An Exchange Student in Belgium

Belgian Churches and Graveyards

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:14:05 -0600

So In Belgium I have noticed that there is an abundance of churches. There is at least one in every town. There are also these tiny little worshiping buildings that you can go to. All that is inside is usually 3 chairs, a cross, and candles you can light for 25 cents. These buildings are only big enough to fit 3 people at the most. Here is one near my second host families house.

I discovered it with my other exchange student friend, Laura. We continued on our walk when we got to the town’s church. We saw this fence that was open around the back so we walked inside. Before walking in, I knew it was going to be some sort of graveyard but what we found was so unexpected. There were stairs that led up to this small worship area, and stairs that lead down to this beautiful stone archetecture. We took the stairs down and when we reached the bottom, I first noticed the flowers. On November 1st, everyone in Belgium goes to lay flowers on the graves of loved ones and spends the day remembering their lives. So after a second of thinking I realize that the flowers that we were surrounded in had to be laying on graves. So I looked down and I was right. We were standing on people’s graves. Now these were built in to this stone so it was flat and if I had not known, I would have thought we were walking on a stone floor.

So we continued on, looking at all the graves, checking the dates (Oldest one was buried in 1889) and all of these were above ground caskets. The creepy part was that they were falling apart because of their age. After awhile we came upon this other building in the middle of all of this. I thought it would be locked but I tried the door anyway and it opened. We walked in and immediately there were steps leading down to this extremely dark hallway. Of course both of us were scared so we peeked down to see if we could see anythign and all we saw was this single glowing candle. We were very creaped out but I was the first to start walking down. Once we got down there we could see this light at the end of the hallway from a window but where we were we were surrounded by complete darkness. I pulled out my camera and took a flash photo and when the flash went, all we saw were boxes on the wall and lots and lots of flowers. I then pulled out my phone and used it as our flashlight. We then realized we were standing in this crypt type thing. Needless to say we were both freaking out. But we started walking and looking at all the names. We walked to the light at the end of the hallway and saw that there were empty ones for future generations.

I’m not sure if we were supposed to be in there but it was definitely worth rising it!

So I will be updating this blog every Tuesday and Thursday. If something big happens I’ll...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:45:21 -0600

So I will be updating this blog every Tuesday and Thursday. If something big happens I’ll update it separately :)

Champagne, France I took a 2 day trip to Champagne with a man...

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 07:56:09 -0600

Champagne, France

I took a 2 day trip to Champagne with a man from my Rotary and his family and had the best time. We stayed at his mother’s house that was really an old, traditional farm that had been transformed into a home. She cooked us amazing, homemade, french cuisine and they took me on a driving tour of the area. I got to see an old WW1 bunker, overlook the many vineyards while eating grapes off the vine, and drink some amazing champagne. It was so gorgeous there.

Photo

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 07:47:22 -0600

Some other amazing memories from Paris

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:44:00 -0600

The group of exchange students who went on the Paris Trip

A group of us girls posing with a man in the military

Kendra (from New York) and I stopping for a picture

A group of us under the Arc de Triomphe

Inside the museum

Arc de Triomphe

Me and some friends

A group of us posing in front of Versailles.

Some other amazing memories from Paris

The Louvre and Notre Dame

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:38:00 -0600

Me with the Mona Lisa behind me

Me with some other exchange students in the Louvre

In front of the pyramids at the Louvre

Notre Dame

The Mona Lisa

The Louvre and Notre Dame

Visiting the Eiffel Tower during the day and night.

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:31:00 -0600

Moi avec Le Tour Eiffel

A Canadian, an Australian, and an American

Champagne at the top of the Eiffel. Our glasses make the French Flag

The view from the top

Sticking my head through the rail.

Visiting the Eiffel Tower during the day and night.

Château de Versailles in Paris, France

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:21:00 -0600

Beautiful ceiling artwork

The Hall of Battles

The Queen's Bedchamber

Posing like the statues

More amazing ceiling art

in front of the gate

Château de Versailles in Paris, France

Sorry for not posting recently but last week was CRAZY!

