Sisterly Bonding in Strasbourg

Saturday and Sunday, December 10th-11th, 2011

Sorry to all of you who are regularly following my blog... I have just been very busy lately, and haven't exactly had the time for a proper blog update. I am really getting to the point in my exchange where I stop looking at everything as new and different, and start looking at it as just being a regular part of my life. I'm in my new host family now, and I am just really coming to love my life here. A year ago, when I was sitting in boring all day presentations about homesickness and such, Rotary had a slide with all of these emotional parts of exchange you will go through. And I remember thinking to myself, "That will never happen for me!", but now I look back on the time I have spent here, and at the current part of my exchange, and I realize how right they were. There's the honeymoon period, were everything is just new and lovely, and then the period were everything just goes over your head and you are lost and a bit confused, but it's still ok. And then the part where you hate the country and yourself for ever wanting to leave you home, family, and friends behind, and then the bliss period where I am now. Where your new country is your home, where you are mostly comfortable with the language, and where you just want to live every moment to the fullest. I never thought my homesickness would go away, but for the most part it has. Not that I don't miss my family and friends, but as of right now I don't exactly want to go home either.

So anyhow, back to this weekend. Pascale and Eddy were nice enough to offer sometime ago to take me to visit Erin in Strasbourg for a weekend. I asked Erin when a good time would be, and they agreed to drive me to her apartment, and then pick me up at the end. They said they had always wanted to discover the area for themselves, so it was perfect. We left for Strasbourg early in the morning, and got there around 12. I swear, the De Decker family is almost worse than my own family at taking a really long time during car trips! There are always several stops for food, gas, and to use the bathroom. Most of the time, I don't mind. Getting out and stretching my legs is always nice. But on Saturday, I was just super anxious to get there and see my sister after being apart from my family for 4 months. Really, we couldn't get there soon enough.

Once we got there, I said a quick goodbye and then went into Erin's apartment. She wan't home at the time, but one of her roommates buzzed me in. But once I actually got inside, I realized I had no idea what floor she was on. So I kinda just stood there awkwardly for like 10 minutes, waiting for Erin to reply to my text about where her room was, when her roommate Rachel came out of the room and was like "Morgan, are you ok?" And so eventually I got there... I was also stupid enough to not see the elevator, and I walked up 5 flights of stairs with my suitcase and large backpack (in my defense, it was hidden behind a normal looking door that could have easily been a room...). Erin got there about 10 minutes after that, because the metro from the house she was tutoring at took longer than normal. I got settled in, and then Erin and I went out so she could show me the city of Strasbourg.

We first walked to the big cathedral in the middle of the city (about a 5-10minute walk, not bad at all...) and it was very pretty. We went inside and saw the nativity scene that they had set up for Christmas. But the thing about Strasbourg is that it is VERY well known for it's Christmas markets. Like, Erin said that the population of Strasbourg literally doubles during the holiday weekends. So the church was pretty crowded, as were the markets by it, so we decided to come back maybe a bit later and see if the crowds had lessened (neither Erin or I are very good at crowds...). I was just so happy to be with my sister, and to be in Strasbourg, that I honestly didn't mind what we did. Because I knew that it would all be fun. To avoid the crowds, Erin decided to take me to see Le Petit France. It was a ways away from the craziness of the markets, and a cool thing to look at because it's the area in Strasbourg that has really cool, old buildings that are supposed to be really pretty. I wouldn't necessarily know, because right about the time we got in the general area, we got hungry and started looking for a restuarant with tarte flambee for lunch. Our quest for food basically lead us right out and around Le Petit France... Good thing I am going back in a couple of weeks!

Strasbourg Cathedral... Truly beautiful!

Always amazed by the elaborate decorations...

Nativity Scene!

It was so big I had to cut it into 2 pictures...

Wandering around Strasbourg!

The beauty is everywhere.

Erin made me do it :)

But due to the Christmas markets, practically every restuarant was filled to the brim and we decided that it might just be easier to go to the supermarket and buy food there. We ended up getting a tarte flambee (which is basically like a pizza with really thin crust, but a million times better), some delicious cheese, and an AMAZINGGGGG loaf of bread for the price it probably would have cost us just to split a mdeium-sized tarte flambee. So we had a very Alsatian lunch (Alsace is the region of France that Strasbourg is in...), for cheap, and Erin said it tasted better than most tartes she has had at restuarants.

A tarte flambee... One of the most delicious things you shall ever eat.

After lunch, we went back to the supermarket with her roommates Rachel and Danielle to get some last minute supplies for the Christmas party they were throwing that night. After we got the food, Erin and I split off and went looking for a dress for me to wear to the party that night (even though she had told me the party wasn't formal, everyone was planning on wearing dresses and I didn't have one... :( ). We started in H&M (the best shop in Europe), and the proceeded to walk all around the mall searching for a dress that was cute and not too expensive. Then, in a desperate last chance in a search for a dress, we returned to H&M and found a really cute black dress, and I bought green tights to go with it to be festive. I really wish we would have seen the dress in the first place, because then we wouldn't have wasted almost 2 hours walking around the mall... -___-

We got back to her apartment, finished decorating the small tree that they had bought (which turned out to be the only real tree I got for Christmas this year...), and then all of her friends arrived. The were all really nice, and thankfully all spoke English (I didn't really know if their friends would be French or what) and a good time was had by all. A lot of people asked me why I was here and if I liked Belgium and just stuff like that. I made a place for myself next to the food table, because most people brought along a Christmas dish with them, and since I had no idea what Christmas would hold for me in Belgium, I decided to take advantage of the traditional Christmas foods as much as I could. Around 10, Erin and I went into her room and Skyped Maddie because that Saturday was her 15th birthday. Happy Late Birthday on my blog Maddie! :) We skyped for about 40 minutes, and it was really weird to be Skyping back home with Erin sitting right next to me, rather than her being in another screen on my computer. It was just so nice to be in the presence of real family. I had really missed that.

The only Christmas tree I got this year...

