The only reason you would buy sunglasses in Belgium is to protect your eyes from when it hails sideways because it is NEVER sunn
Mood:  incredulous
Je suis desole...

Je suis desole a la premiere famille de Adriana qui peut-etre pense que je le n'aime pas parce que j'ai ecrit plein des choses quand Adriana a change sa famille a la famille de Romain... Mais c'est pas parce que je te n'aime pas... je n'ai jamais cru que les choses que j'ecrire te blesserai (i know that isn't right) "could hurt;" :/ Tu es genialle, vraiment!! Super calme et gentile et tout le temps tu as m'aide avec ma premiere famille, je suis desole que je n'ai jamais dit "merci" et pour le grand truc des bonbons de "Saint Nicholas." Tu sais que... en effet, tu n'es sais pas mais je vais te dire: j'ai ecrite beaucoup dans mon journal mais je crois que je l'oublie ici dans mon "live journal" ... Comme ca tu ne vais jamails le sais combien j'aime sa famille et pour ca je suis tellement desole.

I don't see the need to translate that. If you can't speak French then that message probably isn't for you but if youre going to be nosey and find an internet translater, there is nothing I can do about it.

Live is confusing here in Belgium lately. Adriana got back from Portugal last Sunday. A lot has changed since she has been gone and there is no way to ever go back to the way things were. I won't explain, lol because I'm like that and because I don't even understand it so it will be completely impossible to make you, my reader, understand it. Or maybe I've already sent you an e-mail! I'm still adjusting to her new host family. They are nothing like her first host family and (ok this might hurt someones feelings... I'll apologize ahead of time but this is my journal and I have a right to say the things I want to) sometimes when it used to be the three of us (me romain and adriana) or just me and Romain ;) things were good.. now I am feelings somewhat left out. (ok go ahead think what you want about that last statement... chances are I've already been called it ) :/ His family likes it when the house is calm and doesn't like a lot of people around, so Adriana can stay there but it is better if I don't just go and hang out... not like with her first family where if I just show up they were cool with that. I'll adjust.

Tomorrow Adriana has opted "sleep" over going into town with me. cool, ill go alone, hopefully hit up Serena's GSM (oops, that is Belgian for cellphone,lol) and make some plans with her and her boyfriend for tomorrow night!! "My angel!!" :D Romain is working and Julian has not spoken with me tonight so I'm gussing we do not have plans for this weekend. :/

I'm supposed to be going to church with Serena and Adriana on Sunday but we will see if that happens.

-ciao

And the difference between schools here and schools in America is...
Mood:  chillin'
I am so relieved! I have completed my presentation in French class! *phew* THANK GOD!!! For the past 3 or more weeks I have been spending every waking hour working on, thinking over, or worrying about that project. Today I did it. After all the practice runs, it was hard for me to realize that this one actually counted... this was the real deal. It was awesome! Genial!! Je suis trop contente!

Ok now I will go into every grusome little detail about it. Just giving you a heads up!!

Before I started, I put on my Rotary blazer with all my little pins. I wrote the words for the "Pledge of Allegeance" on the black board and then I drew the outline of America... Stuck a small American Flag to the window and told everyone to stand up and face the flag while I recited the "Pledge of Allegeance" Then I began...

Of coarse the entire thing was in French and my pronounciation is terrible, but I still think I did an excelent job. I brought a film in to present to the class and half way through my presentation when I was ready to show my film, I made everyone change rooms, which was good for me because I got a 5 minute break to breath... think of my next phrases and points, and try to get my face back to a normal color (which of coarse never happens until atleast 2 hours after a speech anyways.) I think the film was a big hit, it wasn't anything corney and I got it in French, obviously, so everyone could understand it. Then when I finished they got to ask me questions... that was the difficult part because I couldn't prepare myself for all the questions they would ask me but I tried to answer as best I could. My presentation took up the entire class (which is 50 minutes) and that is, let me tell you, a hell of a long time to stand up infront of a group of people and speak in a language that you don't know very well!! But it felt so great at the same time... Like: look everyone, I can speak in French!!! And you all thought I was as good as a boiled egg! Look at me! And my actual presentation went so much better than every time I had practiced it before. I could not have asked for a more perfect preformance! It was (for me) perfect to the highest level of perfectivity!! I didn't rush my words... I paused in all the right places, made eye contact, interacted with my crowd, didn't read off my paper unless it was utterly necessary, and then did a question and answer session at the end which was totally unexpected!!!!!


And now I have nothing to do... I have spent every waking minute working on that project and now that it is over... I'm lost. Ok, I still have my Homosexual Marriage Project to work on... and 5+ books to read for French2h ... and a letter to write also for French2h... and the DREAM program that I have to start for Science Sociale.

So as it happens, I'm not actually lost... I've just run out of things to focus my attention on that I feel strongly about... the things that interest me. My presentation for French was something that I looked forward to doing... all these other tasks are just looked upon as... well... tasks. :/

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Tomorrow I don't have school because of a teachers meeting also known as a : Conge. My host mom is taking me into Liege to do I don't know what but it seems pretty important to her. She has asked me twice if I will go with her. I guess we are just going to have lunch, but thats cool.

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Lourenco went back to his beach house until March and I didn't even get to say "bye" :( He waited for me for 4 hours on MSN but my host mom was using the computer and by the time she was done she said that it was to late for me to get online. Errrrr! I'm so sorry Lourenco!!!! Eu te amo!! And I just put two pictures of him in my "And Ends" Photo Album so if you want to see how absolutley amazing this guy is, that is where you will find him!!

