Saturday, June 30, 2012

Day 327

Vrijdag, 29 Juni 2012

Nothing too much to say.  Got up, did some homework, played some video games, did some more homework, and then we left for Heidi's graduation ceremony.  It was quite different than in the states - each person wasn't called up to get their diploma, it was just speeches and a group of teachers singing (LIKE FOUR TIMES).  Made me think back to my graduations.

Stuck around for a bit after for a reception, went to a "5-star restaurant" on the way home (Miccy D's), and then I did my test.  DONE with econ!  Talked with Collin and a few of his friends online, and then played a few video games.

Oh, and back home it' the rodeo right now - this is the first time since it started that I've missed it.  It's a weird feeling.  There's a new event this year that seems really fun, so I'm hoping my family remembers to get some videos of it.  I can't wait to be back up north and to visit all of those guys again.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Day 326

Donderdag, 28 Juni 2012

Woke up before noon, which was weird considering I got to bed fairly late.  Did some notes before it got too hot, and then went downstairs and watched some movies and TV.  Back upstairs, more notes, and then down to watch movies again.  Finally just brought my computer downstairs because my room was too warm, but since I couldn't concentrate on notes during Transformers, I ended up half watching and half playing some Final Fantasy on the comp.  Did some more notes, and then went to bed.  Only one day left of econ!

Day 325

Woensdag, 27 Juni 2012

Went to the Dutch school for the last time.  Got my diploma, talked with some classmates, and got my teachers to sign my book.  It was weird leaving, because it was my first real goodbyes for this year.  I mean, I know I'll never see Suvad or Maria or some of those classmates again, and it's not likely I'll see Greet or Dorieen or Bie either (though they said to visit the school if I ever come back).  It reminded me of my first goodbyes last year, when I went up north for the last time and said goodbye to the Wojo's and Booky and all them.  Can't believe I'll be up there in less than two months.

Went home, slept until dinner (yayy being tired), and then did econ most of the rest of the night.  Some friends were online, so I joined in this massive skype call to try to stay awake (I wanted to finish my notes), only to get distracted by some LP's.  Oh well.  Haven't done that in a while, it was fun.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Day 324

Dinsdag, 26 Juni 2012

Slept in, which was awesome.  Basically spent all day reading econ, napping, or reading.  Very lazy day.  Went to the fanfare, and as per usual, had a great time.  Lots of laughing, lots of fun times.  Got home pretty late, went to bed.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Day 323

Maandag, 25 Juni 2012

Full day of Rotary.

Got the train from Herentals, and then found Santi on it because I had to pay for his train ticket (he didn't have a GoPass).  Chatted for a while, split the food I brought (he hadn't had breakfast and I hadn't had much), so that was nice.  Ended up getting to Brussels a bit late seeing as how the train just decided to stop in Central and not move.  Met up with everyone in the South station (sans Marcela and Jenna, both of whom didn't come on time), and took the metro to Mini-Europa.

Considering the Belgian students don't get the EuroTour option most other European exchange students have, it was great to see all the monuments of the different countries.  I got a bunch of pictures of Mr. Smiley around, usually making Santi or Allen put him on the model so I wouldn't be the one that got yelled at if we got caught :P

Jenna got to where we were right when we were leaving, so she just had a drink outside while we rounded up the rest of the students and took the metro to Central.  Went to the Grand Market, and as Santi said Marcela was there, we all started wooping until she found us :)  Jose and Heidi (not host mom Heidi, Rotary Heidi) paid for a last get together drink at what I think was one of Brussels oldest pubs.  Really cool place.  A lot of us got out flags or notebooks we're having everyone sign - I for one am not going to read anything from my book until I'm on the plane home, so I'll be bawling like a baby.

Stayed for a while, and then left with Jenna to go home.  We stopped off in Antwerpen-Berchem for pita (only 4 euro and it's fantastic!), and then I got the train to Central to get a bus there.  Well.  I was waiting, and the electronic sign SAID the bus was coming, and then the bus disappeared from the sign, and it was the last scheduled bus of the day, so obviously I was pissed.  Got a train to Herentals, and then had to get a bus from there.

