It turns out the stereotype that European men wear small bathing suits might actually be a law. I went to the pool wearing a pair of boardshorts with compression shorts underneath. The life guard told me I couldn't go in with a suit like that. The explanation was bizarre, my suit was polyester and spandex so it couldn't have been a filtering problem. Apparently you have to wear a skin tight suit in Belgium because a pair of boardshorts is too dirty. Doesn't make sense to me, but who cares? I ended up just wearing my compression shorts, which is pretty much the same thing as wearing a jammer.
Another thing that I don't really understand is why everything is so much more expensive in Europe (Glenn Beck said it has to do with socialism, so let's just go with that). Whereas the hot tub generally comes free with pool admission in the US, you have to pay an extra 2€ ($2.65) to use it in Belgium, and that's 2€ per twelve minutes, too.
On Halloween, there was a big party with both AFS and Rotary exchange students. I became friends with a girl named Cheyanne, from Candada, and her best friend, ironically named Cheyenne, from Royal Oak, MI. It was cool to meet Cheyenne, and were still the only Michiganders that we know of in Belgium.
Anyways, Cheyanne and Cheyenne invited me to go ice skating with them and some of their Rotary friends in Liège yesterday. This place was a lot better and the ice was a lot smoother than last time. After ice skating, we took the bus to downtown Liège to go to a Christmas market, where you could get waffles, specialty foods, hot wine, champagne, etc. There was ice skating there too, but we didn't go there because it's so small.
I also got some Christmas shopping yesterday. I went to an oil and vinegar store and just picked out a some fancy wine, oil, cookies, chips, chip dip, etc. as a gift for my host mom and host grandma. For my host brother, I'll probably just go to the grocery store and get him a DVD with some candy.
I had my final exam Monday, which was geography. I'm almost positive that I bombed it, but I think I passed all my exams other than that and math. Today all students have to go back to school for 10 minutes for a brief meeting and to collect their bulletins (report cards). I'll tell you how I did!
I'm still waiting for AFS to let me know if I can go to Germany or not. It would be nice if they would let me know, since I would be leaving in six days and have to reserve my train ticket ahead of time...
And last but not least, today is "La Fin du Monde". So far, it seems as if the Mayans were wrong.
Enjoy your vacation!
Keaton
Another thing that I don't really understand is why everything is so much more expensive in Europe (Glenn Beck said it has to do with socialism, so let's just go with that). Whereas the hot tub generally comes free with pool admission in the US, you have to pay an extra 2€ ($2.65) to use it in Belgium, and that's 2€ per twelve minutes, too.
On Halloween, there was a big party with both AFS and Rotary exchange students. I became friends with a girl named Cheyanne, from Candada, and her best friend, ironically named Cheyenne, from Royal Oak, MI. It was cool to meet Cheyenne, and were still the only Michiganders that we know of in Belgium.
Anyways, Cheyanne and Cheyenne invited me to go ice skating with them and some of their Rotary friends in Liège yesterday. This place was a lot better and the ice was a lot smoother than last time. After ice skating, we took the bus to downtown Liège to go to a Christmas market, where you could get waffles, specialty foods, hot wine, champagne, etc. There was ice skating there too, but we didn't go there because it's so small.
I also got some Christmas shopping yesterday. I went to an oil and vinegar store and just picked out a some fancy wine, oil, cookies, chips, chip dip, etc. as a gift for my host mom and host grandma. For my host brother, I'll probably just go to the grocery store and get him a DVD with some candy.
I had my final exam Monday, which was geography. I'm almost positive that I bombed it, but I think I passed all my exams other than that and math. Today all students have to go back to school for 10 minutes for a brief meeting and to collect their bulletins (report cards). I'll tell you how I did!
I'm still waiting for AFS to let me know if I can go to Germany or not. It would be nice if they would let me know, since I would be leaving in six days and have to reserve my train ticket ahead of time...
And last but not least, today is "La Fin du Monde". So far, it seems as if the Mayans were wrong.
Enjoy your vacation!
Keaton
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