Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Finally!!!!

Ok, so I am really bad about updating. Sorry! Anyway, I just thought I would mention a few culture differences and interesting things about Belgium.
-You give people a kiss on the cheek when greeting and leaving
-To flush the toilet there is a panel on the wall that you press down to flush and up to stop
-There is graffiti everywhere, including the old buildings
-They use an azerty keyboard (at least in the French speaking part of the country)
-All bread has a thick, crunchy crust like a baguette
-There is TONS of public transportation
-They love Nutella (They also have something similar called Kwatta that is waaaaay better) and Coca Cola  (They have diet coke w/ lemon!)
-Light switches are also panels and you press them down to turn on the light
-All windows and glass doors open two ways. From the top and side! (I thought I broke the sliding glass door and was going to be crushed the first time I realized this O.O')
- Toilets and showers are not together in the bathroom. They are different rooms.
-Drinking happens on an almost daily basis, whether it be wine with dinner or beer with friends
-Also, they drink very little water, and when they do they dont drink tap. It's bottled or filtered.
-Cars are tiny
-Sidewalks double as parking places
-No stopsigns, just small garden-like areas that stick out onto the road that force you to pull to the side for oncoming traffic. And lots of round-a-bouts!
-Travelling between countries is like going to a different state in the US without the large signs proclaiming your new location. (In my first week of being here I went to The Netherlands twice as well as Germany to shop)
-When you cross a street in my town you enter the German-Speaking community
-People drive really quickly
-The income tax rate is 50%
-Milk and Eggs are not refridgerated in the store
-People here eat very few fresh fruits and veggies and ALOT of white bread, pasta, and so forth.
-The temperature in the summer never really goes above 80°F. (Most of the time I have been here it has been cool enough that you would consider wearing a jacket)
-Pretty much everyone is Catholic, but no one goes to church.
-With the Euro, up to 2€ is in coins (1 cent, 5 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, 1€, 2€) and after that is switches to bills (5, 10, 20, 50, so on)

That's it for now, I shall update again in a day or two with what I have been doing during my 2 weeks here!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Travel Part 2 and the Family

So from there I hopped on a plane to Brussels, which was a very short flight. When I hopped off I got my luggage and met my host family. They are very nice. I have a father, mother, and a sister and brother who are 20. As soon as I started talking to them I realized just how bad my french really is. My family knows a little english though, which helps. And they got me a notebook and are teaching me a few words everyday. I`m already improving! Anyway, talk to you later!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Belgique!!!

I am coming to you from Belgium right now! My first flight was delayed so I had to switch to one that was just about to leave, so I didn´t really get to say goodbye to my family. My second flight ended up being on a Boeing 777, Which was absolutely huge! Then I arrived at Heathrow. Wow. It was filled with endless array of high end stores. The ones I can name off of the top of my head are Gucci, Prada, Chanel, and Calvin Cline! I will post more later, but I have to go. Au Revoir!