Salut !

Hey everyone,

I know it has been a really longtime since I have last written, life here has just seemed to catch my up in its whirlwinds... So I a very busy with the end of year things with my final exams and saying "goodbye"... I'm coming home the 1st of July and for the moment I can't even imagine being back in good ol' Eugene... Life gives it's gifts everyday and I am thankful for that. I'm trying to take advantage of the old churches that I see everyday dating hundreds of years, that now seem so normal to me but are rare back home. I'm sorry that I haven't written much over past months, it it would have been the least I could have done, but life just sort of swept me off my feet. I promise to share with you all about my advantages and my tales from this year a board, and trust me I have enough photos to show for it... So for the moment I'm just living the rest of my Belgian life while it lasts, thanks to all who read my blogs and I look forward to seeing you when I get home... My family is throwing my a little party/ Open house for when I get back, you are all more than welcome to come and the invitation is on the bottom,
Lots of love from Belgium,
Be seeing you soon,
Bisous,
Lizzy

Lizzy's Coming Home !!!

From a year away in Belgium

Information

Event Info
Host:	Gillespie Family
Type:	Party - House Party

Time and Place
Date:	Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Time:	3:30pm - 7:00pm
Location:	Gillespie House
Street:	2660 University St.
City/Town:	Eugene, OR
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Contact Info
Phone:	5414850304
Email:	duckse2410@gmail.com

Description

United 5786 Arrive: EUG 02:27 PM

So Lizzy is coming home from living an exchange year in Belgium. Her flight number coming into Eugene is up above at 2:2 pm, you are more than welcome to come and greet her at the airport, and if you are unable to come to the airport or after welcoming her, you are all invited to an open house from 3:30- 7:00pm, but please come to the airport if you can. You are welcomed to stop by at anytime and say hi to Lizzy and eat and drinks some snacks.Thank you for helping us welcome her back to the U.S. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to call .

Carnival jusqu'au 20 Fev.

Hi ,

So here is an update, when I last left off I was about to head off to Amsterdam for the last three days of Carnival Vacation. The 8,9 and 10th of Febuaray: I got up early friday morning and got onto the train to Brussels where I met up with 50 other Rotary exchange students, got on a bus and headed about 2 and a half hours to Amsterdam, Holland. We stop for the afternoon in Delft where the famous blue china is hand made and which is also the home of Vermeer, the famous painter known for his painting "The girl with the pearl earring". Allowing us free time in the afternoon me and my friend Audra from California, sat in the beautiful sun, walked around the canals and took advantage of Holland. We also went into one of the only Catholic churches left in Delft because when the Protestants came they forbid all churches of Catholisisme. So this church is hidden, and cannot be seen from the street and when you enter you follow a small hallway and then arrive in this huge beautiful sanctuary. All hand made and still in use today. Usually the huge Cathedrals amaze me but just this simple sanctuary was so beautiful. After a wonderful afternoon in Delft we arrived in Amsterdam where we stayed at a Youth Hostile. It was the first time I stayed at a hostile and I would have to say it wasn't too bad. Later that night after we had eaten we went to the Van Gogh Museum, which I would have to say is by far one of my favorite museums. Early the next morning we ate and then went to Anne Frank's House which was sensational especially after reading her diary and studying her, just to see her very diary and see the house she lived in was amazing. Unfortunately you cannot take pictures so I guess you just have to go see it yourselves. After that we walked through a Saturday market and then took a boat ride through a lot of the canals in Amsterdam. We really lucked out because it was sunny and quite pleasant for our whole stay. After eating lunch on the grand place where they make coins, we walked across Amsterdam to the Rijks Museum where we saw Rembrandt, and Vermeer and other artists. They gave us the early evening off and Audra and I walked around and found an American Store ! It was so cool seeing all the American items like mac n'cheese and yummy peanut butter. But boy was it expensive, 3,45 euros for a box of mac n' cheese are you kidding me! Then in the night time we all went and walked through the famous red light district and after that all of us even the Rotarians went to a bar/club and danced the night away ! The next day we all packed our bags then we went and visited the flower market, an old movie theater and a 1860's house and also saw the Jewish museum and a synagogue. Then we returned back to the hostile ate a quick bite and left for Brussels. All in all it was a great trip.
The first week back was ok, on thursday it was Valentine's Day, so happy late Valentine's Day to you all, and I made Valentine's for everyone in my class. Here it's only really done between lover's so everyone in my class was surprised but really appreciated it. Only Ylsa another exchange student at my school made valentine's for all her friends. The Senior class handed out pre ordered roses, white ones for friendship, and red one's for love. The week sort of went by slowly and not too great or anything exciting. My host parent's left for the weekend so I went and stayed at a friend's house Valerie for the weekend. Saturday night my club hosted a night of Blues where they had a Blue's player come and sing then ate and danced the night away . It was fun to dance, and Val was there and we did modern dance while all the other Rotarians just did their couple dances. :) . Sunday was a day full of sleeping and then Monday and today I had no school because all the teachers had workshops. So yesterday or Monday I went with Valerie to see Sweeney Todd in Brussels and today I went to Brussels as well and got a new pair of shoes. I have to say here it is quite frustrating for people like me with big feet cause they don't make big sizes for girl's in most shoes, grr. I had the best surprise today. Val and I were walking around Brussels and went into a little shop, and Geral Depardieu was there in the shop looking at some books !!! I got a autograph it was so great, supposedly he was filming a film just outside. For those of you who don't know who Gerald Depardieu is either look him up on Google, or something but he played in Cyrano de Bergerac, Asterixs and is a super famous actor ! So that is my check up for right now, hope all is well,
lots of love,
Lizzy

