Listen to the Music

Hello Everyone :)

I am currently listening to "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Brothers. I was going to copy the lyrics on hear and psycho analyze the verses for everyone but then I realized that my posts are way too long as is and that everyone would much rather read a hippy paragraph on my obsession with music these days...

Oh, oh, listen to the music. This is my life now. All I do is listen to the music and let it flow... wherever I am. It is not always on my iPod but sometimes to the music of Liege, or the music of speaking and listening to French, or the music of the busy rush in the morning halls at my school, or the music of my family here, or the music of laughter, or the music of the crowded bus, or the music of finally having a moment alone, or the music of the sun finally shining here. It is everything in my life that is flowing and I finally feel like I'm flowing with it. That might be a bit too deep for my faithful followers... but these are my thoughts. I have been here for over 3 months now and I finally feel like I am going with the flow of things - more than anytime in my life. Stress and my brain have always gotten the best of me - and they still do from time to time - but I am not letting them stop me from listening to the music...

Like a lazy flowing river

Surrounding castles in the sky

And the crowd is growing bigger

List'nin for the happy sounds

And I got to let them fly

That was a bit deep but take it as you may.

Now about my week :) I had a pretty good week!!
Mondays are always dreaded by me - so I had to wear a pretty dress to make me happier this Monday. It worked and it was actually a good day and not as bad as normal Mondays are :) I also went for a nice run after school and felt really good about myself. My rapid weight gain has become the Debbie Downer of this dream I'm living so I am finally doing something about it. Especially now that I have energy to go on runs!!

Tuesday was good! I had a lot of free hours during school so I just chilled with friends and got caught up with all that went down this past weekend (I feel like the school I'm at here has more drama than my all-girls school in KC - which is an epic statement). I ended early and went home for a quick run then shower and went back into the city at 6 for my French class at the University - and yes, this class is still very easy but it is too late now for me to swtich and it is over in December sooooo ya.

Wednesday was a short day and after school I hung out with some Rotary friends. It was just a few of us and only for awhile because we all had to go home and get ready for the Opera that night. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Mallory goes to Operas in Belgium. Doesn't that sound so classy? I guess I'm turning into quite the little, cultured American over here. Despite the slight disappointment in not being able to wear my dress I planned on wearing (must we get into the details of why?) it was a fun night and quite an experience!! I read the plot details of the play (La Boheme) before I saw it - thanks to Marta - so I kinda had an idea of what was going on. I was so impressed that these people could sing so well and loud for so long! It was much shorter than I thought it was going to be - atleast it felt like it. Which is a good thing that it went faster than one might think an Opera would be. But I got to see everyone from Rotary I haven't seen in awhile so that was good to catch up in our fancy outfits. It was quite an experience but I think I prefer musicals to operas still...

Thursday was another good day. When I first arrived in Belgium one of my English teachers wanted me to help him in the Language Center like once a week and ofcourse I agreed to it half out of confusion. This Thursday was finally the day that it actually happened! We had a meeting place and the kids from the English classes could come and just eat lunch with me and speak in English (without a teacher correcting them). I thought nobody would come - I mean I wouldn't back in the states. But like 20 kids came and we just sat in a circle eating our lunches while they asked me questions. It was so much fun - but I think I was talking too fast sometimes. It was cute because most of the kids who don't participate in class were talking to me and were so proud when they formed the right words together for a question. It made me smile and happy to be listened to. It was nice to switch roles with my classmates and have them understand how hard it is to have a conversation in the real world. One girl came up to me and was like, "That was exhausting to be in your world for an hour!" I was like, "Yes, yes it is very exhaustinggg!"

Friday was pretty chill. After school, I just came straight home because I wanted to chill with my family since I would be gone all Saturday and Saturday night. I skyped my friends back home and just hung out with the family :) It was a nice relaxing night after a good week.