Me, Erin, and her roommate Rachel at their party!

the next morning we all woke up late, and got our mouths set on going to this New York stlye bagel shop that had just opened up. We looked on the website and everything for the hours and the menu, as to not get our hopes up. After reading the menu, my mouth was literally watering. But once we actually got to the store, it was closed (stupid internet that lies about the hours of the store...), so we went across the road and got McDonald's for breakfast/lunch (it was like 12 at this point). So we had McDonald's like complete Americans, even dressed in our sweats and pajamas and talking completely in English. After our meal, we went back to the apartment and watched Love Actually. It was nice to sit down and just watch a chick flick with my sister and her friends. It kinda felt like I was back home, and I really needed a weekend where I wasn't facing all completely new things all the time. It was like a break from my life as an exchanger.

After the movie, we went back out to the Christmas markets and beared the crowd, which was still just as big on a Sunday afternoon. And I thought we might have the chance to avoid them... :( They were really cool, and had some nice products. I can definitely tell why they are famous as far as the Christmas Markets go. But really, I almost preferred the ones in Aachen just because it was less crowded and I could actually take my time looking at things rather than be pushed along by the crowds. But then again, I bet Strasbourg would have been really nice if I could have gone there on a Wednesday like I did in Aachen. But they were still Christmas Markets, which just really give me this feeling like the whole world is a magical place. I don't know, I think it is just the holidays and the celebrations and the love surrounding it all that I love so much.

Cute Decorations!

And the same by night...

Erin and I in front of teh Strasbourg Christmas Tree!

By the time we got back from the markets, I packed up my bags and Eddy and Pascale had arrived to pick me up. That weekend with my sister, it was one of the best I had had in Europe so far. It was so great getting to see famliy, and also seeing how Erin lives from day to day. I couldn't have asked for a cooler thing to do on a little weekend getaway. Sorry that the post is so long, but we did a lot and I never feel right leaving things out.

So it's starting to feel a lot like Christmas....

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

So this day was another rotary activity, a visit to the Aachen Christmas markets!!!! I mean, a day trip to Germany. Amazing. I was stoked to go there, I heard that Christmas Markets are just adorable, and there are some pretty cool things to buy. So in anticipaticion, I took out quite a bit of money from my bank account... :)

School was boring that day, as usual, considering htat I have 4 hours of French in a row, and that's it. Then Tedde and I went into town, waited for Katie to get there, and then left on the train. We got there like an hour early, but we didn't exactly have anything better to do. Someone arrived about 15 minutes in who lived in Welkenraedt (where we were meeting up to take the bus to the markets...), and she gave us directions to a bank because Katie needed to get money out. And get a lunch. By the time we came back, basically everyone had arrived. We had to wait a bit longer for the bus, taking up the entire interior of the train station (which wasn't all that big to begin with....), and then an entire bus when we got shuttled to Aachen. Rotary was so cute, giving us all Santa hats to wear while we were there. And that's when it hit me, that it was December, and that Christmas was soon! On the bus I sat by the Aussies and talked to a new girl, Jillian. She was one of the 2 people in our district that was in the German speaking region. Which happened to be right next to Aachen, so she knew the city really well and had even already been to the Christmas markets.

When we first got there, we got dropped off a ways away from the Christmas markets, so we walked through the city a bit and got to see the sights. And then we went into this government building type thing, where they talked about the history of Aachen and stuff like that. I honestly don't remember what was said, I was too excited to get to the markets and start looking at everything! But it was a really cool building, and we had the chance to explore it if we wanted to. I wish we would have had the time! It was really a choice between that or seeing all of the markets, and well, I can go back at anytime and be a tourist. It's only like a 30 minute train ride from me!

Pretty building!!!

On the walk there... Love the holidays!

I was so excited once the talking stopped and we were released to go do as we pleased. Jillian and I were literally the first people out of the building. and to just see the little wooden house-like markets, decorated with garland and lights, it was like a mini heaven. Each little market had something different to offer! There was some really cool stuff. I had to limit myself on how much I would spend... I did get all of my Christmas shopping done though, for both my host parents and my family, and I got other cool gifts to give people once I get back home. After going to those Christmas markets, I swore that I would go to as many as I possibly could over the break. Seriously, they are just so cute and get you so much into the Christmas spirit. Looking back on the holidays, being at the Christmas markets was probably the only time that I even felt like it was actually Christmas. Really, without my family and our holiday traditions, it isn't truly Christmas.

But, yes, the Christmas Markets were awesome and I had a really fun time racing through the markets with Jillian, trying to get through all of them before we had to meet back up with Rotary. If anyone is thinking about coming to Europe within the next year, either A) Come now and visit me!!!! or B) Come during Christmas time and hit up the Christmas Markets in Germany and France. I heard that's where the are the best (the ones I saw in Belgium were lame in comparison....)

Giant Gingerbread Man!

The Markets <3

Their name in German...

Corey, Me, Jillian. Yay for Canadians! And we would go to Germany on the one day it rains... Oh well, at least I am used to it.

Becky and I! It was very cold...

I have recently realized how lucky I am to be in District 1630 in Belgium. The other districts, they never have any Rotary events and don't get to see each other unless they plan it out. Us, we have something literally about once a month, and you get to know and become really close to practically everyone. And you do this while traveling around and seeing cool things in Belgium and the surronding countries! All of the Rotary leaders are really nice too, and they really just want the best for our exchange. And, on top of it, I get the chance to learn a truly beautiful language: French. Even though Belgium wasn't my first choice, I can't imagine myself being anywhere else.

Norriture Mexicaine

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

"Mexican food is like a drug, you can only go so long without absolutely CRAVING it."

Above is literally what I wrote in my journal after making Mexican food for Pascale and her friend on this day. I was supposed to make it on Sunday for both Eddy and Pascale, but then Eddy got an emergency call to go into work and Pascale decided that it would be better if we waited for Tuesday, when her friend Evalyn was coming over for dinner and to recieve directions on how to take care of the dogs for the night while we were in Strasbourg.

I was excited to be making tacos, because I Mexican food and peanut butter are probably the two things that I miss the most out of all of the food in the U.S. It literally took me about 90 minutes to cut up everything (lettuce, avocados, tomatoes, onions, cheese, etc..), cook the beans and meat, and heat up the taco shells. Let's just say I am a VERY slow cutter, and I was taking my time because I started early and didn't have anything better to do... For the appetizer, I made the traditional Lancaster nachos with tortilla chips, cheese melted on top, and salsa and sour cream on the side. Both Evalyn and Pascale were just raving about it. They had had tortilla chips and salsa before, but never baked in the oven with cheese on top. they just thought it was a brilliant idea, and commented how they could probably both just eat a plate of chips for dinner (which I then pointed out that I do it all the time for lunch in the summer...).

