Belgian Dining

The food is getting better, or at least I'm becoming accustomed to it. I'm beginning to know what I like and don't like. My favorite so far is the soup and the tartiflette. Belgians eat lots of soup as a first servings. It is always full of veggies and I feel so healthy afterwards. They grind it up so there aren't any chunks, but it is still delicious. They sometimes put in this bread type things that is like a crutton the size of an english muffin. It becomes soft in the soup but doesn't fall apart. Sometimes they add cheese and broil it. AMAZING.

The tartiflette is like a potato casserole, very similar to something I love at home (only, I'm sad to say, the belgians have it down a bit better than my mother. sorry mom. you've been out-cooked). It has mushrooms, pieces of bacon, onions, cream, pepper and nutmeg. On top they take this kind of cheese that looks like a full circle of brie and cut it in half and let it cook into the casserole. The skin of the cheese becomes crisp on top and it is fantastic. Chantal and I made it the other night so I'm hoping I can find the cheese in America.

The other thing I love here is a cookie called "Speculoos." It is kind of like ginger snaps but with cinnamon. They are also lighter and are sometimes served with coffee. Once dipped into a hot drink, they melt perfectly in your mouth. I'm eating it as I type this with my Starbucks coffee that Kaitlyn brought me from London. (I never go to Starbucks in the US, always the small businesses, but Euro coffee is driving my crazy and this stuff is incredible).

And of course, belgian waffles. There are waffle stands everywhere. They truly are a specialty here. They are more dense than our waffles and you can order it with pretty much anything on it. There is sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, strawberries, bananas, chocolate, whipped cream, ice cream, and more. A definite must-try in Belgium.

Happy Belated Halloween!

Lately things have been looking very up. Fall break has ended and I've got a full 6 weeks of school before another.

My halloween was so much fun. My family took me to an "American" restaurant/grill for dinner. It was quite the experience. When we walked in there was a statue of a native american wearing an american flag skirt.

oxymoran anyone?

The food was very belgian. The whole place was dressed up in patriotic decor. The only thing American about it was that it took so bloody long to bring us our food!

My family then drove me to my friend Brianna's house in Mons (Bri is from B.C.) where I spend the night with my three exchange buddies. We went to the grand place for a night out on the town and had a blast. While in search of some sort of dancing, we found ourselves in the Irish Pub where all of the workers were dressed up. Finally some holiday spirit!

Now it is back to the usual routine. Early morings, french lectures, strict rules, but lots of good people. My french is improving and I'm getting into the swing of things. I can't believe I'm already a fourth of the way through!

"Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a different way to stand" -Oprah Winfrey


"When we try to do something new, we don't know what we're doing. That's the biggest challenge"
-Jeffrey Kalmikoff


(photo: our baby deer)

Shopping in Charleroi

I've started going up to Charleroi more often to go shopping or just hang out. It provides a nice middle ground to meet my exchange student friends since its not too far from any of us. It takes me 40-50 minutes on the bus. This is my friend Emily and me on our first shopping adventure together! It's not the safest city...actually, it's pretty much the ghetto of Belgium. An exchange student actually already got jumped by eight men and had surgery this year...but it is the closest city to me and it's not so bad during the day.

Namur Boat Cruise

I don't have time to write another post, but this is from a cruise that Rotary took all 220 of us exchange students in Belgium on. It wasn't the most scenic trip, but there were a few pretty spots like the one in the picture. It was mostly just nice to talk with all of the students. And of course, we covered all the rules. We even have a points system here in Belgium. Three strikes and you're out. I'll be sure to be on my best behavior ;)

Limbourg, Belgium

Last week our Rotary club informed us that they were picking us up at school, and taking us to Southern Belgium, near Germany. We got on the bus, headed south, with no idea what we were doing other than going to the south of Belgium. I've learned that asking questions, when often are very helpful, sometimes aren't even worth it. I just go with the flow of things and enjoy ride they throw us on. So after a three hour bus ride we end up at "La Barrage." What is that, you ask? I honestly still don't really know, our tour guide's first language was dutch and she had a very strong accent. My rotarian explained it to us as "the oldest in the world, where they clean wood". It was pretty cool though. It was like a huge dam with a statue of a lion on top. I also learned that the pH of the water there is 7. Pretty interesting.



We then had a walking tour of the town, which was also amazing. It was a foggy evening at dusk and the buildings were ancient with lots of character. The town is filled with rich cultural history. We stopped at the castle/grave yard at the very peek of the rock which was fabulous. I learned that the reason castles were built right on the edge of rocks was because it was more difficult to attack.

Then came time for dinner. By the way, I despise Rotary dinners because the food, while it may be gourmet belgian specialties, is NOT by any means MY cup of tea.
The menu went as follows:
Bread, good, I like bread. I'll eat all your bread so I'm too full for the next course.
Then came something that looked almost like a creme broulet. So I thought I was in the safe, and asked what it was and discovered it was liver soaked in cream and uncooked eggs. GREAT. (lesson #1: NEVER ask what you're eating in Belgium). So I looked at it, played with it a little. Tried to ignore the Youth Exchange Coordinator tell me "It's good. Eat it. It's good." As more of a fact rather than opinion. Then nibbled on it and decided that they'd rather me not eat it than be unable to keep it down and make a mess of their 5 star restaurant.
The last course wasn't as bad, chicken with, of course, potatos (which they eat at every meal), and a cooked pear. Dessert just got better, and I was sure to finish my chocolate mousse cake.

When we finally left at 12:30am, I was exhausted. I didn't get home until 3 in the morning, after my ride getting lost in the foggy country roads on the way back to my house. School was brutal the next day. As if Friday's aren't awful enough with four hours of french and two hours of history and finishing at four pm.

Some More Highlights

Lille, France

I went up here a couple weeks ago with my host mom and brother. We spent the day shopping and wandering the streets. It's a beautiful place.


Chimay, Belgium

This is the town where my school is and my host parents work. We live 20 minutes out in a village of 400, surrounded by countless other villages. I am pretty sure Belgium is the most densely populated country in the world.


Namur, Belgium

This was the most amazing sunset I've ever seen. The picture doesn't give it credit. We went kayaking with the Rotex (Past exchange students) and about 150 exchange students, but we missed out train so my host mom had to drive us to it's next stop in Namur. It was completely worth it though because the drive was amazing. The sun was coming out and it was foggy and everything looked purple. I can't even describe it. It was beautiful.


Kayaking on the River Lesse in Dinante

This part of Belgium is absolutely amazing. It is hilly and the scenery is picturesque. We spent the entire day kayaking down this river, occasionally running into other exchanges students. It was gorgeous. At one point we hit a branch and tipped and my first thought was "GET THE BUCKET I AM NOT LOSING ANOTHER CAMERA" and then I realized that the water was freezing and I could hardly breathe. When we finally made it to the shore with the kayake I had to change out of my soaking clothes infront of a group of Flemish speaking belgians. They were nice and helped us get the water out. (everything in the bucket stayed dry, camera is safe)


A castle along the river...


La grange aux Papillons

greenhouse housing butterflies from around the world in a beautiful tropical environment, in the town of Virelles, 3km from Chimay.