Saturday I got up nice and early (for a Saturday morning) and went to the trainstation in Liege to meet my besties Margaret and Mollie. We have been planning this little get together since our days in London - so it was kinda a big deal. Mollie's dad picked us up and we went shopping for dinner - our taco dinner we wanted to make for the family (big success - who doesn't like tacos?). Then after the shopping trip, we just went back to Mollie's house and hung out for a bit then went for a run through her neighborhood. It was such a pretty day and the sun was out, so the run was not bad at all... we saw this cute, fluffy dog with a bagette in it's mouth. So French. After the run, we just hung out on facebook stalking people and just catching up. Then the bonding moment with cooking dinner started soon after- which I must say I really just obeyed stirring and adding directions from Margaret. I really am so worthless in the kitchen - it is a serious defect of mine. We (as in Margaret and Mollie) also made chocolate cake! Then we watched "The Chorist" - in french - which really was so good. Then after dinner we played SingStar (not PingStar) which was absolutely hilarioussss and then again just hung out and talked. I think I could talk to these girls for days... it is the weirdest thing - but I love it. We all get along so well. Marta asked me today if we fought since 3 girls around each other too much is sometimes a bad thing and I was like no? We all three are so compatible, different, and yet the same.

I hope I get to see my K-MO girls next weekend!!

Today, I was back at Liege around 10 and went home to eat breakfast with the fam. Sunday breakfasts at my house are kind of a big deal. Lisa and I love them. Larry ges pastries from the local patisserie - sooo good. Then I always enjoy putting jam on my crispy croissant and drinking my coffee. After this I went for a run - the sun has been out quite a lot this weekend! Have to take advantage of it! Then I came back and just worked on this blog post (you guys don't even know how long it takes me to compose one post). Then we took a little Sunday trip to Verviers (about 20 minutes from Liege) to see this small, chocolate festival! I have never been to a chocolate festival so ofcourse my mouth was open the entire time we were there. They had these crazy sculptures of chocolate and all these weird things. It was sooo crowded also. People get pushy around chocolate!! We didn't even leave with any chocolate - just candy sorts of things. Which is fine with me :) Dessert tonight is going to be good!!

All for now :)

Mallory

Cambridge

These past few days were so nice - despite it being very cold in England!! I'm so happy I got to spend time with my real family and I'm also happy to get back to my routine here in Belgium...

Let me just take a moment to brag about myself and my success with country hopping alone - pause for recognition....Okay - it is really not a big deal but I'm just very happy with myself that I managed to do it rather stress free and without getting on the wrong train. High Five! I took the bus (with two rather large shoulder bags) during morning rush-hour to the train station in Liege and then I took the train to Brussels then hopped on the Eurostar. In an hour and 55 minutes I was in London (much better than the 9 hour bus ride with Rotary) and found Myme... I mean my Great Aunt ;)... pretty easily! We decided to just go to the house instead of heading into London since I might have overpacked a bit and for some reason thought that there would be a car... but it worked out fine and we just chilled at the house until the boys got home. It was cool to meet Zachary and Noah again since the last time I saw them they were so young! They are the sweetest little boys and I think I could listen to their litte, British accents all day! Little Noah is the cutest thing and the whole time I was there he would want me to read him a story at night and would come up and hug me during the day. We are besties :) Zachary and I got along well also!
That night I enjoyed Fish & Chips and a nice, huge glass of milk... :) I think I drank 2 gallons in 4 days. My stomach was really confused after not having milk (like this) in 3 months... confused but happy! My stomach was so happy when it was re-introduced to Myme's sour cream and onion dip. No words can express how much I love this dip... OH and homemade turtles!! I have yet to share them with anyone in Belgium ... SHH! Let's just say that it was a good 4 days of eating for me. I also got to enjoy playing a wonderful, family custom of ours - DOMINOS (mexican style). I lovee this game and it made me so happy to play - even if it wasn't for a dollar ... or should I say a 'pound'.