Long needed check up

Hi everyone,

Happy holidays and Happy New Year! Even though it's kind of belated. I'm sorry that I haven't written in a long time, every time an opportunity came up something happen and so I just haven't be able to get around to it. So I left off from my voyage in Italy which was now at least two months ago. I guess I will just give little summaries of what has been happening in my life since then.

The month of December:

This month was one of the busiest months for me. The first weekend I had my first real choir concert in a Church in Graty a town in the city limits of Silly. Just a month before I had preformed but it was a small group of people for the Saint Cecile and I got to introduce the groups, one of the most embarrassing things of my life, is messing up Marmotte and Marmutte, which is prairie dog or mammoth and everyone laugh. But anyways it was really great getting to sing in an Old Church. We sang song Christmas songs but other songs too. There was about 7 Rotarians from my club that came to hear me and even our neighbors and my counselor came. It felt great singing for them and showing them what I like to do. With two weeks into the month our exams started. Exams here are before winter vacation which in some ways is really convenient but in others just a pain. I took three oral exams in Geography, Chemistry and History. I had four written exams in Math, Biology, Physics and French. I did quite well on my oral exams but the written ones weren’t the best grades I have ever gotten. J

The weekend of the 15-16 of December I changed families. Changing families is/was probably the hardest thing for me on this exchange, especially because I loved my first host family. I also had to switch earlier than proposed because that’s what Rotary decided for me and that wasn’t very great either. But none the less, now I live in Lessines, Belgium a much larger town than Silly. I live in a huge three story house on top on a hill. I have 5 sisters including Juliette from my last family because I am now with her dad and his new wife. I live on the third story so I get a lot of exercise going up and down the stairs. I have to say that living with 5 sisters is a lot louder and hectic than I could have ever imagined. The ages of the girls range from 3 to 16. There is hardly ever quite but when there is it is appreciated. Even though it’s crazy around here sometimes we manage to have fun!

Winter break started for me the 21^st of December and it is so wonderful!!!!! Christmas quickly arrived once school was out, and with Christmas arrived the crazy holidays! I got the opportunity to go back to my first host family for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. It was wonderful getting to see my first family and all their relatives all together. We first took an apero than opened presents, and then for the rest of the evening and early morning we ate, talked and laughed. Christmas day I returned back to Lessines to my second house family where we spent a pleasant Christmas day together. The following day was another celebration for Christmas and Camille’s Birthday which is the 24^th of December with Anne’s Family. Unfortunately I was really sick with a high fever for two days. After Christmas the rest of my vacation passed in a flash including going to Brugge to se an ice maze and going with friends to Anterwerp! New Years was a blast I went with friends to Brussels for New Years, and it was great, there was a bunch of exchange students there and we saw lots of people! The only sad part was there were no fireworks because the Belgian government had been getting terrorist threats.