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:13:00 -0600

Friday October 27th through the 29th, I had my first Rotary trip to Paris and it was absolutely amazing! I love Pais so much! I’m going to go more in depth about it later. Then, on October 30th, my host family took me to a circus at the top of the citadel de Namur and I got to pet a baby lion! The next day was my 17th birthday and my family surprised me with a small party including champaign, flowers, cake, and Titanic in french. November 3rd and 4th I was in Champagne France with a member of my Rotary club and his family. We drove 3 1/2 hours and stayed with their grand mother in her traditional farm house. She cooked us traditional french cuisine and I got to go on a tour of the area. I ate grapes straight from the vine and saw a World War I bunker. So I’ve been super busy and I’ll start updating more often!

Paris

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 03:09:12 -0500

So I leave for Paris, France in 2 days! It’s the first of my 3 BRESA trips I will be taking.

The Atomium in Brussels, Belgium

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 03:07:08 -0500

The Atomium in Brussels, Belgium

I went to Namur for a day with Laura and we walked around the...

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 05:32:00 -0500

On the ground before hiking up

Overlooking the city of Namur

Laura and I

Namur!!

We love their crazy street mirrors here.

Only halfway to the top

Yes that's me sitting on the ledge

The view from the top

I went to Namur for a day with Laura and we walked around the city until we decided to climb the citadelle and we got some amazing pictures!

So I was sitting at the table this morning drinking my tea and looking outside and thinking about...

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 05:06:41 -0500

So I was sitting at the table this morning drinking my tea and looking outside and thinking about how amazing Belgium is. It was cool and foggy and I could hear the annoying rooster next door. Even though I’m going through some rough times right now, I absolutely love it here!

So Laura (from canada) and I decided to do the cinnamon...

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:32:56 -0500

So Laura (from canada) and I decided to do the cinnamon challenge during our lunch break at school. I failed but Laura actually finished!

These were taken during our inbound meeting last weekend in...

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:22:00 -0500

Iowa, Wisconsin, New York

Having fun in the rain

Nora from Arkansas

A bunch of us non south koreans holding the flag

Love these guys

These were taken during our inbound meeting last weekend in Namur. I love all of these amazing people! We went to the Walloon Parliament building then took a 2 hour boat ride in the cold and rain!

Brussels Trip

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:12:00 -0500

Brussels Trip

So I’m really enjoying Belgium! New posts soon!

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:07:14 -0500

So I’m really enjoying Belgium! New posts soon!

The Born This Way Ball in Antwerpen

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:00:32 -0500

So I went to Lady Gaga’s BTW Ball in Antwerp on september 29th and it was AMAZING! The friday before, I took a 2 hour train ride to Antwerp central station and met up with a friend who did her exchange in Wisconsin. We hung around the city for a few hours then took a train to her house for the night. I woke up the next morning at 4:00 am and got dressed and headed to the train station and caught the 5:00 AM train into Antwerp.

I arrived to the station ok but I couldn’t find the tram I was supposed to take. I walked around for an hour until I finally saw these other people who were dressed to go to the show as well. I asked them if they knew where were were supposed to be going and we all finally figured it out. On the tram, there were about 10 of us going and we were all singing some of Gaga’s songs and finishing getting ready. Once we arrived, we all got numbers on our hands. I was number 258 in line. Now if you are one of the first 400 in line, you get put into the thing called the monster pit. It’s a separate section that is up close to the stage. Everyone that got there in time received a pink peace sign on their wrists and we all were ushered to the side of the building where we waited for over 10 hours.

The area inside the ring is the monster pit.

I met some of the most amazing people ever and I’ll forever call them my friends. But at around 5:00pm we all started moving and I was dragged towards the back by a security guard. It was so unorganized and people that arrived after me were somehow let in before me but I got a good spot anyway. I was towards the back but next to the rail so i was literally 2 feet away from the stage. Lady Gaga walked by me 9 times, looked at me 5 times, and smiled when I blew her a kiss. It was so much fun and I’m so sad it’s over!

I’m about to go to a wedding with my host parents! My host...

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 03:59:42 -0500

I’m about to go to a wedding with my host parents! My host mom is singing in the choir and they thought it would be fun for me to experience. I worked at a country club back in the states and I’ve worked tons of weddings so it will be nice to go and not have to work!

A quick update

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:31:16 -0500

I haven’t posted on here for awhile because I’ve had some things pop up in my life that I never expected to happen. My best friend who was an exchange student from Argentina in the U.S died last week from a car crash.

My family and I hosted him for a couple of months and he felt like a brother to me.

So I haven’t been that motivated to post but I promise I will start again!