On Wednesday, it was Zachary's 11th birthday so I got up early to watch him open his birthday presents. He got this intense, lego thing that you can build robots and control them via the internet and all these crazy things - it was beyond my intelligence level. He loved it though!! Then that day, we (Louise, Myme and I) went on a double-decker bus tour of Cambridge. It reminded me so much of my friend's (Hayden's) double-decker that I pretty much grew up on and always enjoyed on St. Patrick's Day... good memories. We sat on the top and got a crazy, good view of the town. I learned so much about the city and how it really is not considered a city because it doesn't have a Cathedrale. I had no idea that so many intelligent people went to Cambridge... around 60 Noble Peace Prize winners graduated from one of Cambridge's colleges. That is crazy!! I was impressed - for a lack of an intelligent word. I also learned what "punting" is... which Cambridge is apparently known for but I have never heard of it in my life. It is like those boats in Venice that the guys stand on and push it with a stick - but Chris told me it is not like this at all. It is not a competition but just for fun. Then that night we had enchiladas for Zachary's birthday :)
Thursday was really fun also. Louise, Myme, and I went to Ely Cathedrale - about 20 minutes away from Cambridge. It was such a cool church and had so many chapels!! I enjoyed walking around and reading all the little plaques about whose tomb was whose... which there were also a lot of. I bought little christmas cards and a christmasy candle holder for Marta (she loved it) at the gift shop there - all of us ended up buying something from Ely Cathedrale ... it was funny. When we got home we had clotted cream (not curdled!!) , jam (not jelly!!), and scones. This was a religious experience for me but came to a sweet halt when I realized how many calories per teaspoon there was in curdled cream!! I feel that with my constant talking of food in this blog it is redundant for me to update everyone on my progressive weight gain... which is almost amazing. I will stop eating tomorrow... that is what I said after my first kilo!! Anyways ... that night I went to the local pub with Chris. It was fun to just chill and enjoy a cold beer or two... :)
Friday was a good day too! We went to this new sushi bar in Cambridge that had the plates on a belt thing (don't remember the word) and they went past all the tables in the restaurant. You just grab the thing you want and they charge you at the end based on the color of your plate. I was soo happy to finally eat sushi and it was such a cool restaurant. Myme and I stole the menu and I am going to pin it on my blazer - it was that epic. Then pretty much all day we went shopping. I bought way too many things and Myme bought me a new pair of boots :) I love them!! It was a fun day.
Saturday was one of the longest days of my life. I woke up at 7 in the morning and I went with Louise and Chris to London. We went to Harrod's. Which is amazing. I don' t know what I was expecting but it was nothing what I thought it was going to be! It was crazy big and crazy ritzy and crazy amazing!! I think my mouth was open the entire time we were walking through... especially when we got to the food courts. Chris bought me a cute, little cupcake. It was lemon and was beyond amazing when we ate them in the busy train station. It made me happy :) Funny story and your Mallory Moment - I wante to take a picture with the Harrod's door holder. Which I think I asked him in the most awkward way and didn't know how close to get to him and if we should make small chat. All in all it was beyond awkward and when the picture was taken I pretty much bolted with Louise. Halfway down the block, I realize that the picture didn't save so I had to go back and get another awkward picture with him. I couldn't stop laughing and I'm sure the doorman thought I had a problem or was just another stupid American. Classic.

I got on the Eurostar at 1 and was back in Liege at 6. Just in time to go straight to Larry's dad's birthday party... which lasted until 2 am. (Welcome to Belgium.) It was a nice re-introduction to french though!! It was a huge meal - complete with 3 appetizers and a 4 course meal and 3 different types of wine. It was really sweet of them because they had turkey as the main dish - so it was like my thanksgiving here :) I was happy that they thought about me. I was sooo tired though when we got home at 3 am...

got up today at noon and helped out with the raking. It was sad to rake up all the leaves that I loved so much... :/ but a new season is on the way! Hello Winter!
All for now

Cheers

Fell in love

LONDON LONDON LONDON

:)

I can't even describe how much fun I had... :) It was seriously some of the best 3 days of my life. I will never forget these memories

Now... to share with you a bit. Which I feel will be nothing compared to living it and being there but I will try my best.

