Let the Classes Begin

Ok, so I KIND of forgot about the whole going-to-class thing. I didnt even bring a pen or pencil! I must admit, its not always fun to be sitting in a classroom when there's a whole continent out there to be discovered... but then again, there's auite a bit to be discovered IN class too! So far I have had classmates from: Italy, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, Russia, Peru, Spain, Japan, Canada, Poland, Ukraine, Greece, Israel, Palestine and Turkey!!! It's very cool to see how similar yet very different we all are. I'm really enjoying talking about out families, out schools, how we learned French (or the other multitude of languages some of these people speak) or just looking and what everyone is wearing. Side note: Canadians have the worst shoes, for sure.

Speaking of classes, on the first day I was placed in level 1. Well, after spending the morning reviewing how to introduce myself, and how to conjugate the verbs "avoir", "etre", "faire" and "mettre" I got switched to level 2 (qlong with 3 others). And I am SOOO glad that I did!!! This is more my level (excpet the literature pqrt, ahich I hate). I LOVE my other classes though - Grammaire, Rédaction, Orthophonie and Pratique Orale :) Our teachers are all very nice too.

Apart from classes I've been seeing a LOT more of the City, and eating many more fattening delicasies which I determined was probably ok, since we walk at LEAST 4 hours every day)! Monday we had our guided tour of the Center of Bruxelles. It was three hours long and I had bruises on my feet by the end of it. Although we had already discovered most of the things that they showed us, it was nice to hear what they were and a bit of their historical signifigance. One thing we DID see ont he tour that we hadn't found on our own was a tiny statue of a naked boy peeing, called "Mannequin-Pis". This boy is EVERYWHERE in this city - very weird.

As soon as it was over we went for another local food - des frites (yes, that means fries. Apparently they were first created in Belgium). Anyzqy, they were DELISH, and served in a cone with like 20 choices of sauces. I chose the traditional mayonaise - yummmmm! Many people get their fries IN their hamburgers of sandwiches. Its honestly one of the weirdest things Ive EVER seen! After that we each had our first real belgian chocolate - from Godiva - in La Grand Place. 2 chocolates and 1 truffle was 2.50€ (thats almost 5 CAD)! VERY yummy though :)

Tuesday was the National Holiday here (akin to Canada Day). IT WAS HUUUGE!!! We still had classes even though the rest of the Uni was closed to the day, so Anne-Marie and I headed downtown as soon as class was over (4:00) and stuck around until the fireaorks at 11:00. Imagine Canada Day in Ottawa - then imagine Ottawa had more than 4 million pêople living there! It was INSANE! SOOOOOOO much fun though! Many of the streets were closed and there were vendors and entertainers everywhere. Every half hour or so, a marching band would come right down the middle of a street FILLED with people! Everyone would just sorta move aside and let them pass. Or, if pêople weren't moving or paying attention, the band would stop playing and just wait for them to move. There were also multiple stages with concerts all day and the most amazing fireworks EVER to finish off the day!!!

One of the coolest things, though, was seeing the King and Queen. There were a bunch of tents lined up that someone of royalty had pre-selected, and the king and queen came to sample. (You should've seen the meticulous preparations by the vendors, and the mediq!!!) We got right up to the gate some how and I got some pretty close pics of the Queen. Whenever they would pass by (or drive by as they did for the fireworks later that day), people would yell "Vive La Riene! Vive le Roi!". It was very neat :) Oh, there was also a HUGE flag covereing the side of an entire building that had a composite of people from all social classes in Belgium that made up a huge photo oh the King and Queen.

At the end of the night there were people EVERYWHERE! We ended up meeting a very nice young man who not only helped us find the right bus, but also offered to DRIVE us to Amsterdam! hahaha, it's ok mom, we OBVIOUSLY said no - still taking the train ;)

Tomorrow is a day off, and I'm off to Anvers for a day-excursion. Where is Anvers you ask? I dont know, but Im PRETTY sure it's in Belgium ;) Friday we have classes again then we're off of the 6:30 trqin to Amsterdam - YAY!

The only negative thing I can say is that my feet are KILLING me! They're not only blistered, uyt they're bruised now too. I tried to find some sandals today but appqrently all the stores close at 6:30 and we were a bit late...but the pain is ABSOLUTLY worth it! I am loving being here more and more with every day :)

Internet Café is closing noz - so much to say to little time. Goodbye from Brussels for now! Love and miss you all :)


PS this pic will give you a small idea of the amount of people out Celebrating the Holiday - and this is just one street of many!