The End

And so it has finished, my exchange has come to an end and I have safety returned to my home in Pennsylvania. I had an amazing year, filled with wonder and excitement and good friends and new places. Yes it was hard, it was not an easy year but it was well worth it. I left a bit of my heart scattered about Europe, left with each person who I met, tucked safely away in that country I now consider a home.

I left my one home, a place where I built a life consisting of people and places I loved, to return to a home consisting of people and places I love.

 That’s what it is to be an exchange student. I learned more than just another language, I learned to live and thrive in a totally foreign place. I learned how to take that foreign place and turn it into my home.

Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported me on this adventure. Thank you to the Rotary, in the United States and in Belgium, for providing me with this wonderful opportunity. Thank you to everyone who followed my blog.

 This is the last post, this adventure has come to an end but it will always live in my heart.

Thank you.

Rock-A-Field!

Belgian summers are marked by festivals.  These events are world famous and singers, dj's and bands come from all over to perform to the cheering crowds. The bracelets to mark a paid entry are kept by the attendees the whole year round and are displayed proudly as a sign of just how many festivals they went too. I had seen those bracelets all year, now it was my turn to get one.

Peque, Shriya and I decided to go to Rock-A-Field, a festival in Luxembourg. Quite a few of our Belgian friends were going, so it would be a good way to spend some time with them. We went to see Foster the People and Ellie Goulding. Though it did rain, the ambiance was amazing, the singers excellent and the time spent at the festival unforgettable.

Thank you Belgium! 

(lead singer of Foster the People)

Ancient Kingdom

I set off once more with a large group of exchange students to discover a new country. This time: the Czech Republic.

Our first stop was the lovely city of Prague. I was awestruck by the beautiful white buildings and red roves and the tiny roads that crisscrossed through them.

The city and region of Bohemia are filled with a rich and complicated history. We were told the stories of the ancient kings and horrors of World War II as we explored the city. And we learned more of the history as we visited three castles in quaint villages nearbye.

The trip was beautiful. The land and towns there are enchanting, the only problem I stumbled upon was the distant and sometimes cold nature of the locals. In all the trip was charming, spent with friends in a beautiful country.

On the corner of 3 country's

Belgium is a small country, I am sure I have mentioned that multiple times already.But I realized it one more time as I stood in three country's at the same time.

Belgium, Germany, Holland, all marked only by a stone and the silver lines that stood as country borders. My first host family, the Schyns, took me on a nice walk that started in Holland, went through Germany and ended back in Belgium.

Yes, Europe is quite different than the U.S.A.!

(Marce (Mexico) and I before the flags of the three countries)

Last Day of School

I have been attending Colege Saint-Louis during my exchange in Belgium. Going to school here has been much different then what I have grown used to in my school career in the United States. Things are different, people are different, life is different.

I can't say I've enjoyed everything about school, it is school after all, but I have made some good friends and been able to experience a much different approach to the school system. School has been a huge part of my exchange.

And now school is over. 

The last day of school was Friday June 6 and it was celebrated by yummy deserts, and costumes! It was a fun day, though tinged with a bit of sadness.

School is over, there is only a few more exams and then I am finished with my Saint-Louis experience. My exchnage year is coming to an end, only 28 days left.

(I dressed up like a doll with Shriya (Australia) and Peque (Equador))

(My class all in costume with our French teacher)

Waterloo: Last Battle

I don't like Napoleon. He was my least favorite person in history and I never liked studying him.

I found him quite annoying. 

So I made it a point to visit Waterloo, the city in Belgium that saw Napoleons final (FINAL!) defeat. 

This out of the way little village has this great monument, le Butte de Lion, as commemoration to his fall. The hill was made by woman as they dig out trenches to use for the war.

Goodbye Napoleon!

London, the thankfully not too rainy city!

Kaela, one of my exchange student friends from Hawaii, was surprised by the visit of her parents to Belgium. While they were in Europe they also planned to travel around a bit and explore.

I was surprised by being invited along to London with the three of them.

So I got the ticket, and took the train beneath the sea for the trip to the island. The first thing I saw when I debarked from the train was a huge clock on the wall, and I was in London.

The city was as busy as I had imagined. Buildings of the ancient past and modern structures shared the same streets that were filled with business men and tourist alike. I of course was a tourist and we took our time seeing all the great sites of London.

We took a tour in the Tower of London (which isn't really a tower at all) that was very interesting. That building is full if historical events, usually bloody and with sad endings.  We saw the graves of many important historical people (Lady Jane Grey and Anne Boleyn  being two of them).

We stopped by Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the gaurd, a long ceremony they insist on faithfully keeping every day. 

We also had a bit of fun at Madame Toussads Wax Museums. She started off making wax heads from those who had been put to death, now there's a museum... Strange England, strange.

I had a wonderful time with Kaela and her family, and I am so thankful that they were kind enough to invite me along on that four day journey. 

And also, one last shout out! If anyone happens to travel to London, go to the --- restaurant. It is truly a gem!