Thursday, December 5, 2013

Amsterdam/ Scout camp weekend/ Horse back riding/ Shadowing a vet: in Belgium

first thing's first: Amsterdam!

So... This is Amsterdam. My dream came true! The pictures say (more than) a thousand words, but here is a short and sweet explanation. I went to Amsterdam for a long weekend with my best exchange friends from all different parts of the world. I experienced all Amsterdam has to offer. Not only did I see the Anne Frank house and the museums, but I got the chance to experience Amsterdam fully. Meaning: we walked everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I love Amsterdam, I love the streets, the architecture, I hate the bikes, I hate the trams, I hate the motos... This is from the person that LITERALLY almost got hit multiple times on the trip... Anyway, It was great, if you want to know how to travel/do/experience Amsterdam to the fullest (especially in the length of 2 or 3 days) I am the right person to ask! or just ask what I did there and such, because it was awesome.

scouts

Next thing is scout camp. Scouts in Belgium and everywhere else basically besides the United States works amazingly different (if this makes sense). So there are multiple sections of scouts and each section is determined by age group, some co-ed, some not, and each age group is headed by a group of Chefs which plan the activities and try to keep the kids from killing each other (semi-literally). So one weekend a year the chefs "camp" In this case we walked like 13 kilometers to a CASTLE in a different village and stayed there where we had fun (a lot of fun) ;). We also played a game where they split us up into teams and we had to do a series of games like a world cup (my team named themselves USA) USA came out on top in the end, I don't want to say I won it for us, but I won the last relay for us which was double or nothing points and almost threw up after winning it (no joke, if you want to know why, ask!). Anyway, scout camp here is WAY DIFFERENT and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. (don't tell but I prefer this to BSA or girlscouts).

Horseback riding

I recently started going on some Wednesdays chez Bridgide to help out and ride at her barn, I guess there family is with the rotary so when my mom asked if I could come and help with the horses she was like "sure! why not?" Sweet. So I've done that a couple times and it is really fun, I love it. Especially because they ride English, so it is a perfect opportunity for me to perfect my English seat....

Shadowing a vet (in Belgium)

Just about THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was so cool, one of my mom's friends (again) husband is a vet (Tony) and he nicely offered to take me with him to shadow basically whenever because it's "not a problem." Of course I accepted, I could barely hold of from jumping up and down and screaming like a fan girl. Anyway, so I went with tony to see some stuff. We ground a horse's teeth, visited some cows, a dog, a colicing horse, all very interesting. The peak part was euthanizing a cow... But it was ok, the cow was really in a lot of pain and it didn't hurt it at all really.
I also visited a farm with him where the nice dutch lady spoke English with me and happily told me all about her farm, which was really sweet (they have these fancy automatic milkers for the cows!!!!)


So that's just a little bit, I have much more to come tomorrow, so check back tomorrow or the next day and there will surely be some nice stories and adventures here for you to enjoy!!

Questions about Amsterdam? About scouting in Belgium, or a different country? Wondering what I learned shadowing a vet? Just have a question about exchange, life, food...? Be sure to ask! I will be sure to answer! (eventually!)


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

What I've been up to in MONTH TWO

Halloween, I went as Rosie Riviter... Somehow there were two of me... who would of thought there would be two Rosies in a foreign country?!

At the Foire de Liege (like a fair). I obviously got a giant waffle dipped in chocolate then smothered with whipped cream, I mean, who wouldn't get one of these?!


We went to an apple fest at Weigemont... So we also went for a walk and we ended up taking pictures by this water fall on a rock. I was thinking the whole time.. "please, just take my picture I can't see anything I'm being blinded please"
Weigemont, It's a beautiful picture I took, so I just had to share my master photo skills ;)
This is a giant slide, a GIANT slide! It was so awesome I just had to go down it, and it ended up being really bumpy, plus there was a sign saying in ten different languages "use of slide during rain is prohibited" of course that just made me want to come back in the rain because it would be so much more awesome!!
Halloween again, my exchange crew ;) Left to right its Danica (australia) Guillermo (Paraguay) Me, Lucas (Brazil) and Jessica (ohio)
During vacation I went on a tour of Liege, and this isn't even at the top of the stairs, I just had to take a break before I continued. On the way down, we got soaked, literally. We were so wet because it poured.

So that is basically it, I have a few other things to say and a few other things to post but that can wait maybe a day or two... or a week.
Next  you can look forward to:
Amsterdam
Scout camp weekend
Horse back riding
Shadowing a vet in Belgium

So as you can see there is much more interesting things to come, so don't forget to "check in" on me periodically... or just follow me that's cool too!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

La Belgique est un Rêve

So many things cramped into so little time...

Since I last saw you guys I've done about a million things, so I think I will just post a picture (like normal) with description. At the end there is a general life up date type thing, so make sure to go all the way to the bottom!

First rotary meeting here in Belgium, with rotary club Herve, they were nice enough to give us polos with our names and cow key chains for our blazers, as well as a moule shell to remember our moule day!

