Nothing here works!
Mood:  accident prone
It seems as soon as I touch something, it breaks. This is the second computer I had to use today because the software I was trying to use wasn't working on the other one... Yesterday I tried 3 different computers (by the way, I'm at school) because they all kept freezing on me. I look around... and everyone is just buzzing away on theirs...and me? I have the computer I'm at, plus the ones on each side of me, with flashing blue screens. I decided to get out of there as soon as possible! Now class is almost over and all I've acomplished is checking my e-mail and typing this entry. EEERRRRR

Well, Adriana came over yesterday after school at 12 (because Wednesdays are 1/2 days) and we had lunch with my host family. (Well my host grandparents because both Corinne and Stephane were working.) They were all upset with me because they didn't know how she was going to get home. Rotary students arn't allowed to take a bus alone evidently, so they said no she couldn't take a bus home like she had origionally planned... But she isn't a ROTARY student! And it was hard to explain because the more upset they got, the faster and louder they talked IN FRENCH...hello over here... neither of us speak french! Finally we got it squared away, but man it was a mess! After lunch we looked over our scrapbook stuff. Adriana scrapbooks also and for now we are in search of a Scrapbooking store so we can get Noemie a scrapbook too. No one here has ever heard of it, so it is difficult to explain, and scrapbook supplies and stores are sooooo RAAARE.

Well class is over now and I have break! Chow!

Wednesday Half Days
Mood:  not sure
Yesterday I learned "bonheur" happiness. Awwwwww :-)

Today, and every Wednesday, is a half a day. So I get to go home at 12!!! I only have 4 classes today too.. or well, 4 blocks, but the first two classes are "Etude" or Study hall, then I have "Anglais" and "francais" English and French. Not too difficult! I think Adriana is coming back with me after school but I'm not sure because she has to call her host family first. If she does, it will be the first friend I have had over since I got here!

I have been studying my French like no tomorrow. Not much improvement yet, but its getting there... On the 23 of this month I am expected to make a presentation to my host rotary club IN FRENCH about where I come from, Maine, and my family. Wow talk about some stress! Once that is done and over with, I get to go canoeing with the other inbounds on the 25 if I can find the paper that needs to be signed by about 25 hundred ppl! No, no stress here!

Last night my host mom, Corinne, bought me a clock for my room! I was so excited! My favorite color is green, so she got me a little green one to put by my bed! Awwwwww. :-)

Tae-bo lessons were going to start on Mondays but not enough people signed up, so they canceled them! "Dommage!" Darn! But thats alright I guess, because classes are 130 dollars American money and 99 EUROS. "Tres cher" very expensive! But now I can take Graffiti lessons instead! :-D It's like 15 dollars American money a class, but REALLY FUN!!! So if I dont come back to America knowing how to kick some butt, at least I will know how to properly vandalise stuff! *phew* I'm not a complete failure!

Soon I will have my photos developed, so I can scan them and put them on my website. No, I don't have the luxury of a digital camera here with me, but the disposable ones will have to do. On and my Mom just got me a video camera and its in the mail as I speak! She is also sending me Grahmcrackers and marshmallows because here they don't have ones like they do in America. They are marshmallow wannabies... marshmallow posers. It is difficult to make smores without marshmallows or grahmcrackers. Try it some time. So I had to compensate and use some cake crackers and pink and white sugar things for the marshmallows and grahmcrackers... It wasn't pretty.

*Snif snif...plugs nose*
Mood:  smelly
It is common for people to not wear deoderant here. All my classes smell like body odor. So I feel smelly...
I am still in school right now, using their computers but class is going to get over soon... Next I have Geography until 4:15 then Im done...so well that was the bell... I should have written sooner, it isnt like I didnt have enough free time today, I had art the first two hours but the teacher wasnt here so I had those free and then I had science but I skipped that, and then I had english and french, and now another study hall... next i have Mediatheque (computer class), but there is goign to be a class in here G2G

-------------------

Well the Mediatheque is free to use now so here I am. This isn't an actual class, it is just a room that I can go to and use the computer, but on my schedule it says it is an actual class... Im beginning to like this! The only real classes I have had today are English and French, but English is really easy for me...obviously and I dont pay attention in French because the teacher talks waaaay to fast. Next I have Geography...I actually understand that class! Theres a new concept! But my "mediatheque" class ends in 5 minutes or so, so I'll pack up now.... chow!

First day of SCHOOL
Mood:  hungry
Topic: First day of school
I can't explain it...I'm always hungry. But do I reach for an apple? Nope. I just gotta' have chocolate! I swear when I return to the United States, I'll weight 500 pounds! But just a few minutes ago I had a chocolate bar that was dark chocolate with vanilla syrup in the middle! Oh, it was sooooo good, I think I might go get another one soon.

Oh, right, school...Ok well last night I set my alarm for 6:45 so that I could hop in the shower before anyone else needed it. So I was up and going around 7:00 but then Corinne came and told me that today I only had to go to school in the afternoon. So I can sleep in... good to know... so I went back to bed and got up around 9 or so. Noemie had to be at school at 10 so after I had my shower and everyone had eaten breakfast, we went and dropped Noemie off at school.

