events.

Now that I've gotten out my thoughts (refer to "finding mollie.") I can freely write of my crazy life:

I'd first like to mention how serious I am

right now- I've made myself tea,

a sammich, put a korean movie on in the background

(hello, M

ollie Bieber), and grabbed some chocolate. Shiz

goin' dooooown, y'all.

I'll start with Saturday, January 29th- the day I changed host families. My new family consists of my 'rents, Luc

and Etike, and 3 host sisters- Noemie 16, Jade 14? and Fany 9? They are all so wonderful and lovely and I am soo happy here. oh, and we have 3 sheep in the backyard :)

They're very musical and crafty and I feel so at home.

Jade took me on a little walk to show me around the village and it was beautiful! The sun was shining, the birds were out, and she told me stories of the family- she is darling.

The house was freezing for a week or so- they're doing some remodeling and were having new heaters put in. But, we survived and are happily toasty now :)In the meantime I taught Fany a song I would play with my siblings on the piano. It was so cute, she was so excited to play it and we showed the grandparents and all. It was a duet so it was fun to trade parts, too.

Wednesday the 2nd was Chaudeleur. In brief, it's the day you are supposed to make crepes and flip them holding a coin while making a wish to have good luck year round.

We had a lot of fun flipping crepes :) :) :) Fany took photos with my camera and we all took turns flipping. I was so scared!! They had to count me into it. Give me a break, aiight? I'm an expert now. My host mom was doing it with her eyes closed. Skillz.

Friday the 4th of February I went to Bruxelles with my class from school. It was such a long day, but it was interesting. We went to a museum with a special on Magritte. Some students had presentations on different artwork so we would plop down and listen to their analysis. That night we went to a theatre to see "Dieu es un DJ" or "God is a DJ". It was so weird.

I wore fairly new boots that day and had blisters on the back of my feet, but it was worth it.

Through the card games and laughter, it was fun.

Saturday the 5th of Feb I went to Margaret's house to celebrate Mallory's 19th birthday! (old fart).

It was such a wonderful evening. We were going to go out to a party, but

after shopping at the store to get food we decided we wanted to stay in and eat. Far more rewarding. We made Shrimp Scampi (fondly referred to as "scampi scampi" after I realized scampi was not the word for shrimp in french...awkward. It's crevette in case you're curious.)

It was so deliciousssss. We felt so mature and cultured. We brought wine to drink with our meal and we were home alone so we had the music going, laughter ringing, and just good 'ol girl time. We even tried to make Mallory homemade icecream but it wasn't as smooth since it was hand turned...the cake was nice though :)

I really love these girls.

I couldn't have made it this far without them by my side.

We also booked our trip to SPAIN!!!! 6 days in

May just the three of us at a resort in Costa Blanca? somewhere beautiful and waaaaarm. SO EXCITED.

Friday the 11th I went into town to get some makeup and met up with Mallory for a couple hours. When I got home my host family picked me up from my bus stop and we went out to a Moroccan restaurant. It was yum yum yummmy!

Saturday the 12nd we spent the day running errands and we tried to get my borro

wed clarinet to work- but it's just too old. It was funny because the guy at the music store was an exchange student in Texas when he was younger. It's crazy how small the world is.

That night I went to a party for the seniors of a school with my host sister and we had a nice time dancing and socializing. Belgium is greeeeat.

Sunday the 13th we had a late Christmas dinner with my first host family and their extended family- cousins, grandparents, etc. I was stuffed beyond belief and came ho

me with a new scarf, and heart shaped frame. The reason we had it in February was because we were snowed in at Christmas and it was the first weekend every one could make it.

Monday the 14th (Valentines day) was nothing special, but thaz cool- it's just a day.

I did have a deeper moment while watching Scrub

s (ironic?). He had a line that made a lot of sense "I think once you stop fighting it, time is on your side and you can really start to enjoy being who you are". So true for all ages. Little kids wanting to grow up quickly and not realizing the joys of youth, my time in Belgium- especially at the beginning where I wanted things to happen quicker, the aging people dreading hitting the next decade and missing out on wonderful memories. I made a silent goal to be at peace with time, and I think I've held to it so far. I am so happy to be here and am letting things happen as they may. It's much more peaceful.

Tuesday the 15th I was surprised with a Valentine's package from Katie. :) :) :) :) :)

I nearly squilled with delight when I saw the conversation hearts. My favorite candy evrrrrr. Along with Swiss Miss hot chocolate, cute earrings, heart socks and a sweet note. Love my sister.

