CHRISTMAS!!! Never Quite the Same

Christmas is done a little differently over here. It hasn't really felt too much like Christmas this year. There's snow, decorations, music, presents, all the things that make you think of Christmas. I think people take for granted the importance of family around the holidays. I have a wonderful host family and I don't know what I would do without them but it's definitely not the same without my amazing parents and my two beautiful sisters.

I got out of school on the afternoon of the 16th of December after taking 4 exams. I had a great week spending time in the snow with my friends.

Friday I went sledding and then had a party at a friend's house for her birthday.

Monday I went sledding again with a bunch of my friends and then invited them to my house for some hot chocolate.

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent the day with my host cousin. Wednesday night I went ice skating with my host dad and his friend.

Thursday night I went sledding again with Justine. We made snow angels, and a snowman. We decided to take the snowman down the hill with us! It was great!!! When we wanted to go home we went to the tram stop to wait for the tram. We got on the tram that said it was going where we wanted. It was wrongly marked so we got off at a different stop to wait for the tram going back the right direction. It took 20 minutes. When we tried to get off the tram the doors closed in between us and started driving away... I got off at the next stop and noticed that Justine was running after me!!!! As she was running up to me the correct tram came and we hurried and got on. Right when we got on the tram we heard an announcement saying that it was going to be the last tram of the night.We were icicles by the time we got back to my house. She slept over.

Friday when we woke up we went skating. We were planning on taking the tram and then the metro but there was still so much snow that the trams weren't going. We had to walk to the metro station. We went skating and there were some great christmas decorations.

After a long day of walking back and forth to the metro station I was able to relax for a little bit before starting the Christmas party.

We started eating between 7:30 and 8:00. We had an appetizer of chips and sliced sausage while my host sister opened her birthday presents. Then we ate a plate of fish stuff; smoked salmon, octopus, and some other fish.

We started opening presents in between courses. My host family drew names for presents. We went around the circle handing out the presents. Adrien bought me a little table for my computer so that it can sit on my lap without overheating.

The next course was a plate of meat paté. Then we had a soup with shrimp in it.

We opened more presents. I had A LOT!!! I got some jewelry, purses, and a bunch of other stuff.

Next we ate some dinner waffles. They were made with corn bread and spices with mushrooms on top.

MORE PRESENTS!!!!

Finally around midnight, to the sounds of the midnight mass starting, we started the main course. Mutton, chicon, carrots, teeny salad, and potatoes. Everyone was soo full it was hard to finish. Only a couple people actually ate it all.

We finished up the presents and laughed sooo hard at everything!!!

No one was hungry enough for dessert. So we saved it for later.

I didn't get into my room til 1:30

I slept in on Christmas morning. For breakfast I ate a piece of baby Jesus bread. That is something typically Belgian.... bread shaped like baby Jesus. It was sugary and delicious. I watched a couple christmas movies and then ate lunch. After lunch I skyped my family back home to open more presents!!! It was great we talked for 3 hours! I had such a great day!

I still don't really feel like Christmas but it was wonderful anyway!!

I hope everyone else has a good day too! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

It's a Small World Afterall

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Okay in the time I've been away I have acquired a LOT of things to say. I know it's been a very long time since I wrote on here... I haven't had much motivation to write. There have been a lot of great things happening to me lately and I haven't taken the time to put them all on here.

I know that it is so late it's almost not worth it but I just wanna list a FEW of the things I'm thankful for...

- Family and Friends all over the world

- My ability to adapt and overcome challenges

- The Holiday Seasons

- And more than anything in the whole world, the gospel

Once again there's a lot more these are just the very most important to me.

This is such a different Holiday Season for me.

On thanksgiving I went to school and tried to explain thanksgiving. I made dinner on Black Friday. I like to call it 'my altered thanksgiving dinner' I made chicken noodle soup, stuffing, rolls, and pumpkin pie. And for the appetizer we had cooked pumpkin seeds. It was different but it was the best I could do.

December 6th is when Saint Nicolas comes over here. I had so much fun with my host family at our house looking at all the great stuff that St. Nick brought.

I am definitely missing my family now more than ever. I hear about all the great stuff they're doing for Christmas and some of the new things that I'm missing out on and I get the slightest bit homesick. I miss my family but I don't want to leave Europe either.

I'm going to change host families in January. I would really like to stay with this family but it's not going to happen. It's going to be so hard to re-adapt to a new family. I'm going to do my best to make a great impression and make this a great relationship.

