Salut!
I'm currently listening to Take It Easy by the Eagles. I love this song - and for some reason I can't stop listening to it here. It remi
nds me of driving to St. Louis with my Dad when I was little and listening to KUDL... and it reminds me of driving to school and listening to oldies with my good friend.... and it reminds me of the times when I had to listen to it to calm down while studying for a big test... and now it reminds me to just live in the moment here. Songs are some kind of magic - don't quote me on this. I love taking the bus alone here just so I can listen to music. I get a nice seat by the window and listen to all my random songs while the rest of the world keeps living and moving on. I love it. Sometimes I take the bus even when I don't have to just to enjoy this little time alone... alone with the music... just taking it easy.
Sorry! That was a bit hippie... I'm changinggggggg
nds me of driving to St. Louis with my Dad when I was little and listening to KUDL... and it reminds me of driving to school and listening to oldies with my good friend.... and it reminds me of the times when I had to listen to it to calm down while studying for a big test... and now it reminds me to just live in the moment here. Songs are some kind of magic - don't quote me on this. I love taking the bus alone here just so I can listen to music. I get a nice seat by the window and listen to all my random songs while the rest of the world keeps living and moving on. I love it. Sometimes I take the bus even when I don't have to just to enjoy this little time alone... alone with the music... just taking it easy. French is coming along. Like every week. I tried very hard all this week to speak French at home and out with friedns ... and I think I did well. My head hasn't been hurting as much! I think I have found the trick to not having headaches - become fluent as soon as possible? It is now November and I am not fluent but can carry on a pretty decent conversation - that is pretty legit. Considering I'm the girl that meowed - yes, not a typo - in the back of her French class for 4 years. French will come when it comes, as for now I'm trying my best - every exchange student's motto :)
Oh! And I started a new journal this week! It is purple and pretty and I can't believe I already wrote through a whole one in a little over 2 months. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing... I'm not much of a journal person but I really enjoy spending spare time (like when I mess up times and show up places 2 hours early) writing my thoughts and such. Kind of like this little blog but less puplic - I hope!
Friday was really really fun. I hung out with Francois and his friends on Friday... I haven't hung out with those friends for awhile so it was nice to reconnect. It was funny because the decorations were very "halloweeny" but nobody dressed up! I still had fun though :)
Saturday we went to the "oldest town in Belgium". It was so cute! It was near Hasselt - the town in Flanders we visited last week. It still had a Roman wall surrounding the city - it was legit. It amazes me that a wall like that has l
asted so 
long!! It was rainy and cold but it was still nice to walk around the modern/old town. We had a "snack" (the farthest thing from a snack I have ever had - I was stu
ffed afterwards) at this cute, little Brasserie. It was in an old Brassserie but the inside was so modern and new - very European. After this, the sun
decided to come out and it was so nice! We then went to a Japanese garden. The city is "sister" cities with a city in Japan - so to represent this freindship they made one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. Like- honestly. All the leaves had changed colors and were seriously gorgeous.... yellow, orange, blood, red, pink, sunset, crimson, rose, so many colors!! And there was a little pond through out the whole garden (complete with a waterfall) that reflected the colors even more. The pond was full of these huge carps - I have never seen such fat fish in my life. Ah... words can't describe it... I could have just sat there for the rest of the day... I took too many pictures!
asted so 
long!! It was rainy and cold but it was still nice to walk around the modern/old town. We had a "snack" (the farthest thing from a snack I have ever had - I was stu
ffed afterwards) at this cute, little Brasserie. It was in an old Brassserie but the inside was so modern and new - very European. After this, the sun
decided to come out and it was so nice! We then went to a Japanese garden. The city is "sister" cities with a city in Japan - so to represent this freindship they made one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen. Like- honestly. All the leaves had changed colors and were seriously gorgeous.... yellow, orange, blood, red, pink, sunset, crimson, rose, so many colors!! And there was a little pond through out the whole garden (complete with a waterfall) that reflected the colors even more. The pond was full of these huge carps - I have never seen such fat fish in my life. Ah... words can't describe it... I could have just sat there for the rest of the day... I took too many pictures!Sunday was Halloweennnnn! I'm sad to report that the extent of my dressing up was orange socks... depressing I know. But I had a pretty fun day!! I slept in and then met with my Belgian friends at the Foire - which was different than the last time because I was 
with Belgians and rode on the rides. Yes! It was seriously so much fun. I went on this swing ride ... you are in a swing and the ride goes really high in the air and spins faster and faster. It was petrified... but it was awesome. I was laughing the whole time with Louisa and got a great view of Liege with how high up we were!! Then after I went on this crazy spinny ride on the ground with a friend... it was so fast and after I got off my hair was such a mess. I think I drooled a bit because the ride was so fast and I couldn't stop laughing with my friend. Good times. We then enjoyed some nice fried food and cotton candy. After the Foire we went to a bar to watch the local football game... it was a tie but still fun to chill and just watch. Then I went home to have dinner with the fam. It was really nice dinner and they got me a present for Halloween :) I ate it all by the next day. I sometimes wonder how I've gained so much weight - pause - not! It was not my normal Halloween but I really had a good time :) I think I can live one year without dressing up... makes me appreciate it more! That's the attitude Mallory!
