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

Update from Belgium

Hi everyone,

Sorry, it's been so long since I've written, I have been quite busy. Let's see, school started here, and I really enjoy it. I have 12 hours of science each week, which is a lot but it is better than taking English and Flemish classes. I have half my classes with Seniors and the other half with Juniors or 5 graders. I am technically in the class 5 G B which means 5 th grade, general and only 4 hours of math each week. I have classes with the 6th graders or Seniors because I am not taking English or Flemish courses. My classes are hard or strong science, meaning 7 hours a week and with my extra hours makes 12 hours, then Spanish, History, Geography, French (Poetry, Language and Expression or Writing), Math, Gym ( it really annoys me because here no one knows how to do gym and its girls boys separated so I'm with all these girls that don't even know how to run properly and they where pumas which aren't running shoes to run, and so when I started gym I was and still am the best runner in the class), and Moral class ( the teacher thinks he can speak English and its really nice of him because he tries to translate things for me and it's harder for me to understand his English than French). I already am friends with most of the people in 5GB and I am also good friends with the neighbors across the street because the are the same age as me and two years younger, and then the oldest, Julien who is my age has a friend Sammy who I get along well with. School is hard to understand and at times it is nearly impossible for me to understand. I have gotten frustrated because I really want to do my best and be good, and I can't because it's in a foreign language. I take the bus everyday to and from school and every wednesday I have a half day. This Thursday it is even a no school day, but school on Friday :(. The past weekends have been crazy. Let's see the first weekend of September I went to Raotary meting and found out about all the awesome trips that will be happening !! The ones I hope to go on is to London, Greece, Venice, Amsterdam, Prague and Berlin. But all the trips cost a lot so I'm looking for ideas to fundraise.That weekend also was the 50th wedding Anniversary of my host mom's godfather. Here godparents are quite common and very popular in families. Last weekend was the weekend of Patro in Lobbes celebrating 40 years !!!! So for those who don't know Lobbe is a small town in Belgium and Patro is like scouts and the colors of Patro are green and yellow ( go ducks) and the symbol is a duck too great! I am also in Patro but in my town Silly, because it is a great way to work with children and get community service. I am a animatrice or head person and in July we go on a huge camping trip for a week but I didn't know yet if I can go or not, we'll see. So the 40 years celebration took all weekend. Then another week full of school. I finally got a Belgium cell phone number ! Then this past weekend I went to a Belgium marriage which was wonderful and different. They don't even have to get married at a church but at the Mayor's office and City hall. So the day started with a little champagne at the bride's house then we went to city hall and the bridal party went on an old London bus. Then we went to a church and then finally to a reception area which lasted till 3 in the morning. We had an aperitif with escargots, and scrimp and more champagne and soup for two hours. My host mom's boyfriend also dressed up in a special attire with other men to salt Benjamin the groom in his marriage and then he also sung with his father at the wedding in ridiculous outfits as well.Then we had a five course dinner. After I left with my host sister because we went to a soiree at Naast with at least 2,000 people and danced the night away. But my host mom stayed and said they service an wonderful ice cream cake and danced the night away as well. It was a beautiful wedding, and the photo link is at the bottom. Then Sunday morning I got up super early and went to a Rotary BBQ with English Rotarians and they invited me to come visit their club which is great ! And after that I had Patro for three hours where we walked 7 km and took us 3 hours. They just dropped us off in the countryside and we had to find our way back, while also getting things on a list. It was fun. Today school started again, which is always fun. Next weekend we are having a huge neighborhood party, where we shut down the street and party the day away. Here they party a lot. Another big issue here right now is the seperation of Belgium and there lack of a government. I do know that it's the Flemish party thats pushing for it and my host family refuses to be just French but Belgian. It's quite interesting to be a part of it, we'll see how it turns out. Well that's what's new for right now.
Hugs and Kisses,
feel free to email me as well,
duckse2410@gmail.com

Love,

Bises,


Lizzy


http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=56889&l=0b6ee&id=803190472

The 26th of August through the 31st !