And you know what?  When I got to Lille, what bus do I see go by?  That's right, the bus I had waited for.  Only it was suuuuper late.  Stupid buses.  Got home, watched some TV, skyped with mama, did some emailing, and then went to bed.

Day 322

Zondag, 24 Juni 2012

Aaand another long day.

Woke up pretty early, because I had no idea when we had to leave for Rotary.  Left around 10, got there, and then finally figured out what was going on :P  It was the last day for the newies in the district (1630D), so they got the whole "the 5 D's are really important, we're serious here" speech, even though they served wine afterwards.  Then Bernardo played some songs on his ukulele, and then Marc gave out the awards for "Outstanding Student" for us oldies.  See, notice I say awards.  We all thought it was just one, so we know of course it would be Bernardo.  But nope, there were two, one male and one female.  And who was the female?

Me.  I was super surprised.  Like, really confused.  And then Marc went on giving this spiel about why the chose me, but it was SO BAD.  He kept messing up things.  Like first he said something about me loving animals, and then asked what I did about that.  I said "went over to your house", because I thought he was talking about the puppies.  Nope.  So that was weird.  He meant me skyping Reggie at the beginning of the year :P  And then he was saying I played cymbals in the fanfare, and that I went to Norway with the drumline and I played trumpet there (I don't know how he got trumpet from drumline, don't ask), and then saying that I was studying math online with this one website (which wasn't a website - I swear he just said a made up word).  It got funnier each time he messed up - everyone in the audience was cracking up.  Santi even corrected him once, and I just started laughing so hard then.

See:  me laughing and Marc looking at Santi like, "really?"

Afterwards, we learned where the other kids were going - one is coming to Brainerd!  And one is going to Marcela's city in Brasil!  When the kid said he was going to Minnesota, I did this really obnoxious fist pump and was like "YES".  Pretty sure they wanted to take back my award after that.  :P  But yeah, after all the Rotary things, just stood around talking and having a drink with everyone.

Then, left with Heidi and Bart (who were at the Rotary thing with me) to the Belgian Cycling Championship in Geel.  That was pretty cool.  We had VIP tickets, so we got to go inside this huge tent and eat and drink for free.  Unfortunately, we didn't know about the eating for free, so we had left to get some fries and brats at a stand a ways away.  It was a pretty cool thing though - I've never seen cycling before.

bikes!

Oh, and this one guy kept hitting on me, and then asked me out while I'm sitting between Heidi and Bart, and he knew they were my host parents.  He was so far gone.  It was pretty funny though - after he got turned down him and his friends left.  Afterwards, only his friends came back :P  I almost got a picture of the guy who won, but of course people had to fist pump RIGHT WHEN I TOOK THE PICTURE, so you can't see the guy :/

Remove the arm on the left and you'll see the winner

After that, we walked back to the stop where the bus would come pick us up, and it never came.  So we waited.  And waited.  And then it started raining.  And then Bart and I just decided to walk to the car, and we came and picked up Heidi.  Went home, figured out times for Monday (Rotary!), redid my Econ test.  Got a better score this time, thank goodness.  Then, went to bed.


Sunday, June 24, 2012

Day 321

Zaterdag, 23 Juni 2012

A lot shorter day than before.  Slept in (you have no idea how nice it is to have my Saturday's back after like the whole year of drumline), and then spent basically the entire day locked in my room studying econ.  And then doing my econ homework.  And then doing my test.  I skyped with my brother during it, so that kept me mostly sane, but I will now think twice about thinking I can do three chapters (and they're BIG CHAPTERS) of work in two days.  Especially if I want to understand it.  Test was a lot of "oh, that wasn't good".  Thankfully we get two shots, so hopefully the next will be better.

Day 320

Vrijdag, 22 Juni 2012

Whew, long day.  Had to go to the Dutch school, got to look at my points for my exam and ask questions.  Then left really quick, met Senne and Heidi at the train station, and then we went to Gent.  Studied a bit on the train.  Went to Bart's work, which is a military school thing.  Changed into our nice clothes, and then went down to the bar to hang out.