Saturday the 19th there was a Carnival party organized by the Scouts in my village. Barely anyone showed up because there

was another party in Liege, but it was so much fun! I managed to put together a cowgirl outfit and spent the night dancing with an invisible lasso and horse. It was hilarious. The DJ kept yelling "yeee-haw!" I was proud.

I don't remember which day it was, but I gave a presentation in my french class (our english literature equivalent) on a Baudelaire poem. I had help analyzing it at home with my host mom, and the night before my presentation my host family gathered up in the living room so I could practice going through it. We ended up stay awake until 11pm talking about the poem, what he meant, and working on pronunciation. It was such a wonderful moment. I remember going to bed with this huge grin on my face. I'm here. Speaking french. Analyzing poems.

Sunday the 20th I went to Liege to meet Margaret/Mallory/and Marge's REAL mom! We went to a chinese restaurant around the corner from the gare. It was so nice to have girl time, chat, and have a mama. love love loves it.

Tuesday the 22nd I ended the day by playing Taboo with my host family. I did it in french of course, but my host family did it in English. It was hilariousssssssss. We had dictionaries out and everything. It was a great excercise, and we had a lot of giggles- like when my host dad was trying to say "ship" but I heard "chip" and my host mom heard "cheap". So so so so so much fun. I love them.

Wednesday the 23rd I had a rotary meeting with my host club. My president came 30 minutes earlier than I thought he would and we were over an hour early for the events, haha. It was a special evening this time- we went to a church nearby to have a little tour. It was baroque and honestly it was really ugly. But you know, a la mode in it's own time.

Afterwards we went to this little manor where a there were a 100 or so people. My host club was giving money to 5 different organizations: people with disabilities, homeless, blind, etc. They had me present a check- it was fun :D

The evening was soooo long. We didn't start eating the main meal until 9:30pm. I wish they had told me it was going to be a special evening because I didn't bring my camera :( However, there were professional photographers there so I'm going to figure out where to find the photos.

There was a brazillian girl there who was an exchange student 5 or 6 years ago. I love it when I get to speak french with someone with a different mother language. It is just so interesting to have a mediating language! We talked about exchange student activities and laughed at how we still have the same meeting spots/chants/and activities. Such long traditions!

Thursday the 24th my host mom let me sleep in as I got home around 1am. Thank goodnessss. I slept in and watched some movies/read some of my book/relaxed/caught up on my housekeeping.

Finally, you are up to date.

Tomorrow I will be getting up early to go to Luxembourg with Rotary and all the exchange students. It's an orientation type thing for the new southern hemisphere students. It'll be nice to meet everyone.

Then I'm spending the night at Mallory's with Margaret :)

Things in store for March:

party party partiessssssssssss. seriously, every week there is a party. We don't have school the 7th-11th and I will be going to the Ardennes and Amsterdam/Delft! Then the weekend after that my host club is taking me to the Czech Republic. SO EXCITED!!!

Then the weekend after that there is a Electronic Music Festival in Brussels and I think I'm going to hit that up. DJ's are booked until 5am...wooooooo!!

March, you are going to be great.

Things not event related but nice:

I love how whenever I walk home from my bus stop I can hear church bells in the distance. Mainly because it's always around the hour or half-hour. But it's still lovely. I see all the hills and european homes and breath in this crisp air. It's about a 10 minute walk and I have some time to myself. I walk by a little cemetery and I always pay some respect and say something nice, even if it's in my head.

The other day I was on the bus into town and a couple was sitting near by speaking English. We had a nice little chat and then I went on my way. I love how I meet the most random people.

Speaking of random people, my school hosts little exchanges and a girl from Germany was in my class for 2 weeks. I knew what it was like to be all alone so I talked to her whenever I saw her and ate lunch with her sometimes. She was so sweet. We spoke english and french together. She was there to research different school systems. We exchanged emails and I just received one from her yesterday :) I love having friends in the most random of places. She has a picture of us so I'll ask if I can post it later.

I was talking to some boys in my English class (but they are Belge and we were speaking french) and they were asking me how much a certain car would cost. I had no idea so I tried to jokingly say their firstborn child... they didn't understand my humor. Oh well, I laughed.

I taught my host sisters frisbee, and my host dad gets a big kick out of "ultimate" frisbee. We found out that it's huge in Bruxelles. yessssss.