The main course was just as delicious. Even though I ended up cutting up way to much veggies and cooking way too much beef and chicken, it was ok because I miss having leftovers. And Pascale liked it so much, there were leftovers that actually didn't get fed to the dogs the very next day! Successful dinner, I think so. And it was soooo nice having real Mexican food, and Taco Bell refried beans! Dang... Now it is making me crave them now!!

St. Nicholas

Monday, December 5th, 2011

Here in Belgium Christmas is a bit different than in the U.S. It's not like at home, where the lights go up on the 1st and you drive around neighborhoods just to see the crazy houses that have every inch covered in fluorescent lights and a giant blow-up Santa Claus. In fact, over the entrie Christmas season, I probably saw a total of 5 houses that even had lights on them like at home.

But one unique thing that Belgium, and I think France as well, has is St. Nicholas (pronounced Nik-o-la). It's on every December 6th. It's mostly just for the little kids... St. Nicholas comes at night, putting candies in their shoes and laying little gifts on the table. He also has a little sidekick, who is dressed in black and has black skin, that is generally the comedian. Most of the other exchange students had this, and some people got some pretty legit "little" gifts. One friend got a 70 euro ICE watch (popular colored watches here...), another got a Go Pass, which you use for the train. 50 euros, and you get 10 voyages out of it. Quite convenient, because then the tickets are only 5 euro to get all the way across the country, when sometimes they run as high as like 10-15 euro one way! Unfortunately, St. Nicholas didn't come to my house. But it's really only supposed ot be for the little kids, so that's ok.

The reason that I am writing about this on the 5th is that as I was at my Rotary meeting today, "St. Nicholas" came into the restuarant and handed out candy to everyone. All of the Rotarians were really sweet, and kept giving Eliza, Riley (she's not in my club, but just came for a visit this day), and I all of the candy on the table to eat or take with us. At this point, I had seen several different St. Nicholas around, but the costume that the Rotarians used was definitely the best one I had seen yet.

Just an idea of what they look like.. Stole this pic off the Internet!

Also at this rotary meeting we had salmon, which is definitely my favorite type of fish. Since coming here, I had not tasted one piece of salmon that I liked, or had any flavor really. I guess I was just spoiled with fresh Alaskan fish. But then, we got to the main dish, and it was some of the BEST salmon I had every tasted. Well, I don't know about ever, but definitely the best in Belgium. Finally, it was seasoned and cooked properly. That is something that I am finding really hard in Belgium food-wise, there never really seems to be enough seasoning and I always half drown my meat in sauce to give it more of a flavor. Oh, and Belgians think that mild salsa is spicy... Not that I am the biggest spicy fan in the world, but I miss things having a bit of a kick every now and then! Just a warning, Dad, when you come out and visit you might want to bring your own bottle of Tabasco to carry around with you everywhere to add flavor to the food! ;)

Woohoo, one down, a million more updates to go...

Basket-ball Belge

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

~Started this one forever ago, but then never felt like updating it... worst blog keeper ever. Sorry guys!

Well, at least I am not a month behind anymore... And at least lately I have been keeping a journal, so I can remember what happened on each day. Which is also the reason this post has been so delayed, because I accidentally left my journal at my French classes and my friend picked it up for me, but then because of the lovely strikes and it being Christmas break, I was just able to get it back. So at least I have a bit of an excuse for the reason this post is so delayed... I simply couldn't remember the order in which things happened.

It seems like the only days that I write about are weekends. Well, that's because school is just plain boring! Even though I still have yet to completely memorize my crazy schedule, I have kind of just fallen into the routine of the way things are here. School every day, French classes on Mondays and Thursdays, Skyping with my parents on most Sundays, trying to plan as much travelling around and visiting of new and exciting places as possible, all while still trying to be with my host family on the weekends (it's the only time I get to see my host dad...). Oh, and let's not forget constantly finding myself exhausted right up until the point where I go to bed. With constantly trying to communicate in a different language, exhaustion is normal, but when I finally go to bed, it's like the one time my brain has to think in all English and it just won't stop! It's a crazy life, one that I could have never imagined myself living a year ago while going through this whole application and selection process. Even though it was something I desperately wanted to do, I didn't ever really seem to give it thought, never wondered how life would actually be. Maybe I was more like my mum in that sense, just going through the motions but thinking that in the end, it wouldn't actually be me, getting onto a plane to go to a foreign country with no one by my side for an entire year, that in the end I would not go. But in the end, I did. And I am so glad that it happened.

Life in Belgium is like the craziest rollercoaster you could imagine, times like 100. I love it, I hate it, and then once again I can't get enough of it. I am used to it, and yet everything still seems new. Honestly, I think every single exchange student out there could officially be diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. You hear everyone tell you before you leave that your exchange year will be the hardest, craziest, and yet one of the best decisions in your entire life. And after almost 5 months here, I am just now starting to understand them.

Okay, just found myself COMPLETELY sidetracked from the basketball game. A couple weeks before, Pascale had told me not to make any plans for the 3rd because she had tickets to go and see a basketball game, and we could go, of course only if I wanted to. And, well, being the sports jock that I am, of course I wanted to go!

We got there a bit ealry because Pascale said that they were tickets she got through her work, and that there was a little reception beforehand with sandwiches and such. In my mind, I was thinking that we were going to be going to her work or something like that and then all going ot the game togehter. But it turns out that the reeption was in this little side gym, the lower of the two VIP sections. And there was no oen there from Pascalle's work, so we kind of awkwardly stood around a table with one other couple with the most adorable little boys. We literally sat there in silence for like 20 minutes... Then they started talking, and I found myself the center of converstation. And for whatever reason, I just couldn't easily understand the lady and she kept talking ot me and I kept feeling stupid because I couldn't really understand.... Needless to say, I was very happy when the game actually started. We hadf seats at the top of the court... They weren't bad. I am not sure how high up these teams actually are (we were watching a Verviers vs. some other team game...), I think like the step before the bigtime. But anyhow, the arena was TINY compared to the U.S. And I swear that the amount of people actually watching the game was equivalent to that of a high school Varsity basketball game (if the students are in anyway spirited and support their teams...). The game was a fun one ot watch, and Verviers was winning by a minimum of 10 points for the majority of the game, but hten at the very end the other team came back to win, by 2 points. It was quite crushing for the home team I believe.

