Belgium in 24 Hours!

I decided to take a random trip to Brussels, Belgium for the weekend! I had no idea I would be able to see nearly the whole country in 24 hours! I took a iDbus from Paris to Brussels Saturday morning, and Thanks to couchsurfing.org, I met up with a Polish friend that is living in Brussels. He was kinda my tour guide for the day and knew so much about the history of Belgium and Europe in general. He was also willing to drive me around to other Belgian cities! Since Belgium isn't very big, It's easy to get around the whole country. 

First in Brussels, I was on a mission to see pretty buildings, monuments, and eat food. Belgium is where french fries were created, and they eat them with MAYO! Yep, I was surrounded by my kind of people. Fries should always be eaten with mayonaise. Theres also speculoos in Belgium. Its usually in a cookie form but sometimes in a butter form that looks like peanut butter. It's delicious. Taste kinda like gingerbread. And at McDonald's, you can order a Mcflurry with speculoos. So good!

I saw all the main monuments of Brussels and my favorites were the Grand Place and St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral. Also, It wasn't snowing saturday till nighttime and by sunday morning, everything was covered in snow. It was beautiful! The most perfect winter weekend to visit!

I also saw the Atomium and some pretty garden. It was very cute. It adds so much charm to this charming city

That night we drove to another city called Brugge which is a medieval city in the east. I have heard so many good things about this city so I was excited to go. I only saw it at night though in the snow, but it was still adorable in the dark. It's filled with bridges and canals. 

And since we were so close to the coast, we drove 20 more minutes east and made it to the North Sea! Of course, it was dark so you couldn't really see the sea, but you could see the light house and hear the water. It was very cold and windy though. Especially in the snow. But the city of Oostende has boats everywhere!

I would love to go back to Belgium and do all of this again when it is warmer. Maybe in the summer, I will contact my friend again and see how going to the North Sea for a day sounds!

But my trip wouldn't be complete without eating a Belgian Waffle. Sunday Breakfast was yummy.

England at a Glance

My trip to England was cut way too short! A week is just not enough! I wish I could have stayed there longer. I definitely would like to visit there again. I stayed with my wonderful aunt's second husband's sister. Weird I know, but they're family to me. I got there the saturday night before Christmas and the line to get through customs was soooo looonnggg. It took 45 minutes. And my flight was delayed about 45 minutes. So I was beginning to get worried at the airport because I know Suzanne was waiting for me. Luckily I got out of there as soon as I found my luggage and she found me. Note to self: go potty on the plane before you stand in the terrible lines at the airport.

The Next day, I got to visit the Windsor Castle. That's where the Queen lives on the weekends. I learned a lot from the tour guide. The Queen also goes horseback riding at the castle, and she's pretty old. I give her props.

The day after that was Christmas Eve. It was spend indoor skiing! I had the time of my life. I haven't skied since I was 5, so I didn't exactly remember how to do anything. 

My first time going down the hill, I couldn't figure out how to turn. My skis faced forward, and I was off. I couldn't stop till I got to the bottom and whipped out. That was fun. The second time, my cousin's cousin's step brother taught me how to turn so I got better. My skis kept coming off my boots though. At least 6 times I had to stop, fix my skis, and then continue. I felt like the most pathetic person there especially when some little kid comes flying past me while I have my butt planted in the snow because I fell over...again. Also I wore jeans so my pants got a little wet from the snow. After we left, I mentioned my pants are still wet. In England you call pants "trousers" and "pants" are what they call underwear, so I quickly corrected myself saying my trousers are wet. whoops. 

That night, we went to their neighbors house for a little wine tasting. It was fancy smancy. There were about 6 or 7 countries we tasted from with red and white from each. With each country, there was food from that country too. With australian wine, we ate lamb. With French wine, we ate foie gras. From italy, we had meatballs. It was so amazing. My favorite wine was the White Rioja from Spain. It was a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve.

Christmas was a lot of fun. After opening presents in the morning, the ladies of the household went to church. We found this lovely church to go to. I really liked the service.

For lunch, we went to a friends house to have a Christmas feast. We did lots of cooking, talking, drinking, game playing, and eating. I tried a traditional English Christmas Pudding. All I have to say is it's not really pudding. 

Lovely table with the lovely children!

We really loved the reindeer gear.

I spent a full day in London the following Friday. It was full of sight seeing and picture taking. I got to eat Carrot and Coriander (cilantro) soup, and I ate the sweet and hot almonds and peanuts you buy from people on the streets. Paris is full of people making hot chestnuts which are ok but don't compare to the sweet Almonds and Peanuts. soo good.