So my Thursday started off with me getting up at 5 AM to go catch a train to Namur where everyone from Rotary was catching the bus (yes - a bus. I detest buses). We drove From Namur to Calais, France - where we caught a ferry to Dover, Enlgand. There were about 60 Rotary Students from all over Belgium and the whole trip was organized by Rotexs (which are "kids" who have already done a year abroad and live in Belgium and are normally 20ish) The ferry was really fun. It turned out to be a sunny day so we all just hung out on the deck and it was so windy - it was somewhat ridiculous. After about an hour of getting our hair tossed by the English Channel, everyone went inside and pretty much just sat there out of exhaustion. It was so nice to get off the boat!! Then when we were in Dover we drove about an hour or two to Canterbury. The famous Canterbury Church was epic - we had these hearing tour guides that I actually enjoyed. Which I guess nobody is surprised about that - I have read (and sung - shout out to my AP English class junior year) so many things on Canterbury it was nice to actually be there. It was impressive. Then we had free time to just wander the city - it was so tiny but cute! The typical English town :) Around mid-afternoon we hopped back on the nasty bus and were in London in time for dinner. With the weird time change here, it gets dark around 4 so it was already dark in London around then and everything was all lit up and pretty! It was a nice introduction to the city when you saw Big Ben all lit up and reflecting off the Thames River. We were starving so a group of 7 of us headed into the city with our 10 pounds and found a cute, little restaurant off the main road. It served English Breakfast all day so we went in and enjoyed ordering in English (felt weird - I must admit that I continued to accidently say "merci") and eating beans, sunny-side up eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, french fries, and milk for dinner!! Then we drove to our hotel - which was 30 mins from the city - and everyone pretty much crashed. I had the best roommates :) I think we may have all three been separated at birth. We are all from the same area in the States - Mollie from Manhattan, KS, Me from Kansas City, MO, and Margaret from St. Louis, MO. I love how close we were in the States and only in a different life do we get the opportunity to be friends and such. It is weird but I consider these girls some of my best friends and I have only known them for a month or so - my mind has no concept of time anymore. Just a tid bit on that - we were inseparatable all trip :)

Then we got up around 7 on Friday and went to Windsor Castle!! My first Enlgish Castle :) It was gorgeous and huge - and even better on the inside. I saw a mini changing of the gaurds - which so did not live up to my expectations. I also never saw any of the gaurds in the red uniforms with the weird tall, black hats - my only let down of the trip. After Windsor Castle we had lunch at this cute little café in town and enjoyed just talking in Enlish and not getting stared at oddly. After this we headed into London to go see Madame Tussand's wax museum - which was another epic visit!! I was soooo impressed with all the wax people!! They had everything from Will Smith to Barack Obama to The Queen of England to Hitler! I kept taking pictures and the pictures and the wax people looked so real that I almost got giddy like I ACTUALLY DID meet Marilyn Monroe and Brad Pitt - it was crazy. After this we went to an early dinner at the Hard Rock Café - finally enjoyed a cheeseburger. It was cool to all eat together - since normally we have free time during the meals to do what we want to do. Then after we went to a musical called "Blood Brothers" - which I must say I was not to keen on going to on a Friday night in London but it turned out to be one of the best musicals I have ever seen (third after Mama Mia and Wicked ofcourse). I'm not going to explain it because I will just look like a babbling idiot so let's just say that I laughed, cried, and felt stupid for not wanting to go. That night was fun with the other Rotary students :)

Then Saturday we got up nice and early again and I walked all over London for a legit 5 hours (from 7 AM breakfast until lunch at 2). It was cool to just be walking around London stopping at all the well known places and enjoying the unknown places as well - but my feet and back were hating me by the end of the day. From 3 until 10:30 we had an Oyster Pass (where you can go anywhere in London on the Underground all day) and do whatever we wanted - it was beyondddd amazing. I went with my new besties and friend from Canada (Christian) to the art museum, shopping which includes making a stop in Burberry and sadly forgetting to go to Harrod's, fish and chips for dinner, pub stops (including being carded and happily showing my Belgian ID and later being asked if English was my 5th Language because I apparantly speak awful English), tea stops, grocery shopping for snacks on the bus, etc. It was one of the best nights of my life to just go around London on a Saturday night via the Underground (thanks to Margaret) and just living it up completely enjoying every minute.

It came to a halt at 10:30, when we left London and got on the bus ... then the ferry (which we missed the first one and had to take another around 2 in the morning). Everyone was so exhausted and I'm pretty sure on the ferry I slept in two chairs like a bathtub - great sleep ... not. It was sadly better than the bus - which smelled like feet and sweaty bodies. Ugh. It was gross then we got to Namur around 8 in the morning... and Liege around 9. I looked like a hot mess I'm sure when Larry picked me up and I'm sure my French was an epic fail. When I got home I went straight to the shower then slept from 10 until 4 - ridiculous. I had school today - which was actually not bad since everyone had something to talk about. It also helped that today was my only school day of the week (I'm missing Tuesday and Wednesday and then Thursday and Friday are holidays - again). I'm so excited I get to go back to England tomorrow!! For those of you not up to speed - I had planned to just go early or stay after the Rotary trip in England to visit my family in Cambridge and my great aunt visiting but Rotary denied this. So I had to come home and travel alone if I really wanted to go - so thus I am here for 2 nights and I am back to England again :) Everyone was very confused at school when I kept saying "See you Monday" (in french) and the would all respond by saying "Mallory, today is Monday tomorrow is Tuesday." It was kind of funny because it really is ridiculous that I am going back after 2 days. Love it.