Just like back home, not ot be racist or anything, the starting line of both teams was all black. But for the most part the rest of the team was of different ethnicities, so a bit different than at home. And just like normal, the starting 5 played for the majority of the game. The Verviers team was pretty good at changing out there people for basketball, but I swear the other team only had 6 of the 15 guys on the bench play the entire game. I felt bad for them. Also at the game they had "pom pom girls"... If you can even call them real cheerleaders. Sure, they had pompoms, but they were really just more like slightly-innapproriate dancers that were wearing barely any clothes and had bascially no talent. Kinda feel like Belgians have a warped view of them, because sure you do get those kinds of cheerleaders, but then you get the ones that are like true athletes that do all of the tricks and stunts and at least have shirts that cover their bellies.

It was a nice experience to have, and I am missing sports so much that even basketball, which has never been my favorite sport, was amazing to be able ot watch. I think I am also going to try and catch a soccer game or two before I leave, because soccer really is the main sport in Europe.

Le Diner Exotique

Sunday, November 27th, 2011

Today was a day that I was quite looking forward to: the exotic lunch with all of the other Rotary exchange students. The purpose of the day was to allow the host parents and other students experience dishes that are unique to your country. And I swear, I live in the hardest country for that. Because, despite the stereotypes, most American families actually CAN'T be found eating 2 out of 3 meals a day at McDonald's. And there was also not supposed to be any way to heat things up, and we couldn't bring desserts. So really, what does one make for an exotic dinner when we really just eat food that every other country created? Italian, Mexican, sure. But never really food that one would point out and be, "That is TOTALLY American." But, thanks to my trip to the American Food Store with Eddy and Pascale the previous week, I had the ingredients to make PB&Js. I just bought three loaves of bread and two jars of jelly, someone brought knives, someone brought napkins, and voila! An American meal!

We had to leave pretty early, considering the train ride to Brussels is about an hour and a half, and we were supposed to get there by 11 to set up. Gettine there was actually a bit confusing, considering the fact that the salle that the lunch was being hosted at was no really within walking distant of the train station. i was quite confused by all of the details, but luckily people had copies of the instructions on their iPods or something like that, and we got really lucky and literally walked out of the station as our correct bus pulled up. Once we got to the correct stop, about 25 minutes later, there were supposed to be signs posted everywhere to lead us to the salle. Which is French for, well, bascially hall. But alas, we got there and there were no signs. WE walked a little ways towards this builing that looked like it had potential, but then all of the doors were locked. So there just like 50 exchange students, standing around wondering where exactly to go. But then someone came out of the salle, and lead us to it. It was in that one building we thought it was in, but on the other side and the only wya you got to the other side was through this driveway that was blocked by a barrier, like a parking barrier. Maybe it should have been obvious for us to check the other side, but of course, it wasn't.

After waiting about another 20 minutes in the cold (apparently they weren't "ready" for us... Even though there were a couple of students already inside. I feel like they just wanted us to suffer), we finally got inside and everyone starting setting up. My group pulled a typical American move. After spreading out our flag on the table for some decoration, we decided it might be good to actually make the sandwiches, so with our group of 5 and with the help of others, we kind of carelessly slapped together some PB&J's. We had people doing jelly, people doing peanut butter, and people cutting the sandwiches in half. We made about 60 halves in like 5 minutes or less. The best part was that after the quick making of the sandwiches, the flag was completely covered in sticky jelly and peanut butter. Whoops, guess we should have thought before we started making snadwiches on top of it! After they were made, someone came up with the brilliant idea to put them in the shape of "USA", just to make them look a bit better. And with that, as well as conveniently placing the napkins over the worst parts of spilt jelly, it didn't look half bad!

The PB&J construction line! :)

Just someone's artistic view of the American section.

Our classy sandwiches!

All in all, even with most students' lack of cusine skills, the last minute-ness of everything, and the fact that tons of people brought dishes that needed to be warmed up when there was one small oven, the display ended up being really cool. Each country was represented with their own food and decorations. Really, some people went all out. All of the Mexicans had traditional Mexican clothing on, the Chileans made a hanging sign with their country's name on it, and the Aussies had all of these tacky, but cute, Australian crowns and a huge blow-up kangaroo. I actually realized that other than bringing flags and the food, the Americans were woefully unpatriotic. Some Canadian brought a whole bunch of temporary tattoos with Canadian flags and maple leaves and such, and actually a lot of us put those on. Mine was justified, being Canadian and coming from an international rotary district, but the others just thought they were cute. Let me tell you, I think that we confused a whole bunch of people when we replied that no, we were American.

On the left: Katie and Lauren
On the right: Me, Emmaline, and Chealsea sporting the Canadian flags, even though we are all American! :)

Even though technically the whole eating part was supposed to start at 12, the set up didn't probably finish until 1, and of course everyone had to go around once to look at the food, (the tables were in a big U), and then all of the parents and host siblings got to serve themselves first. Bascially, the whole time that was happening, I was walking around inside of the U looking at people's food and sneaking servings whenever a Rotex (rebounds who plan fun activites for us...) wasn't looking. And boy, was the food delicious! Out of everyone, I was most excited for the Mexicans' dishes. And it did not disappoint. The guacamole and salsa and beans and homemade chips, num num. I also ate this really good Finnish wrap thing, tons of mini slices of grilled cheese (it's funny the things you miss on exchange...), some empanada from a South American country, this delicious rice the girl from Hawaii made, and a caramel chocolate brownie thing that one of my Australian friends made. I am so glad she "broke" the rules and brought a dessert, because I literally died and went ot heaven after eating it, it was so good. I throughly stuffed myself, and by the time it was actually our turn to go and get food, I was full. A lot of people seemed very hesitant by our PB&J's, but by the end of the day they were all gone. I half suspect that it was really all of the exchange students who ate them, but at least we could bring joy into someone's life :) Probably the biggest hit among the the host families was the Aussie food, and among the students the Mexican food, the PB&Js, the MacNCheese, and the grilled cheese. Of course, this just mainly due to the Americans who oddly miss the horrible, but-so-good-tasting-that-it-doesn't-matter food, and are constantly craving Mexican food and something that has a little bit of spice to it (really, Belgians like things bland...).

