Saturday, August 27, 2011

Day 20

Vrijdag, 26 Augustus 2011

Man, 20 days already.  And yet, still quite a few days left.

Woke up at 8, utterly exhausted.  Like, I couldn't open my eyes, I just walked down to get breakfast with my eyes basically shut.  So I guess that shows how comfortable I've gotten walking around in the house here.  :)  Ate, got dressed, and left at 9.  We had to stop at the "mayor house" to get some forms saying that Marcela and I indeed live at Truut's house, which of course took forever.  I was falling asleep standing up at the counter - the only reason I didn't was because I felt nauseous from being so tired.

From there, we went to the school to register for classes, which again took forever.  I ended up staying with music, and picking the 6th year, and Marcela is doing fashion, but the 5th year.  So, we can't eat lunch together (apparently 6th years either eat off campus or in a different building than everyone else), which kinda sucks.  Oh well, I guess it means we'll have to make new friends quick.  Marcela and I then got "Buzzy Passes", meaning we get to ride like all the busses for free (if we have our buzzy card) for the year.  Rotary pays for it because we need it to get to school every day, which is great because it's like 100 euros I think.  So, of course, that means Antwerpen tomorrow!

Home, had lunch, checked a few things online, and took a great nap until dinner.  Tentatively planned out the weekend, then went upstairs.  I'm trying to translate a book I want to read about eastern/oriental mythology, so I write it in Dutch on a notebook, and then in English so I can understand it.  I'll probably give up, but I think it's a good way to learn sentence structure and common words.  Probably will only do a sentence or two a night, and maybe analyze the grammar if I feel like it (so I probably won't).

Went online, talked to some people, read some stuff, and now it's time for bed!

I was thinking when walking in Turnhout today that this still doesn't really feel real.  Everything feels transient - it doesn't feel like I'll be here for another 10 months, it still almost feels like a vacation.  Whenever I see a dog, I think to myself how I'm going to pet all our dogs when I get home, not even realizing it will be quite some time until I see them again.  Who knows, maybe it will change once school starts, but I heard this is how a lot of exchange students feel.  It almost feels like I'm in a dream.  Sometimes a good dream, sometimes not so good, but a dream nonetheless.

It's also weird to see people on facebook talking about starting college, and how exciting it is.  If I was back home, I have no idea where I'd be going to college, or what I'd be majoring in.  I probably would have ended up doing another semester at AR (community college), and if so, I would have just finished my first week of class.  Which then gets me getting to think about my first week of class last fall semester - I had some fun classes, and I really enjoyed going to them.  It's weird going back to high school where I can't pick and choose classes after two years of having to plan what classes to take and what time to take them.  I feel like both not choosing classes and having class every day in a huge block will make me appreciate college so much more when I return.

Anyway, it's seriously time for bed now.  Slaapwel!

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