Also, I need a haircut so badly. The other day during spanish I braided my hair and somehow made a GIANT knot. I couldn't brush it out and was forced to cut it out. I'm serious. It was a huge wad of hair. Ay yi yi.

Alors, I feel much better now that I can cross this off my list of things to do.
SO until the next time I summon the patience to write-

RUVZ YOU.

-Moll

finding mollie.

I've had the most amazing week/month/time.

I will get to catching up with the basics, but I want to get out my excitement for life first.

Since the new semester started I started showing up in the 1st years' art class. They're

around 10 or 11 years old and really sweet. It's the only year art classes are offered to students at the school which is why I'm with them.

In my normal classes I don't really follow the courses, I'm just kind of there. So being in a class where I can actually work on something

was a huge excitement, not to mention I've been spend

ing the last 6 months in study hall doodling

and missing nights at home, sitting in my corner with all the lights off save for one lamp in the corner, and painting with big band music playing.

Anyway, since starting the class I have felt happier than ever. The teacher is a wonderful woman and she has actually been helping with my french- quite a difference from teachers who just ignore you.

My first project was to draw faces of different moods and concentrate on using the eyes and eyebrows to express the mood. It was really fun and actually a challenge. After I had completed it she had me go through and re

ad the word, working on my pronunciation.

The second project was branched from the first- making a mini comic using the techniques of expressing emotions through the face. Already being used to making mini comics for my friends at home during school, I was

incredibly excited to do this.

I took the advantage to practice my french and wrote a little story about a flame-breathing

dinosaur coming to destroy Seraing (the village where I go to school) and a boy wanting to befriend him.

It was cute and the teacher LOVED it. It was also nice because I had some kids in my regular classes help me with grammar and it was a fun bonding experience. There a

re a couple spelling/grammar errors I have yet to fix, but it's nearly finished.

My third project was a pointillism project- making a design only by tiny dots. We had to make a scenery and my teacher was really enthusiastic about mine.

I blended the sunset really well and she had the students come gather around and look at it.

Now my 4th project is designed to teach students how to contrast warm and cold colors to make shapes pop out or recede . The other students (mind you they are young) would draw squigleys and color

a square behind it in it's contrasting color, but I had already done something like this in my notebook during study hall and so I pulled it out to get some ideas for my project. My teacher was doing her rounds and came over to see how I was doing. She saw my notebook and nearly screamed. She kept saying, "c'est magnifique!!" and asked to look through it. I was kind of embarrassed because there were a lot of random doodles and pages of lyrics where I didn't feel like thinking so I wrote whatever song I was listening to- but she kept raving about it. During the class a guy she knew came in to give her posters of his dance recital to put up in her room and sister's cafe. She brought him over and they discussed my work- then the prefect of studies came in to chat and (luckily) she didn't remember me (I'm not exactly following my schedule...) and was also really amazed by my art/doodling. My self-esteem was getting a major pump, guys. I felt so good. OH, and when she introduced me she also said I spoke french really well :) :) :)

(I need to erase the pencil and add color->

But what happened next I can't even explain how wonderful it felt. My art teacher gave me a speech about the importance of continuing with my artwork. She was saying to me that she could tell I was happier and that everything I have created came from inside me- it was technical or mimicked, it was me. She was saying I was a natural artist and to really be

happy in life I needed to continue drawing, even if it is just for myself. I was telling her how much I love it and miss painting and she was like "Painting?! I teach painting all day Monday. You can come every day to my class, I think it's something you really need." She gave me her master schedule so I can come whenever, no questions asked. To hear her say I'm welcome as long as I wanted to come was such an honor. I really really really enjoy the atmosphere and feel like myself again. I have confidence in my art and I haven't

felt so proud in a long time.

After saying there two hours I went to the study hall for another two hours to wait until my host sisters finished school. I kept working on my piece listening to my music and thinking about what she had said. As my new favorite song came on (New Soul by Yael Naim- listen to the lyrics) I felt myself smiling and feeling like my soul was radiating in bliss. I don't know how it clicked, but I realized that I had finally found myself. I know who I am. What makes it even better is that I love this person I've become.

I came here hoping to reach this moment, expecting myself to be like the women I have looked up to in the novels I've read. Independent and strong, courageous and loving. But now that I've reached this I realized I always knew who I was- I was just ashamed to admit it. I was too scared of people not liking me for who I am that I hid behind conformity. Also not realizing that those closest to me already saw through it all and found me.

