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

Just across the river from Antwerp

Brussels Christmas Market

The view of Brussels from the Ferris Wheel

My French Family in Lyon

Lyon, France

Lyon, France

Castle at La Hulpe

Bruges Round 1

New Years Eve

Bruges Round 2

A really hard goodbye

Until Next Time Loves!

Au Revoir Aussies

Lyon with Rachel for Christmas Break

Namur #representwyo

Bastogne, Birthday, Brussels

So I fail at blogging regularly but that’s okay. It means I have been super busy (which I have been!).  My host mom took me to Bastogne in the south of Belgium to see some of the US history there. We ended up doing a lot shopping and eating crepes which was fun. I did see a US Sherman tank which was pretty cool. It was really cold so we spent most of our time shopping or checking out the local goodies in the bakeries.
School that week consisted cleaning up from the Gala and quizzes to get some grades before the exams. I remember wrapping stacks of plates together for my cooking and service classes haha. It was a pretty laid back week at school.
My birthday was the 27^th of November, the day right after Thanksgiving so for my birthday, my host family and I had thanksgiving dinner together. Dinner included a pumpkin pie made by yours truly. My friend Gabby from California spent the night and had dinner with us. It was a great way to celebrate my birthday
The next day, Gabby and I went to Antwerp with a couple other exchange students. It was the first time I got to go somewhere after Paris. My grandpa was stationed in Belgium during the war so I had some old pictures I wanted to recreate and my friends helped me with that. We walked around the city and visited plenty of stores. I bought my first bath bomb from Lush in Antwerp! We had so much fun together. Gabby, Will (my friend from Brazil) and I even got to meet Saint Nicholas! It was a great after birthday celebration with a few of my exchange friends.
The next week at school was preparation for the exams. For Salle, we made all sorts of cocktails together which was really cool. In the cooking class we had to clean crawdads and I was so scared of them because they were alive. I had jumped when one came crawling towards me and the floor was wet so I slipped and fell which was slightly embarrassing but very funny now that I look back on it. Exams started at the end of the week. I had science and math which I feel pretty good about.
After my science exam, I went to Brussels to celebrate my friend Maeve’s birthday with her. Brussels was all decorated for Christmas so it was really beautiful. We ate at a Tex-Mex restaurant and went ice skating and got waffles. We also had a mini photo shoot in front of the Christmas tree! That was a lot of fun. Gabby came a little later so we got hot chocolate together and walked around the Grand Place.
That weekend I spent with Leon and Sao in Brussels. Friday night, I ate dinner with Leon’s family and met some of his  brother-in-law’s family from South Africa. They didn’t know a lot of French so we spoke English together. It was really funny because they had such different accents so we joked about that. Saturday I went to Namur with Rachel, Gabby, Anastasia, Maeve and Ilham. We did A LOT of shopping and found the cutest little café with really yummy crepes, delicious waffles and chocolaty hot chocolate. It was such a fun day with them. Sunday I went to the Thai market with Sao and Leon. I tried a lot of Thai food and liked them all.
The following week at school was more exams. I studied a little but didn’t stress about them because I am here to learn French, not the things the exams were on. One nice thing about exams week is the time we finish. We finish earlier so we can go home and study. Monday night, my rotary club had a Christmas fundraiser so the exchange students came to help. It was great to see everyone! On Tuesday, I met my friends in Gent and we saw the Christmas Market there. That’s one thing I really like about Christmas in Europe. Every city has a little Christmas market where local vendors are selling things for Christmas. Also every town is decorated in its own way which is also really beautiful. In gent, we did a little shopping, explored the Christmas market and drank hot cocoa. I found probably my favorite white hot chocolate at a hidden chocolate store there. It was simply amazing.
Friday evening I celebrated Hanukkah with my host mom’s family. We had plenty of yummy food and we gave each other presents too! I even got to lit a candle! It was so fun to see all the little kids run around and play with their toys. I got some jewelry, a scarf, bath/shower stuff and a Belgian cookbook! I am so lucky to be a part of their family, even though it is only a few months. The next day, we found a Christmas tree and decorated it together. It was really fun and now the house is all decorated for Christmas!
I have 2 more exams this week before I have winter break. For winter break I am going to go visit my old host family in Lyon with Rachel. I am really excited to see them again and be back in Lyon! It should be a very fun start to my winter break! I will also be changing host families soon so I am going to be spending as much time as I can with my current host family before I have to change.

