Yellow

Salut!
Tardy again... yikes! Some weeks it is so hard to find time to update!

Things are going good! I went to the Foire (Fair in Belgium all during the month of October) with my friends from Rotary for the first real time today... yes the real time because last time it was completely empty and was nothing like it was today. It was cool to just walk around and see all the pretty colors with the smell of cotton candy and hot dogs - which aren't hot dogs here but "saucisses" on a baguette. I like them better though! I decided to splurge and spent 2 euros on a "petite" cotton candy which was huge with my friend from Kansas! It was so yummy :) Good choice. I also got my (host) family a little present - candied nuts. They seem to like them ... and I do too!

French is coming along... nothing really to add about that. I'm kind of getting upset with myself that I am not fluent since I have been here for 2 months but that is life... I am trying to speak French every chance I get - even if it is horrible. I just need to talk even when I don't know how to say something the right way. My brain still hurts from switching back in forth from French to English - maybe if I just speak French all the time this would be better? Yes, yes it would be a lot better. I will keep you updated on how this goes... I am really making an effort now! I will be in London for 2 weeks and I am worried I will lose all my French... yes... ALL my French. Crazy things happen in London, especially to those who miss speaking their mother tongue way too much.

SO this week - and last week oops :)
I never how to organize this so I'm just going to start writing...
Last Wednesday, we finished at noon and instead of hanging out with my friends I had to go home and do college applications. It was nauseating. Not only did I have to redo my entire Common Application but also I had to write an essay. Like - honestly that was the last thing I wanted to do and I was dying! I have not written an essay since May - let alone do any sort of homework - so my body was in shock. It was awful but I think I threw up a pretty decent essay. Thought of sending it to Mrs. Wilcox but talked myself out of it... I really isn't as good as I thought it was. I think my mind would think any sort of sentence on a blank sheet of paper would be good... like that is how out of it I feel. When I do do homework it is in French (or German) so ya... I'm not overreacting on that statement. Here - University is free and everyone is accepted if they pass the high school with a certain grade. Wish I was Belgian sometimes...
Friday we had no school because we had a memorial for one of the teachers at my school who passed away. His name is Mr. Closkin and he was probably my favorite teacher at the school. He taught geography and drew a map of the United States to explain to people that Kansas City is in Missouri not Kansas (and that I don't come from Misery but Missouri). Everyone loved him and he was a great teacher. He will be missed.
So instead of school, I slept in (11:30 - gasp!) and went to Jerry's house with some other friends. It was nice to just chill and catch up with things. I left early to go take a test at the University (yes - a test on a Friday night) but it was pretty much a fail. I literally left in the middle of the test after 30 minutes because I realized it was for Erasmus students - and not me. So that was a super... not.
Saturday was fun. I went to a Teutonic order in Flanders (the dutch speaking region of Belgium in the north) that was pretty legit. It was huge! They had really nice French gardens that when we walked through them it was the only sunny part of the entire day. It was really cool... got some good pictures. Some flowers were still in bloom and they were this dark royal purple - they looked so pretty against the bricks. Might be the last flower I see until Spring. Then we went to Hasselt (pronounced A-Celt) which was such a nice city. It was so clean and the typical European city with old buildings but modern upkeeep. I love the mixture of the two. You rarely see things like this in the States. It rained all day and I was absolutely freezing... I think it was the coldest day since I have been here. Then at night, I hung out with the family. They found marshMALLOWS and we made a fire and roasted them :) Like S'mores but without the chocolate and crackers. I suggested it but they didn't understand which was fine I was content with just eating Marshmallows all night. We roasted them while listening to the top 40 French songs over the last 40 years. Which was hilarious - some of the singers had good songs but you could tell they hadn't sung the song in 30 years so it was realllly bad. But entertaining! Good bonding :) I love moments like these. Where you have a good time just by doing simple things... I have really begun to appreciate these things.
Sunday I went with Larry to a World War 2 Museum about 30 minutes away from us. On the way to museum, it was so sunny and the leaves on the trees looked so pretty. Everything is turning yellow (reason for my title) and it is so pretty with all the forests here. Larry was like you are very quiet and I was just watching the trees as we went along in awe... for some reason I couldn't stop staring. We stopped along a creek because it was so pretty but right when we got down to the water the sun went away (typical Belgian day) So we waited a good 10 minutes for the sun to come back out so we could see how pretty it was when the sun hit the wet rocks and the yellow leaves. It was worth the wait. Then we drove to the museum (with another stop in between to see another look-out point over the valley) which was so interesting. There was a "tigre" - which was pretty much the biggest and best tank from WW2 that is legit invincible. When the battle ended it stopped on the random street in the town (la Gleize) and they made a museum right where it stopped - a few years later. So when you walked the streets - that is where the actual battle was ... I couldn't help but touch the stone walls along the street after because they had seen so much. It was intense - for me. We watched a movie there that was all with original footage of the war. It was such a different perspective and really raw. I had never seen anything like it...the tour guide said it is the only video made all from original archives. After we went to this huge cascade that is called the Coo (pronounced like co in co-ed) It was so cool! I was freezing though and just looking at the booming waterfall made me chatter... but it was cool to see. I guess there is a theme park at the same spot and it is the place to be in the summer. Keep that in mind for your summer vacations!

This coming weekend/week should be very fun! I will tell you about my plans because I have a feeling my next post won't be for awhile... fair warning my faithful followers.
This Friday, I am going to a party at a friends house and then Sunday is Halloweeen! Oh gosh. This month has really flown by. It is somewhat ridiculous! Here Halloween is not as big of a deal at home - which is depressing. I love Halloween. Ever since I was little, I loved dressing up and pretending to be something/someone different for a day! Nobody dresses up here! It is just for the kids - but I think I might dress up a little :) I can't help myself!
We have the next week off for Fall Break.... which I really need! I will be leaving though on Thursday for a Rotary Trip ... yay!

All for now!
Mallo