Bienvenue en Belgique!

This is going to be a very long post, and for a good reason. The time has come. I am now living in my home in Belgium. It sounds so weird. I can’t believe it’s happening because I’ve had some very unbelievable experiences.

First, Tuesday August 21 I caught a red eye flight to JFK Airport after many tears and hard goodbyes. It was a five hour flight, but I got some sleep on the plane. Then, we had an overnight orientation at the hotel near the airport. I would soon learn to be grateful for those beds, even if the air conditioner was ridiculously loud! Most of the activities were about things we had covered in the past, so it didn’t do much to prevent us from thinking about how we wanted to be in Belgium already! I met people going to the Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, etc. and it was a very cool experience. There were 12 Belgium kids: 7 going to the French speaking part and 5 to the Flemish.

Around 2pm NY time, we went to JFK. The line was really long to check our bags, but after that we went through security and then boarded our plane around 5 or so to Zurich. It was the LONGEST flight of my life. I was one of the lucky ones who got some sleep, but every time I woke up it felt like we still had five hours left on the plane! When we landed, I was very relieved. The Zurich airport was very…. Swiss. There was a lot of concrete and it was eerily quiet, but it was nice. Then after meeting up with the New Zealanders, we took a connecting flight to Brussels where we met up with the AFS Belgium French volunteers. I got to see my host sister in person for the first time and we said a quick hello. After that, we were off to an old youth hostel type of building. The place had strange food (except for the glorious bread and juice) but the volunteers in Belgium are absolutely amazing. Most volunteers in AFS BFR are made up of people under the age of 30, which is very cool. After we got a day of much needed rest (especially for those Kiwis who had been traveling for 38 hours!) we went to a park in Brussels and did various activities. I got to try my first piece of Belgian chocolate. It wasn’t even a very expensive kind but it was still way better than anything I’d ever tried. Though one of the volunteers said it wasn’t the nicest part of Brussels (BXL) it was BEAUTIFUL. I was in awe of how cute everything was. We practiced a little French, and then went back to the main building to have a talent show. I was exhausted by 11pm local time, but the volunteers had so much energy, and everyone danced until 1am (especially the Brazilians). The talent show was amazing and everyone participated. I heard more languages in one day than I have in my entire life.

The next day, we played a lot of games (Citron, Citron and this other one I didn’t catch the name of but it was pretty complicated and fun). Then it was (finally) time to meet our host families. I had already talked to my host sister but I was still a little nervous. I think we all were. I met my host mom, and she definitely lived up to my expectations and what the other volunteers told me she would be like. She is very sweet. We carpooled with one of the NZ kids who has a welcome family and then after dropping off my luggage, my host mom, sister, and I went to a friend’s house for a barbecue dinner. It was a very fancy barbecue compared to the US… there were three or four courses. Everyone was very nice and interested in California and me. I got exhausted trying to understand all of the conversations (I never really gave up trying to focus on them but I realized I couldn’t understand any of them) and have now come to the realization that my French has deteriorated quite a bit since graduation. That’s okay though, because my host mom barely speaks English so I will have to learn French quickly.

We are going to my school tomorrow to sign up for classes. I’m really looking forward to the next year! Wish me luck!

Hanging out with the New Zealanders!

AFS backpack!

The view outside of our BFR orientation site

There were random beautiful buildings in the park… I don’t know why.

A common sight at orientation camps… this isn’t even 1/4 of the luggage…

More pictures of my room to come (when I’m not so exhausted)!

ichbinellie:

i cant sleep 

too many thoughts of leaving someone special

and packing of course

Update (with pictures!)

I got my visa information earlier this week and am now working on getting that done (it’s a long process, but very worth it). I have just 43 more days until I catch a red-eye to JFK International Airport and meet with all of the other exchange students. In 46 days I will be in Belgium. This doesn’t even feel real! I can’t believe my dream, the one I’ve been waiting three years for, is now only 6 weeks away. I realized I didn’t include any pictures in my previous posts about my placement, so here they are!

This is the town I will be living in, called Vedrin. It is 5km north of Namur. It’s described as suburban, and from what I’ve seen on Google Maps (I’m not creepy, I promise!) it’s a very pretty, green town. It has a population of 6,163 which is VERY different from the closest “small” town I live by which has a population of 155,937! I think my high school alone had over 2,000 students so this will be very different for me. My host mother offered to invite me along the walks she takes around the town, so I will be able to become familiar with it and also bond with her as well. 

This entire area is the region of Namur, known for the two rivers that intersect at the center. Vedrin is the red area. I don’t have any pictures of my house, but my host sister told me it was three stories tall. It is really close to a bus stop, so I’ll be able to access Namur very easily. Speaking of Namur, this is what it looks like.

It is the closest city to me. It’s also the capital of Wallonia, the French region of Belgium. I’m glad I’m close to a city but also glad that I’m living in a small town. It seems like the perfect mix. My host sister also told me that I would probably be going to the school she and her sister (and the previous exchange students they hosted) attended, Institut de la Providence Champion, and that my neighbor would take me to school, which is very nice of them! I must remind myself to include a thank you gift for them as well.