Then, after a while, we went outside for a military parade.  They were, from what I understand, "closing down" the military part of the school, so there was a huge ceremony of handing over the key and such.  It took forever to start because the Minister of Defense was coming, but he was late.  The band had to keep playing, but the instruments and feet angles were all wrong and people had flipfolders and it was all so distracting I didn't pay attention to the music that much.  And they had a marching bassoon - got a picture.



So, the parade thing happened, and Bart was the one basically in charge, which was super cool to see.  There was a whole ceremony and exchanging the key and whatnot.

Bart being awesome

Afterwards, we all went into this big room to have drinks, talk, and have snack foods while someone else made a speech and we waited for it to be dinnertime.  While there,  I got to talk with the Minister of Defense, which was SUPER COOL.  He looks like a skinny Bill Clinton :P  He was a super nice guy.

I should go into politics - I have the same stance as him

Then it was time to, but it was called a walking dinner, which means there were no chairs.  Like, at all.  After the first two dishes my knee was killing me, so I took my main course and sat on the stairs eating it because I didn't want to stand anymore.  After doing that, I realized how much nicer it was out there (the room was HOT), so I stayed out on the steps and read some of my econ book because I still had notes to do (NERD ALERT) until it was time to go back to the hall.

There, had some more drinks, and kept trying to get a chair (they were limited there too) because I didn't want to dance or stand.  Ended up talking to this really cool chick, and she lives in Herentals, so we're going to try to meet up before I leave :)  Around 12am or 1am or so (I can't remember), Heidi, Senne and I left the party and drove home, and then immediately went to sleep.


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Day 319

Donderdag, 21 Juni 2012

6 weeks.

Woke up at like 7 after very little sleep - do you know how hard it is for two people to share a one person pillow? - and sat there talking with Jenna until around 8.  We ate, got ready for the day, watched some stuff online, and then I dropped her off at the bus stop.  Back home, took a nap, had lunch, napped and read a bit, and then started my econ.  I was still really really tired, so a combination of energy drinks and guilt finally got me to study for this week.  Also talked with a few friends, so that was nice.  Got about a chapter and a half of notes done, so still about a chapter and a half left.  And the homework assignments.  And the test.

Sooo, Saturday is gonna be another big study day.  This is an example of a) why I shouldn't let myself procrastinate like this - when I studied a few hours a day it was SO much nicer, and b) why I took a summer class.  If I jumped right into my Fall Semester (yay 16 credits) this upcoming August, I would die.  Besides Dutch school, which really doesn't count, I haven't had to worry about school.  So, I haven't had to worry since May 2011.  Getting used to studying and learning and school again will definitely give me an edge up on other exchange students come school starting up again.

Anyway, I was gonna study more but after I ended up just staring blankly at the screen for 10 minutes straight, I think sleep and trying to do it on the train tomorrow is the better bet.  So, slaapwel, and don't expect an update tomorrow - gonna be in Gent till Saturday.

What my view was for quite a few hours today

Day 318

Woensdag, 20 Juni 2012

Got up somehow, and went to school for my English final.  I, of course, didn't study at all, and I even managed to get the right answer when the teacher asked me about a book I hadn't read (yay context clues!) Then instead of asking me the other exam questions (to see if I knew past tense and such), we just talked for a bit about the difference in the education system, what I think about gap years, etc etc.  I don't like thinking about that - that means that I'm looking back on my year, which means that the year is almost done.

I mean, yes, I do want to be home again, see my animals, be up north and finally in the country again, meet up with friends and eat all of the things I miss, I'm still going to miss it here.  There are things I don't like, that's for sure, but there are things I like.  I think I'll have to work for a job with bases in Belgium and the US so I can juggle between the two places.

Anyway, after my test I had over an hour until my bus, so I went out with Bella, Marcela and Santi.  Just hung out, talked about our remaining plans, the usual.  Got home, ate, napped a bit, packed food, and then went to Antwerp.  Met Jenna there for a little date.  We walked around, had a picnic by the water, and just talked about how it's the end of the year already.