Well I'm off! Kind of nervous to be traveling alone - but just another experience and challenge :)
Talk to you soon!!
Mallo

Take It Easy

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 reminds 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

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 lasted 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 stuffed 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!

Monday was a national holiday - along with Halloween/Sunday. In Europe, it actually is the day of the dead. Either on the 31st or 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 go 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

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

en automne

Bonsoir!

This week was one of my favorite weeks so far :) I have officially been here for 2 months! Time is really flying by... Time goes by so fast and when you come up to breath it is half over. Life is funny like that. I'm doing my best to live in the moment - every moment. But it takes practice - as my daddy says. I'm doing my best and I'm tyring to live each moment to the fullest - even the crappy moments or the boring because that is what life is about. Enjoying the crappy and the amazing. Sorry - that was a bit deep but just some things I have been thinking about :)

I don't know the best way to organize my week so I guess I will start with Monday and go from there...

Monday was really fun! I had school until 5:10 but I got out of my last hour of school -which was gym- to go to a zumba class with Marta (somebody asked me what a zumba class was so to clarify a zumba class is like a dance class with fast pace, latin music where you do silly dance routines to break a sweat). It was so much fun! It was a class for family members of kids with handicaps or people with handicaps. I made a friend! She gave me a bracelet and told me I was going to be her best friend :) It was really cute. Yes - the bracelet is pinned on my blazer. While Marta and I were doing this Lisa (my sister) had basketball practice and after she had badmitton practice. Which she is amazingggg at. Like seriously - this is not a joke. So I decided to play with the other kids ... and quickly realized that I am beyond awful at badmitton. I lost each match ... but it was funny. I was laughing the entire time. It was nice to see Lisa doing something she enjoys and being active myself! I hope I will be able to go again tomorrow - but we will see if works out.

Tuesday was a normal day complete with a 2 hour french course at 6. My class is really easy for me so I'm thinking of talking to the teacher to switch to a higher level... hm. That is a good sign!

Wednesday was special. My entire grade got to go to a movie (on Wednesdays all the schools are done at noon) at 9 in the city. The movie was called "Illegal" and was about illegal immigrants in Europe. It was really intense and sad. I actually teared up a bit because it was so depressing and emotional. It was all in French so I guess that is a good sign that I could follow along... right? After this we all had some time to chill before we went back to school and I went with some friends to the fair. Liège has this huge fair all for the month of October - it is legit. Nobody was in it since it was like 11 but it was just fun to walk around and eat fried food with friends :) After we went back for our hour of classes then we were free. I went with some girls to get lunch at Quick (the McDonalds of Belgium). I felt so Belgian! After this I went with a friend to get my haircut... which was an effort for me to communicate what I wanted to the hairdresser. But it turned out perfect and I learned some new french vocabulary. It was really fun and nice to talk to my friend while we were waiting. Then I went shopping withthem... it was just nice to walk around the city with new friends and speak in french and I don't know - I loved it :)

Thursday was another typical day complete with a 2 hour french course where it is too easy for me. I really need to talk to the prof about swtiching ...

Friday was really nice too. My teachers decided to not come to school for some reason so I only had 2 hours of French class (actual french class not to learn french) in the morning. Then we had class pictures! Story of my life - I missed the memo that we had pictures that day and showed up to school in my normal apparel and with my attempt to wear make-up. So that was fun to see everyone else looking extra nice. It was the fastest photo-shoot I have ever been to. Maybe that is because my school was all-girls... hm probably. But school was over for me at noon instead of the normal Friday ending at 2 so I just ate in the city with friends and chilled at a friends house for awhile then went home at around 7. My family wasn't home to it was nice to just chill alone and catch up with e-mails and such.

