Happenings

Hello Everyone!

So currently I am supposed to be studying for a Science Sociales test - but clearly that is not working out so good for me now. I think it is a psychology class ... which I actually understand but it is torture for me to actually do work. I need to get in the school mode again... asap would be nice. My first week of school was last week and it was beyond a shock for me. It was really rough for me to adapt to how different everything is. It is just a mixture of a lot of things and it hit me really hard. It is hard to grasp the idea that I will be in this school for a year and that one day I will understand French. Other drastic changes are that I actually have to plan my outfit for the day and put make-up on! Yes everyone - I am becoming one of those girls. It is a nice change though. I always felt like my high school years were not like how movies portray high schools to be like - so now I'm actually in a school that you think of when you think of a high school. It is fun but hard for me to adjust to. I am starting to make more friends though each day. I am trying to sit by a new person atleast once a day - so far it has been great at meeting new people!

I have had so many Mallory Moments in school it is starting to become an issue. Last week, I was passing a note (yes ... bad... I know but sometimes I get so bored) and decided to throw it instead of doing the normal passing and ofcourse hit this girl in the back of the head. It was super. Lets just say she won't be my best friend anytime soon!! Oh and my french progress ... hmm ... well I understand a lot more than people think I do but I still can not show that I understand. So, all the teachers I'm sure think I am beyond stupid and speak to me in English even when I understand. I think I am getting a lot better at speaking though. I can carry on a pretty decent conversation but at the end of the day I am sosososo tired. Like seriously - it is not normal how tired I am. I was walking to the bus the other day complaining how tired I am and this girl said that everyone is tired just as much as me and I wanted to scream .. um no! I have to do all that you do and translate it in English and speak in French and convince people I'm not stupid!! French Fatigue will be the death of me.

This past weekend -

Friday, I just hung out with friends... :)

Saturday, I got up nice and early and went with my family to Brussels. This was my fourth time in Brussels and the first time I actually saw the Atomium! It was pretty awesome to see it after hearing so much about it. For those who do not know about this unavoidable icon of Brussels/Belgium it is an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times. There are 9 spheres (18 meters in diameter) connected by 20 tubes and is supported by 3 enormous pillars that are 102 meters. It was built for the 1958 World Fair in Brussels. This was a really big deal because it was post WW2 and all the nations were in one area celebrating peace... the Atomium symbolizes/refers to the power of nuclear energy in full development at the time and which was intended for peaceful use. The Atomium continues to embody its ideas about the future and universality, half a century later. This is the most fascinating thing to me... it seriously takes your breath away the same way it did in 1958 and what it stood for and stands for are still a current theme globally.

Then after this, I went to my first wine tasting (Marta kept calling it a wine degustation)! It was really interesting and the Belgians thought it was great to teach the American girl all the fancy ways of tasting wine. You can call me an expert now. Everyone was so nice and I even got invited to go to stay in Paris whenever I wanted with this family... :)

After about 5 hours it seemed like at the wine tasting we went walking around Brussels - along with every other tourist I think. It was packed! I have never seen so many stereotypical Belgian shops in my life - chocolate, waffles, and beer galore. Nobody should be surprised that I am a whale now. Oh! And I finally saw the Manneken Pis - which is so small. I had such high expecations and it is literally the smallest thing ever. But I still thought he was cute :) Then we came home late and I went to bed pretty early.

Sunday, was another early day. I got up even before Marta and Lisa did! Very rare. We went to a mid-century castle called Franchimont. It was a lot like the castle at LaRoche but I thought it was in better condition. It was such a nice day and the sun was shining on the old stones - all I wanted to do was take pictures all day long! The ruined walls looked gorgeous against the bright blue sky. I even went into an old bunker! It was kind of scary but it was in such good condition is hard to believe. Ofcourse I had to climb maybe 100 stairs to get out of it though.

After this we went to a farm that was having an "End of Summer" party for the local area. It was like a carnival with everybody eating, drinking, and just enjoying life. I loved it. The local shops brought all their items like jam and wool products. It was so genuine and human :) Oh!! And highlight of my life in Belgium - I petted a baby cow!! For those who do not know me that well I have a sick-obsession with cows and they are everywhere here and everytime I see them I pretty much scream "Vache" with too much excitement. My family has become accustomed to this and knowsI love them - in fact they bought me a cow patterend pencil and for my house keys I have a cow keychain. But I actually petted one!! C'etait chouette (It was cool) !!

But after this I went to a concert in town that is free because of the celebration of Walloonia. Belgium doesn't have that many famous singers but they do have one guy who is actually a big celebrity named Stromae and his most popular song is "Alors on danse"; It is heard atleast 3 times a day no matter where you are. I love it - it is a mixture of pop and rap and he pretty much only says "alors on danse" the whole time but the beat is awesome. Anyways, he put on a concert (as in 3 songs) and it was so much funnn. I went with some girls from my school and I really felt Belgian :)

Then school this week :/ it is going better than last week though!!

I actually have a routine going ... !!

Oh gosh you will love this. One of my teachers could not remember my name so I said, "It is like calorie with an M" and now everyone quotes me. It is super :)
I have a nickname now also... Mallo. I think it is cute but we will see if it sticks

Talk to you soon :)