Got back to Lille, I showed her around a little bit.  Dropped her stuff off, went to a little cafe for a drink, back to the house.  Just chilled out, watched funny videos online, did my econ homework, watched a movie, talked, etc, until around 4am.  By then the tired hit us and we just kinda fell asleep.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Day 317

Dinsdag, 19 Juni 2012

Got up, had to go to the school for my Dutch speaking exam.  Felt super sick, so I got off the bus early and walked around.  Got a bit more to eat, drank my last Mountain Dew, and then promptly took a nap at the castle.  Went to the Dutch school, did the exam, studied some econ when I waited for Santi to do his.  Then he went to Rotary, and I went to the castle to study and lay down.  Jenna came around 1, and then we got a bit to eat, and went to Santi's house.  They got a new puppy - it is ADORABLE.  We played with it for like 2 hours :)

He's so small!!

The older dog

D'AWWWWW


Left Santi's, had a drink, and then we both went home.  Had some food, put the dog pictures on facebook, and then napped/studied econ until the fanfare.  It was my first time going for three weeks (as I was sick), so of course I stayed late.  Only two rehearsals left :(  Well, slaapwel!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Day 316

Maandag, 18 Juni 2012

Dutch exam today!  Listening/writing/reading.  I think it went pretty well, except for the thing I forgot would be test was there (of course, after I studied everything else on the bus), and the thing the teacher said would FOR SURE be on the exam wasn't.  Went out to a pub afterwards, and then Bella and Marcela came later.  It was nice just sitting out by myself in the sun with a drink people watching.

 Got a bus home, watched an episode of the Daily Show when eating lunch, and then went to sleep until dinner.  Went to download some podcasts to exercise to (how else am I going to get my baseball news here - I just noticed there are so many places [Trout, Harper, etc] that everyone is talking about that I have no clue about, so I need to change that).  Did some exercise, did a little econ, watched some TV.  Speaking exam tomorrow, and then I'm done with Dutch class!  YAY!  Slaapwel!

edit:  Oh, I totally forgot to say, funny thing happened with the exam.  For the listening exam, we had to listen, understand, and answer the question below.  Usual stuff.  However, one of the started with like the potato crop somewhere froze so the supply was down, and as soon as that was said I switched to economics mode.  I made a little supply/demand curve to figure out whatever needed to be answered, and then I realized it was a Dutch test.  And that the economics side of the question had nothing to do with the answer.  Thankfully the dialogue was repeated twice, because otherwise I would have missed the actual answer :P

Day 315

Zondag, 17 Juni 2012

Happy Father's Day!

Got up, chilled for a bit, got ready, watched some TV.  Then, went walking with a girl who's going to be going to the U next year as a teaching assistant for the Dutch classes!  Did a short walk around her area, saw a castle (nbd), just talked about Belgium and Minnesota.  T'was nice.

Home, read a bit, and then got PITA!  YAY!  Unfortunately, after a week of being sick my stomach couldn't take that much food, so I had to quit before I finished.  I'm so not ready to eat Khan's or Chipotle right now.  Went on the crosstrainer a bit, watched some WKUK, chilled out more, watched some TV with the family, went to bed.  Good day all in all.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Day 314

Zaterdag, 16 Juni 2012

Woke up around noon (yayyyy~), ate, and then powered through the rest of my econ stuff.  Finished notes, did the homework, did the test.  Whew.  By the time I was done it was later in the day, so I just hung out and watched TV and movies and such with the family.  Nothing terribly exciting.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Day 313

Vrijdag, 15 Juni 2012

Last real day of Dutch school!  Did review for the exam, which was boring, so I spent most of the time talking with Santi and Carol.  Went home after class, worked on econ, did one of the homework assignments - I'm so far behind still.  :P  Then went with Heidi to get blood drawn so they could do some tests.

