First and foremost I must once again apologize for the lateness of my report, but I’ve been so distracted I didn’t even think of it until I started seeing the other reports. And the past week has been quite busy full of late nights which don’t work too well for me as I am now quite certain that I am sick. But now on to the adventures!
So school has been GREAT! From the first everyone has been very accepting of me. Two in particular have been really great and been looking after me the whole time, and we have now become good friends. The schooling itself has been difficult. My school is renowned throughout my region as being very difficult and strict. So as the subject matter is a bit higher than what I am used to I have not being doing as well as I might’ve hoped. But I think it’s good for me and I’m still learning tons. I’m also learning a lot of great slang and useful French words. Like “la pois” which is perfect for describing my luck with trains and buses. When you have “la pois” it means you have bad luck… repeatedly. So though I have had my share of unfortunate incidents which have included a lot of running, asking for directions and getting a little stressed, I now know the cities and the train and bus system way better than before, and have almost complete confidence in myself with the trains now.
Soccer has been really good as well. But due to my coach having a heart attack (he is fine now) I will not be affiliated until next week, which means my first game will be two weeks from today! I feel that I have been already accepted into the team and look forward to finally being able to play with them. Especially since I have finally learnt how to properly kick a soccer ball. Which though it sounds weird is true.
My drama program in Malmedy has been great too! Mainly because it is allowing me to get to know my third host family, as the program itself can be rather slow. It must also be said that I like it because ever since I told the mother of my third family how I love almost all foods and would love to try new she has officially made Mondays our “exotic” food days. So far I have had some Moroccan couscous and Belgian boar! I felt like Asterix and Obelix while chowing down on the deliciously sweet meat. They have also made plans for me to go see the “croix blancs” in Verviers in the upcoming week. It’s a cemetery from the World Wars.
I’ve also done some fun stuff with Rotary. The first trip we visited the Mine de Blegny, an ancient coal mine now used as a museum. It was quite interesting. I unfortunately missed the next two due to complications. Such as not figuring how to sign up because I forgot they told us to use Explorer and I use Safari, and having a wedding the same day. A wedding which was far too interesting to pass up. It was the marriage between my host mother’s youngest brother and a Philippine girl. It was only the legal marriage as they are doing the religious one in the Philippines. It was very interesting though as I had just been studying the laws of marriage in social sciences at school. But even more interesting was later that day at the dinner celebration when I found I had been deliberately sat beside a lady I had never met because she had gone to Canada sixteen years ago on exchange. Not only that but she stayed in the Peterborough and Fenland Falls area so she had actually been to Cobourg before! The first person I’ve met whose heard of Cobourg! She wasn’t to happy though when I pointed out that she was there the year I was born but I thought it very interesting.
The next day I went to the University of Liège for a science presentation. It was fascinating though far too condensed to really fully understand the concepts. I then returned to school for about ten minutes before I left for Grand Prix circuit of Francorchamps. There I helped serve snacks and beverages and got to watch some of the cars whipping by. I did that until about eight thirty then left to eat supper with the Rotary members. It was a great and fascinating day.
Just yesterday I went to Namur (the capital of Wallonia) to see their parliament and go for a two hour boat ride. Though lacking in much structure and activity some good friends helped make it very fun and memorable.
Throughout these days I have been feeling a cold coming and going, but I definitely now have something a little more. But no worries as I’m sure my host mother has had more than enough experience with dealing with sick children having seven of her own. Hope all is going well in the Bourg!
