The AFS party last Saturday was probably the best weekend I've had since I got here. It's not so much that I did a ton there, but it was just fun to get out and talk with other exchange students.
Saturday was the first time I've taken the train since I first got to Belgium. My host-mom helped me buy my ticket, and I was dropped off all alone at the station on Saturday morning. It cost about 8€ for the ticket and the train ride was a little over a half hour.
I had no idea what I was supposed to do when I arrived in Namur, so I was relieved when a lady in an AFS sweatshirt came up and asked me if I was Keaton. Then we got in her car and drove to the party. I was surprised she had a Ford, because there are a number of people in America who refuse to buy American cars.
When we weren't in our small groups, everyone tended to hang out with their own "language". Spanish speaking people were with Spanish speaking people, Italian speaking people were with Italian speaking people, and English speakers were with English speakers. There were three other American students, and a boy from New Zealand. Some of the students I already knew because they came in the second arrival with me. The rest were from first arrival, so I met them for the first time.
We all had to bring a food from our own culture. My host-mom didn't seem to want to make anything, and she talked to an AFS volunteer who said just to buy chocolate chip cookies or something, so I just brought a ton of those. Not to mention a box of Twix!
When my family and I hosted a Dutch exchange student two years ago, his liaison was a friendly middle-aged man, who was just there to make sure everything was OK. I expected my liaison to be of similar character, but when I met him at the party, he turned out to be a 19 year old guy named Geoffroy. I'm glad though, because this way he isn't only my liaison, but also a friend.
Most host-families were at the party with their exchange students, but my host-mom was gone last weekend, and my host-brother just had his wisdom teeth taken out. AFS told my family that I could just sleep at the party because the trains didn't run that late. The party was in an old, rented theater and I didn't exactly know where I was supposed to sleep, so Geoffroy just told me I could sleep at his house.
It took about a half hour to drive to his house. Geoffroy told me on the way that his house was like an old barn, and I wasn't really sure what it would be like. But when we got there, it turned out to be very modern inside, and pretty big too. Thankfully he's taller than I am, so I didn't feel cramped up in his car or house (in Dutch West Michigan, I'm used to being fairly average in height. In Belgium, my host-brother told me I'm like a giant).
At his house, we stayed up for a couple more hours talking and watching random YouTube videos until we went to sleep. Before Geoffroy and his mom drove me to the train station, we ate chocolate for breakfast and he showed me some more around his house.
It wasn't a great weekend for learning French, but it was still a lot of fun. A lot of people tell me I'm improving though, so I'll take that as a good sign.
Keaton
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