Man, the doctor was terrible.  The blood wasn't coming out that fast, so she tries wiggling the needle around in my arm to get it to come out faster, which did nothing but make me dizzy and cut my skin a bit.  Had to lay down before she tried the other arm, which also was slow.  Still had to move the needle around a bunch.  She said I have tiny veins, but I think she just needs some more practice (apparently when she took Femke's blood it took three tries to get it to work, alternating arms).

Home, ate, and then Bart, Femke and I went to Prometheus.  Pretty good movie, though there were a lot of parts where you just look at the characters and think "why did you do that?  That was incredibly stupid".  Ah well.  Decent movie nonetheless.

Back home again, talked with a few people, and then went to sleep.  Yayy not having to worry about getting up for drumline~

Day 312

Donderdag, 14 Juni 2012

Had a test in Dutch class, so had to actually get up for school and go to that.  Did okay on the test, but there were some stupid things that I messed up on.  Spent the rest of the class going over things for the exam which was super boring.  Went straight home, slept until dinner like usual.  Tried to be productive, didn't really work out.  Just chilled out a bit, and then went back to bed.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Day 311

Woensdag, 13 Juni 2012

50 days left :(

Woke up at noon today (niiiice), so basically spent all day working on econ.  Finished a chapter and a half of notes (though I still need to reread them to make sure I actually understand since I was just trying to power through), so that was nice.  Did my discussion board post early enough for it not to be a worry.  Napped a bit, had dinner, watched some TV, listened to the radio a bunch.  Normal day stuff.  Did a bit of studying for the Dutch test tomorrow, but I was too tuckered out from econ work to do anymore than a quick glance over (and it's sooo much more boring :/).

Anyway, actually have to wake up for school tomorrow (le sigh), so slaapwel!

Day 310

Dinsdag, 12 Juni 2012

Woke up late (didn't go to class).  Ate a bit, did a little bit of econ, went back to bed.  Basically repeated that pattern the whole day.  Found the live stream of The Current online, so I've been listening to that a bit.  It's nice to get some US news, especially the MN/ND specific parts.  Didn't go to rehearsal since I still wasn't feeling the greatest.

That's about it.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Day 309

Maandag, 11 Juni 2012

Woke up (barely), and went to Dutch class.  Nothing too exciting.  I really wanted to go home right away, but it was Jose's last day in Belgium (AFS was sending him home, and had even locked his luggage in a room so he wouldn't take it and go somewhere), so I stuck around.  Ate at Santi's house, and then we met Marcela and Bella.  Waited a bit for Jose to come, talked for a while, and then I had to go.  Slept a bit, had dinner, and then went to the doctor (yay!)

Basically just got some medicine and he said to come back on Friday if it wasn't better to take blood (because apparently mono has been going around... yay...).  At home, did a bit of econ, but fell asleep so it wasn't that much.

Day 308

Zondag, 10 Juni 2012

Slept in a bit, ate, and then I drove with Raf, Charlotte, and Johan to the train station in Brecht.  They dropped me off there (they were going to Meerle for Father's Day), so I got a bus home.  Managed to finish my econ homework and quiz (whew), and then we went out for Father's Day dinner.  Pretty tired after that, so I went upstairs to do some econ but basically just fell asleep.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Day 307

Zaterdag, 9 Juni 2012

Looong day.  Woke up, tried to do some econ so I wouldn't have so much to do on Sunday.  Didn't really work out - ended up doing everything completely wrong and taking forever to figure out why (and it was a super simple thing I messed up), so I just left it.  Heidi, Bart, Senne and I drove to Kortrijk to have lunch with Bart's parents.  That was really nice.  They dropped me off at drumline and then went to do judo stuff.

Packed the bus, and then drove to Oostende for the Belgian Superbowl (American Football game).  It was... terrible.  I'm not even joking.  The field was really nice and well kept, but the bleachers in TOTAL were about how many we have for the opposing team at my high school.  So, not many.  And the game!  Oh goodness.  I think it was in the second quarter where I finally saw someone catch the ball.  False starts happened almost every other play.  Punting the ball meant kicking it straight up in the air.  I can see why American Football isn't a big deal here.  Sure they tried, but it definitely needs a few more years of work.

