Getting Settled

So let's see...where to start? The beginning, I presume?

I really feel that I should be updated this every hour, because I am constantly going though exciting and new experiences. I'll try my best to fill everyone in...

So on Saturday, My Detier, Genevieve, and Amandine (Dad, mom, oldest sister) picked me up from the hotel outside of Brussels. The car ride home would be awkward for most people, but I guess I'm not really like other peop

le. We talked a little, but mostly I just took in the beautiful scenery. When we got home I unpacked and took a nap until dinner.

Here's some visual aid:

This is my house.

Here's some pictures of my room...

My little piece of Oregon! :)

At dinner I met my final sibling, Valentin (10). He’s great because he is the most talkative, yet knows absolutely no English. Therefore, I have to work a lot harder to communicate with him. Our conversations always involve hand gestures and drawings and him repeating the unknown word over and over again, frustrated yet determined for my understanding. It’s always fun.

Let’s see…. the next day we went to Brussels! After I slept until 1, of course. Brussels was so cool! They took me to all of the major attractions including the Atomium building built for the “International Exposition” in 1958(?) and oddly enough it’s probably the most modern and innovative building I’ve ever seen. Also, I saw the basilica, which is the 4^th largest church in the world. It was odd because there was a group of people outside the front on the steps and guess what they were playing. "I Will Survive" by Cake. I thought that pretty cool. I also saw the famous Manneken Pis Fountain, which means “peeing little boy” in the Brussels quasi-Flemish-French dialect. Yes, you read correctly… It is a symbol of which they are very proud here in Belgium. It represents their independence and I guess sticking it to the man….or Germany and France and whatever other countries they had been taken over by over the years.

All in all Brussels, was amazing, just like all the other European capitals that I have been fortunate enough to visit. Oh and also, I consumed my first Belgian beer and and Belgian chocolate; not too shabby.

Monday. Monday I went to Namur with Amandine via bus. This was my first time walking through Malonne (to get to the bus stop) which, I must say, is quite charming! My school also looks very nice. School starts in a week and a half and I can honestly say that I am looking forward to it!...kind of. Haha. I’m a little nervous about making friends but I am excited to learn! Ha, what has become of me? When did I start being so cheesy?

Anyway, so Namur is a beautiful city. It’s about 1/3 smaller than Salem, population wise, but has about a thousand times more character and charm. I can rightfully determine this for I believe that I saw every street at least twice. Seriousy. Amandine is made of steel! I have never walked so much, or for so long, in my life! She’s a true European whereas I am still a fat American! After walking around for hours, we met up with one of Amandine’s friends of whom, I can’t at this time, remember the name. Oh well. He was a character to say the least. Small, flamboyant, well dressed European with a personality to boot. Need I say more? What I found most funny was his love for Paris Hilton (Pah-reese Eel-tone). He went on about how she was a great person… pretty, smart, stylish etc; it was quite funny. I told him about that Paris’ BFF show and I literally freaked out. Shouting “C’est moi!” That’s me! To add to his personality, his leg was broken but in place of a regular, plaster, American cast was a metal contraption that, no joke, looked like it came straight out of a Tim Burton movie. It was so bizarre. I liked him though; he said something really funny about someone back home. You can use your imagination; i’m not going to put it on here. :)

Ok, that brings me up to today. Today is Tuesday. Today I went to Louvaine La Neuve. Which is this university town about half an hour from Malonne….or so I think, I lost track of time taking in the beautiful countryside. Today, I felt like a Belgian. Why? I do not really know. I’ll tell you about my day…

My host mom had a seminar thing at the University…or something like that, I didn’t quite catch what it was, for my French is still tres mal. Anyway, so Amandine and I just walked about and looked in shops. We went to visit Amandine’s God Mother and she gave us ice tea (carbonated!) and Swiss chocolate (she had just returned from holiday). I also went to two museums. One was the Musee Herge (The maker of the famous Belgian comic, Tintin) and a local art museum. I was quite impressed with the latter; it had a few Picassos and a Magritte. Both were very nice because even with the language barrier, art is something I will always understand.

To bring our day to a close, we went to a pub that seemed to be popular among the students and enjoyed a nice afternoon beer. Oh, how Belgian I am already.

P.S. I'll put up more pictures in another post soon. It is being problematic!