Christmas is coming soon and I hope that everyone's holidays go well! I miss you all so much!

It's a Small World Afterall

A Few Weeks of Boredom + A Week of Intense Travel = The Perfect Balance

Okay it's been WAY too long since I've written I'm sorry! So the end of December/ the beginning of November was a lot of traveling! I didn't do much in October but on the 30th I left for Paris! The 4th we went to London! And then on the 13th I went to Germany!

Paris When it Sizzles

It was great! We were supposed to go to Versailles but there were problems on the road so we didn't have the time to go so we went straight to the Champs Elysees! We went shopping and looked in all the fancy expensive shops, and saw a car on a wall!! We saw the Eiffel Tower sparkle!

The next day was Halloween! We went for a walk around Paris it was so pretty! We spent the day at the Louvre and then went for a boat ride around Paris. To finish off the day we climbed the Eiffel Tower! I really wanted to take the stairs but we barely had enough time taking the elevator.

The last day in Paris we went to Notre Dame. I wanted so badly to go to the top and see all the bells and everything but once again we didn't have enough time... :(

We drove past the MoulinRouge haha and then we walked down the Rue de la Bonne (translation: street of the good) at the end of that street is the Sacré Cœur. It's a beautiful building on top of the "hill" of Paris with a great view.

That night we ate at the Hard Rock Café. It was my first time so it was cool for me I really liked it.

This trip was so much fun and we had a ton of fun in the bus too!!

London Calling

On the 4th of November I left again for London. It was soo much fun! We went to Canterbury and then drove into London. We drove past big ben and saw lots of red buses! I loved London it was so great!

We went to the Windsor Castle and had a tour it was really cool we wanted to see the changing of the guards but they didn't do the ceremony :(

We went to Madame Tussaud's wax museum. I got a picture with JOHNNY DEPP!! :D

We also went to Buckingham Palace It was very pretty.

I went to King's Cross to see the Harry Potter thing and I actually went up to a train worker and asked for help finding platform 9 3/4!!

We spent some time at Piccadilly Circus that was pretty great!

When I finally saw the Harry Potter movie I recognized a lot of the places! IT WAS AWESOME!!

Germany

So I went to Germany with my host sister Elise and we had lots of fun with her friends we walked around a lot and just partied it up!

These three trips made my month! I was so glad that I got to do that It made up for the boredom of October

It's a Small World Afterall

It's Only Gonna Get Better

We had another Rotary Activity on the 9th. We went to Namur (the capital of the French region of Belgium) It was great to see my Rotary friends again. I really like that I can connect with them but I also really hope that I can get really close to some of my friends from school too. After the Rotary Activity I went to my friend Emily's house. We had a great sleep over party I had a lot of fun with Emily, from Maine, Linnea, from Finland, and Rosie, from Tennessee.

I can tell I'm gaining weight and I really don't want to. I was going to start volleyball and I went to one practice and it was really good but I don't really like the idea that my team would have to rely on someone who doesn't really know all the rules or even speak the language. The coach was talking and all he cares about is winning and I don't like that attitude... I would much rather just do Zumba or Steps with some friends.

I went to France last week! I went with my school which meant I was supposed to do an assignment but I figured it was best to try to understand what was going on. We went to Reims, Provins, Fontainebleau, and Versailles. One of our assignments was to interview people and my group went up to a man and the girls started asking him questions. He said, "I'm sorry I don't speak very good French." They asked what language and he said English. I did the interview and then had to translate it all into French. The students in my class are really trying to help me learn the language it's really nice. We stayed at a youth hostel and there was lots of drama with the rooms. It felt like home... haha I learned a lot on this trip and I had so much fun making new friends!

I've tasted some new and delicious foods. We had an "inside bbq" last week. My host parents have this little grill thing and you put all the food you want to cook in a little dish and you stick it under the grill. It was really yummy and I tasted a strange version of sunny side up eggs. I cooked it a little too long but it was good. I really like cheese. (I can just imagine my family's reaction to that)

I'm gonna make pancakes for my host family tomorrow morning. :) I'm really excited.

I have had so many experiences over here where something bad almost happens to me and then immediately after I see it happen to someone else. Just this week Justine left her wallet on the train. It's so sad. She lost so many important things including her passport and money and cards. I felt so bad and I really wished there was something I could do to help. I gave her ten euros to get back home and I stayed with her as long as possible to try and comfort her. She might not be able to go to Paris next week and that makes me sad. She's my best friend over here. I love her.

