de la Musée Horta. Horta était un architecte belge qui est très populaire. Nous ne pouvions pas prendre les photos L mais j’aimais beaucoup. Apres la visite, J’ai resté avec mon père d’accueil dans Bruxelles. J’adore la grande ville pour les weekends. Dimanche, je dormais beaucoup. Nous mangions avec les amis dimanche aussi. J’ai pris les petites filles au parc. C’était très beau et calme. Il y a juste 12 jours avant Paris! Je suis très contente pour aller à ma ville préfère dans toute la monde.

A la prochaine fois/ Until Next Time

Shelby

 

 

Beautiful Badness

my food ~ ma nourriture

Namur

Boat Ride ~ Sur le Bateau

Photo Booth Pictures ~ Photos de la Photomaton

Parliament Visit ~ Visite de Parlement  

2 Months in Belgium!

My what a week I had! Monday I had the day off and had my first rotary meeting. My rotary club is the rotary club of Genval. Monday evening we met at a country club to listen to the rebounds (people who went on exchange) present their year abroad to the club. I love listening to them talk about their year because you can see how much the exchange meant to them and how it changed them. It inspires me during my year here. Then, the inbounds (me and 3 other students) presented themselves to the club in French. My club is really welcoming and very nice. I am excited to be a part of their organization for the year. Tuesday was my only full day of school this week. I got to spend most of the day in the kitchen. I made rocher au coco alone and did the dishes! Dish duty is definitely not the best but it’s part of the kitchen. After I cleaned about 100 dishes I got to help plate desserts. I think plating is fun because you can express yourself in the food. Wednesday was a strike with the buses, so I didn’t go to school. I only had 3 classes that day so I didn’t miss much. I worked on my project of France for my Touristic Geography class. I am going to present the gastronomy of the Ile-de-France tomorrow. I made a cute little brochure to be my visual aide. In the afternoon, I went to my host grandparents’ house for most of the day. I hung out with my little host cousins and we went to see inside out. I still love it even after the 3^rd time. Thursday was a half day at school for me. I went to my English and math classes then came home and finished my Ile-de-France project. It was really nice being able to come home early because I normally get home at 5/6 o’clock. Friday I had a field trip with the 6 TQ and P Hôt. We went to a vineyard in Namur (south of Belgium) and cut grapes for the vineyard. We also got to try wine and the juice from the grapes. It was really muddy and kind off a long day but with my classmates we had a lot of fun. There was a tractor and all the boys hopped on the back to ride in it and I got on it then fell into the grapes. Fortunately the buckets caught me before I crushed the grapes but it was a great laugh for everyone. We had fun dancing as we waited for the bus too. Friday evening I had a dinner with my host mom’s family. They are such wonderful people and the food is always so great. I was super tired from the vineyard so I went home pretty early. Saturday was one of my favorite days so far. Rachel and I went to Oostende, a city right on the North Sea (shout out to Aksel for telling me to go there). We had lunch and then went to the beach and took lots of photos. It was really windy at the sea but it was sunny (a rare thing in BelgiumJ). I was so happy to go to the beach. I walked in the waves and picked up a lot of seashells (#shellsforshelby!!). I am so lucky that the ocean is only a few hours away and I can’t wait to go back soon. It is for sure one of my favorite beaches I have ever visited. Saturday night Rachel spent at my house! We had pizza and uploaded all our beach pics then went to sleep because we were exhausted. Today we went to a cute little market in waterloo. I bought some dried fruit and chocolate and meloncakes (aka heaven) and little macarons. Then we dropped Rachel off at the gare and came home. I had lunch with Samantha and her brother and now I am going to skype my parents and clean my room. Next week, I should have a full week of school haha. Soon I will be leaving for Paris with rotary and I cannot wait!! Hopefully these next few weeks go by as fast as these last few months have.

Until Next Time!

Shelby

Exchange Students of the Genval Club!

Rocher au Coco

Field Trip to the Vineyard

An American in Ostende

First Drum Lessons

Another good week here in Belgium. School is going really well for me. Monday was pretty simple with PE, Accounting and Touristic Geography. Accounting is actually really easy for me to pick up on and the teacher was so surprised I understood so much my first time. In Geography we are learning about the tourism and gastronomy of France. We have an oral project due in 2 weeks on a certain French region. My region is Ile-de-France, which is the region Paris is in! I am a little nervous to give the presentation orally but I know if I practice a lot it will be good. I chose the Ile-de-France as my region because I am going back to Paris at the end of October with Rotary. I am so excited for the trip and it is literally all I can think about! Tuesday I had cooking classes. The last few times in my cooking classes, I worked on something with my friend Elodie, but Tuesday I got to make something all by myself! I made a 4 part cake (1 part eggs, 1 part flour, 1 part butter and 1 part sugar) with apple chunks. It was super easy and super delicious. I was really glad I got to do something on my own. Wednesday I went to Liege for an hour or so. The train ride to Liege is really long (almost 2 hours!) so I didn’t stay long but I did see a beautiful church and some of my rotary friends. Wednesday evening I had my very first drum lessons. Samantha bought me my first pair of drumsticks and I was so excited to use them. I have lessons at RhythmGo in Rixensart for 30 minutes every 2 weeks. It was really fun because I got to learn the parts of the drums in French and in English. I want to buy a drum set in the States so I can play there too! Thursday I had 3 quizzes, 1 in French, 1 in Statistics and another in Human Sciences (normal geography). The French quiz was a vocab one and I practiced the words by using quizlet. I think I did really well on it! Geography and Stats were really easy too. On Friday I worked in the restaurant. Elodie and I worked the bar together. It was a lot of fun making drinks for the clients. My teacher had me ask the guests if they wanted tea or coffee in French. I was really nervous at first because my accent and pronunciation are a little rough but after some practice and help from my classmates I was confident enough to do it and it went really well! Saturday, Elliot had soccer in Brussels so we spent most of the morning watching soccer (or football as they call it here). After lunch we relaxed a little bit and then went shopping at Louvain-le-Neuve. I bought a couple of sweaters and cardigans for when it starts to get colder. At Louvain-le-Neuve there was a huge concert right outside the mall that we watched for 30 minutes. The weather was beautiful and the music was great. Sunday morning we took a walk by Elliot’s school. It was so green and beautiful. We walked to the Foire de Verres which is this huge expo of glass. It was so beautiful and we had to be very careful not to break anything. Later in the day we had a meeting for Samantha’s singing groups. I decided to join the choral with her which I am really excited about. They sing mostly English songs so it shouldn’t be too difficult for me. Today (Monday) I have no school because it is a teachers work day. I was able to sleep in and work on some of my homework for school. Tonight I have a dinner with my Rotary Club. We get to hear the Rotex talk about their exchange and the inbounds (me & 3 others) get introduced to the club. It should be a really fun time!

Until Next Week,

Shelby

Foire de Verres

Cooking Class

the beautiful view of Lasne from part of our Sunday walk

Liege

Sunset on my street in Lasne

Sunday Walk