with Belgians and rode on the rides. Yes! It was seriously so much fun. I went on this swing ride ... you are in a swing and the ride goes really high in the air and spins faster and faster. It was petrified... but it was awesome. I was laughing the whole time with Louisa and got a great view of Liege with how high up we were!! Then after I went on this crazy spinny ride on the ground with a friend... it was so fast and after I got off my hair was such a mess. I think I drooled a bit because the ride was so fast and I couldn't stop laughing with my friend. Good times. We then enjoyed some nice fried food and cotton candy. After the Foire we went to a bar to watch the local football game... it was a tie but still fun to chill and just watch. Then I went home to have dinner with the fam. It was really nice dinner and they got me a present for Halloween :) I ate it all by the next day. I sometimes wonder how I've gained so much weight - pause - not! It was not my normal Halloween but I really had a good time :) I think I can live one year without dressing up... makes me appreciate it more! That's the attitude Mallory!Monday was a national holiday - along with Halloween/Sunday. In Europe, it actually is the day of the dead. Either on the 31st o
r on the 1st you go to the cemetary to remember those who have passed away. All the flower shops are open and everyone from the city comes to buy a ton of flowers to g
o plant at the gravesites. When I walked into the cemetary, I was shocked. I have never seen so many people or so many flowers in a cemetary in my whole life. It was breathtaking... I kept sneaking pictures when nobody was looking... so not the place to be taking pictures like the American tourist I am. You had all different types of gravestones - some from 2010 and then some from the 1700's. It was crazy with all the variety and they were all so close to each other... so you noticed the differences even more. The flowers looked so happy next to the grew tombstones - it made the somberness more of a celebration of life. They had tombstones that were for whole families - something I didn't even know existed. It was just really interesting and something I have never experienced before... I'm glad I went. We don't have anything like this in the States...
r on the 1st you go to the cemetary to remember those who have passed away. All the flower shops are open and everyone from the city comes to buy a ton of flowers to g
o plant at the gravesites. When I walked into the cemetary, I was shocked. I have never seen so many people or so many flowers in a cemetary in my whole life. It was breathtaking... I kept sneaking pictures when nobody was looking... so not the place to be taking pictures like the American tourist I am. You had all different types of gravestones - some from 2010 and then some from the 1700's. It was crazy with all the variety and they were all so close to each other... so you noticed the differences even more. The flowers looked so happy next to the grew tombstones - it made the somberness more of a celebration of life. They had tombstones that were for whole families - something I didn't even know existed. It was just really interesting and something I have never experienced before... I'm glad I went. We don't have anything like this in the States... Then today I slept in until 10 and went for a run and ran some errands in the city. I love Liege - I know where pretty much everything is and I always run into someone I know on the streets. Today I ran into some exchange students I haven't seen in like forever - it was nice to catch up. I like knowing where I'm going and communicating with people. Like today I had to recharge my phone and I was able to communicate with the person at the cell phone place that my texts aren't free and that I need to pay 15 euros (all in French). I was proud of myself. I also knew the shops to go to get my family in Cambridge some little goodies... I felt very Belge! Then after I met up with some Belgian friends at this cute little bar and enjoyed a smoothie :)
Another good day.
I'm getting so excited to go to Londonnnnn! I leave Thursdayyyyy :)
All for now :)
Mallo
MMEEOOOOWWW i love you!!! you sound like you are having so much fun!! i am so happy for you! skype me soon?
ReplyDeleteI found your blog far too late. I should have been reading all year. Please blog about what you did in London. Was it cold? We leave on the 19th for Dublin and London and I CANNOT WAIT. Cheers!
ReplyDelete