Wednesday there was a big huge party in Louvain la Neuve. This is a city where only students live. There are parties all the time. This was the 24 hour bike race. We went for the parties and it was way fun! People told me that it's not as fun when you don't drink because you know too well what's going on around you. I disagree. I still had a lot of fun. There were lots of concerts playing throughout the city and I think we went to all of them for about 5 seconds. We were walking around so much trying to see everything! I witnessed some pretty crazy things. People peeing on the walls. A million people trying to get out of a train station. Lots of drugs. And a whole bunch of drunk people.

This time is going by so fast! I'm already half done with this family :( I don't wanna leave I wish I could stay here the whole year. I don't think the rotary's gonna go for that though.

I had a test in science and I got 14/15!!! I was so proud!! The only reason i missed a point was because I forgot to write the unity of thermal energy. Jewel. My teacher was really proud of me too seeing as I got 0/20 on the first test.

This year is going great and it's only gonna get better!

It's a Small World Afterall

Pictures... No More Issues :)

So I have LOTS of energy right now cause I just got back from my night class (that sentence doesn't make sense now that I think about it) hahahaha but it's TRUE!!! I always have so much energy after it! I can be myself around them and I get soo hyper and when I get home my host parents always notice! anyways just wanted to get that out there!

Pictures... I figured out that my internet is just a little slow so I have to do just a few photos at a time on facebook and it will work I still can't put them on here because it takes HOURS to put one album on cause I take so many pictures and it only lets me upload 5 at a time so you can look on facebook. If you don't have facebook, well find someone who does and ask if you can borrow it and look at my page! Even people who aren't friends with me can see my pictures so go discover the things that I've already discovered in this BEAUTIFUL, (wet) land of BELGIUM!!!!!! Can anyone else tell that I have A TON of energy right now??????? :P well I do... anyway I'm off to bed! I just hope I can be like this at school tomorrow!

It's a Small World Afterall

Pictures... issues

So I tried to put my pictures on facebook and it said 1832 minutes remaining... I don't think that's normal. So I don't know how to do pictures anymore... any ideas?

It's a Small World Afterall

Sometimes You Just Have To Give Up And Let It Happen

Things have definitely gotten a lot harder.

There are still some really good things happening though!

Friday the 24th was a teacher prep day so we didn't have school and I had a sleep over with Margaux's cousin Cindy. She is really really nice and I like spending time with her but I never know what to say or what we can do. We went to the museum of musical instruments and that was awesome I liked it a lot! They have all these different styles of instruments from different eras and different areas of the world! It was very interesting! We had headphones and could listen to them and it was so cool to hear the difference between all the different pianos. We also got to see displays of how a lot of the instruments were made.

Saturday the 25th was also really fun! We had a rotex activity. We went kyaking it was so much fun! I made lots of new friends and lots of memories! haha. Justine and I didn't fall once!!! we nose dived and filled our boat with water and we got attacked by man eating nature while eating a sandwich haha. We joined three kyaks together by having me and Justine in the middle holding on and the others paddling on the outside haha it was sooo much fun!!!

Monday was the anniversary of the creation of Belgium! We didn't have school so I spent the day with my Rotary friends. I was really glad I got to spend monday with Alyssa because it was our last chance before she left back to the states.

The reason for the title of this post:

I didn't have the best week last week.

On thursday I got a text message from Alyssa saying she was leaving the next morning... That gave me absolutely no notice to do things with her! We were able to spend some time together after school on thursday but not much. It was soo sad at the airport. I'm gonna miss her so much I wish there had been more that I could've done to help her stay.

After I spent some time with Alyssa on thursday I had to go to my night class. I forgot that we were going to a museum so I didn't have my metro card. On any other day it wouldn't have mattered! When I was coming home from the museum I just snuck onto the metro and the tram. Isn't it just my luck that the one day I don't have my card they check for cards on the tram? luckily it was only one stop before mine so it wasn't terribly hard to get home but it still was a really scary experience and I didn't know how to tell my host parents. When I tried to explain myself they didn't understand. When they finally understood they were willing to help however they could.

Friday was sad. We were all crying at the airport. We really didn't want Alyssa to leave. After the airport Justine came to my math class while I took a test and then I went to her school for her last class. Ironically she had a test too! We were on the train a lot and we only stayed at her house for about an hour before I took a train back home and she went to a friends house. When I got to the train station close to my house I got a phone call from my host dad. I had COMPLETELY forgotten about dinner! I wasn't hungry so I didn't think about it. My host family had been waiting for me and I felt awful.