And just for those of you that are interested, the American dishes people came up with include, but are not limited to: PB&J's, Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, Hawaiian rice, grilled cheese and tomato soup, pumpkin soup, lots of MacNCheese, Southwest Salad (just basically a salad with ranch, which they do NOT have here...), Cowboy Caviar (whatever that is...), and hot dogs. Interesting variety, no?

I got back from Brussels around 7, and after stuffing myself and lunch and throughly enjoying a Starbucks before leaving, I wasn't even hungry enough to eat dinner. A successful day, I must say!

Thanksgiving: Belgianized

Saturday, November 26th, 2011

So today was the big day for me. The day that I had literally been preparing all month for! Luckily, my lovely mum sent me a complete time schedule to try and make the dinner go as smoothly as planned. I had made the fudge and the stuffing previously, on Thursday. But regardless, I still had to wake up at 8 (early for me on a weekend...) and I literally cooked / was running errands all day.

My first order of business was to make my mum's delicious rolls. Pascale had done the rest of the shopping for Thanksgiving the day before, and although almost everything worked out, there was a mix up between baking powder and yeast. I needed yeast to make the rolls, but Pascale bought baking powder. I realized that, at least in French, yeast and baking powder have the exact same translation. And since Pascale seemed convinced that they were the exact same thing, I decided not ot push it. So I made the rolls, and then we headed out to do some last minute shopping (I needed to get the rest of the supplies for PB&J's for the exotic dinner tommorrow and I forgot to add a couple of ingredients onto the list... Whoops.) We also went to Katie's house to pick up the supplies that I had bought and given to her to make me a pumpkin pie. The Lancaster Family isn't exactly known for their pies... In fact, we go with the Costco pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving. But for whatever reason, she didn't have the time or something to make the pie. My back-up plan was to make pumpkin pie dip and serve it with some kind of cookie similiar to ginger snaps, but that didn't end up happening either... Oh well! Ended up having tons of food anyhow...

WE got back from the shopping trip at about 12. And  literally good straight through, all by myelf, until like 4:30, at the least. My plan was to have dinner at 3, but I ended up being about 30 minutes behind, and there were some unfortunate happenings with my friends. Emmaline and Becky were supposed to come early to help me cook. Becky couldn't end up coming early, because she had to cook herself for the exotic dinner the next day. Emmaline was coming back from spending the night at a friend's house, so I expected for her ot be a bit late. But then time just kept on running on and on, and still no news from Emmaline. i was literally so busy cooking that I didn't have time to check up on. Turns out, she had a bit of difficulties with her host dad, and she thought she had a ride but actually didn't. She also thought that Thanksgiving dinner was actually AT dinnertime, not at 3 (Even though  I am pretty darn sure I told her... But oh well.) Meanwhile, while I had no idea how the heck Emmaline was going to get here, my Aussie friends Maddy and Bel had taken the bus going the opposite direction of my house... And that one was actually my fault, in the confusion of trying to get all of that darn food cooked I wasn't really even paying attention to what the heck I was saying. Luckily, the bus driver was turning the bus around and just coming back the other way, so they made it. But then, once they actually got to the stop, they starting walking up the wrong hill (I had told them to call me once they got there, guess they forgot...). But when they realized they had no idea where they were going, they called me and Eddy drove down to the end of the road to go pick them up. So, three out of my four friends had arrived by 3:30 and all of the food was prepared.

Meanwhile, Emmaline was trying to take a bus that didn't even arrive until probably like 5. When Pascale asked me where Emmaline was, I told her the situation and that we were just going to have to eat without her. But then Pascale was all like "Why didn't you tell me before? I'll just take the other ladies and go and pic her up." So I called her and told her to go to the center of an easily acessible town, Battice. Turns out that what we thought was the center wasn't the center, just another main little shopping district.  So Pascale ended up driving to 2 different places (at least they were close together...) And, as you can imagine, at this point I was completely freaking out. I had already spent the entire day cooking this huge meal with no help, when I had planned on at least 2 people pitching in, everyone was getting lost and not getting here on time, and now I had to worry about the food getting cold. But once Emmaline arrived with Pascale, I just breathed a sigh of relief, took everything out of the oven or microwave or wherever I could find to keep the food warm, and started to eat. I thought I was going to be ravenous after not really eating anything all day (too busy cooking...), but I actually didn't end up having much of an appetite.

In the end, I made a turkey (which was cool for the Belgians because they have never had a turkey big like that), rolls (which indeed didn't rise... yay for baby sized rolls!), a green bean casserole, cranberry sauce (fresh out of the can ;) ), mashed potatoes and gravy (somehow the gravy ended up being sweet???), sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top (yuck...), a fruit salad, my favorite: my grandma's apple sausage stuffing, and fudge and cinnamon rolls for dessert (which were also baby sized..). Everyone absolutely loved it. For me, it was ok. I couldn't help but notice all of the mistakes, or how it didn't taste exactly like Thanksgiving back home. And for whatever reason, I wasn't even all that hungry!

Me & My Dinner!

The Turkey! (which had its skin ripped off by the turkey bag and got cooked with the giblets still in it,, whoops!)

Fruit Salad!! (which I didn't even get to eat :/)

STUFFING!

Overall, a good day. And the Belgians freaked out about the fudge. Too bad that Belgium doesn't have marshmallow fluff... And they also thought the fruit salad was a dessert, and it was down at their end of the table, so it was forgotten until I was already too stuffed to manage another bite.

The five of us hung out for a bit after the dinner, and then Becky, Maddy, and Bel had to go and catch the bus into town to catch their connecting buses. Maddy and Bel even still had to do some shopping and cooking for their Aussie dish! (Now, granted, it was only like 7:30, but still...). Emmaline and I had made previous plans for her to spend the night and then go together to the exotic dinner the next day. It was a fun night, because I hadn't seen her in a while and we got to catch up. She was also nice and helped me clean up the mess I had left in the kitchen, which suprisingly wasn't bad at all because I had tried to clean up as I went along! But the dishwasher was completely full, so we ended up having to handwash a lot of dishes, and the table still needed to be cleared too. But after that, we had the whole night just to relax and have the wonderful "I am in a complete Thanksgiving food coma" feeling.