At the beginning of my exchange I was much more closed off than I have ever been. It was hard to express myself- especially since I felt guilty if I spoke English. But my environment has changed and I feel so at home.

My counselor described my personality as "pow-pow-pow!" yesterday when I was talking about how much I love my new family and how I'm thriving. His reasoning was that I have a personality that is easy to get along with, "pow-pow-pow" was given with hand gestures to indicate I'm an energetic person. To hear him say that was so heart-warming. I was so weighed down with fear at the beginning of my exchange and now have learned to relax and be comfortable with my progress and where I am.

At the rotary meeting yesterday I presented checks to different charities and I didn't have a nervous bone in my body. I was so at ease and happy to be there, speaking french, enjoying free wine, and feeling my cheeks ache from smiling. Before I would have sweaty palms and was scared to talk to the Rotarians- nervous they were judging my french. But I realized they were happy I wanted to be there and try to speak their language, not judging how well I was doing. It was such a wonderful time. Granted, I did get home around 1am on a Wednesday night. Kcooool. No school today for Mollie :)

Bisous from the Kansas girl in Belgium, over-flowing with love of life

Moll

I promise to update with my activities instead of deep thoughts the next time :)

in my defense, I've been one BUSY girl!

happy birthday, baby jesus.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

that thing you get sometimes.

I really need to update events, but I want to take this post a little differently today. However in the meantime you can get by with the general updates: it's snowing like crazy, Thanksgiving was wonderful, I'm freezing, I'm full of love, my hair is a little longer, my jeans are a bit tighter, and I'm learning something new every day- be it language or life.

Tonight my host sister and I finished the evening off by watching "Nim's Island". There was a really profound and brief dialogue in the beginning that strung some chords for me. The daughter asked her father if people were born with courage, and he responded with:

The thing about courage is...
it's somethin' that we have to learn
and relearn our whole lives.
You know, it's not just in you.
It's in every choice we make,
each and every day.

Sometimes I get caught up in self disappointment- I forget that I have the entire 11 months to become fluent and that even though I am understanding much more and speaking more easily, that it is ok for me to not be 100% right now. That my only real goal is to come home with the experience of a life time. I just want people to be proud of me so badly that I forget they already are. The whole exchange process happened so fast that it felt like I was talking about how great this opportunity would be, and the next I was packing my suitcase. It is December already, I can't believe it.

With the Australians leaving in a month it made me a tiny bit jealous that they would be home. But, it also got me thinking. I am really happy here. It's a different happy than I've felt before. It's not a radiating "I'm in love" happy, or a "new clothes" happy, or even a "HaHAA" happy, but a "my life is so challenging and rewarding/I can't believe I'm here" happy. I will be really sad to leave in June. I'll miss my friends, my new family, hearing French, the general liberalness, and not hearing "y'all" or your average American slurs. Even though I'm not fluent yet, this life just makes so much sense to me. Recycling, public transportation, the worldliness. I feel so connected to the world here- Germany is my neighbor, Australia has a sassy attitude, France is a couple hours away, England is just across the pond. It's amazing how involved my life has become. My recollection of living in the States has turned into a feeling of walled-in ignorance. In addition, we watched a documentary on the Trinity church doing a "Hell House" where people pay to see horrible situations acted out- the purpose to show you the horror of hell. It made me so angry to watch it when kids ran out of the building crying and people cornered and converted. I understand the intention, but I don't believe in scaring people into religion. My childhood felt like that- more fear God than know His grace, don't learn but repeat what you read, being told what is right and wrong, condemning people by their actions and not their hearts.

You may be asking yourself what this has to do with courage (or maybe you've already decided I've settled on rambling), and this is the paragraph in which I fill you in:

Every day we make a decision to be, or not to be, courageous- in varying degrees, of course. Whether it's deciding to brave walking in the snow, wear an outfit we aren't sure fits our body well, apply for a job, tell someone the truth, save a life, etc. And in my nearly 4 months here I have dealt with the one thing I find the hardest on a daily basis: daring to be wrong. I am a proud person and take pride in the things I do, be it artistic or academic. I'm a perfectionist. If I write my name on something it bloody will be the product of the absolute best I can do. And every day I say a million things wrong, but I keep my head up and keep trying. It's a courage I've never needed before. Some days I have trouble mustering more than the day before, but the fact that I am here living in Belgium gives me strength. I've already made this jump.