I felt really bad but then thanks to a very helpful message from Candice, my amazing beautiful sister, I felt better. But that doesn't mean that everything got all better.

Saturday I got lost in Bruges and had a hard time telling my host parents where I was.

I kept feeling like everything I was doing was a disappointment.

I realized after I had a great evening with Guillaume's parents that I just needed to let go of everything that had happened. I needed to get it out of my head and forget about it.

Once I did that I didn't feel so bad.

School:

I've had some tests. History was awful! I failed miserably. Science was even worse. I didn't know the answer to a single question! I had another math test. I failed but I was about a half point away from passing and I get a chance to try again so that's okay. French was really good. I feel like I really understood all of the questions and was able to answer them all well. Social Sciences wasn't terrible but not too great. I got 8/20 which for a foreigner with no prior knowledge of the political system of this country was really good. English... I don't even know what to say... When I took the test it was soo easy... I got it back and had 15/20... some of the students in my class did better than me... This is what I don't understand: it was a listening test, the teacher told us to listen and answer the questions. It was describing a painting. The tape said things like "the people at the table are having a drink." The question said what are the people at the table doing? She said we had to use complete sentences so I wrote the people at the table are having a drink. I only got half credit! The second part of the test was looking at a picture and describing the people (the tape described them too) there was one that had the lady's name and the tape described her as "a famous singer at the Moulin Rouge. She has a pale face blue eyes and red lips." So for the answer I wrote She was a famous singer at the Moulin Rouge. She has a pale face, blue eyes, and red lips. I GOT .5/2!!!!! but then on the one that all I wrote was he is tall I got full credit!!! I don't understand and I really need to discuss this with her. I can't do great on a French test and not get 100% on an English test that I should be able to pass as a 2nd grader!!

My teachers are kinda crazy. They get really mad really easily and yell A LOT. Instead of calmly taking care of the situation they shout and tell the kids that they're acting like first graders! A lot of my teachers are great and try to help me understand: my math teacher, social sciences, French, and English. My other teachers: religion, geography, history, and science not so much. They just treat me like a fly on the wall invading their lives.

I lose interest really fast when I feel like my teachers don't want me there. I'm just gonna keep trying and not stress about it.

Thanks for everyone's support! It's too hard to get a lot of pictures on here so look on facebook...

It's a Small World Afterall

It Feels Like Everything That Happened Before I Left Was Another Life

I feel like my family and friends that I left in Utah were all part of a separate life. I feel like I've been here for a life time because I feel like I know people so well and I belong here now. I love that I feel comfortable over here. I still miss everyone back home when I take the time to remember that they are still part of my life. I want everyone to know that no matter where in the world I am I will always be a friend to everyone and I'll always be willing to talk. I am still myself in this new world and I still love helping everyone.

School is getting better little by little. I've had a few tests. Math was okay I got 13 out of 20. History was AWFUL I haven't gotten my score yet but it can't be good. English was a piece of cake my teacher looked at her watch when I finished and then looked at me and just smiled. I think it only took me about 2 minutes. In my French class I have to read a book and it just so happens that the book I got assigned is 450 pages!! IN FRENCH!! I have a month to read it and right a letter to the girl who presented it. AAAH I've only read 15 pages! My night class is pretty good. I've made some friends there. My teacher is really nice. Right now I feel like it's a little too easy but I'm beginning to think it will get more challenging. It is really helping me with my language and with my confidence. Each class period I speak more in French and feel more comfortable with it.

I have gone into downtown Brussels quite a few times but I really wish I could go farther away more often with my new friends. People always come here though. Hopefully next time we'll go farther away :)

I really like my host family! I am comfortable around them and I talk to them whenever I can form the right sentence in my head. (luckily, that happens quite a bit it just comes slower than I would like)

Sunday was the Journée Sans Voitures (day without cars) in order to save gas everyone went places on bike or public transportation. It was soo cool! There were so few cars I was shocked! I found out that you can actually get in trouble if you drive without authorization. I was thinking about what it would be like to see a big U.S. city like L.A., San Francisco, or New York. That would never work out!

It's a Small World Afterall

More PICTURES!!!

Look on Facebook for captions and if anyone can teach me how to make captions work on here that would be lovely!!!