Aujourd'hui . . .

I went on a bus tour of Liege today with my host mom, just to get a bunch of pictures out of the way. I figure if I'm going to try and not be a tourist, I need to get tourism out of my system.

It worked.

Then we met up with one of my host sisters from my second host family, Charlotte. We ate sandwiches and then my mom left me with Charlotte. Can I just say this? Charlotte talks at a mile a minute in French. I couldn't understand a single word of what she was saying, and it was really making me uncomfortable. What I did understand though, was "une glace?" "Oui, s'il vous plait!" (Ice cream? Yes, please.) 

We both ordered milkshakes (if Braums made milkshakes with Belgian ice cream, they would be fantastic. These were just okay, not very thick, sadly) and she kept talking at the speed of light in French, and I was just becoming so upset because I honestly did not understand anything she was saying. I would just nod and stare at the bus schedule. We worked it out, and talked in English for the rest of the day because she could see how discouraged I was getting.

It's different with my other host sister, Valeriane, because she'll speak to me in French, but she knows that I'm still learning and so she speaks slowly, and ask if I'm understanding what she's saying. 

Actually, although I've only been here eleven days, I really understand so much of what's going on around me. If they're going at a pace I can kind of pace along with, I understand exactly what's going on, I'm just not at the point where I can contribute yet. 

ANYWAY! Charlotte and I met up with one of her friends, Alex, and we just walked around Liege, they were shopping for fun rings. What got us really talking was Charlotte asked what Oklahoma was known for. "Uhm . . . nothing really. Oh wait - Brad Pitt's from Oklahoma." "Who?" "Brad Pitt, the actor?" "OH MY GOD!!!"

And everything spun off from there. We then talked about Chris Pine, Star Trek, Gossip Girl, Adam Brody . . . and it was just really easy to find a good ground with them. I'm grateful that for right now they're speaking English so that I can have a conversation with them, but I'm excited to learn French at school with my classmates so that I can speak to them in their native language.

Charlotte and I took the bus home, and it turns out we like all of the same television shows. She was anxious to hear about what had happened on The Office since she left the States, and I got to explain everything that had happened.

We then went back to her house, and I got to meet my other host parents, and another of my host sisters. 

She is adorable. I can't remember her name offhand and I feel bad about that, but I already love her to pieces, although I have a feeling she'll drive me mad at points. She has magenta Harry Potter glasses, is OBSESSED with High School Musical, and loves Barbie dolls. She drew me a picture of a bunch of hearts within a heart, and underneath it in her sloppy seven year old cursive wrote "je t'aime" - "I love you" in French. Then when we were about to leave, she came up and gave me a hug, but I couldn't really hug her properly, so I picked her up and she just settled into me. I told her, "A bientot, d'accord?" ("See you soon, okay?") and she just nodded.

I love this kid.

Tonight, my mom let me choose a movie to rent, as long as it was in French, but was available with English subtitles. I couldn't find anything I wanted to watch, and had no idea what I was in the mood for, and then I saw it. A Knights Tale. DUH. Ohemgee. My family had never seen it before, and so it was fun. They asked me "what kind of movie is it?" "An action comedy based in Medieval Europe" . . . "huh." They loved it, and I got to knit my scarf - which I restarted by the way; instead of a seed stitch, it's now a double ribbed scarf, which looks loads better.

Tomorrow there's a big meeting in Brussels for every exchange student in Belgium. Wish me luck :)

A bientot,

Alyce