Until Next Time!

Shelby

Sherman Tank at Bastogne

Birthday Festivities

Saint Nicholas and His Helpers

Cocktails

 

Ice Skating in Belgium

New Friends from South Africa

Antwerp  Crew!

Christmas Fundraiser

Crepes from Namur

Maastricht & Viva for Life Gala

Wow it has been a while since I have posted on my blog! A lot has happened in those few weeks. First I want everyone to know I am doing perfectly fine regarding the attacks. I live in a small city 30ish minutes from Brussels and approximately 4 hours away from Paris. Not much happens here and I feel safe here. More of my thoughts on terrorism later in this post. As for where I left off on my last post. It was fall break and I had just returned from Paris. I was sick so majority of break I spent catching up on sleep so I could feel better for school. On the Friday of break I did go to Maastricht, Netherlands with a fellow exchange student. We spent the day exploring the city, visiting the churches and shopping at stores. We found one church that they converted into a bookstore. They sold English books so of course I bought one. We also found a super expensive department store and a market right in front of the town hall. It was a pretty decent day weather wise and it was a good experience for my first time in the Netherlands. Our train coming home was super late. It took me almost 4 hours to get home when it’s usually about 2. The weekend of November 7-8 I spent in Brussels with my host dad. We went to see 2 movies that weekend, The Intern and Specter (the new James Bond movie!!). Both were super great films and I am so glad I got to spend the weekend in Brussels. I also got to walk around place Louise with my host dad and we peeked into a couple stores. Place Louise is what I call the Belgium version of Champs-Elysees (minus all the tourist). It is also where Stromae filmed his music video for Formidable!! School started back up the next week. It was a pretty normal week besides the fact that we had Wednesday off for Reembrace Day. My host mom and I decided to take a day trip to Lille, France for the day. We did a little shopping and visited the Grand Place of Lille. It is such a beautiful city in France! She also showed me a traditional Lille specialty, gaufre vanille. It is really hard to describe but the transduction is vanilla waffle. Except it isn’t really a waffle because it is really flat and the vanilla is on the inside. SO GOOD! I also bought some cute riding boots from a little shoe shop in Lille too. The next big thing that happened that week was the Paris attacks. My first thoughts about the acts were heartache for the people who were a part of it and shock. Lots of shock. How could a city that I had just seen 2 weeks ago be attacked like that? It was absolutely horrible. I woke up Saturday morning with many notifications for all my social media accounts from people asking if I was safe and what not. Thank you to everyone who thought of me, fortunately I was safe and sound in Belgium. 2 major things I can take away from the attacks in Paris are: 1. you can’t be afraid because that is what the terrorist want. If you are afraid, they win. And 2. Not every Arab or Muslim is a terrorist. ISIS is an extremist group and I often think people forget that. These attacks reminded me a lot of 9/11 and the pain many Americans went through on that day. It is so heartbreaking we live in a world where these things happen. Paris is one of my favorite places in the world and it definitely hurt to see them suffer. Security across Europe has definitely increased after the events. Sunday, my host family and my host uncle (Samantha, Ilan and Elliot) went to Waterloo. I really enjoyed learning about it because it was such an important part of European history. The memorial they have about it is really interactive and super cool. I learned a lot and got to climb to the top of the Lion of Waterloo. We were the only ones up there at the time so that was really neat too. Monday at school we talked a little bit about the attacks. A lot of the students at my school had the same reaction I had: shock. I think that everyone was a little on edge from the attacks so we didn’t really have a lot to say. Other than that, school this week consisted on preparing for a big banquet and taking lots of quizzes.  We have exams in a few weeks right before winter vacation. The banquet we had this week was to raise money for Viva for Life which is an organization that raises money to give to underprivileged children. Tuesday, my class made chocolates to serve with the coffee. Wednesday we have half days so I went to Namur with other exchange students and we received our exchange student hoodies we designed together. Friday was the big day of the banquet (which I took no pictures of :( )! I left my house around 7:40am and got home around 1:40 in the morning. I was at school helping set up for it. The gala started around 7 o’clock and I was working salle so I had my own table to serve. At the beginning of the night, I was really nervous. Serving a table of 11 people with all the tips and tricks like serving the soup on the left side and the wine on the right and on top of that everything being in French definitely wrecks the nerves. Fortunately, the people at my table were super understanding and very helpful. By the end of the night I felt pretty confident! At the end of the night, the check of the money earned that night was given to Viva for Life by 2 students. I was one of the two students who presented the check! I went up on stage with an older student, Pierre who was the mastermind of the salle portion of the night. I didn’t really know what to do so I acted like Vera from the Wheel of Fortune and just held the check and smiled. All of my classmates started chanting my name which was so funny and really cool. They are some really great people and I am really really lucky I have the opportunity to meet them. After the people left, we cleaned up and went home. It was a very long day but I learned a lot! Today I had lunch with my host mom, uncle and grandparents in Waterloo and tonight Samantha and I are going to a jam with her friend. Right now Brussels is on level 4 alert regarding terrorist and attacks. I am not in Brussels but just outside but my host family and I will be super careful for the moment. I know I am safe here and that if it wasn’t safe, I wouldn’t be here. Tomorrow we are going to go to a city near Luxembourg and I am super excited for that because I haven’t seen that area before! Thanks for reading and for all the thoughts. I will keep y’all updated through Facebook although I think all will be well.