This Thanksgiving, although it definitely hasn't been my favorite, will be one I remember forever. And I hope, with all of my heart, that I will not be cooking a Thanksgiving meal by myself for a VERY long time (if ever... I plan on using my mum's tactic of making everyone take responsibility for a dish! Or maybe I will just always go home...). And, after 2 long posts, I would say that I am done for the day! :) Merry Eve before Christmas Eve everyone!

An All-American Weekend

Saturday & Sunday, November 19th-20th, 2011

Well, I figured that I should probably finish up on November before January rolls around... So here goes nothing!

Quite some time ago, Pascale and Eddy had asked me to make a Thanksgiving dinner for them, to experience one of my favorite holidays of the year. Although I was definitely hesitant to prepare such a HUGE meal all by myself, especially when I don't really enjoy cooking, but I wanted to do something to let them know how grateful I am for everything that they do. So, I got my mum to send ahead the Lancaster Family Recipes, spent about three hours translating the ingredients and converting the measurements (now THAT was the real doozy), and then gave the shopping list to Pascale. I knew first off that there were going ot be some foods that we would just simply not find here. The plan was to get my parents to send that stuff over to me, if it wasn't too big and an imperative ingredient for a dish. But the Pascale brought up that she knew someone that works on an American military base over here, and has access to a store stocked full of American goodies. But it turns out, he doesn't have access because he is Belge and just kinda helping out or something... At that point i had a mini freak-out due to the fact that it was too late for my mum to send over ingredients, and there definitely were a few key ones missing. But then, I discovered just possibly my new favorite place in Belgium: The American Food Store!

So anyhow, we made plans to go there on Saturday. I also invited along my friend Katie, from Texas, because she was also planning on making a Thanksgiving dinner and she needed to buy ingredients too. I was literally sooooooo excited to go to the American Food Store, to have a chance to buy some delicious, fully processed, so good that you don't care how bad they are for you, American food. When we finally got there, about an hour later, I freaked out. The actualy store was A LOT smaller than I thought it was going to be. Like by quite a bit. But it still had really good products... I probably walked around the store at least 10 times, just to take everything in. I found everything I needed for Thanksgiving (pumpkin, a turkey, marshmallows, cranberry sauce, a turkey bag, etc.), as well as some ingredients to make a couple of Mexican meals (crazy Belgians, don't know how they can live without good salsa, green peppers, or refried beans!). Despite my insistence that this was my meal and that I wanted to do EVERYTHING for it, including buying hte ingredients, Pascale and Eddy wouldn't have it. So that gave me the chance to go a bit crazy and buy some fun things for myself. After much debate, I bought a box of poptarts, Reeses, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and ingredients to make s'mores. Oh, and of course, PEANUT BUTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I bought extra of that, but not for me. I volunteered to buy the ingredients for my exotic dinner night. I was in a group with 6 other Americans, and the goal being to make some main dish that is unique and common to your country, we decided to make PB&Js. But alas, that is another day...

Although it was extremely overpriced, going ot the American Food Store just absolutely made my day. And even though it's about a 2 1/2 train ride to get there, which actually involves making a couple of changes, I know I will most likely pay that store a visit again. Seriously, the man who came up with the idea and opened that store, kudos to you. I bet he is rolling in the dough. Because, although it is probably expensive to ship things over to Belgium from the U.S., when we went in the store was jam packed with Americans who are living over seas, and the occasional curious native. And when people go there, they don't tend to go for just one or two items. The go for the motherload, filling an entire shopping cart and then ending up paying like 200 euros or something crazy like that.

Katie and I were SO excited to get home. For lunch, we had a box of Mac&Cheese and spoonfuls of peanut butter. I swear, it was so good that I could have cried. I miss "normal" food and normal meals, even if what I bought isn't necessarily my favorite foods in the world. In fact, other than peanut butter, I really don't even eat the other things that much. Like at home, Mac&Cheese is a last resort. But here, it's like gold.

For the rest of the day, Katie and I just hung out like any other normal teenager would. It feels so weird ot be so... well, normal. Just hanging in my room, talking, listening to music, and having fun. We even took a walk around my street, just to do something while we talked. Back home, I wouldn't think twice about just hanging out with my friends and speaking English. But now, here, it's just weird. Like, it feels like such a rare moment, to just slow down my life enough to do something like that. Every other second, I feel like it's "let's see how many things we can jam into Morgan's life!" time. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE it when my life is like that. I am always more happy when I am super busy. But time here is moving so bloody fast, having a weekend like this, just hanging out and not trying to go somewhere or see something, it's nice. A nice little break from my otherwise very busy life.

On the walk with Katie.. Adorable little path through the farmland.

Feeding cows!

It had the longest tongue I have ever seen...

Exploring Verviers

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

Two posts in one day.... Say what? This truly shows how bored I am getting of just sitting at home, doing nothing. Now, it might just be possible that I understand and semi-appreciate going to school... Crazy, right? Never thought I would see the day where I was actually missing school. Well, not missing it, per say, but missing having something to do.

So this, for once, is going to be a short post. Because I don't actually remember the day or what happened. But I do know that every Tuesday, I have an etude right after lunch, which means that I bascially have 2 hours for lunch. Most of the time, I go into the city and meet up with Eliza and riley for lunch, because considering it takes about 15 minutes to walk there it isn't worth it to go there for only an hour. But for whatever reason, this day I didn't meet up with them. Instead, I had some errands I needed to run (don't actually remember what...), and then the rest of the time I just wandered around Verviers. Really, even though I know my tiny little city pretty darn well, I have never even gone down some of the streets. And I have always felt like taking pictures would totally point out the fact that am not Belge, but this day I was just like "Who cares???" and voila! The result:

Christmas is coming to Verviers!

Some cool old building & statue!

And another.... Yep, there ARE snowflake lights in the windows!

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas! :)

Mmk, not much else to say!!! :) Finally, a short post.

