Shelby's Year in Belgium: Lyon, Bruges, New Year, & Au Revoirs

It’s been almost a month since my last post, so I have lots to share! I’ll try my very best to keep it in sequential order. So I finished all my exams the week of December 18^th. During the week I took a couple day trips with my exchange friends after my tests. I went to Antwerp again and saw a whole other side of it. We went through this tunnel which was 35 meters underground to go under the river Schelde. It was so cool! We also took a lot of pictures together and explored the Christmas market in Antwerp. I also was able to spend time in Brussels with Larry and Sarah, two Americans who live near me! We visited Brussels’ Christmas market and I showed them my favorite bakery in Brussels. It was full with so many things. We also tried a Christmas specialty, vin chaud. The Christmas markets are a great way to get into the Christmas season. Sarah and I also rode the giant ferris wheel in the market. I swear you could see all the way to Paris! I had such a great time with them. We also got to see the light show in the grand place. That was so neat. I am so lucky to live so close to a big city like that. Friday, Rachel and I left for Lyon, France. We took a train from Brussels to Lyon. It was so wonderful to be back in Lyon. I could actually speak French really well with my first exchange family and that was something really special for me. We saw a lot in the 5 days we were there including Old Lyon, Fourviere, St. Jean, a show starring the famous puppet Guignol, Lyon’s ancient Roman Ruins, a tapestry museum, Confluence and an awesome jazz concert. We did a lot of shopping and saw the new star wars movie as well! Confluence, where the two rivers that run through Lyon meet, was a really cool site for me to see because on my first trip it was still under construction and this time I saw the finished building! It is so cool. One of my favorite days was the Sunday we celebrated Lorelei’s grandpa’s birthday. I got to meet the rest of their family, try new food and drinks, and speak French! We had an enormous meal so we went to a park to walk it off. Its family moments together like that day that I really cherish. Many people want to see typical places in France like Paris, Normandy, Bordeaux and the French Riviera but I definitely recommend Lyon for you world travelers. It is a city with a feel like nowhere else. After my trip, I went back to Brussels for a few days. I met up with my friend Matthew to help him with some Christmas shopping. He showed me my now favorite café in Brussels with the BEST chai lattes. I’ve gone back 3 times since then! The next day, Samantha and I went out in Waterloo to see her friend play in a jazz jam. We ate flatbread pizzas and listened to some really cool jams. We were both dead by 11:30 so we left a little early. Christmas Eve we went to celebrate with Samantha’s sister’s family (she has 2 little boys). We had a lovely meal and I got to try oysters for the first time. I find them really yummy! It was a funny night and I loved seeing the little kids so excited for Christmas. On Christmas day, we didn’t do much being that my host family is Jewish. Samantha and I stayed in pajamas and watched Desperate Housewives all day, which was really fun! I also got to skype my family and it was so nice to see everyone even though I wasn’t with them. In between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, I explored plenty of places with my host family and friends. One day we went on a walk in La Hulpe and saw the castle which is in this huge part. I am not even sure we made it through halfway of the park, it was that huge! Another day we visited Bruges. A lot of people told me to make sure to visit it and I can see why. It’s a lovely city with a lot of history. Samantha, Elliott and I saw the Christmas market, played bumper cars, bought chocolate, and visited the historium. I really enjoyed the historium because we learned a lot about the history of Bruges! The chocolate was really yummy too. With my exchange friends, we went to Namur. I finally got to see the citadel of Namur. We all played music and chilled at the top of the giant hill and admired the view. That was a really cool memory made with them. Maeve and I also took a trip to Brussels to find some cute outfits for New Year’s Eve. We found a really yummy restaurant and it was really funny because one of my school friends ended up being our waiter. It was a fun day full of shopping and indulging in Belgian waffles. Sam and I made cream puffs for the New Year’s party she was going to. That was a lot of fun, even though they didn’t turn out perfect. For New Years, Rachel, Maeve, and I went to Antwerp for the night. It was a blast and we got to ring in 2016 with fireworks and our exchange friends. The next day, we slept a lot! I went to Bruges again with exchange students from district 1630. It was really nice because I don’t really get to see them a lot so I really enjoyed spending the day with them in a beautiful city. My friend from Australia, Patrice, and I wandered off from the group and found a really adorable chocolate shop/ tea house where we found quite possibly the best Belgian hot chocolate. It was really sweet to spend time with her because she was a really good friend and has already finished her exchange. I was able to meet a couple past exchange students in Brussels in the first 2 weeks of January. 2 were past exchange students who had their exchange in Belgium and one was a friend from home who I knew through exchange who was travelling around Europe. I got to show her around Brussels one day and that was a lot of fun. The first few weeks of 2016 have been wild. I had many of my friends from the southern hemisphere leave so I had a lot of hard goodbyes to say. During the same time the trains went on strike so I had to take buses to get to the places to say goodbye. I am really so dependent on the trains here. Fortunately we made it work and I was able to say goodbye. For my Aussie friends, I was able to go to the airport and watch them leave. It was very bittersweet. It’s heartbreaking to know that my group of exchange students will be the next group to leave. After saying those hard goodbyes, I changed host families. I now live in a city with a train station and its 10 minutes closer to school! More time to sleep in. I really like my new host family too because things are more like how they were in Wyoming. I have 2 older host siblings, Zoe and Tom. It’s a different place for me to be in because now I am the “baby” of the family. My host parents have really cool jobs and are really nice! They like to cook and each night after dinner we watch a movie or a TV show together. I really think they’re a great fit for me and I am excited to stay here for the next few months! I will have to take some pictures with them soon!

I think that catches you all up on the past month, I will try to post more often!

Bisous!
Shelby