The school is very proud of its gardens, and from the pictures I’ve seen online, they have every right to be because the school and its grounds are beautiful! Besides school, I think I will try “scouts”. Both of my host sisters have done it and though they found it difficult to explain in English, they said it was a great way to make friends. With all of this information, my new life seems more tangible, rather than just hopes and dreams. I now have a vision, an idea of what my life will be like and who I’ll be around. I’ve even started packing. It’s harder than it sounds, I’ve already packed too much and yet not enough. How do you fit a year of your life - a life in a year - in a 44lb suitcase? I guess I’ll figure it out somehow. I’m very excited for everything to come. My last month and a half in California (in the United States, even!) is going to go by very quickly, and I want to enjoy every minute of it.

À bientôt, Nicole

What is exchange? - Fabian Wildgrube

Exchange is change. Rapid, brutal, beautiful, hurtful, colourful, amazing, unexpected, overwhelming and most of all constant change. Change in lifestyle, country, language, friends, parents, houses, school, simply everything. 

Exchange is realizing that everything they told you beforehand is wrong, but also right in a way. 

Exchange is going from thinking you know who you are, to having no idea who you are anymore to being someone new. But not entirely new. You are still the person you were before but you jumped into that ice cold lake. You know how it feels like to be on your own. Away from home, with no one you really know. And you find out that you can actually do it.

Exchange is learning to trust. Trust people, who, at first, are only names on a piece of paper, trust that they want the best for you, that they care. Trust, that you have the strength to endure a year on your own, endure a year of being apart from everything that mattered to you before. Trust that you will have friends. Trust that everything’s going to be alright. And it is seeing this trust being justified. 

Exchange is thinking. All the time. About everything. Thinking about those strange costumes, the strange food, the strange language. About why you’re here and not back home. About how it’s going to be like once you come back home. How that girl is going to react when you see her again. About who’s hanging out where this weekend. At first who’s inviting you at all. And in the end where you’re supposed to go, when you’re invited to ten different things. About how everybody at home is doing. About how stupid this whole time-zone thing is. Not only because of home, but also because the tv ads for shows keep confusing you. 
Thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong. About how stupid or rude you just were to someone without meaning to be. About the point of all this. About the sense of life. About who you want to be, what you want to do. And about when that English essay is due, even though you’re marks don’t count. About whether you should go home after school, or hang out at someone’s place until midnight. Someone you didn’t even know a few months ago. And about what the hell that guy just said.

Exchange is people. Those incredibly strange people, who look at you like you’re an alien. Those people who are too afraid to talk to you. And those people who actually talk to you. Those people who know your name, even though you have never met them. Those people, who tell you who to stay away from. Those people who talk about you behind your back, those people who make fun of your country. All those people, who aren’t worth your giving a damn. Those people you ignore.
And those people who invite you to their homes. Who keep you sane. Who become your friends. 

Exchange is music. New music, weird music, cool music, music you will remember all your life as the soundtrack of your exchange. Music that will make you cry because all those lyrics express exactly how you feel, so far away. Music that will make you feel like you could take on the whole world. And it is music you make. With the most amazing musicians you’ve ever met. And it is site reading a thousand pages just to be part of the school band. 

Exchange is uncomfortable. It’s feeling out of place, like a fifth wheel. It’s talking to people you don’t like. It’s trying to be nice all the time. It’s bugs.. and bears. It’s cold, freezing cold. It’s homesickness, it’s awkward silence and its feeling guilty because you didn’t talk to someone at home. Or feeling guilty because you missed something because you were talking on Skype.

Exchange is great. It’s feeling the connection between you and your host parents grow. It’s hearing your little host brother asking where his big brother is. It’s knowing in which cupboard the peanut butter is. It’s meeting people from all over the world. It’s having a place to stay in almost every country of the world. It’s getting new families. One of them being a huge group of the most awesome teenagers in the world.
It’s cooking food from your home country and not messing up. It’s seeing beautiful landscapes that you never knew existed.

Exchange is exchange students. The most amazing people in the whole wide world. Those people from everywhere who know exactly how you feel and those people who become your absolute best friends even though you only see most of them 3 or 4 times during your year. The people, who take almost an hour to say their final goodbyes to each other. Those people with the jackets full of pins. All over the world.

Exchange is falling in love. With this amazing, wild, beautiful country. And with your home country. 

Exchange is frustrating. Things you can’t do, things you don’t understand. Things you say, that mean the exact opposite of what you meant to say. Or even worse…

Exchange is understanding. 

Exchange is unbelievable. 

Exchange is not a year in your life. It’s a life in one year.

Exchange is nothing like you expected it to be, and everything you wanted it to be. 

Exchange is the best year of your life so far. Without a doubt. And it’s also the worst. Without a doubt. 

Exchange is something you will never forget, something that will always be a part of you. It is something no one back at home will ever truly understand.

Exchange is growing up, realizing that everybody is the same, no matter where they’re from. That there is great people and douche bags everywhere. And that it only depends on you how good or bad your day is going to be. Or the whole year. 
And it is realizing that you can be on your own, that you are an independent person. Finally. And it’s trying to explain that to your parents.

Exchange is dancing in the rain for no reason, crying without a reason, laughing at the same time. It’s a turmoil of every emotion possible.

Exchange is everything. And exchange is something you can’t understand unless you’ve been through it.

By Fabian Wildgrube