Bonjour a tous,

I'm having such a wonderful time here its hard to find time to write on this blog. On sunday or the 26th, in the morning I went with Voisin to his choir to sing, and I will be doing this every Sunday now. My host mom Nathalie, her boyfriend Voisin and I went to "la dousse d'Ath" which is basically a celebration in the town of Ath. We went there and for two hours we watched a parade pass with giants and marching bands, each representing a piece of history. It took a long time because just down the street everyone stopped and had beer, and then continued. Here beer is drunk like soda. It was great however. All a long the streets of Ath are flags with the colors purple, white and yellow, which are the colors of Ath. You can even buy necklaces and bracelets to wear as well. Besides the parade, there were numerous carnival rides, and I had my first corne of frites or cone of french fries !!! And crustillons. They had so many different things you could put on the fries from ketchup to tarter sauce to fish sauce. And crustillons are a specialty in Belgium which is just fried batter balls sprinkled with powered sugar. They also deep apples, bananas and pineapples in the batter and deep fried them as well. Overall it was a great adventure.
Monday or the 27th I went to my rotary counselor's house and rode horses with his daughter. It was fun, but weird for me because we rode English saddles and I had never done that before.
Then Tuesday I went to the Coast with my counselor and his family. The beach here is a huge boardwalk, at least the one I went to. WE rented a huge bicycle slash 4 wheeler and rode all up and down the boardwalk. Then we roller skated up and down it and finally just walked along the beach. Xavier the small boy of my counselor just went and ran into the cold water. We were lucky though because it was beautiful and sunny the whole day. Then we went and had famous ice cream from a famous shop that starts with a V oops... And we also got Babeluttes which are sticks of candy made only on the coastal areas. That night they took me to a Tuisinain restaurant where we order couscous and it came in a huge bowl of plan couscous then we had to add vegetables which consisted of turnips and carrots. Then you add meat and sauces to each individual bowl, it was wonderful!!!!! What a great day !
On Wednesday I had a Rotary meeting in Bruxelles where we went to the Royal Palace and then to the Senate and I meet the President of the Senate and talked to him ! Not even my host family has seen the senate. There is about 300 exchange students in Belgium from all three districts. It was a lot of fun meeting some many people from many different countries. I took the train there and back. Then Wednesday night Voisin's god father and wife and daughter Virginie came over and we all dinner together. Christine (the wife of the god father) just bought a brand new Chihuahua which she named pee wee and he is only three months old ! So cute yet so small we call him crevette or shrimp.
Thursday Juliette (my host sister), Voisin and me went into Ath and walked around the Thursday market until around noon, when Juliette and I took the train to her father's house. It was his birthday Thursday so we went to celebrate it. He father will also be my second host family. He and his wife Anne ( Juliette's step-mom) have four girls living with them. Three of which are from Anne's first marriage: Aurelie (14 years old), Deborah (11 years old), and Virginie or Titi (8 years old). Then Camille who is two and a half. (and adorable) So we cooked dinner and appetizers for his birthday. It was a lot of fun, and we ended up staying up till 1 or so.
Then today or Friday, Voisin and me went to my school and got information on my school. I start on the 9th of September but for half a day to get registered for classes and stuff. I will be in 5 th grade ! (the have a different way of counting). I'm really excited to start school and begin making friends and improving my French. Well that's it for now. And for my photos it is really hard to put them up on this blog so I put them on another called Facebook and then links are below.

Bises,

Lizzy



Ath pictures:
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49624&l=8f94d&id=803190472

Bruxelles pictures:
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49968&l=df5ff&id=803190472

Other Pictures:
http://hs.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48419&l=2bf59&id=803190472

Neighborhood

My neighbor Hugo and his tractor Joseph which he talks to regularly ! The other day he brought over some pictures to show me especially because they were of my house when he was little and how much it has changed since then.

Wow, already three days in Belgium don't worry I'm alive !!