Birthdays in Belgium, Take 2

Saturday, November 12th, 2011

Today we celebrated Eddy's birthday at his parents' house. We headed over for lunch.  Idon't know why, but I suppose I was a bit nervous for a day full of French and such. And, I don't know, maybe just meeting my host grandparents and worrying about whether they would like me or not. But once I got into the adorable, cute, little, welcoming house I knew it would all turn out ok.

We spent the first bit just eating the normal appetizers and doing the normal small talk thing. Then, Eddy's really good friend from work arrived, Carine (once again, my guessing at the spelling of French names is not the best...). Grandma De Decker (never learned her real name, so I shall just call her this! Haha, feels strange considering I barely know her...) was just the sweetest little thing ever. She kept on getting up and offering more and more appetizers, and was constantly passing around the chips and such to make sure everyone had enough. I feel like it is just a grandparent thing, they are always so hospitable. I mean, she even went otu of her way and bought sparkling cider for me so I wouldn't feel left out when the majority of the adults were drinking champange.

After a while, we sat down to dinner. It was kind of weird, because Grandma De Decker was like "Morgan, come here you can help me," and I thought she meant for us to go into the kitchen and bring out whatever food she had prepared. But then she ushered me upstairs... Turns out that Pascale had bought seafood platters ahead of time and stashed them in the spare room. There was a VERY full tray per two people, because Eddy's parents had chicken (apparently the seafood wasn't good for their digestion or something...). I was quite shocked when I learned that the majority of the seafood still had their entire bodies intact. And they were cold. Which made me think that they had yet to be cooked... Oh goodness. Literally the only thing that I could bring myself to eat was the already cleaned up shrimp, and that was after soaking it in this delicious cocktail sauce they had also bought. Kinda survived that meal by eating bread.

When it came time for dessert, I was quite excited to get to try the fancy cake Pascale had bought the day before. I wasn't sure if it was going to feed all of us, considering I knew that she had bought the smaller version, but I figured she just knew that some people weren't going to partake in the dessert part of the meal. I was a bit confused when Eddy's mother came out with crepes. Don't get me wrong, they were definitely VERY good. Probably the best I have had since I have been in Europe. Actually, the best ever. And it was just a simple one with some powdered sugar, whipped cream, and ice cream. But sooooo good. But the mystery still remains of the fancy cake... I have no idea where the cake disappeared to, and what it was used for. I mean, when we were at the store Pascale even asked me "You don't really like chocolate all that much, do you?" and I replied "More or less... It depends," and she even got a not completely chocolate cake. I feel like here, things like this happen all of the time. Just simply the mysteries of Belgium and the language barrier.

After the lunch, we just hung out for a bit and talked. And Eddy's dad showed me his painting room. OH MY GOSH he was a FANTASTIC painter! Seriously, his nature paintings, I could have just looked at them forever. It was after seeing them that I also realized that all of the ohter painting hung around the house must be his too. He had so many of them, and I was just amazed by them. I felt a bit stupid, because i really couldn't think of anything else to say other than "Wow! These are great!" everytime he asked me what I thought, but I tried to just let my face express how good they were. Then, he whips out this one painting of a motehr holding her daugther, actually way different than the rest of his paintings, and was like "Do you like this one?" Of course, this was amazing too, and so I said yes. Then he handed it over to me and said "Well, then it is for you." Such a sweet family. And the painting will go perfect in my room at home. Somehow in the conversation, it came up that we were planning on going to Strasbourg the weekend of the 10th. But what wasn't made completely clear is that we were going for me to visit my sister, so Eddy's mother thought that Pascale meant that it was just a get-away weekend for them, and she immediately got all exicted and was like "Morgan, you can stay here with us!!!" I felt so bad telling them that the whole trip was for me... She was just so sweet about everything.

It was around 4 that everyone left. A day that I was semi dreading turned into a really good one, and I was really happy to be able to finally meet Eddy's parents. I hope that I get to see them before I change families. But who knows...  Unfortunately, for dinner we had the rest of the platters. I more of just played the "Oh, I am still full from the huge lunch," thing... Food that isn't A) de-faced and cleaned up and B) appears raw  just isn't my preferance. But I came to Belgium to experience new things, and well, there is definitely an abundance of that! But really, it's amazing. J'adore Belgique! Sometimes I just wish that my parents and siblings could be here on exchange with me... :(

Luxembourg!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Still a whole month behind... -__-  And it is for this reason that I am sticking to writing only about the most important things, the things that I have pictures for. Besides, it isn't as if I can really remember things all that well from a month ago... Too much has happened since then!

Just like the US, Belgium has Veterans' Day. Well, except for the fact that it is called Armstice Day and if I said Veterans' Day people would look at me like I was slightly crazed, confusing them a lot. The day off was much welcomed. Even if it was immediately following a week off, plus a Monday off because of a teacher work day, plus a half day on Wednesday because that's how it always is. Geez... I really feel like I never go to school. Yay Belgian school system!

Since both Pascale and I had the day off, we planned to go to Luxembourg for the day to allow me to discover it. One of her friends also came along, Evelynn (pardon my spelling, it's based off of an educated guess of the French language...). The drive down wasn't long, only about an hour and a half if I remember correctly. And then I was inside one of the smallest countries in all of Europe. Actually, I am pretty sure that it is one of the smallest countries in the whole world. Hardly anyone would probably be able to point it out on a map, much less even know thta it is a currently existing country. But, well, I know! It's famous for being included as part of Belgium, having REALLY high end shops in the center, some good bikers, having a flag that very closely resembles France's (Seriously, what is up with europe and its non-creative flag making? Luxembourg is a sideways France, Belgium is a turned up Germany, and Ireland is the exact same as Italy, just different tints of the colors red and green...), and the BEST hot chocolate I have ever tasted. (Well, at least, it's known by me as that..).

When we first got there, we drove around for a bit and, at least to me, it seemed like Pascale had no idea where the heck we were going. She drove around the same spot for 5 minutes or more..... Turns out that she was looking for a parking spot so we could go to into this huge bakery called...Umm, well I forgot but I think it started with a W. It was a pretty huge bakery, and there were AMAZING looking cakes. I mean, I am not even a fan of cake unless it's ice cream, but I honestly would have eaten like almost all of them. Pascale, after much debate, finally chose a cake and we left. I thought that the cake was for tommorrow, when we would be going to Eddy's parents' house to celebrate Eddy's birthday. I was excited to eat it...