Until Next Time,

Shelby

Namur with my Blodnies <3

Waterloo (we climbed to the top!)

Maastricht, Netherlands

Lille, France

Gaufre Vanille in front of Meert (the bakery you get them from!)

Sunset from a walk home

Viva for Life Gala (pc Berenice)

Old Dutch Church in Maastricht

Champagne & Paris

What an amazing week! Last time I posted I talked about my plans to go to France with school and rotary. Both were amazing trips and I saw so much. So on Monday I went to school and then after school (approximately midnight) Samantha dropped me off. My classmates and I claimed back seats in a bus to go to France. We arrived at Rungis (an international market right outside Paris) at 4:30 am. We saw the fish, the meat, the fruit and vegetables and the flowers that the market sells. It was MASSIVE! Each section had their own room filled of the product people were selling. It was super early in the morning for me to understand all the tour guide said but I did enjoy seeing all the fresh food and took a couple pictures. After our tour, we had breakfast then got on the bus and headed towards Champagne. As we were leaving, we caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. In champagne we had some free time so my school friends and I bought an iced tea at a café. It was the most expensive iced tea I have ever bought (3.80 euros!!) but we got access to a toilet so it was worth it. After we drank our tea, we went to a cute little macaron shop. I bought everyone a macaron to try. They were really delicious. For lunch we ate at a restaurant in champagne. It was some kind of meat (I think either chicken or duck) with a champagne sauce. After lunch we headed towards Champagne de Castellane, a famous champagne maker. We were given a tour of the caves where the champagne is made and stored and then we got to try the champagne. I can now say I have drunken champagne in Champagne! After that we headed back home to Belgium. We got in a little earlier than expected so there was a little trouble for me getting home but fortunately my friend Berenice gave me a ride home. Merci Beaucoup! After the trip, I was really tired and became sick. Wednesday, my host mom and I went to the town hall and I got my Belgian ID card (which I needed for Paris!) and we tried to open a bank account for me but it was a little complicated so we have to try somewhere else. Thursday I packed for Paris and relaxed at home after school. Friday I was on sink duty with my friend Chloe for cooking class. It was actually really fun to work with her even though we had one of the not fun jobs. I also received my grades for the period, I passed all my classes and did really well for an exchange student. After school, I helped Samantha and Elliot decorate for Halloween! We ate dinner and then I spent the night in Limal with my friends Dani and Cami. The next morning, we left together for Paris! We got on the bus at Namur and headed to Mons to pick up more students then to Paris. We spent 3 days in Paris (including Halloween). We travelled for most of the morning. Our first stop was the Palace of Versailles. I visited last time I was in Paris but this time I saw more of the gardens and the chambers of the queen’s ladies plus all the rooms in the castle. It is really such a beautiful place. I can imagine living there a few hundred years ago having balls and such with royalty. Maeve from New York and I explored the gardens together which was a lot of fun. Fortunately for us the weather in Paris was warm and nice. After Versailles, we headed towards Paris. We ate at a restaurant called hippopotamus. All the waiters were dressed up for Halloween and I was so afraid one was going to scare me, and one did! After we took a picture with the spooky staff we piled into the bus to see a little bit of Paris at night. It was amazing but I wish we could’ve walked around outside of the bus! After a little drive, we got off to go on a boat cruise. It was actually the same cruise I went on