We played a bit for a pregame, and then did the halftime show.  By the time I was changed out of my uniform, it was 9:35, and my last train straight to Antwerp was in 5 minutes.  Gio said someone could drive me to the station, but they were taking too long, so he ended up getting this other kid and his family to drive me, which was really sweet of them.  I was trying to call and text people to figure out if I had a train in Gent (we thought it would be easier to get me back from there), but no such luck.  Someone texted saying that I had a train, but of course I couldn't make it in time.  The people driving me actually  offered to drive me to Antwerp (which is FAR), but I told them I lived further than that, so they said I could just sleep at their house.

Luckily, I remembered Raf, my second host brother, lives in Gent, so I texted to see if he was home, which he thankfully was.  The family dropped me off by his house, he picked me up, and then we just chilled out for a bit before I couldn't stay awake any longer (this was like my first day of actually being awake since last Saturday). Finally getting to lay down in bed never felt so good.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Day 306

Vrijdag, 8 Juni 2012

So, actually went to Dutch class because we had an exam.  Got a Monster to make sure I'd stay awake in class, drank it, talked with Marcela and Bella, and then went to class.  Did a bit of stuff, did the test, and then I managed to almost take a nap (Santi kept moving my chair so it was hard to actually fall asleep).  Another girl in the class, Carol, has been feeling the same as me (always tired, headaches, etc), so we're thinking it might actually be us being sick, not just too tired.

Went home after class, studied some econ, slept, and then repeated that all night with some eating thrown in.  Tried to call my mom at her work because I forgot she was off, so I ended up talking to her jobshare partner for a while because we hadn't talked since August.  It was pretty fun :P.  Drumline alllll day Saturday, and I'll probably have to end up staying the night (haven't asked anyone if I can, because I'm still really really really hoping I can get a train home).  We'll see how that goes.

Day 305

Donderdag, 7 Juni 2012

Still felt really crummy, so didn't go to school.  Slept for a long time, ate, did some econ, realized I was too tired to do econ (I said towels were more expensive than a car.  Really?), back to sleep, ate, back to sleep.  Heidi woke me up around 9 because Femke's boyfriend found a lost dog wandering around, and he brought it back for the police to check him for chips/pick him up.  It was so nice being around a dog again!  He reminded me of Toasty/Freddy, the dog that was abandoned in my neighborhood a few years ago.  I miss that guy still, he was a sweetie.  Anyway, went back to bed after that.

Toasty/Freddy

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Day 304

Woensdag, 6 Juni 2012

Got up, went to school as it was the last day of real classes.  Didn't do much in the first class, we just tried to play some music and sing (tried is the key word here).  Had a free period, so I worked on my econ notes since I still had some left.  English class next, had to do the writing final which was basically an opinion paper.  Then science, where they studied for their final test and I studied econ/did more notes.  Went home, ate, and then slept for a while.  Woke up at dinner, ate, finished my econ notes, and did my discussion for the class.  Took forever to do because I was too tired to think of examples :P.

Went upstairs, did the whole "sleep for a while and then randomly wake up" thing.  Talked to my mom a bit on facebook, had some tea, and then back to bed.  Yay productive days?

Day 303

Dinsdag, 5 Juni 2012

Well, woke up feeling pretty terrible, so after talking to Heidi I just went back to sleep.  Had May tell the dutch teacher I wouldn't be coming to class today.  Slept till like noon or one, ate, watched some TV, went back to sleep.  Got up for dinner, went back to bed.  Didn't go to the fanfare (obviously), but they said they're going to have a goodbye party for me in late July, so that's pretty exciting.  I love them so much :)  (Oh and Dad, you're invited :P).  But yeah, just slept.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Day 302

Maandag, 4 Juni 2012

So, double Dutch lesson today.  Or it was supposed to be.  Anyway, it was raining like nothing else this morning, so instead of doing a little walk around I went straight to the school.  Started talking to Sam, the guy from England I met last week or so.  Turns out he's lived for like 5 years in various Asian countries as a diving instructor, worked and lived on boats, that sort of thing.  He seems to have a really interesting life story.