The first day of the New Year I packed my bags and moved to my third host family, while my second family left to visit their daughter in India for 3 weeks. My third host family is a huge change from the other two, first off I have three brothers from the ages of 9 to 16, and second they live in the middle of the country. I must say that it was hard for me at first because they didn’t have internet and we were out in the middle of no where, but in the end it really showed me something. The thing is we get so enthralled with our lives and technology it is sometimes nice to take a break, and also it really shows me how great it is to have the technology that we have today, especially in communicating.

January:

The month of January was full of school and studying not the most interesting things in the world to tell. On the 26^th of January my school seniors held a ball, where they tried to imitate our version of prom to fundraise money. I have to say that it was pretty different and the tickets were a lot cheaper but it was really fun, seeing everyone dressed up in fancy gowns and dancing with friends the night away. In some ways it was a lot better than our prom back home because it lasted till 2 in the morning instead of midnight like back home. January brought on cold winds and dark mornings walking to the train station every morning. I must say the transportation here is great and it makes living far away from school a lot easier. Everyone morning I get up around 5:30 to take the train at 7:00 am. It is also a 15 minute walk to the train station. But now I really appreciate living close enough to school to walk and not have to get up super early in the morning. The 22^nd of January I had my first excursion with the school and it was amazing, we went to Brussels and we saw a film and then heard a speaker who talked to us about the Genocide in Rwanda. I have to say that it was really amazing and it made you think about your life. January the 23^rd I passed my half mark here in Belgium! I have to say that I don’t feel like coming home yet, but I am so grateful that I am here. Everyday is a learning experience and I cherish every single day that I am here.

February:

Now it is the month of February, the first week of February we have the vacation of Carnival that last one week! The first weekend of carnival aka this past weekend and just till Tuesday night I went to France with my first host family. We went to Bourgogne and to the Lake of Der. It was beautiful there, and we watched les Grues or Cranes eat in the fields and then fly back to the lake at night. We also went to the Champagne town of the world and tasted a couple of different champagnes even Rose champagne. It was really great getting away and seeing the French countryside and living in a little Gite or country house. Now I am back in Lessines for a couple of days and this Friday I leave for Amsterdam for the weekend with Rotary!

I’m really sorry for taking so long to write and I am now making it a goal to write even a couple sentences at least one or at the maximum every two weeks to keep you all informed on my life here in Belgium. I really hope that you are all well and not having too much fun in that snow in Eugene!

Warmest wishes from Belgium,

Bisou,

Lizzy

Checkin

Hi everyone,
I'm sorry I've been really busy, and I plan to put up a post here in the next week, hopefully everyone is enjoying the snow,
Bisous,
Lizzy

Italy, The Festival of the White Truffle ( la tartoufo)

Hi Everyone,

I just got back today from Italy ! I was very privileged to be invited by my host club here in Belgium to go to Italy with them for the Festival of the White Truffle. The White Truffle is like the Black truffle found in France except the White is more rare, and has a different taste to it and a stronger scent. The truffle is not a chocolate truffle at all nor a mushroom but a type of Fungi and can even be considered as a disease of certain trees. My voyage began early Saturday morning on the 17 of November, and when I say early I mean I was picked up at my house at 3:45 am after sleeping only a few hours. Our flight left around 6:30 from Brussels -Sud or Charleroi on Ryanair. Ryanair is such a great idea and system you can basically fly anywhere in in Europe for around 50 Euros round trip depending on where you are going. We arrived in Pisa after a one hour 30 minute flight. We took the bus to the train station where we deposited our luggage and then took the bus to the old ramparts of Pisa.

There is the Cathedral and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was beautiful ! We had a guide who took us around and showed us and explained the different history. Vincent (a Rotarian) and I were the only one's that went up into the Tower of Pisa while the other's in the group went a visited the old cemetery. There is only allowed to be 35 people in the tour at once, now because they just reinforced it with cables under ground and still has a potential to fall if enough people are on the leaning side at the same time. To get up to the top you take a spiraling staircase with lots of steps. At the top there is an amazing view, with Bells and the Pisa flag at the top. We lucked out because it was a beautiful sunny day ! Afterwards we met up with the group and visited the Dumo and the Baptistery (I think that's what it is called). And we ate lunch in a outside cafe, in the sun and I had fresh cannolis!

