With the year soon coming to a close, I am realizing more and more that I must take advantage of the opportunities that arise to travel or else I will regret it later. That being said, when my friend Gwen from Germany invited me to go to Paris with her and her host mom, I said yes right away! Gwen's host mom was participating in a kyudo convention (which is basically japanese archery), and she told Gwen that she could bring me along so we could explore the city. We had a place right in the center of Paris to stay at for no cost, so it was a done deal. In addition, the weather was beautiful! I am glad that I had to opportunity to visit Paris twice, because each time was a completely different experience. With my sister, it was still fairly cold for April, but I felt like we took our time to just enjoy Paris and hang out with each other. With Gwen, I felt like I saw a lot more of the monumental things of Paris that the whole world comes to see, and in addition, the weather was perfect. This time with Gwen, I felt as though the city was more "alive". People were out along the river (La Seine) reading books, sitting in park enjoying the sun, and there were even markets on almost every street. It's not everyday that I can say that I went to Paris for the weekend, so I tried to enjoy every minute. It's a great city, filled with little nooks and crannies. I hope that one day I will spend a longer amount of time there so I can explore even more!
The Galeries Lafayette dome.
(April 20, 2013)
Le Jardin des Tuileries.
(April 20, 2013)
Everyone wants a piece (of sun).
(April 20, 2013)
Tree shadows are cool.
(April 20, 2013)
So are bike shadows.
(April 20, 2013)
Now there's a sight I like to see.
(April 20, 2013)
My friend Gwen hanging out near Les Invalides.
(April 20, 2013)
We bought some nice mango-apple juice and hung out near the Eiffel Tower. What could be better?
(April 20, 2013)
And there it is.
(April 20, 2013)
The locks commence.
(April 20, 2013)
The Pyramids at the Louvre museum.
(April 20, 2013)
Moulin Rouge in the night.
(April 20, 2013)
View of Paris from the Sacré-Coeur.
(April 20, 2013)
The place we stayed in was this artist loft. It was awesome! There was one guy who gave us little flip books that he made. When you flip through the pages, it looks like a little film.
(April 21, 2013)
One of my favorite plants: jade plant. When I get back to the United States, it will be really interesting to see how much all of my plants have grown. (That's a warning, mom.)
(April 21, 2013)
The arrows used for kyudo, but they're not really arrows at all.
(April 21, 2013)
In Belgium, breakfast is called déjeuner, but in France it's called petit déjeuner (fun fact for you).
(April 21, 2013)
If the Parisians have got one thing right, it's the architecture.
(April 21, 2013)
They also practiced meditation there. Look at all of those comfortable pillows...who wouldn't want to meditate?
(April 21, 2013)
I was a fan of their house plants.
(April 21, 2013)
And...one more photo of indoor foliage. Sorry.
(April 21, 2013)
Bouquets of flowers for sale at every corner!
(April 21, 2013)
Big rooms and big windows are the best for taking pictures.
(April 21, 2013)
That handy little book sure did help us out.
(April 21, 2013)
Gwen and I stood in line at a falafel restaurant for 20 minutes and ate the best falafel of our lives and all I have to remember it by is this silly picture.
(April 21, 2013)
I hate it when this happens...and it happens to me a lot. Grass tattoos.
(April 21, 2013)
Notre Dame and friends taking advantage of the "le beau temps".
Hello, world. First off, it's been a while! These past few weeks have been nothing but great and filled with new things. This post will just be a giant blob of end-of-winter/spring madness. March wasn't the most exciting month, but I did little things here and there that were a lot of fun. For example, I went to a concert with my friend Callie, went to some nice restaurants with my host family, went on some walks, etc. I also took two exams right before Easter break and I got back an Easter report card, which is one thing that is kind of different in Belgium than in the United States. Weather-wise, March was a very cold month. It almost felt like we were stuck in February. In the beginning of the month, we even got about 8 inches of snow, so that was a little depressing. It's been a long winter to say the least! But the warmer weather is slowly approaching, and we are all waiting attentively for it!