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pffff its midnight 0'1 so I'll be going now.

*bisous* -ciao

Vacation is over and I couldn't be happier!!!!!
Mood:  amorous
Topic: Carnival Vacation
Hello sweetheart
[...]you are unbelievable...when i thought that the world had ran out of sweet girls, i found you...

(Exerpt from Lourenco's email to me :D!!)

He was on vacation but he just got home tonight!!!!!! weeeeeeeeeeeee!

So today (or tonight rather) is the official end of vacation. School tomorrow... up at 6... errr. I still have to finish my project for French class. Its gonna be good, but I'm running out of time!! I always find myself saying that, such a procrastinator (sp??)

oh no its 10:32 and my bed time is 10:30! I have to go *vite* before my host mom sees that I'm still online. Just had to write this quick note to say that I'm happy again!!


-ciao

It's already over!?
Mood:  lazy
Topic: Carnival Vacation
Carnival Vacation is drawing to an end all too quickly. I'm still kinda bummed that I didn't get to go to Germany but poor Heike, she was sick, so I won't blame her. :) Anyhow, I'm actually looking forward to going back to school! At least I will get to see everone again. Over vacation tout le monde left for all corners of Europe so it has been difficult to get in touch with anyone besides Romain and Finn who are always together and always a phonecall away anyways! (its a compliment, "own it" lol)

I stil have a lot of work to do on my French project and my partners in Science Sociale are counting on me to make a poster and pull up some information for our project on homosexual marriages. So there are two things that I need to focus my attention on but right now focus is one thing that I am majorly lacking.

Yesterday morning my host mom took me into town to get a converter so I can charge my video camera. So I plugged that baby in and then headed out for the afternoon. I caught the bus into town at noon and then took a corrosponding bus into Jupille (the little suburb of Liege where my school is.) I didn't arrive there until 1:30. It had been my understangind that Sarah (one of the girls in my Science Sociale group) would meet me at the school some time in the afternoon on Thursday and take me to her house so that we could work on our project. But no one was there when I got there and after waiting for half of an hour in the rain, I decided that no one was going to show up either. Soaking wet and not toooo impressed, I speed dialed Finn and Romain for some quick "friend picker-upper advice" and a "liege gopher"- or in real English I guess that is Liege Waffel, non? LOL Spent my afternoon with them and then headed home around 5.

My video camera, which I will call "Bob" (origional... je sais, tu sais) was done charging and I got to test it out. I tried following the directions with exact percision but that was until I found out that I had directions for a different model of video camera. So whatever, I "wung it" and just went around recording everything like a little kid!! "Look here is my host mom... and here is my kitchen... and look! there are my feet!" c'etait genial!!

I talked with Romain hier soir "last night" on line and he said that Adriana had called his family to tell them that she is in the hospital! What!? Mon petit chou est ou?!? I guess she didn't give an explanation why but Pierre suggested that maybe she is sick... that is probably a pretty good guess (I always did think, for the most part, that is why people go to the hospital, isn't it?) She is still in Portugal because she was spending the vacation there with her Aunt and I don't know when she is planning on returning. I'm worried about her, I hope it isn't anything serious!

Alors... lately I have been having the funniest dreams!! actually no... they arn't really that funny; like the concept isn't hilarious or anything but just the way I think is so stupid that it is funny. OK I explain: Everyone has been telling me that they can dream in French. Well i can't. Yeah, isn't that sad!? But I am bound and determined to start! I try all the time to think in French, and usually I do (sometimes I slack off) but when I'm awake it is easy for me to say "oh you are thinking in English again, that is not good." But, tu sais, when I'm sleeping it is harder to tell myself how to think. But I still do! I will be in the middle of a dream and I will realize that I am dreaming in English and I will think to myself "no tRACY you have to dream in French!" Then I will start to dream in French... slowly... everyone talks very slowly in French in my dreams... like that I can un...der...stand... them! :D So all in all, I don't get a very good night sleep because I am constantly trying to keep myself in line! dahhh!

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Let me impress you with my awesome cooking skills now: Today I helped my host mom "faire du mousse chocolate" and yesterday I helped her make "un gateau chocolate" Notice a slight trend, maybe? Of coarse, c'est parce que je suis en Belgique!!

Mes aventures avec Finn et Charlie
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Carnival Vacation
Still no word from Heike... no phone calls, no e-mails... errr. alors... il resemble comme je vais reste ici pour la vacance.... hummm.

oh atta, je mange...

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ok voila. heh.

Hier wow, je ne sais pas qu'est ce que je peux dire de hier... J'ai regarde le film: The Grudge avec Sarah Michelle Geller... wow j'ai beaucoup de peur!!! et apres... umm wow je ne crois pas... ahem et apres j'ai parti pour chez Finn. Carnival est grande la! Je veux aller encore!!! je veux faire les choses fou aussi!!!!! ahhh!


What!? Superbowl? lol awww too bad! dommage! *snaps fingers* I think the Superbowl is unheard of here. There was not one broadcasting of it, not one commercial for it, not one advertisement mentioning it... nothing. Then on MSN it says and what were the best commericals on Superbowl... lol what? I missed Superbowl!? hehehehehe!


When is February ever going to get over? Because IN Maaaaaaaaaaarch Lourenco comes back!*eu te amo!* :D

-ciao