I'm here.

You don't realize the strength of an exchange student until you are one. Leaving your home and 'self' in hopes of discovering a new and wonderful life. I say 'self" because in Manhattan I was someone. I was Mollie Bieber. Here, I am the exchange student. Not someone's daughter, sister, employee, girlfriend, student. My abilities undiscovered, my associations unknown. It's being stripped of everything and standing completely naked. It's terribly frightening and exciting at the same time.

This is the most courageous thing I have ever done (but hopefully not "will do"- I have high expectations for my future), and when I return home and tell you of my adventures I will be humble and nonchalant. I won't tell you of the occasional nights I missed home so much I couldn't breathe, how frightened I was to come here, or how difficult it was to adjust to being an alien. But I will tell you how rewarding each and every moment was.

We coexist in this life and it'd be a shame to waste it solely trying to get from point A to point B. So stretch your wings a little bit. Be courageous. Dare to be wrong. And in the process make great friends, discover who you are and the things you can accomplish.

eat to live, live to eat

The only major cultural difference I have noticed: In America food is an unimportant part of the day- you eat when you need too, making time for it is silly. In Belgium, I live to eat. Many times I find myself wondering when or what I'm going to eat next, even if I just finished eating. It's ridiculous how my appetite has adjusted and the amount of servings I take in every day. But it's soo delicious. I used to go every morning with hardly or breakfast (or none at all), a little a lunch, and a thrown together dinner when I finally got home. Now I can't imagine going without eating something every 2 or 3 hours. My girth is not happy about it.

But fo realz. Chocolate, waffles, fries, beer. How can you say no?!

Anyway, shall I dish all my adventures thus far? Yeah, you probably are interested.

Starting with September, shall we? (I actually have to get out my planner to remember. This is so ridiculous!)
The earliest I have of things in September is:
Saturday the 25th of September. I went Kayaking down the Lesse River with exchange students in Belgium. IT WAS SO COLD. We started really early in the morning with the first part being 2.5 hours long, then a stop for food. Dominique was my kayak partner and I'm happy to say we didn't topple over. But really, it was so freaking cold. The water was freezing at first, but after a while it felt warm- because we were so wet and cold. Did I mention it rained, too? Poured actually. I felt cold for 2 days after that. Anyway, back to story time: after the break we went back into our kayaks and continued on down the river. Another 2.5ish hours in the freezing cold and rain. It was so beautiful and peaceful, though. I wish my camera was water proof. At one point we kayaked past a castle and I nearly cried for how beautiful it was: being in Belgium kayaking down a riving by a castle. It was magical. Not to mention, as we were further down the river we heard bag pipes. Ahh, died in the kayak.
The kayaking took sooo long, and it was fairly miserable. I kept having fits in the kayak where I would just whine about how cold I was and make awkward growling noises. It's fine, though. No biggie. We had to go down 2 mini waterfall things. The first one was fairly small, but we ended up accidentally hitting this Dutch guy in the ribs with our kayak. He was livid. I still feel bad about it. The second one we went down the tough way because these silly boys on the side pointed us to the right. Poop butts. We survived, though.
When we finally docked, my legs were frozen into the seated position and I actually had to crawl out. I couldn't walk for 2 minutes because I was cramped. So much fun. . . then we took a steaming shower and headed home.

Next up, Wednesday October 6th: Fort Eben-Emael
Fairly boring, but a nice excursion. If you want the deetz on the Fort, I will direct you to wikipedia via the hyperlink. (click the underlined Fort Eben-Emael)
All you really need to know from me is that I walked through a cold fort, took a picture on a tank, and became better friends with Margaret and Mallory. KMO girlz, fo'evz! :)