April has been (and is continuing to be) one of my most favorite months so far in Belgium. At the beginning of the break, I got to travel to Paris for my first time! What's even better is that my sister came with me. My sister Lindsay lives in Oslo, Norway, so she flew down to Brussels to visit me in Belgium. She visited me at my host family's house, we ate a traditional Belgian meal (meatballs from Liège) and then we headed on our way! I showed her around Namur and we climbed the citadelle to get a better view of the city. After that, we headed to Brussels for a night. We visited some of the famous spots, like La Grande Place, ate some traditional Belgian food, and had a great time. We stayed at a youth hostile (even though we had a bit of trouble finding it), which was my first time doing so. The next day, we took a coach bus to Paris. Once you're in Europe, it's fairly easy to travel around for a low cost, so I had to take advantage of that this year! In Paris, we visited quite a lot! For example, the Eiffel Tower (of course), Notre Dame, Montmartre and the Sacré-Coeur Basilica (my personal favorite) and the Louvre Museum. Paris is a recommendable city and I hope that you will one day have the chance to visit it! This past week, my second week of Easter vacation, I went to the city of Liège with my organization (AFS) to do something called a "Semaine Intermundo". Basically, it was a week where a bunch of students and volunteers got together and we each worked in different groups, either theater, percussion/singing, or dance. I chose the percussion/singing group and learned how to play the djembe! It was one of the most fun weeks I've had here in Belgium so far this year and I'm sad that it is over. I got to meet other exchange students, play some music, and laugh a lot.
Tomorrow is Monday, which means that the 'ole school routine starts up again. Although school is not my favorite thing, there are only a few weeks left. Whenever I think about this year ending, I have mixed feelings (as I'm sure every other exchange student does). While I am excited to return home and see my old family and friends, I am going to be extremely sad to leave Belgium and all of my experiences behind. However, I know that this will not be my first time traveling and that there will be many more experiences to come in the future. (Sorry, mom.)
Belgium and Pennsylvania have their similarities.
(March 3, 2013)
The opening band (Lylac)
(March 8, 2013)
My friend Callie took this picture.
(March 8, 2013)
Callie and Melody after the show.
(March 8, 2013)
In Belgium, there is this "field day" for the seniors of the school called 100 Jours. Our class theme was hippie.
(March 24, 2013)
I thought this costume was awesome! Normally in French, you would write this as "J'ai faim", which means "I'm hungry". She dressed up as a hobo.
(March 24, 2013)
We played some trivia/relay race games...
(March 24, 2013)
My friend Kaari from Finland on the day that we took a walk with my host family in a local village.
(April 1, 2013)
Little animals
(April 1, 2013)
Do you see the egg?
(April 1, 2013)
Some new buds.
(April 1, 2013)
Random mansion that nobody uses. What's up with that?
(April 1, 2013)
The Namur Citadelle with Lindsay!
(April 2, 2013)
Brussels at sunset.
(April 2, 2013)
La Grande Place at night.
(April 2, 2013)
If you look closely, you'll find Lindsay.
(April 2, 2013)
And...we are at the Louvre!
(April 3, 2013)
Little cafes everywhere! The myth is true.
(April 3, 2013)
And there she is.
(April 3, 2013)
One of many.
(April 4, 2013)
My sister and I got caught in the rain so we randomly decided to go into a cafe. About 5 minutes later, these guys start playing live music. It sounded similar to Django Reinhardt, one of my favorite musicians, so it was a great time.
(April 4, 2013)
They are trying to stop people from putting locks on the bridge because it's becoming too heavy. Who would have thought.
(April 4, 2013)
Some Thursday night long exposures.
(April 4, 2013)
Notre Dame! What an awesome church.
(April 4, 2013)
Louvre: daytime version.
(April 5, 2013)
It's a real mummy! It's almost a little bit too real...
(April 5, 2013)
Funny guy.
(April 5, 2013)
Who's this square?
(April 5, 2013)
I thought this was a really powerful painting.
(April 5, 2013)
I saw the Mona Lisa, but unfortunately, it's not all that it's cracked up to be.
(April 5, 2013)
The two sisters avec Les Deux Soeurs.
(April 5, 2013)
My first-time macaroon experience.
(April 5, 2013)
Montmartre and some gusts of wind.
(April 5, 2013)
Kind of like in Amélie.
(April 5, 2013)
The Sacré-Cœur Basilica + tourists like me.
(April 5, 2013)
Some nice morning sunlight and enjoying our last day in Paris.
(April 6, 2013)
They weren't shy with the whipped cream, as you can see.