This is in a mine (de Blegny).. On wednesdays the rotary 1630 takes us different places to basically keep us out of trouble, I like going though because you see a lot of cool stuff (not to mention all of the other exchange students) oh and did I mention they always give us a snack??

These two are from Julemont, it's like every weekend in autumn there is basically a party with music and dancing in a different village. They're really fun and it gives me the opportunity to see friends from school and stuff... Anyway, it's really fun!


This was in my village, or, well, Thimistier... It was when there was a small carnival type thing and also Thimistier's weekend for the fete (village party basically). So I had a waffle... and frites... But the waffle, it was amazing! Here you see me, eating a waffle smothered in chocolate and whipped cream (shantilly ou creme freshe)

This is the same weekend as above, Me and my wonderful host parents, and Olivia, the Coloradian that lives in my same host family :D

 This is actually after the picture below. My host family and I (I mean the whole family of my host mom: siblings, kids, parents...) went to this farm and played golf. It's basically with a mini soccer ball and a huge wooden golf club type thing, then you try like normal golf to get it in the hole, don't forget to look out for the cows! 
This picture though, is me eating ice cream, my host dad had the same kind. The ice cream was really good and homemade, everyone had a dessert, with a beer or an apple juice...

 This was taken right after I hit the ball for the first time... It was going to be a really good drive but then it hit Olivia... Needless to say you can tell everyone laughed their butts off, it was pretty funny!
A day in Liege! After meeting up with some good friends we went to go get some liege waffles. This one just so happens to be a waffle with holes poked in it then chocolate sticks stuck in the holes, which then melt into a chocolatly waffle goodness!

Kayak day with the rotex!!! It was so fun, this is a group picture, I'm in the back next to the really tall Brazilian with a mexican girl (Paulina) on my shoulders holding an american flag...

Another group, This is (from left to right) Tomas, Paulina, Lisandro, me, Frida, and Soichi (Japan). It happened that I would kayak with Soichi, which was really fun, every time he would get wet expletives in English would come out of his mouth... Just too funny
Annnddd GERMANY!! We went hiking in some kind of national forest that if you went off the wooden path you would supposedly disappear, I was told they are glades, or marshes. Anyway, here, Belgium is my right foot, Germany is my left foot, the while line dividing the block is the border. Pretty cool huh?

So then we visited a German village, pretty small, pretty beautiful, I want to go back and spend more time (aka, buy some stuff and take pictures)


Eben-Emael, another Wednesday activity with Rotary. We saw this tank and basically everyone jumped on it for a group picture, I just can't believe the flags didn't come out...

The entrance to the fort, it was actually pretty cool and reconstructed (set up) in a way that you could see where the soldiers and personnel would be living and doing daily activities and defense in the fort. We even saw where an explosion happened, it was pretty neat, seeing the bullet holes in the structure and the destruction of the explosion made the experience all the more real.

Philippe (the man in the picture below) had a HUGE party (I mean huge, with food, drinks, magicians, acts, a band, everything) for his 50 year of his architecture business or something like that. Anyway... The above picture is me and Francis, he's by far my favorite rotarian. He comes up to me and is like no beer! Me: I know Francis then he asks me if I want one, so of course I say sure (as you can see, he got me one, how nice!)

Philippe Corman (my YEO, the best in Belgique) 

Maurine, Olivia, and I, we went to tour a place where people learn the chocolate making business (or, well, the factory business) But we saw chocolates being made, so I was happy :D

 The chocolate part.

 After the chocolate part, we went to a different place, it happened to be a COFFEE FACTORY. HELLO?! It was awesome, even though I don't really like hot coffee.

 Rotary activity in Namur!!! This is me and my oldie from Australia, Danica, in Parliament, which was pretty cool...

I guess the guy in the sweater is some really good soccer player from Brazil, I have no idea, I just know he was like hey let's get a picture, Okay, sure.

 Group picture!!! If you look to the right, right next to the Argentinian flag is me holding a small american flag. (taken right before we got on the boat)

Les Mexicains, and one japonese going to photo bomb the picture

Me and Edgar (mexico) He is so funny!

On the boat ride thing

And again.. Group of friends, Exchange students, truly the best friends in the entire WORLD

We were on the boat, when suddenly we passed by this HUGE... CASTLE (house and mansion just don't explain this) Beautiful! 

 At the end of the day in Namur, I traded a bunch of pins, and received a bunch. I started out in Belgium with 300 plus pins and some bracelets to give out after Brussels and now Namur, I only have about thirty some pins left.

 My blazer, as you can see it's getting pretty filled up, I started putting stuff on the back, and as you can see I have a whole arm dedicated to Mexico...

DONE WITH PICTURES, LETS GET TO THE UPDATE PART


Okay, so it's now autumn, and I guess for Belgium this consists of weather around 48 degrees Fahrenheit, some wind, and basically RAIN. EVERY.DAY. I hate rain! I would rather it snow un beaucoup. Besides this, Belgium is pretty great, they are on their way to the world cup (GO BELGIQUE). I've only gotten a little homesick, sometimes I just get a little sad, then something great happens in the same day and I'm back to laughing my ass off with my friends. Anyway.. I totally forget what else I was going to write...