Saturday - or yesterday - was really fun also. I should use a differnet word than "fun" for everything... sorry about that. Saturday was splendid too! I slept in and after lunch I went for a run. After the run we went to this big shopping mall in Liège that was very American. But it was still cool we just kind of window shopped and walked around. They had a huge grocery store in the mall and we went for the weekly shopping. For some reason I love doing the weekly shopping. I always learn something new and get to try a new sort of dish when we go. Larry is an amazing cook and I have happily gained 4 kilos (I will not convert this out of embarrassment of how much it is in pounds) with his cooking. When we got home I decided it was time to finally carve the pumpkin that has been sitting in the garage for a good few weeks. It was so great! Nobody here carves pumpkins here so it was really fun :) I carved the normal jack-o-lantern face on one side then we (as in Larry and I) carved a kitty on the other side. We were really professional about it and like drew it out on a sheet of paper then converted it on to the pumpkin. But it turned out soooo great!! We put it outside and ahhh it was great. Canelle (the cat - and canelle is cinnamon in french) normally stands by the window when she wants in so we put the cat face so you could see it through the window - everybody thought this was great. And it is!! I love it and can't wait to go see it when I walk downstairs.

Today was another cultural exchange. Slept in again today we all lounged around until like noon. Then I decided to bake my chocolate chip cookies! Yes - I brought 2 bags Nestlé chocolate chips to Belgium, land of chocolate. Now that I think about it - that is embarrassing. Whatever! It was cool to laugh and bake them. They didn't have enough of sugar and butter so we improvised a bit but they turned out so good! I am very proud of them :) We made like 5 dozen - so we should be enjoying them for awhile. Then I had my first cooking lesson! I made my favorite dish ever - QUICHE. I love it so much. It was so cool for me to make stuff because at home I don't even attempt to make anything... because I'm very lazy. I'll admit it. So it was interesting to actually cook and I laughd a lot :) It turned out great. Well - I thought it was great. Bien sur (ofcourse). Then since it wasn't raining or too cold here, I went for a 2 hour hike with Larry. We have woods just in front of the house and it was so cool to just walk around. I was sweating by the end of it - but you know the cold sweat when you are cold but hot at the same time. The trees are really tall and skinny here - it looks like a scene from Harry Potter! Halfway through we stopped at an old farm and I enjoyed some hot chocolate with a brown sugar crepe :)

Good week :)

Dinner is ready!

All for now!

à tantot

Mallo

Exhaustion

Hello everyone.
This Friday I will have been here for 2 months... time is the weirdest thing. It feels like I've been here for only a little over 2 weeks!

I have decided to stop appologizing for my tardiness... because let's be honest. Life is happening! I am sleeping in my down moments instead of updating you and I will not appologize for that because I'm seriously dying of exhaustion here!! My school days start at 8:30 and end at 5:10 then on tuesdays and thursday I get to go to french class from 6 - 8. Longest days of my life are becoming "normal days". C'est la vie... I'm tyring to embrace it with a smile but my body is starting to hate me. My mind also - she doesn't know what to do with the constant switching back in forth between french and english. French is coming along though!! My Belgian friends (yes - I must specify) say that I'm improving! I was so happy! I try to speak french anytime I can but I'll have to admit it is very easy to get away with speaking just english here. I know some exchange students that haven't learned a bit of French... so I think I'm doing well :) I'm not fluent but I think by Christmas I will be pretty decent. French class will help! Great - just jinxed myself. I do have exciting news about school and me learning french. I took a test in my Sciences Sociales class just to try and it was about submission to authority and all that jazz. We had to read 2 texts on the subject and respond to some questions and I got a 100%! This is not a joke. I was so happy. I was grinning from ear to ear all day - I actually did better than some Belgians! I came home and the first thing I did was show my parents and they were so impressed - so impressed they gave me a pin for my blazer. It was so cute :) I am smiling now as I remember this. I will never forget how happy I am every time I see my cute, Tchantchès pin! Happiness :)

The weather is being weird. Actually that is Belgium I think. The weather here is very bizarre. It will be freezing, rainy, sunny, then overwhelmingly hot in a matter of maybe 2 hours. It is very fast. Last week was really nice and sunny though... everyone is outside when it is sunny because you don't know how long it will last or when it will come again. Which I like a lot. Makes you appreciate the weather...