Friday October the 8th through Sunday October 10th: MERSEA ISLAND
My host Rotary Club was invited by their sister club in England for a weekend of Oyster eating and fun. It was great. My first time in England!!
Friday the 8th:
Abaki (from Minnesota) and I were driven by these 2 elderly couples to England and the entire time I was giggling by how cute they were. That is, when I wasn't sleeping in the car. They told me I was an expert sleeper. But I mean come on, I had to wake up at 5 am that morning ! Anywho, we parked our car on the ferry and ate lunch while we were driven across the English Channel. Then we made our way to Mersea Island (on the left side of the road). We stopped somewhere and had some tea and relaxed a bit. Our fellow Belgian travels said we could walk around for an hour before we had to leave again, so Abaki and I eagerly downed our drinks and waltzed out of the cafe. Our brains were freaking out, we kept expecting to hear French. But it was so much fun. We stumbled upon a castle and walked around the grounds. It was so much fun.
After our little excursion we met with some people from the Mersea Island Rotary Club, then headed to where we were going to stay for the weekend and got ready for a formal dinner. Dined until nearly eleven that night. Such a looong day.
Saturday the 9th:
Woke up and after a delicious english breakfast, walked to the beach with Abaki and Marine (a Belgian girl who was with us, daughter of a Rotarian). Picked up some shells and skipped around enjoying being in England.
Then we went to the docks to head to our special lunch out in the sea at the only oyster shack left in England. A group of men restored it some years ago after it had been abandoned because they didn't use it anymore (obviously). Tried my first oyster, but wasn't a huge fan. The whole slurping thing kind of freaked me out.
Later that night we had another little dinner at the residence we were staying at. Us three girls helped set up the tables and it looked pretty. We left early to go to bed az we waz tyured.
Sunday the 10th: Woke up and packed up to go home. We said goodbye to some of the Mersea Island Rotary Club members and made way for the 8ish hours traveling time home. The English people were so sweet, and the men's crude humor was so much fun. My cheeks were aching from laughing so much. It was a great weekend.


Saturday October 16th: Girl Scouts
I'm supposed to be a leader with some girls, but I haven't gone very often. Conflicting events mainly. But I went this Saturday and it was so much fun! There were about 20 girls in between the age of 10-12 and they were soo cute. We played this game in the woods and it was also freezing. But, it was fun. Later that night I went with my host sister Nora to her friend Sarah's house and we watched movies and hung out. fun fun fun

Friday October 22nd: Dinner Chez Laurent
My fam went to a dinner at their friend the Laurent's home, who are also my next host family. They were sweet and it was nice hanging out together. They have 3 daughters, so the five of us (including Nora and I) had a fun time- we ended up playing Mama Mia singstar and watching UP! Quality sib time. OOh, and the night before Nora and I made a delicious cake for desert, fondly referred to us by "gateau de merde" (poop cake), because of the resemblance of a large turd. You can thank me for the brilliant title. I'm always happy to share my love of poop jokes.

Wednesday October 27th: Foire in Liege
I didn't have to go to school that Wednesday because there was this timed race thing that I wasn't obligated to do, so I ended up meeting with some exchange friends in Liege for a day at the Foire. It was fairly fun. We ate crouistillons which is just balls of cooked dough (like dough nut holes) with powdered sugar, and laquements (I'm not sure how it's spelled), which is like a pancakey syrup specialty. You can only get them during the fair so it's all the craze for the 2 months the fair is in town.

Saturday October 30th: Halloween weekend!
Margaret and Dominique came over and it was great. We made chili, cornbread, and apple pie. I don't know how we managed to pull it off, but it was delicious! The ingredients weren't exactly the same: for instance, we didn't have the same sugar- we ended up putting powdered sugar in the chili. It looked so wrong, but it tasted fine. Go us!
Then we watched Disturbia and I pooped my pants.
Sunday the 31st we carved pumpkins then that night we went tock-tocking with Nora's friends. It was a group of about 10 of us, all in between 16-19 years old. We were rather smart, the bag we showed them didn't have candy in it as we transfered after a successful house all the candy we got to another hidden bag- so they ended up pitying us and dumping everything they had. So clever.
Also, I was going for a witch with my costume but ended up looking like a drag queen. . . LAWLZ. (equivalent of LOL or gigglez, for translation)
Mmm, candy corn. My fav.

On to November. . .
Tuesday the 2nd I went with Nora to a friends party. It was really fun. We hung out and ended up watching Paranormal Activity. Luckily we were watching it in French, so if I started to get really freaked out I would just shut it out and wouldn't know what was going on. Freaking scary shiz, man. I HATE scary movies.

Then, my favorite weekend in the world:
Thursday November 4th through Sunday November 7: LONDON, ENGLAND!!
Ah, it was so wonderful.
Thursday we met up in different locations to hop on our bus that also took the ferry across the English Channel. Then we stopped in Canterberry, went to the Canterbery Cathedral, went to London and walked around, then went to the hotel and night night.
Friday we woke up and did some sight seeing, it's all kind of a blur so I don't really remember what all we did exactly each day. Friday I think is the day we went to Madame Tussauds (the wax museum) in the morning. I was actually getting a celebrity high because they looked so real. It was great.