Later in the afternoon we took a train to Saint Miniato. We arrived just as the sun was setting it was beautiful! We dropped our baggages off in the Monastery we stayed at, which is still in use and went on a walk. Saint Miniato is based on a hillside so all walking is up and down. It's a beautiful town, and each center square or crossroads had white tents set up where vendors were selling meats, desserts, cheeses and other items. On the very top of the hill was a mass of white tents with all the White truffle vendors inside. Now the white truffle has a very particular scent and is very flavorful. The vendors had everything made out of white truffle from butter to pesto. Vincent bought fresh green olives which were delicious. For dinner we ate with the Rotarians of Saint Miniato and I made two Italian friends Benedetta and Carajauna both my age. We had 4 main plats served all based and garnished with white truffle. It was amazing I have never eaten so well in my life. Afterwards we returned to the Monastery.
Sunday morning we had a guided tour of Saint Miniato and it was a elder Rotarian who lived in Saint Miniato his whole life, and told us a heart breaking story of how he was doing mess in the Cathedral on the top of the hill during WWII and a bomb that was missed fired landed in the church and killed 50 people including his best friend. We ate a restaurant for lunch that served different pate with white truffle of course and then some pasta and white truffle and some liver and white beans. For dessert they served us a traditional dessert which is a strong sweet brandy made in Saint Miniato with dried "fruit cake" type biscotti's which you dipped in your brandy it was quite good. We also had little eclairs type things but round in different flavors. In the afternoon it was free time, and it was very crowded as well.
For our last supper we went to a really chic restaurant underground in old wine cellars and I had of course pasta. Today, Monday, we got up early and we didn't hail the bus when it passed so we missed our train so we ended up taking taxis 40km to Pisa. (Supposedly you have to hail city buses in order for them to stop). And then we took the plane back home. Overall it was an amazing trip and all 11 of us really enjoyed it I'm sure. Italy was gorgeous and warm but then we were welcomed back to Belgium in the cold gray fog. I'm really glad that I was invited and that's it for now.
Ciao
Lizzy

Photos:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71907&l=c829f&id=803190472