The next stop we made was a little garden-y, hardware-ish store. They already had an entire section of the store just for beautiful Christmas ornaments and cute trinkets. We were probably there for a good 45 minutes, but I didn't mind because I actually liked looking at the Christmas things because it got me into the Christmas spirit. Plus I found a Christmas present for one of the members of my family (can't say who, can't say what, not yet... :) ).

Then, after the garden shop, we went into the town a bit. I was excited to finally get into the center of Luxembourg, even if it was more of the center of the shopping district, and see what Luxembourg city had to give. We walked around for a bit, unknowingly to me looking for this specific bakery, and I decided that pretty much every city in this area of Europe is adorable with its little shops and cobblestone streets and such. And in Luxembourg, it was really cool because by each main bus stop there was also a ton of bike racks with bikes that you could rent out for however long you wanted. I mean, how convenient is that. I don't feel like walking, so I am just going to hop onto this bike and ride it to whatever bus stop or destination I need, and chances are I can just leave it there at another specialized bike rack. Eco-friendly too. We found the bakery and Pascale bought the hugest loaf of bread I have ever seen. She said that bread and bakeries like this are very traditional in Luxembourg, and have been here since forever. I am going ot mention this here, because I don't remember what day I tasted it, or if I will write about that day, or if I will evven remember to mention it. Anyhow, that bread that Pascale bought was literally the BEST bread I have tasted since I have been here. Maybe, just maybe, even outting the French baguette. *GASP* And generally, it is not my preferance to eat bread that isn't white, but I would seriously take this bread over any kind of white bread, any day.

After picking up the bread, it was like 1 and Pascale drove us to the Chinese restuarant where she had made reservations. I was quite excited by the fact that we were going to a Chinese restuarant, hoping that it would be like one of those retuarants back home that whips up your specialized meal for you right in front of you on the grill attached to your table. Alas, it was more of a buffet style, but it was GOOD. I mean, not the best Chinese food I have ever tasted, and the chow mein was just upright nasty, but it definitely satisfied my very hungry stomach.

After lunch, we finally went to start being tourists. We drove back to the center of the city (the restuarant was a bit out of the way...), and Pascale parked in an area that I feel is very much the tourist center. The plan was to ride this tourist train that went all around the city and then back, with a tour in whatever language you wanted. But it turns out, the train has temporarily been closed down for renovations. And the bus, the one that does practically the exact same thing as the train, it only runs on the weekends. And definitely not on holidays. And once I saw Pascale's face after learning that news, I realized that she didn't exactly have any plans other than that...

I don't know what I did to this picture to make it pink... But it is still pretty! :)

Luxembourg Cathedral

So I guess in Luxembourg, they make them yellow!

Luxembourg Flag... Non-creative Europeans!

But actually, it didn't really end up mattering. We decided to just walk around the city, look at the big and important buildings, and do a bit of window shopping. We walked through the center square, passing the Hotel de Ville and such. Then we went into this church, because Pascale knows that I really do LOVE old European churches. Even though, after nearly 4 1/2 months, they are starting to blend together a bit, every church has a little something amazing to make it different than the other. After the church, we just walked around looking at more cool buildings, and then after that we walked around and looked in the shop windows. Just a girls' day out. It was actually quite nice, and Pascale's friend (I won't even try and butcher her name again, because I just have the feeling that I am not at all spelling it right...), even though she didn't speak a lick of English, was super nice and I had a fun time talking to her. Yes, me, holding conversation in French. Woohoo!

Church! And Pascale's friend....

Oh the intricate detail!

Always the beautiful, long stained glass windows

Really clear picture... So glad my camera finally decided for once to be good.

I have a feeling that if I could play this, I could play any instrument known to man...

random Lady and Luxembourg Flags :)

Palace where the royal family used to live??? (Je pense...)

The day was a pretty cold one, even with my heavy jacket and scarf. A nice little suggestion at the end of the day was made by Pascale's friend, to go and get hot chocolate at this cool and busy looking chocolate place we had passed while we were walking (If it's busy, you KNOW it's good...). The people that opened up the restuarant must have been English or American, because the menu was half in French, half in English, and it had a lot of English type things. I was slightly confused when, after ordering a Speculoos (this Belgian cookie that is kinda like a ginger snap, kinda like a graham cracker, but better and can bemade into a spread much like peanut butter) hot chocolate, I recieved a mug filled with hot milk and a chocolate square with a wooden stick sticking out of it. But then I realized that the stick was actually a spoon, and that you stuck the chocolate in the milk and with stirring, it made your hot chocolate. It was literally the BEEEEEESSSSSSTTTTT hot chocolate I have ever had. I tried Pascale's caramel chocolate thing, and her friend's orange cappuccino and they were both to die for. But I liked mine the best, thankfully.

You put the chocolate in the hot milk until it melts... and voila! The best hot chocolate known to man!

Chocolate House = Favortie Chocolate Store in Europe???

After the hot chocolate, it was time to go on back to Belgium. We went to visit Eddy in his office, who had a bit more work to wrap up and then was going to head on back as well, and then we drove home. Overall, a great day. I actually really want to go back to Luxembourg, to look in all of the cool high end shops they haveand experience the Marche de Noel in Luxembourg, because I heard they were pretty amazing.

Now just one final piece, actually more referring to today. I came to Belgium thinking that come December, I would be living in a winter wonderland and that the snow wouldn't disappear until like March. So far, still no snow. I mean, it has snowed the tiniest bit, but it melted very quickly. Nope, it's just mostly gray and rainy and gross. I seriously think I brought the Seattle weather with me... Today it was slightly sunny, but still freezing. There has also been several random, but short downpours, lots of wind, a thunderstorm, and I think I saw a bit of hail. Really?  If I wanted this weather I could have easily stayed home. Although for the longest time I was really grateful that the snow was holding off because I walk everywhere and am one of the biggest cold whimps around, now I just want the snow to come. I WANT A QHITE CHRISTMAS! So if the weather gods could please kindly look my way and grant me my wish, that would be muchly appreciated. Even if muchly isn't a word... Oh well. Until nect time that I cna convince myself to take ages writing a post... Bisous!