Busy Life

Ah Belgium!
The wonderful Schyns have been excellent hosts, making sure to ensure my comfort and to include me in their daily life. My days in Belgium have been filled with activity, experiencing life the Belgian way (which includes a lot of bread!). I've spent so much time outside the home that I haven't been able to explore my own home village of Remicourt!

I arrived in Belgium on Wednessday August 14th. The next day Marjorie, my host sister, invited me to come along with her and her two friends to a fair, in Huy (pronounced as 'oui' which is the French word for yes...it caused me some confusion!)

 

 

 The fair was much like ones I have attended in my own home town, except on a much, much larger scale! There were amusement rides, food stalls and lots of people! At the end of the night there was a fireworks show with a grand finale that utterly amazed me! The fireworks were being set off from a large square stone building, un fort, but the last fireworks did not shoot off into the air. Instead they exploded downward, white sparks tumbled off the rocky surface and down the branches of the trees. I was astounded, Marjorie was less so, saying they have done that for a number of years. I'm still awed by recollection of that magnificent sight, despite a few trees that had caught fire afterward! (I tried my best to get a picture of it, but that fails to convey how magical it looked!)
 

                

The next day I was again traveling away from Remicourt! On Fridays in Waremme there is a big market, where foods and clothing are sold. I have been to a few farmers markets before but, again, they were all much, much smaller! This was very big, taking up the whole of the  main street with shops selling various goods. People packed the place! (p.s. Euro's are somewhat confusing at first!)

 

                              

Then came Saturday and the Schyns took me to Pairi Daiza, a very unique zoo! In the zoo they have many cages that patrons can walk into and get closer to the animals. They had a cage full of little monkeys and one jumped onto me while stealing a little snack from a mans pocket! I also got to touch a giraffe from a viewing deck. And their main show had birds of prey swooping low over the crowd! So yeah, the zoo is pretty neat!

 On sunday I met with the daughter of my second host family, Marie Servais. She is going to Portland, New York and had many questions about the United States. Speaking with her helped me realize some more differences between Belgium and my home country, some differences I had not noticed before. So below is a list of difference I have noticed between the two countries, though I'm certain there are many, many more I have not yet realized!

• For one, greeting people. In Belgium it is customary to greet someone with a kiss on the cheek. When you get up in the morning, when you see a friend, when you meet someone new, when you are leaving, always you kiss each others cheeks. It has been a strange custom to see, and has been difficult for me to get used to, but Marie is having just as much difficulty understanding the concept of not kissing!
• Belgians write in cursive. I do not, most Americans do not. I had been told by a past exchange student to Belgium that everyone there writes in cursive, but I had not remembered that until Marie was writing some things down in cursive. When I told her that in America most teens write in print she was absolutely shocked!
• The villages in Belgium are a wonderful concept to me. They are a mix of farm and town, quaint and perfectly encompassing all I ever imagined a historic village would be like. The villages have their own stores, banks, post offices and other such buildings, but  farms and farm animals share the space of what would otherwise seem like a town. There are many of these little villages, situated between vast fields and connected by a web work of narrow roads.
• The houses also add to the quaint feeling. I have yet to see any siding or wood. All the houses are made of brick, stone and occasionally cement blocks. Most of the houses are red brick, a charming look that I find extremely pretty!
• The roads are also different, partially because of the villages. The roads are narrow, and the parking often doubles as the sidewalks. There are many devices used in the villages to slow down cars that I have never seen before. Flower pots are placed in the road to narrow it even further into a one lane road so cars must slow down. There are also road bumps, typically at the entrances of the village. (See the first picture for an example of the narrow streets)
• Twice now in my four days in Belgium I have been asked an interesting question. Is it really that bad to talk about politics and religion in America? The question has taken me by surprise, as I had not been aware that Americans were perceived as so closed about their beliefs. In my mind those subjects were talked about freely, but as I considered it more I realized that perhaps that was not true. Between friends those topics can be breeched, but often it is shaky ground and one has to be careful when discussing it because people often get defensive in negative ways. Perhaps people are not so open as I had once believed. I will have to question further to find out more about Belgians opinions of Americans and their politics.

So that has been my last four days! It feels like much longer! I am doing well, and from my own perspective, adapting well. As well as possible in four days that is! French is still difficult, but I have been studying and I am surprised how some words have quickly stuck in my mind. It will be interesting to look back even a month from now and see how far I have come in my language learning! I realize I have yet to upload any pictures of the landscape of Belgium or of Remicourt, and for that I apologize! But as you may have noticed...I've been a little busy!

Maybe next week will be a little more relaxed? Maybe?