Then we had a rushed dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, then we went to "Blood Brothers" at the Phoenix Theatre. It was so sad but a very enjoyable performance.
When we got back to the hotel it was late, but we had some quality roomie bonding time with the KMO girls. Margaret and Mallory are from Missouri, and since I'm from Kansas we find it funny how similar and how well we get along since we live so close. Love them so much. We became friends so quickly.

Saturday the 6th:
We went on a 4 hour trek through London to see all the touristy places possible. It was really fun. Big Ben, Hyde Park, Tate Museum, Buckingham Palace, just to name a few. It was beautiful outside. So many fall colors, I was dying of happiness. I really was so thankful to be here with all my new friends. I'm fairly sure every hour I said, "I can't believe I'm in London. LONDON."
Which reminds me, one of these days we went to Windsor Castle and I bought a London Olympics tshirt. 2 years in advance, baby!! So happy about it.

Sunday the 7th: we headed home, nothing too exciting.

Wednesday the 10th of November: "La Melodie du Bonheur"
After a little shopping in Liege after school I went to Margaret's house to attend The Sound of Music at her local theater, I think. It was an enjoyable performance- if only because it was in French and fun to giggle at. I had a nice time, though. Took the train home in the morning and chatted to this elderly lady siting near me. It was fun to have a conversation in French with a stranger. :)

Thursday the 11th of November: Din Din
We had a little family get together for dinner and I made apple pie again. It was nice to see everyone again and I see how I've improved with my French since the last time I saw them. Did I mention I made the apple pie purely from scratch by myself? There's a first for everything, and I beasted. Not to brag or anything :)

Saturday the 13th of November: Liege with a Kansan
It was POURING this weekend. My goodness. However, Robert Thompson (a Kansan Rotarian) was passing through Liege and I met up with him with a few ex-exchange students to show him around and taste the delicacies of Liege. Chocolate, waffles, beer, peket. It was a fun little excursion, even if a bit soaking wet.

Sunday the 14th of November: St. Nicholas Feast
Large family gathering to eat and be merry for St. Nicholas at my "grand parents" house. It was delicious and I was able to meet my "cousins". We're all in the same age group so it was a good time. My grand parents were so sweet and gave us all little gifts- I now have a new leather purse and and a bag of chocolate goodies as well as a monetary gift. It was beyond kind of them.
This was also my 3rd official month in Belgium! hurrah hurrah!
It has gone so quickly

Tuesday November 16th: VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Matilda, Dominique (both Australians) and I went to Brussels for the Vampire Weekend concert. It was sooo much fun. We danced and sang and had a great time. Got home at 1 am but it was so worth it.

Wednesday November 17th: HARRY POTTER and the Opera
I didn't get to go to the premiere of Harry Potter as I had school, but it is worth noting that it came out 2 days earlier in Belgium. :)
That night I went to the Opera, though and it was a nice time. We saw "La Boheme". The subtitles were in French, Flemish, and German, so I often ended up watching the orchestra and pining for my clarinet. I miss playing music! But it was a nice time and fun to get dress up. Although, I'm slightly unhappy how hard it was to get into my dress. Hello ghetto booty, nice of you to stop by. (mad about it.)

PHEW. you are officially caught up.
and so I don't have to do this again for a while, tomorrow I am seeing Harry Potter, going to Margaret's house for the evening and joining her at her band practice (hopefully I'll get to play the clarinet with them!) and then returning home in the morning to have a weekend with Mallory and Margaret at my house. We're going to make tacos Saturday. YUM.

This seriously took 2 hours. I better have comments or I'll be mad.

Love you, Kansas. Some days I wish I was home, but I know that in a years' time I'll be trudging through your snow on the way to school wishing I was still an exchange student and having new adventures nearly every week. These first few months have been full of hardships, but I'm learning so much about myself and my perseverance, what is worth caring about and the things to let slide. We're all people, sometimes we get along and sometimes we clash- but I'm making the best of it and keeping my head up.

I have realized how valuable my friendships are and how wonderful the people I call my friends are. I really am blessed.

Love you. Miss you. Hope I'm making you proud.
Timegobed.

-Mollz


ps. I tried to add pictures to break up all the text, but I think I need to update my java because it won't load the photo uploader. Sorry, peeps. I have my photos on facebook in 3 different albums if you can see them there. Links here: first, second, third
I'll try and update this with photos as soon as I can. :)

trois mois en Belgique.

