I'm sick.
This whole week, I've had a fairly aweful cold. Don't worry, my host parents took very good care of me, buying all sorts of organic remedies and making sure I wore socks and a scarf at all times. I'm a lot better than I was on Monday, but I still occationally cough up a lung. I've drunk so much hot water with lemon and honey that I'm pretty sure I'll make a full recovery.
A lot of people have told me that they're reading my blog. That's cool. Tell your friends. People from school inform me that they read it too, and that's great. Now, to prove that you're telling the truth, invite me to do something cool and exciting that only Belgium can offer. (That's sort of a joke, but not really :) )
So, just realized how hard it is to discribe English slang words. I was talking to some girls from school and called our school bathrooms (which are old, a little run down, definately not up to USA sanitation standards, smell like smoke, and don't even have toilet paper in the stalls) as ghetto. I just don't know enough words to explain it. One day, though, one day...
Looked at a house with my family that they were thinking of buying. It was awesome, if a little falling appart, and I shudder to think what my birth parents would have said about the cracks in the ceiling and such, but I had a really horribal, wonderful little fantasy about my friends back home and me buying a house in Belgium and living there, fixing it up, and just living the life. It would be so cool. I could teach them French, we could throw great parties, we could hang out all the time...I really miss my friends, so much that I agreed to Skype with them this weekend, but then I realized that the more I want to talk to them, the worse it will be if I do. So, I postponed our Skype date for another time.
Everyone says my French is coming along very quickly, and all I can think is 'not fast enough.' I know it's much better than it was when I got here, and I understand a lot more, but it's really fustrating for me not to know how to say what I want to say. I'm sure I'd have tons more Belgian friends if they knew how incredibly witty I am in English. :) It's getting better, though. Each day, it's easier to say things, and, each day, it's easier to understand not only the language, but the culture as well.
Skyped with my host brother who's on exchange to Peru. Our entire conversation was in French, with the exception of three words. He's really nice, and I'm considering marrying him in order to stay part of my host family forever. (Just kidding, Dad. Just kidding.)
I started singing with the local conservatory this week. I'm the youngest in the group, by far, but everyone is nice and welcoming. We're singing Mozart's Requiem, which may or may not be the coolest musical piece ever published. Even though everything in the choir is spoken in French, I understand it way more than I understand school (which is to say, more than nothing). And I really missed singing with a choir that can sight read. I just want to take this moment to thank my old choir directo, Barbara Sletto, for preparing me for a legit chorus, and if she doesn't read this blog, that's okay. Thank you, Mrs Sletto.
There is so much more to write, but you're just going to have to wait another week. I've got to go. Bike tour with my Rotary club. :)
Warmly,
G.
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