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71930&l=6bb37&id=803190472

Toussaint Vacation Oct. 27 - Nov. 5

Hi Everyone,

So we just had a week of vacation or Toussaint Vacation, which here is the day of the dead the first of November. Where people take Chrysanthemum to cemeteries and thinks of those dead. And so we get a week off of school. So early the morning of the 27th which was a Saturday, I got on the train with another exchange student from Arizona to go to Tournai , where we meet up with a bus that took us to England!. There were in total 99 exchange students that went on the trip. So there were two charter buses. From Tournai we went to Calais, France where we took the Ferry to England. And of course we saw the beautiful white cliffs of Dover and we stopped in Canterbury for the afternoon to walks around. We arrived in London at night, to have it's bright lights welcoming us. It's was really amazing and I love London now. The next day, the 28th we started of at Madame Toussaud's wax mueseum and then later in the afternoon we went to Windsor castle and the Queen was actually there, even thought I didn't actually see her or anything. We took a bus tour at night which was amaizng and none of my pictures turned out, but oh well. The last day we were in London, we had sunshine the whole day. We started off at the Tower of London, where we took a huge group picture. Then they let us have the rest of the day to ourselves. So me and three other exchange students explored London together. It was great, we were just walking on the street a little lost, but we came to a Church and we entered and it turned out to be the oldest church in England, and I touched it's first walls, which was built around 300. After we took the metro all around London, stopping at Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Hard Rock Cafe London (for dinner), British Museum, walked around London's biggest park and rode on a Double Decker Bus ( for two stops but still). Also we walked across the London Bridge! We spent the whole night of the 29th taking the Ferry and coming back to Belgium and we arrived at Tournai at 5 a.m. ! The 30th I slept the whole day. London was really expensive, because of the exchange rate, but ti truly is a beautiful city and I hope that i get the chance to return someday, maybe even encounter a British man with a nice English accent (:) kidding). For Halloween my family didn't have anything special planned. Here its a begging holiday and most of the kids go treat or treating during the day. So I took the train to Bruxelles and spent the night with two other Rotary Exchange Students and watched movies and ate candy. It makes me said that they don't have the same holidays at back home, but in another way I love celebrating new ones. November the 2nd, Nathalie and Voisin (my host parents) and I went to Koksijde, which is a Flemish town on the 50 km of Belgian Coastline. Voisin has an apartment there which he shares with his parents. It is a cute little town. Before we arrived at the apartment we stopped at another town, and ate lunch in a special restaurant. By saying special I mean more so different. In this restaurant they don't have menus, or utensils and everything is the same price, and you have one option of food, Chicken. This restaurant serves half chicken to people, who are required to use their hands hence no utensils and they give us lots and lots of napkins. I think that it's actually a great idea, and you don't have to do as much washing of dishes. Also the restaurant had Halloween decorations which made me happy. And to make it even better the chicken halves only cost 3,50 euros, how cheap is that!. After that we left for the apartment. We spent the night drinking in outside cafes and I walked on the beach at night and saw the most beautiful thing ever. The tide was coming in and with it, it brought little jellyfishes, but as the water ran over them they turned this brilliant blue, and would literally light up the beach. But as they were left in the air, they slowly died out. It was sucks an amazing site, I have never seen something so pretty in my life. Saturday we just hung out, and at night Voisin's old math teacher had aperitifs with us and his family. For dinner Voisin's Godfather came with his wife and daughter and we went to a really nice restaurant where everyone ate mussels. I tried some, but had a hamburger patty and chocolate mousse to eat. Sunday, my last day of vacation :(, my host mom and I got up early in the morning and walked about 5km on the boardwalk first then on the way back on the beach. It was really nice just walking and let your mind wander. Then we had some of the beaches famous ice cream. Inside of salt water taffy here they have what they call babeluttes which are long stick of sugar and flavored differently. Then in the afternoon we went to Brugge, the Venice of Belgium. Also if very famous for it's lace. It was such a pretty town, and i hope that I can return because we didn't get much time there. They have these beautiful canals and there is a lake at the end of all the canals called the lake of lovers, which lots of swans and beautiful reflections. So that was my vacation of Toussaint. And this week we got our bulletin grades, but here if you get more than 10/20 it is a C+ and more than 16 is impossible. Anyways I did pretty well, I got mostly 14/20 's and 11/20's, but I haven't gotten all my grades yet, but what is amazing is that one a Math test I got 18/20 which is impossible and the rest of the class got less than 5 /20. And in French class we had a test on a French book we read at home and I got 25,5 /20 with a class average of 21 and this is a junior level class here people. So I'm pretty satisfied with myself. The only class I'm really having trouble with is Chemistry class because all the elements are different and it's actually really hard. Also French class is hard, because the teacher dictates all notes, but my French is coming along. Well that's what is up with me right now, life is hard but it's coming along. It's definitely becoming winter here because I come home from school with the sunset and it's quite cold, and it snowed in some parts of Belgium already. It makes me really tired but also working hard makes everyone tired, note look at my pictures. I'm sure winter will be good though. Well I'll write later,

Bisous,

Lizzy


Pictures:

London:

London I: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66669&l=f475c&id=803190472

London II: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66670&l=2eaa0&id=803190472

London III: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66982&l=7e50a&id=803190472

London IV: http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67008&l=50b6e&id=803190472


Ocean and Brugge:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69837&l=7ffc1&id=803190472

La Belgique upadate !

