Sep 1 (finally caught up! For now)

I still can't get over how cool the Guillemins station in Liege is!
I'll probably have a picture every time I go.

May I never be too proud to try to say something in French.  

Spent the day in Ghent with my host sister after signing the lease for her student apartment.  She’s spending the year studying Flemminsh in Ghent.   Fortunately most people speak French too.  We did get lost, becasuse the streets are really poorly marked, but public transport is great, and it’s a beautiful city anyway.  Again, just pretend it's a Tumblr.

lol

Ghent in English.  Gand in French.  Gent in Neerlandais.

She explained to me that it is as beautiful as Brugges, except
more vibrant because it's a college town, not a tourist town.

There are 3 cathedrals,

and several squares like this with the pretty rooflines.

The belfry (as seen 2 pictures above)

Totally the best of the 3.

I also really love the tram wires.

I thought we were in Universal Harry Potter world for a second.

I'm not really sure why this is significant, but I know it is.

It's definitely a post-card city.

The middle age-d Chateau in the city, which was
 preserved over the last 200 years and now you can tour the inside!

View from the top

and inside

.

We went into 2 cathedrals, and I was gaga for the architecture,
 and the orgues

We were only allowed to take pictures in the smaller of the 2 we saw.
(the other one was even better!)  Straight up.

and one last cathedral on the way out of town

There are 3 or 4 canals that go through the city.  And we were SO lucky to be there on a BEAUTIFUL day!  It was great fun!

August 31

The large factory (maybe refinery, maybe mine) right outside Liege

I Went rock climbing in Liege with Fanny yesterday.  She’s a really good student, and really good chef, and a really good climber!  We all watched TV that night.  Trying to register for school and stuff.  Today I went to Liege with the other exchange students and some locals.  There was beer, but I didn’t drink beer.  It’s against Rotary rules.

            I’m getting lazy speaking French too a little bit.  For example, you feel like you can just say the things you think of really quick and they’ll be right, but often, it’s the wrong tense, or the wrong subject, so I have to be careful to keep thinking before I speak in French.

Prince Palace of some kind.  They tell me that the opera is held here once a month or so.

            It could just be a phase, but I’m starting to think people love language too much.  For example, take a phrase in English that people think is beautiful has no translation for French.  That doesn’t mean that the people of both languages can’t appreciate the beauty of the idea.  There seem to be fewer ways to express things in French, because it’s a more controlled language that English, but that doesn’t mean they are limited in their thoughts and shades of meaning.  It comes from both sides;  French could use a bit more variety, and English could use a bit more reigning in.  But language is really secondary in understanding other human beings and forming relationships.  We’ll see how I feel about that after starting school here in a week!

My French teacher from United States has conveyed her to desire to me that I modify my writing here to prevent bias.  Still new to this country.  Still new to this language.  She has told me to add "on verra" as in "We shall see."  Agreed, the facility of the French language will come, and when it does, I shan't have problems with expression.  and therefore, in the interest of diplomacy, and because I agree, I retract my statement about French lacking variety.

Lol

la meuse

August 29

I get more and more tired, and so I accidentally stop trying to understand the French.  Then I think back and realize I have a LOT of learning to do.
lol

(August 28) Rotary Weekend

the citadel of HUY.

next morning.

Go to Huy (pronounced “wee” just like “oui”) and learn the rules.  Meet the heads of district 1630, and then have a soiree with all the exchange students.  And of course every rotary function has to have a scandal.  Anyway, stay the night, next morning more rules, lunch, more presentation, and then a member of the Club de Seraing took me out to a club get together at a bar way out in the country on a horse farm for jumpers!  Everyone was super nice, and the country was beautiful.  As well as the food!  Lots of salad and that sort of thing with an entire barbecued pig.  I spent the whole evening with the president, and there were Rotoract young adults at the table with me as well.  The president is very nice and he also gave me a ride home.  Superbon weekend.

lol

view of Huy outside my dorm window.

August 26 Brxl with the Vanrykels

Lots of these around this area.

            This morning I deduced that my host brother was leaving for Canada!  We drove to Brussels this morning and went to the train station. 

This photo brought to you by the folks at home:
 There it is.  A waffle in a vending machine.

A chateau in Brussels on the way
 to the gare

And while we waited for the train, they had a beer.  At 10:30!  But I didn't drink beer.  It's against Rotary rules.

Belgium equivalent of bud light or something.
But ONLY in terms of price.  Made in Liege!

    Then he finally boarded and EVERYONE cried, even me.  It was just such a beautiful family moment, and as the train pulled away, we walked after it, waving and crying.  Compelling moment, that.

Somebody's hommage to Space Invader.  That's for Madame Casey

Oh hey, Lille!  Sign in the station.  That's for Martin Deron.

Inside the gates of the Royal Palace.
But no photos allowed inside.

The Royal Palace!

            After we had a baguette sandwich at the station, we drove around town to park and then went and toured the Royal Palace!  

A cathedral in Brussels.  And I do so love chathedrals

It turns out that’s what we did yesterday morning, but this time, I was paying attention to the building instead of talking to exchange kids!  It’s really quite exquisite.  Lots of gold and paintings and chandeliers, you know.

La Conservatoire Royale de Musique

Museum of musical instruments!
We shall return someday!

Leopold II, second king of the Belgians.  He is known for
purchasing the Congo.

            We then proceeded on to the Musee Magritte where a large collection of the famed Belgian surrealist artist’s works reside.  I didn’t understand the art as well as I should like to have done, and my feet grew tired, but it was indeed an amazing gallery.

Magritte's painting, Magritte, and me

            These days when I speak English, I'm so used to saying "I don't know how to say that," I just say that in English when I have trouble thinking.  LAZY English speaker.

Brussels is beautiful isn't she

            Well now I’m happy because we got the password to the neighbor’s wifi and I can finally post these blogs.  I skyped my parents today for the first time since arriving, and it was strange, because I forgot how much I missed them.  That’s a good thing I think.  The other thing is, I’m home alone tonight because Francoise and Alain are out at some sort of away party and Fanny is gone for the weekend to climb rocks with her friends.  That sounds so funny!  I just meant rocks as opposed to plastic climbing walls.  And I would feel disrespectful speaking English while they’re around; I don’t even talk on the phone with other exchangers.  So I skyped guilt-free today.

            I’m glad I’m getting closer with Fanny.  It just takes a little more language.  But I continue to get little compliments on how I seem to speak well for how short a time I’ve been here (or at least fool people into thinking I speak well because my accent isn’t terrible), which are of course a MAJOR help to me.  It doesn’t even matter if they are genuinely impressed for the amount of good it does for my temperament!

A last look at the Royal Palace

            Tomorrow I shall get picked up by a host family with another American student at 8 to go to Huy for Rotary weekend, where all the exchange students shall hear the rules and talk about the exchange (Basically re-orientation).  We stay the night and maybe even have a little soiree for the exchange students.  Don’t know if I’ll get to blog about it.

Les SCHTROUMPS! (de Smurfen in Neerlandais) They're everywhere right now!!
(because of the movie)

            I’m too tired to do more than a boring play by play of today, so there it is.

Lol