with my school the last time I came to Paris. It brought back a lot of good memories. The cruise was so much fun and we took a lot of pictures together. After a fun-filled day we arrived at the hotel. I went straight to bed because I was sick and tired. Day 2 was a day full of art! We went to the Louvre and the Museum d’Orsay. Maeve and I covered almost all of the first floor of the Louvre together in 2 hours. It was awesome to go back and see the Mona Lisa. We had lunch at the Carousel de Louvre which is like a shopping mall in the Louvre. I bought an instant photo camera for myself as a birthday gift. I am super excited to use it! In the Museum d’Orsay I saw impressionist paintings (Monet and Degas are my favorite!) and I got a quick peek of the Van Gogh section of the museum. Afterwards, we waited almost 2 hours for some exchange students who didn’t know what time they needed to be back. It was kind of a bummer that we lost that time but there was a street performer that kept us entertained. Once the MIA students were found we headed towards the Champs-Elysees and Arc d’Triomphe. We had 30 minutes of free time so Maeve, Gabrielle and I (the 3 sickies on the trip) took photos together in front of the Arc d’Triomphe and checked out a souvenir shop. We then had dinner at a cute little restaurant on the Champs-Elysees. Afterwards we had more free time so we walked to the top of the Arc d’Triomphe. It was so beautiful to see all of Paris from there. I really liked it because it was something I didn’t see before. We got to watch the Eiffel Tower twinkle up there too. That was one of my favorite moments during the trip. Afterwards, we went to the Eiffel Tower. The view from the Eiffel Tower during the day is amazing and at night it was like Paris was a new city. I definitely understand why it is called the city of lights. So beautiful. We were on the Eiffel tower while it twinkled at 10pm and I thought it was cool knowing that the people of Paris were looking at this massive structure I was on. We returned to the hotel and Maeve and I went straight to bed, again trying to get rid of our plagues. The next day was our last day in Paris. Our first stop was Notre Dame. Maeve, Gabby and I went inside the church and then walked around the church and across the bridge with all the locks on it. I saw the area where Mackenzie and I put our lock from the first trip to Paris. We also went to Shakespeare and Co, a very famous book shop but it wasn’t opened until later during the day so we bought books from the vendors on the side of the Seine. Afterwards we headed towards Montmartre and Sacre Coeur. I bought a painting from an artist in Montmartre and Maeve and I bought macarons from a little shop there too. They were very yummy! We walked down the stairs right in front of Sacre Coeur to get to Hard Rock Café. That was so cool to see the church from close and then from a distance. I went to Hard Rock for the first time in Paris!! I really enjoyed it. Afterwards we had some free time so Gabby, Maeve and I walked around. We found chipotle so I bought some to eat on the bus. It was so good and I definitely missed it. We then said Au Revoir to Paris and headed back to Belgium. It was such an amazing trip with a wonderful group of people. I am really glad that was my first trip with Rotary and I am looking forward to my next trips with them. This week I have fall break so I plan on resting and getting better. Friday I am going to the Netherlands with some other exchange students and then hopefully spending the weekend in Brussels. It has been a pretty good vacation so far. That’s all I have for now! Thanks for reading.

Until Next Time!

Shelby

School Trip to Champagne

Champagne!

one part of Rungis for the fruit and vegetables

Sunrise at Rungis

Versailles

The Winged Victory

Arc d'Triomphe with Gabby and Maeve

on the Eiffel Tower

Sacre Coeur

my new camera

Notre Dame

Hard Rock Café Paris

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