Wow, it seems that it takes me a month each time to write a new blog, but I guess that I have been quite busy. Let's see where I left off. On the 27th of September, which was a Thursday we did not have school, so I went with Julien, Matthieu, Samy and Floris to the park Paradiso. It was fun, we rode our bikes there and it took about 45 minutes to get there, except it was easy going there because it was all down hill. Now coming back was a different story, it began to rain and it was all hills so it took around an hour and a half. The park itself was beautiful ! They have all sorts of different animals, in different environments and sections. They also so have a lot of birds. There is even this really beautiful Japanese garden, it was so pretty. We were luck that afternoon to have sun. Also they had these bridges/walkways up in the trees and you walked above the whole park. We even played in the Kids playpen thing, because it was big enough for adults to even do it. The part was really beautiful, and they had a lot of turtles also which was great.The weekend of the 28th, 29th and the 30th of September as I mentioned in my last post was the Neighborhood party. It was on Saturday the 29th. So all Friday night we prepared for it, and Mimi or Miriam brought home from her work homemade pizzas!! I didn't know that I would miss pizza's even though I don't eat them much at home. Then on Saturday we had the party, but sadly it rained all day :(. But it was still really fun, cause we used Nathalie's old barn to eat, and hang out. A funny thing about Belgians, is that they organized a lunch and aperitif but then it lasts just until 1 a.m. . The boys or Matthieu and Julien (neighbors) put snails on the door of their uncle's house (he lives right next door to them) because he claims to be the king of snails and they also call him "petit gris" which is snail. It was disgusting though, because later in the night Petit Gris, Voisin, and another guy all ate live snails ! ! ! Now they have a special group, and keep asking me to join by eating a snail. :P. But overall it was fun ! Then the next afternoon I had Patro, boys and girls which was fun. The girls in my group are selling Lasagna and Calendars to raise money for a trip this year. We just hung out on Sunday and starting preparing for the workman that came the following week to replace all the windows and the doors. The first week of October, was a week that was not very fun, because there was dust everywhere from the work on the windows and doors, and so we cleaned all week. Then the first week of October was yet another week of school. They changed the schedule which was sad for me, because now I only have Math class with the seniors and they are really a great class. But a funny story, Thursday the 4th of October I went to a Rotary meeting, and I got home pretty late, and when I arrived the front door was locked! And all the lights were out in the house. Now realise that it was also 11 at night. I tried all the doors and it was closed. Fabrice (my Rotary counselor here) even honked the horn of his car a couple of times, but nothing happened. We even threw rocks on the window of my host parents bedroom. So I ended up spending the night at Fabrice's on the floor of his daughter's room and the early the next morning I came home. Good times :) ! The first weekend in October we just cleaned and I had Patro and the girls sold Lasagna while the other animateurs and I went a started working on the calendar. The second week of October or the week of the 8th was a short week for me, because on Thursday I got sick with a flu/cold. But a positive note, I got 18/20 on my geography test, and 13/20 in math ! Which mans a lot better than anyone in my class. I didn't go to school Thursday or Friday, and then on the weekend I went to Namur for a Rotary meeting with all the Rotary Students in Belgium. It was fun and the river was beautiful and so was the day. Then last week, I stayed home sick almost the whole week, just until Friday which was a half day for me anyways. Wednesday night we did a Belgian tradition. Everywhere here there are betteraves fields or sugar beets. So Voisin went and took a couple beets and we washed them and carved them ! It's like carving pumpkins but a lot harder, because we actually have to cut out the inside it's not hollow. It was really fun! And what's even better is that when you put a candle on the inside and light it, it smells like caramel ! Voisin told me that it takes a whole sugar beet to make one cube of sugar. Anyway that was so much fun, Juliette made a pirate, Voisin made a face and I made one with a nose. They are so cute! They even each have their own little chimney. On Thursday I gave my presentation to my Rotary Club here, and it went really well and they all want to come to Oregon now ! Then Friday I went to school just until noon, where I was picked up by a Rotarian and we went to Laval, France for the weekend! Now that was a great experience. We left Friday afternoon around one, and it took us 6 hours to get to France. We also stopped for an hour to have a glass of Champagne in the parking lot. When we arrived, we walked a little bit and then had dinner in a nice little restaurant with some of the members of the Laval club. Then we went home with French families. My family was also hosting a girl from the U.S. but she was from South Carolina. Her name was Emily and she was really sweet and an amazing singer. It was fun to hangout with her and she spoke French pretty well, so I got to speak French all weekend long. On Saturday we got up at 6 a.m. after going to bed at 12 a.m. to leave to go to Caen first off. In Caen we visited a beautiful museum on the World War 1 and 2 and the Nazi's invading France and us