Belgium!

And so I have arrived! I flew into Brussels

without any flight hiccups and my host father, Paul picked me up. We then went to pick up one of my host siblings, Antoine at his apartment in Brussels, where he (and two other siblings) study.

note: Just in case you don't know, I lived in Belgium for a year as an exchange student my junior year of high school. (2001-2002) I lived with a wonderful (and large!) family in a little village called Mellet, which along with a few other villages make up "Les Bons Villers." This is about an hour south of Brussels. My host family consists of :

Father: Paul
Mother: Veronique
Kids: Francois (adopted from Ethiopia),
Antoine (adopted from Colombia),
Apolline (adopted from Colombia),
Camille (adopted from Ethiopia),
Adele,
Gaspard (adopted from Haiti).

My Belgian Family!
(plus friend of Francois bottom right)

*Coty internal brain side note: In an attempt to actually update this blog, I am really going to try and let go of my wanting to write about everything (saving that for my journal entries!), and I'm just going to go ahead and post what I can, when I can.... and let go of the fact that I'm not going to have the time or energy to get out every thought and event!

So I arrived on Wednesday, got to the house and was greeted by the family. We all agree that it is a little strange, because in one way it really seems like yesterday that I was sitting at the table with them last (save for the fact that everyone was ten years younger!), but then when I think about about so much has happened - 10 YEARS! I finished high school, went to college in Bellingham, met a whole new set of friends and community, went to grad school in North Carolina, made an album, playing shows - became the person that I am today. And to think the very first time I tried to teach myself guitar was actually here in Belgium, with the family guitar that only had four strings! I'm smiling thinking back on how I tried to play Stevie Nicks songs using that guitar. But when I got back home, that's when I knew I wanted to take guitar lessons, and the rest is history!

left: Camille and Gaspard
(who is only one day younger than my actual brother!)
right: Adele at the computer

Since my arrival, I've done a lot of hanging out with my family, playing pool, ping-pong, swimming in the pool, going for walks and bike rides, and going to Brussels with Antoine (separate post to come). It has really been interesting to see just how much I have adjusted to being back in a French speaking household, and how different it is this time coming in already having a good grasp of the language - being able to already understand and talk has really quickened the learning curve. When I was first here, it took till about Christmas to really be able to understand, and then longer to feel confident in talking. But now because I already have that base, I feel like I am really soaking up the language. I already find myself doing much of my thinking in French and although I am by no means totally fluent, I find that I really can say what I want to say. It's so reassuring and quite fun to look at myself and see just how quickly this immersion into the language is going. If it is like this in only a few days, I'm sure I will have made significant progress at the end of my two weeks, and I wonder what it would be like if I were to be here another here?!

The other thing that I have really loved doing is the bike rides. I have taken to just grabbing the bike and going. Mellet is a little village and the farms go right up to it, and even into the village, so there are cows and horses everywhere. The fields with corn and other things (I'm not exactly sure what's growing out there!) surround the town and winding through all these farms are the little country "roads" (I put that in quotation because while the cars do drive on these things they are more the size of a golf cart path!) But I have been just riding - going where my heart desires and enjoying the countryside, the smell of the farms and the animals, and seeing what I can see. Tonight I wound my way through two different villages before making a full circle back to Mellet. (Belgium is flat, so I can always keep an eye on where I am at!) I'll just see something interesting in the distance (usually a church spire!) and aim for it.

There are moments when I think, why did I not get out and explore this countryside when I was first here?! Then I have to remind myself that it is my journey that has brought me here and enabled me to want to take this bike out here and soak in the beauty of my surroundings. I had to come to Belgium to appreciate the mountains and beauty of my home in Montana, something which I continue to appreciate more and more. I had to come to Belgium the first time and go through everything there is to being an exchange student, where I gained confidence in myself and my abilities which took me off to college. And I had to go off to Bellingham and North Carolina to explore and get to the point where I am now, which brings me to wanting to go take this bike into this field and enjoy and explore this countryside and feel confident that I can just ride my bike not knowing exactly where I am going and still be able to find my way back home!

Mellet, with the church (and center of the town) in the distance)

And so here I am! Next up - my trip to re-explore Brussels! The city where I would go weekends to meet up with fellow exchange students Blythe and Maxine to go see a movie in English, visit our favorite bookstore, buy waffles from the street vendors, etc...etc... (oh yeah, and the Grand Place and Mannekin Pis!)


MORE PHOTOS: (you can click on any image to have a larger view)

More Belgian countryside and the 'Rue Sottiaux' - the street where the house is