Last-last weekend (ahhh that is bad - but not appologizing!!)
Friday, I stayed home and watched my sister because a family friend unexpectadly passed away. I had no plans that night and it was good timing for me to watch Lisa... she played and I caught up with Facebook.
Saturday was special. We didn't do anything during the day but at night - for some reason - the town decided to light up the massive amount of stairs (remember?) with candles. Not only just the stairs but the old citadelle and pretty much the whole downtown was lit up with little white candles. It was so romantic and disgustingly crowded with people. It was so pretty against the warm, darkness of the night - yes that was poetic wasn't it? Marta and I were so cute, when we saw a candle blown out or knocked over we would relight it. Ofcourse I would sing the song "Go light you candle" - shout out to my Sion girls - and Marta would sing "Candle in the Wind". It was cute. I liked it. I stole a candle and was joking I was going to glue it on my blazer ... we will see if this happens. But everyone was a bit tired all night and we stopped for a good half hour at this random spot in town. I just thought we were chilling and enjoying the people watching. But ofcourse I was lost in translation and we were waiting for a fireworks show. It was the best surprise :) I love moments like this... when you just go with the flow and are pleasantly surprised. These things are teaching me to go with the flow more and not psyhco analyze everything. Which I have a tendency to do... :/
Sunday was nice. My host grandfather (the father of Larry) works as a tour guide of a very nice museum in Liège and he gave us a very nice tour :) It was all in French - but I tried to follow along. I could understand a lot of things but a lot of things were very technical terminology ... so that was sometimes a failure. It was very interesting and the museum was full of so many cool things! Not to mention it used to be a house and Napolean stayed a night there ... not a big deal (does everyone know that I have sick-obsession also with Napolean Bonaparte yet?). Then after we went to a cute little farm that specializes in goose and pears and had a fabulous lunch there. I wanted to eat there all day. I am drooling a little as I write this... it was amazing!! It was such a nice sunny day and the flowers looked so pretty against the old stones of the farmhouse. I loved it. After this my parents when to the funeral of their friend who passed away and I went to my friend's house and skyped for the first time in 2 months! I am actually really impressed that I lasted so long without seeing my parents and friends. It was so great. I loved it. It made me so happy and just rejuvenated - not homesick at all. Which is good!!

okok interruption of the merry-go-round of happiness
Last week was really hard for me. It was a mixture of a lot of things... but I was so emotional. I would feel like crying at random times through out the week for no real reason. It is not at all that I'm not happy here. I have talked to a few other exchange students and past exchange students who have all experienced the same thing. I feel a lot of the time "personality-less". This has a lot to do with lack of french fluency I think. Actually - a whole lot. In the states I am able to say what I'm feeling right off the top of my head or be funny or say something intelligent or just plain "being mallory" but here I have to put in a whole lot more effort to do any of these things with success. It is tiring... but part of the deal. I am almost rediscovering myself from ground 0... things will fall into place though. It it not unhappiness let me clarify ... but something within myself that comes with the deal of living in a different country that speaks a different language. C'est la vie. I am feeling better about things now though... I have a much better attitude towards the challenge :)

This past weekend
Friday, I hung out with school friends.
Saturday I got up at 6:30 in the morning to catch a train to Namur - a city in Belgium about an hour from Liège - for a Rotary event. It was so early... but I sucked it up and actually had a good time despite my lack of sleep. It was cool because we visited the Parliment of Walloonia - anyone following Belgium politics? I really don't want to get into what is going on with the politics of Belgium on here (my blog) because I honestly don't really understand it well enought to talk about it objectively. But it is kind of a big deal to visit it now because it might not be there in the future... it was really interesting. It was such a nice day - so sunny! We took a boat trip and I just caught up with friends I made in Brussels. There was probably 100 of us because they gathered 3 districts together. So it was nice to see people you normally don't see :) I had fun! I didn't do anything that night - I was beyond exhausted. Story of my life?
Sunday was really relaxing :) I slept in and got up for breakfast then took a run. It was so sunny and everyone was just lounging in the sun all day. But I had to make a power-point about Kansas City, my family, and my school all day. Yes - it took all day. I think it is pretty good ... but I have to present it all in French. So we will see how that one goes. I am actually presenting it tomorrow! Wish me luck - here everyone says "Bonne Merde" which literally means Good Shit but it is nice to say that to someone. I think? Then that night I watched a movie with my family... it was called "Meeting with Joe Black". Brad Pitt was in it and he was so young and cute! I loved the movie and I understood a lot of it! Success!

All for now. I need to go do some finishing touches on my presentation ...

à tantot!
Mallo