saving them. It was gorgeous, and there was a wonderful part on the concentration camps and I shed a few tears, but it was amazing. Sadly we didn't even get to see the whole museum because we were in a rush. I would love to go back there someday. Then next we went and saw the Tapesserie de Bayeaux, which is not like normal tapesserie's but is really long but not very wide. It tells a story about the Normand's (Viking Time) and there conquers. After that we went and ate lunch . Lunch was really good and they served us fresh Cider, it was really good, I had to try it. Then after Lunch we went to the Cathedral de Bayeux, which was beautiful with stained glass windows and a open tomb where you can see one of the first pillars of the original Cathedral dating back hundreds of years. Then we all got back into the cars and went to Omaha beach. Where we saw the thousands of crosses for all the American men and women who gave their lives to France. It was really moving and touching, we even saw the ceremony of the taking down of the American flag. We then returned to Laval, where we went to a concert of Carmina Burana where there was a choir of at least hundreds and a live symphony. Even a little kids choir group sang too. It was really great. The next day, we went to a Rotarian's Chateau, which is more like a huge mansion. It was extraordinary! She had a lot of old things and in one room it even still had the same original wallpaper which was a mix of copper and gold, beautiful. After that we went and saw an old laundry mat which was also on her property that she is redoing so she can rent the cottage. It was fabulous, she discovered the original walls, in the cottage, meaning the hay and cement mix with the original wood. And to top everything off, her mansion looked out on a huge field of cosmos ! Finally to end our trip to Laval we went to a restaurant where they served us sour kraut and meats. It was actually really good and they gave us an amazing dessert !I met a Canadian exchange student as well, Stephanie who was extremely nice as well. A funny thing though, was they had dogs on the bar sitting there, not something you normally see. After that we said our goodbyes and returned home. Oh, and in my French family was also a little girl! And it was great because as a gift I gave my French family a cd of the Eugene Symphony, which they really appericated and invited me back anytime I want :)! And on the ride home, the president of my Rotary club here, talked to me and told me that everyone really enjoyed my company and then invited me to go to Italy with them next month! And of course I said yes. We are going for the festival of the White truffles which are mushrooms, and like the black truffle you find elsewhere but more rare and super expensive, and I'm going no charge! I really like my Rotary club even though they are mostly older people they are all still really nice. They told me that would like to adopt me to stay here forever if they could. So yah! And this week had been ok, mostly school. I got back a French paper I wrote (by hand, no one uses word processing here) and I got 18/30, which doesn't seem like much, but in Belgian standards its really good and I got a higher score then some Belgian students. And also yesterday Voisin made fondue and we got to dip meat into hot soup and it was so much fun. And we even got to play with our food, meaning we played a little game called "petite pois" which means little pea. Basically you take a pea and you see how far you can raise it up in the air by blowing. Who ever said yo can't play with your food obviously has never been to Belgium ! Then today, I had a half day, like yesterday (yesterday because it's a Wednesday and its always half day Wednesday) because all my teachers went with the senior class to France for a day trip. And this next weekend I leave for London on a 4 day trip. Its great starting this Friday we have a week of vacation for Touissant (the holiday of the dead) like Halloween, but Belgian style. And then next week I'm going to the Coast with my family. I'll let you know about it. So yes, I have been having a good time here, it's been difficult at times, especially when I was sick, it was hard being away from my family, and especially because I didn't know the medicine I could or couldn't take. But now I'm doing a lot better. I can't believe its been already 2 months !!! Now, I'm smiling everyday, enjoying everyday, and making the most of every single day that I am here in this wonderful country!
Well my best wishes to everyone,
Happy Halloween,

Hugs,

Lizzy

p.s feel free to email me!

below:
photos!!
(each address is a different album of photos, what can I say I like photos) :)

Neighbor Party:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62318&l=fcef8&id=803190472

Paradiso:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64965&l=c1191&id=803190472
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64968&l=1f92c&id=803190472
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64970&l=43fb9&id=803190472
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64971&l=831b1&id=803190472
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64972&l=5427a&id=803190472
(I took a lot of photos)

Namur:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62321&l=f5e4b&id=803190472

Betteraves/ Sugar beets:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62537&l=9acae&id=803190472

France:

http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64974&l=ecc60&id=803190472
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64976&l=3e1c5&id=803190472
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64979&l=cc85f&id=803190472
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=64982&l=25a11&id=803190472