Salut,

It has already been three days since I have been in Belgium and what an adventure it has been. To start with my plane from Portland to Minneapolis was delayed two hours because President Bush decided to go and shut down the whole airport, and then they were doing construction on a runway. Arriving two hours late into Minneapolis: Clarissa, Ian and I missed our flight to Amsterdam. But we got on standby and waited and as we waited we meet two other Rotary Exchange students Ernie and Emily both from California. Also we met two other Rotarians going to Belgium to see there old host brother and go on a biking trip across Europe. After making it to Amsterdam, we missed our other flight from Amsterdam to Brussels by an hour because our plane was yet again delayed. We got on the 5 o'clock flight, so we didn't have to wait too long. We also saw a picture you would never in the U.S airport and portrait of a womens naked breast, it jsut shows how open there culture is.After an exhausting day, we finally arrive in Brussels, and since this whole voyage no one else knew French I was the leader of the gang, so when our baggage was not in Brussels when we arrived, we had to fill out claim sheets which I did for most everyone because they couldn't read the form. After our house families waited for us for 5 hours we finally arrived. My family is very nice there is Nathalie (the mom), voisin or Pascal ( the boyfriend who lives in the house), Juliette ( my host sister who is 16), Alix (the huge dog), Parilene (the girl donkey) and pom pom Pipou( the male donkey). Not to mention the neighbor Hugo who speaks to me in Wallo ( old French) and has shone me pictures of the house from back in the days because he has lived across the street his whole life. And also his tractor Joseph which he talks to sometimes. My house was built in 1734 and the barn was built in 1840. The town I'm living in is called Silly, Belgium and has a population of around 7,000. Our house is centrally placed because a couple blocks up the street is many fields of beets and corn and forests, then down the other direction is the center of town. Last night I went to m first Rotary Club meeting and everything was great, it is a very small group of around 38 members. I love it here! Today was my host mom's birthday and the Godparents of Voisin came and gave me my first box of Belgium chocolate and mmmm it is soo good!!!

Culture differences:

It seems that everyone here smokes even my host family (inside) but I am developing ways to avoid it. Even kids my age are smoking and know one really cares.

Most everyone drinks alcohol with everything, we were just having juice and they offered me some alcohol flavored stuff to put in it. Drinking here is natural to everyone and is common among young people. ( don't worry I only tried a sip of voisin's beer cause he said I had to try but I don't like alcohol at all and I know it's against the rules as well, even though most kids look at me like I'm crazy when I say no alcohol please).


* I have attached pictures of my town, the airplane trip and my family.

3 Days Before Departure

So today will be only three more days until I leave. Yesterday, Elisabeth an exchange student from France arrived. She will be staying with my family for a period of three months. Seeing her in her Blue jacket (our Rotary Youth Exchange jackets required blazers) made me realize that in only I few days that would be me, arriving in a completely different country and a foreign language. Watch her makes me feel excited yet nervous inside. I am ready to go, yet I don't want to say goodbye, or actually see you soon or later. I haven't been able to sleep much either, I don't really feel anxious or anything but each night I got to bed late and wake up really early. I am now looking at leaving as something amazing, but I think the hardest par tis boarding that plane to leave and actually flying over there with all your anxieties. Thankfully I will be flying with other students as well. I will be leaving from the Portland airport at 12, but I have to be there 3 hours in advance ! and then I fly to Minnesota to Amsterdam to Brussels. My host family and counselor already has people from my club as well meeting me there at the airport. I know that this will be a great trip, but I'm really split between wanting to leave immediately and wanting to never leave. Even though the wanting to leave side is bigger. And I find as I say the "see you soon's", it really and truly becomes a lot more clear and into perspective for me.
Well you can never predict what will happen, jsut hope for the best and jump right in.
Goodnight,

~ Lizzy

Two Weeks Before Departure

So now it's officially two whole weeks until I leave. I have already begun shopping and gathering items to take with me. It still seems to me in a way unreal, and I doubt that it will hit me until I am actually on the plane. My first host family seems really nice and I will attach some of the photos they sent me. She is a single mom who just sent her 18 year old daughter to India, and she has another daughter who just turned 16. I think that it will be great! I just received an email today, saying that on the 31st of this month (august), I will get to go to the palace of King Albert's II and then after dinner meet the ambassadors of each country represented in Exchange at the Federal Parliament. It sounds like so much fun! And as excited as I get, I try not to think of those certain French words that I don't know, or how much I think I will miss everyone. The Exchange student coming from France to stay with my family is named Elisabeth as well as me. I think that it will be great to meet her, and we are already planning some get togethers. The fact that I'm going on a exchange is exciting and at every moment I get I tell people where I'm going and what I'm doing. I only hope that this Exchange will be exciting and a great new adventure. And for all of you who don't know, I will try to write in this blog once a week and record all the adventures and stories and pictures I experience during my year in Belgium. So subscribe to this blog and I will also send a email each time I write. Best Wishes,
~Lizzy