Busy Busy Busy!

I apologize for not updating when I said that I would! But I am updating now, so all is good!

     So I figure that I will start by explaining the average Wednesday of an exchange student here in Belgique, considering that is a big part the reason why I haven't updated. As I explained in an earlier post, school here ends at noon on Wednesdays (for most people). Which raises the question "What exactly are we supposed to do with the extra four and a half hours that we have?". And we exchangers have an awesome solution: Meet up with other exchange students in Liège or Bruxelles! Which city one goes to depends on previous plans with the others and your location. For me the train to Liège is only 40 minutes while a train to Bruxelles takes about 2 hours! Plus getting together with the other exchangers not only cures our boredom for the afternoon, but it is also a great way to bond and make friends, which can be difficult at school due to the language barrier. (or, as is the case for so many exchangers, the fact that a large portion of class time is spent in French classes with the little kids) Not to mention that whenever you have a large group of exchange students together, it's bound to be a good time!

     Now that that is taken care of, on to what I have been up to! As far as school goes, things are pretty good! I am understanding more as my French progresses, which is nice! Though I still have a long way to go. (as was proven by my two failed tests today in Science and Math) I also now have a vocabulary of about 30 words in German, as well as being able to count to 50! I have noo idea how to pronounce most of the words, however, due to learning purely by writing and reading while the rest of my class holds conversations effortlessly. In English class (which has had issues with scheduling, resulting in only having class every other week) my teacher is really nice, and she has quite the accent as well! (British and Belgian at the same time!) They learn Oxford English, which means that they don't always understand what I am talking about, either. (Vacation=Holiday and so forth)

     As far as my French courses go, I kind of have two ends of the spectrum. In my class with the 2nd years, my teacher is quick to anger (which doesn'nt work out well with 13 year olds) and very impatient. She expects me to do the same work as the other students, and when I don't comprehend (much of the time due to the fact she either won't slow down her speech for me, or because she won't reword her sentences) or I take too long to respond, she quickly loses her patience and gives up. However, with my third year class, things are pretty great! My teacher is really cool, and he asks us (Michaela and I) to try to follow, but understands if we don't catch everything. Plus his English is perfect, so if we don't comprehend he can explain it to us. Also, starting here in a week in a half (due to a four day week-end this week!) he is going to meet with us during one of our free periods on Tuesdays to work on the basics with us! I am really excited because I think this will be really helpful.

      And as a conclusion for all of my other courses, I understand some of what they are talking about, but not enough to truly comrehend. I would write more, but I have to pack my things up. My host parents are going on vacation for ten days, and since I cannot stay home alone with my 20 year old host siblings, I am going to be staying at the home of another Rotarian. Also, depending on whether or not they have a computer, I may or may not be able to update next Wednesday. If they do I will try to catch up on my blogging while I don't have school Monday and Tuesday! Also, some time in the near future I would like to do a Question/Answer Post, so if you have anything you want to know, feel free to leave a question in the comments or on my Facebook page! Au revoir!