Anyway, class.  Did some real stuff, which was unusual for this level.  Then had a one hour break, and I just talked to Dolesse the whole time.  Really fun, I always like getting to know people more.  Then, we were supposed to have another full lesson because of the whole teacher development lesson a while back, but it was just going to go until 2:30.  I had a bus at either 2 or 4, so Dorieen let me skip out a bit early to get the bus.

Home, did some econ notes, took a little nap.  Had dinner, watched some TV, did more notes, and then watched the film about the guy who's arm was stuck in the canyon when he fell and then he cut it off.  Pretty interesting, and really well done film.  I had only heard the tl;dr version of the story so it was cool seeing it in the full form.  Upstairs, got some older photos online, and now it's time for bed.  Slaapwel!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Day 301

Zondag, 3 Juni 2012

Got up, had a nice breakfast at Daniela's (pancakes!), and then her host sister drove us to the station.  I had just barely missed my train, so I went with them around to find a bank.  Found it, talked, walked back to the station, and then Daniela and Sofia had to get a bus so it was time to say goodbye.  It's so weird - we weren't the closest, but we had known each other all year.  But saying goodbye is just... odd.  I mean, I don't know when I'll be going to Boliva (if ever), so I don't know when I'll see her again.  It's hard to put that in perspective when you have to say goodbye.  I'm sure it will be different when I'm the one saying it, but yeah, it was just weird.

Got home, checked my online class (my discussion post has 11 responses while most have only 1 - yay winning!), ate, watched some TV with the family.  Got ready for bed, and then had a nice convo with my American parents on skype.  They're making me even more upset I'm missing the 4th of July rodeo this year - it's the first one I've ever missed.

Anyway, gotta get to sleep - a new week of econ starts tomorrow, and it's not going to be quite so easy.  Slaapwel!

Day 300?

Zaterdag, 2 Juni 2012

300 days?  And only 2 months until I go home?  What?

Felt super sick in the morning (wasn't feeling good all night), so I texted Gio and said I couldn't make it to rehearsal.  6 hours of travel wouldn't have done me any good today.  Got a message from Allen, realized it was Daniela's going away party.  She leaves on Tuesday (D:), so it kinda came out of the blue.  Decided to tough it out and go to that, because goodbyes take precedence over everything else.

Got to Hasselt, and then found Sravya, Allen, Sofia, and Daniela at the train station.  Got the bus to her house, and then just hung out.  It was just a small party - her three families and a few of the Dutch exchange students.  Ate a bit, and then I was about to leave, but I wasn't feeling that good.  A few other girls were spending the night, so we thought it was better if I stayed rather than trying to make it home.

So just hung out.  Fun night - her host families were all so wonderful, and we all had a lot of fun.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Day 299

Vrijdag, 1 Juni 2012

Dutch class actually had some new information this time, which was at least not boring.  Learned when our next test and final will be - it's coming up!  Met Marcela and Bella outside, and then we went to the kebab store by Santi's house because he said it would be open, and I really really wanted kebab.  Of course he was lying, so we just went and got something else.

Back at school, studied some econ, and then had the art appreciation class.  Then, went home, did my econ test.  Lost a point on a question I was waffling on, but then after retrying the test (we can try again for a higher score - the highest of the two is your grade), I finally realized why I was wrong so I felt a little silly.  Watched TV with Heidi for a while, and then Game of Thrones with Bart and Senne.  Started to not feel good (I think too many greasy foods today), so went to bed.

Day 298

Donderdag, 31 Mei 2012

Normal dutch school, but it was sooo boring that basically everyone was falling asleep.  Honestly, did like nothing in 3 hours.  Over lunch I went to the castle to finish my econ notes for the chapter, and then I got a text from Marcela saying she could pay me for my camera.  Yay!  Went to the library to get it - she said to just grab it out of her bag.  So I was sitting there, grabbing money out of someone else's bag, and then putting it in my pocket.  And no one said anything.

Anyway, just the normal music classes.  Went home, did both of my econ assignments, hung out, and went to sleep.