I told my self that I would update this on 3rd month anniversary of living in Belgium, but I really don't have the energy to recap all my events these past two months. . . I know, it's awful! You should see my journal- my blog is more up to date than the silly book.

I'm alive and living the life. Eating great food, meeting wonderful people, expanding my french, and having a great time.

Can't believe I'm here and that November is halfway through! Time has flown.

I was going to post a funny photo to make your visit less wasted, but I stumbled upon something better: (I will really updated soon.)

Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living

At the start of the new millennium the Dalai Lama apparently issued eighteen rules for living.

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
1. Respect for self
2. Respect for others
3. Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

3 weeks, 2 days.

Ah, where to begin.
Tomorrow I start school, and I'm actually pretty excited. I'm a little nervous just because now it's really crunch time. No more slackin', gotz to learn mah french.

Shall I recap my great adventures thus far? Ok, here goes.


The first week I arrived it was pretty rainy and cold. The majority of my days involved me settling into my life here, meeting family/family friends, making sure I have everything I need.
Before my host parents started work again we took a 2 day vacation to visit Brugges and the North Sea. It was really fun to travel around and see places. Even being here for almost I month I can't fully grasp that I am living in Europe. It is so odd.

There was a festival in a nearby village, Plaineveaux, one weekend. "Petits Bars". It was neat, a lot of beer, good food, and live music.


I'm not doing a great job of relating all my experiences so far for the sake of being a quick read, so I apologize. Minor things like me asking "Does someone live in that really huge house?", "Haha, castle actually. And they rent it out for parties now." or instead of saying goodnight, unintentionally saying goodevening, forgetting English words (like porcupine. that took forever), and other little funny blunders will probably be skipped over.



Last week we had an orientation in Brussels with all 190 exchange students in Belgium where we visited Parliament, met King Albert, and mingled. I have a lot of pins! (photo credit to Shannon O'Reilly)
Then that weekend we had a Rotary orientation weekend with just my district. It was fairly boring for the most part- lots of rules, eating, and waiting for the next meeting.
However, they had a dance room set up and when I walked by no one was in there besides the 2 old Rotarian dj's. SO funny. They even had a smoke machine and lights. I took it as my duty to start the party, and I did. First one on the dance floor, yaya! It took a little while for people to get over being awkward teenagers and embarrassed, but it finally got hoppin' and was swell. Good bonding time, plus we were allowed two beers. Yum.


This weekend my host club had their annual farm festival event. Saturday was pretty boring because they didn't really have anything for us to do. There are three of us in my host club- Dominique, Abaki, and I. We presented flowers to some senators or something in the morning but then the rest of the day we just kind of wandered around the farm. We took a nap in a field and it was great. The sun was out and it was nice and warm. I even drooled.

After the presentation for the government folks, the farm had a dance pad set up and this little crew started a break dance performance. And I mean little in terms of age. They were so cute! (and impressive). It was just really random for a farm, though. Oh well..Belgians.

Sunday had 4x the people. Us exchange kids were stuck washing piles of dishes in a barn for 4 hours straight. Ay yi yi. But on a plus side, we went on a helicopter ride! It was only for a few minutes, but it was neat seeing Belgium from the sky.


Fun facts:
-Belgium has 8,000 different beers and each is served in its own unique glass. I've only tried 4 so far, I have quite a ways to go. (peach beer is really really good)
-The chocolate is DELICIOUS. I'm going to get so fat.
-Belgium created fries and they are very annoyed if you call them French Fries. (my family has their own fryer in the kitchen...fresh fries are soooo good)
-I have realized that the cereal I have been eating every morning is the cause of what I thought was too much chocolate. I know remember my host mother telling me it was fiber and jokingly not to eat it too frequently....whoops, awkward.
-Belgians iron everything. Tshirts, towels, sheets, underwear. Very different.
- I am now addicted to "Friends" and "Desperate Housewives". I'm ok with it.
-Drinking age is 16 (but they don't drive so there really isn't a problem)
-Belgium is really beautiful.

I hope this is enough to satisfy everyone for a while. :)
Belgium is really great and I'm having a wonderful time. My schedule is increasingly getting busier and my french is improving every day. This year is going to be incredible!

My host families are all lovely, too. Can't find a dang thing wrong with this trip so far!
I think I've posted as much as I can handle, tonto!