So it's been a week now in Belgium so I thought I should make a recount of the stuff I've done.
First off the host family is absolutely awesome, I have two siblings, a girl Louise (17) who I'm going to school with and a boy Guillamine (13). My parent's are Patrick and Annick. Annick and Louise both speak very good English which helps but I'm asking them not too so I pick up more French. The house is 3 stories tall and very narrow compared to the houses back home. So on the first day I stayed home from school to sleep off the jet lagg. It was a little strange when I woke up to find just myself and a note written in French, I had to type it into Google translate to understand it.
The next day I got up at 6:30 just like at home to get ready for school. I had to wear 4 layers to stay at least a little warm. The school is called Athenee Communal Emile Bockstael. It's a public coed school. The ratio of guy's to girls is about 1:20. It's pretty awesome. I don't do much in the classes, just sit and twiddle my thumbs. The students are all really friendly and curious about Australia, they all assume I surf because I am Australian. I've reluctantly told them I can stand up on a board but I fall of in about 30 seconds.
On Wednesday I went to Liege with some other Exchange student's. They showed me around, we had a Belgium waffle and a drink at a bar. Also the difference in beer is amazing here. Australian beer actually tastes terrible in comparison.
I had to go shopping for some new Belgian clothes on Thursday; school finished at 11am because the teachers were not here for the afternoon lessons and you can just leave when that happens. I got some fashion advice from the boy's as to what clothes are good looking by Belgian fashion, I now dress like a European.
I was showed Namur on Saturday which was amazing. It's a really old city with houses stretching back to he 1700's. It also has an old citadel with Tunnels stretching below the ground built a long long time ago, It was cool but also kinda creepy.
I also joined the school Volleyball team and am loving that, I am seeing next week if I can play in the A team, I don't know if I can but what the hell. My host Dad Patrick plays squash every Friday at a sport centre, I went along with him and actually found I really enjoy squash. It's not easy and I suck but it's fun and will hopefully keep me from getting too fat.
Overall Belgium is very very different. I keep comparing it to Australia and then realising I can't because there just isn't enough similarities. I like it though. It's cold, rainy and overcast most of the time but there is a little Belgian charm in the weather. At least I will keep telling myself that
My first week here was a success, now I hope the rest of the year continues to be just like it