Then, since we were right there, we stopped at the bank and opened an account for me to keep the money from Rotary in. They give me about 65 EUROS a month, which is over 70 American dollars...I think, so I needed some place to put it!

We got back home around 10:30 and I just bee-bopped around the house for a bit, uploaded some pictures on to the computer from CDs that I had brought, and around 11:40 or so I went downstairs because I thought I had to be in school at 12:00 but first Corinne took me to the "boulangarie" or bakery and we got rolls and such for lunch, then we went and picked up Noemie at school. We all went back to the house and ate lunch together, with Morgane, her boyfriend,and Stephan.

Here, everyone is a lot more relaxed and layed back. No one is constantly rushing rushing rushing to get somewheres, they budget their time better than Americans, I guess.

After lunch, Corinne brought me and Noemie back to school for the last hour and 45 minutes. They took me to the English teacher and left me with her while Noemie went to her own class. She, the English teacher, took me to a classroom, 4E, which is going to be like my main classroom or something... I guess the teachers move from class to class, instead of the students, so the people who are in that classroom with me are going to be the ones in all my classes... For a little while anyways.

See I figured I'd be in the 9th grade here, but actually, they stuck me straight into 10th grade, so now I have no idea what is going on, if I am even still going to be moved to the 11th grade or not. I don't want to be with 10th graders, I want to be with people my own age!!!

Then tomorrow I have to go only in the morning, because I guess I don't have any classes in the afternoon, so Corinne is going to pick me up before lunch...But come "lundi" (Monday) I have to go alllll day long. Which is from 8:15 to 3:15. (Not that different than Mt. View)

At my school, they have a Gymnastics team and I think I'm going to join it. Corinne also showed me a brochure for a club like a YMCA kinda thing that offers gymnastics too. She said I could both take the class (which is like 99EUROS for 30 someodd classes) and join the team if I wanted. YEAH! The club has a whole bunch of things to do and the classes are all held after school, like 2 or 3 times a week. Noemie plays basketball there. There are also dance and Thai-bo (or however the hell you spell it) classes that sound kinda fun, and I need to do something with my time and calories!

Well when I know what I plan on doing, I'll let everyone know! For now, I'm off to get another CHOCOLATE BAR!!!!!!

chow

August 31st; It must be Tuesday
Mood:  special
Now Playing: Something in French
I GOT MY FIRST LETTER TODAY...and THAT is why I feel special!! (Ok, well actually, it was a card) My neighbors, Marie, Richard, Sisi, Collin, and Darrell, all signed it! They also send mushy e-mails all the time that make me cry! Thanks guys! (Just kidding, I love them, keem 'em coming!!)

School starts September 2nd here. So tomorrow is my last day of summer, then its to school. I'm not to worried about it though... I only have 3 classes and I start out back in 9th grade.
1) French
2) Art
3) Gym
It shouldn't be too awful difficult. Once my French improves, in about 2 weeks or so, I get upgraded to 10th grade, and some more classes are thrown in, and finally when I master French, I advance to 11th grade. But here, after 6th grade, they refer to 7th through 12th as 1-6 again, so actually, I'm going to be starting in grade 3, then going to grade 4, before finally settling in grade 5! Wednesdays are half days and someone from my host family is scheduled to come pick us up and take us home, but Corinne, my host "Mom" said that if I don't enjoy any of the afterschool activities and don't like any of my classes, she will send me and Noemie to private art lessons come Wednesday afternoons!

On the weekend of the 28 and 29 I had to go to an orientation for all the "inbound" students to Belgium. There were a lot of us; but I had expected there would be more Americans when in reality, the majority was Brazilians and Canadians! Everyone had pins and business card things to swap. There were a lot of presentations and things, that got reeeeeeeeeealy boring, but I suffered through. There was also a lot of time to socialize too though. I met a girl named Jung-Yeon Kim. (Pronounced Chong-Young Kim) She is from South Korea and right before she left, she met my sister, Lorie, at an exchange student meeting! They exchanged cards and everything and Lorie showed her a picture of me and told her that she would probably meet me here, and WE DID!! Small world huh!? Because we had to stay the night, everyone got their own rooms, kinda like a hotel, but with only one light, no bathroom, sink, or wastebasket... Beer was offered at dinner but a lot of people said it was warm so I didn't try it. Later on at the "party" thingy, they had cherry flavored beer that was tolerable, but everyone only got two and they were small. All the Rotary people said in the rules there was to be no drinking, but then afterwards they mentioned that beer is a big part of the Belgian culture and when they said "NO DRINKING" they mean don't go out all the time and get drunk because that gives Rotary a bad name.

Then today I had to go to this "Speak Academy." It's a one day course that is supposed to teach me French. No, its not a miracle, and no, it didn't work. There were a lot of other exchange students there that I had met at the orientation and we all had to watch french movies in French with French subtitles, Watch French music videos with French subtitles (and most of the music was really good), and then do this activity which was really funny in a stupid way. We had to partner up in twos and go out and find these four shops that the teacher had written down for us in French. (In a city we had never been to, surrounded by crazy Belgian drivers!!) I went with Jung Yeon and at first we didn't know how to read the map and got waaaaay lost, then we went back and had to get more directions, and so on and so fourth. In the process we looked like complete idiots, were kicked out of a bookstore, and hassled by an old woman for money... But we had fun!