Tower Bridge. Check out the awesome umbrella they gave me.

Phonebox!

 Shakespeare's Globe

Floating yoda. and my Cath Kidson bag I got on sale. so cute!

Big Ben

London Eye

At Natural History Museum. That's a dinosaur.

They almost let me in, but then they saw my SAT scores.

The M&M store!

For a special treat, Suzanne and I went into London Saturday night and saw We Will Rock You the Musical! I love Queen and I love musicals, so you can imagine how excited I was. I got emotional. I think I cried for the first 20 minutes and for the last 10 minutes. I'm pathetic at musicals.

They sang all my favorite songs. The last song they did an encore for was Bohemian Rhapsody. Oh man it was awesome.

I was definitely spoiled at the airport. Suzanne booked my return flight for me so I could stay longer, so with her points, I went back in business class yall! I got to eat a free lunch in the lounge at the airport. It was a buffet with everything. I snagged a few extra goodies and stuffed them in my carry on just because it was free. People probably thought I hadn't had food for days with them amount I was eating. I litterally grabbed one of each food and drank 2 drinks. I couldn't settle for just one.
Once I got to my gate, I got to board the plane first (because im special) and my seat was A1...that's the very first seat. My new favorite seat. Once the plane took off, a British flight attendance came by the business class people and asked, "Would you like a hot towel miss?" ".....uhhhh?? Yes. Yes I would."
And I didn't even know I'd get lunch on the plane! I already stuffed my face and now I get a salad, a roll, a parfait, tea, and red wine. I felt like a princess...but not really. To bad the plane ride was less than an hour. I could have stayed there for hours with all the legroom I had.

But overall my trip to England was amazing. I had the time of my life! From skiing, to wine tasting, to dancing to Michael Jackson, to playing charades and breaking bones (Judy), to fighting with teenage boys as they try to steal my wine (seriously, get your paws off my glass), to exploring a new city, to rejoicing with a crowd of Queen lovers as Brian May came out for the last song and started ripping it on the electric guitar. I can't wait to go to England again!

Christmas time in Paris!

Agathe WOULD NOT pronounce "Christmas" correctly the other day. I think she was serious at first but then was only trying to be funny. "Chreeeessmees?" "No." I felt like this woman:

So Christmas time in Paris is expected to be glorious. I mean, it's pretty I guess.

           

Galaries Lafayette

Pretty decorations by a CHANEL store

Marche de Noel. Christmas Markets that you find everywhere.

Crepe please with hot Nutella.

The lights on the Champs-Elysees

Standing in the middle of the Champs-Elysees

                        

 
Theres lights down many streets like these.



I am currently in England for Christmas so a blog about that will come later. Before I left, I received a lovely box from my previous family I worked for, the Neffs, with so many thoughtful gifts. I was really shocked. One of those gifts were Christmas crackers, and that was very special because my host family has never seen them before. We had a blast opening them! Inside the crackers were whistles with numbers on them and instructions on how to play a song. It was kind of like handbells only with whistles. Loud whistles with small children...
The video shows the whistles and attempting to create songs, and it also shows how much English is used in the house. They are trying to get their kids to learn as much English as possible and throw in the easy English words instead of saying them in French.

Suffering of Children

America's news is always in the stoplight around the world. I've found out that from being here that America is the center of attention for some reason, or maybe France is just obsessed with America. Anyhow, I found out about the Connecticut school shooting through the internet first because Facebook tells all. It affected me pretty hard. I taught a kindergarten classroom for 2 years during my last two years of high school. I was the teacher for a classroom for an hour and a half every other day. I remembered my classroom, the teachers, and the children and could not imagine how my life would be right now if a shooting happend while I was there. I also can't imagine what the families and friends are going through. As president Obama said, after this hes going to "hug [his] children a little tighter". 

It was evening here in France when I heard about the shooting and the family I live with was getting ready for dinner. The oldest was at dance lessons, so the dad went to pick her up. For a second, I thought I was the only one home because it was so quiet and dark, but they were there sitting in the living room. The mom and two of the children were sitting in the dark enjoying the Christmas candles they found in a box. About 8 small candles were lit on the table. I sat down with them and for a few minutes. Nothing was said. I almost felt like this was God's way of showing me that while one part of the world is suffering, another part of the world will experience peace. One of my favorite verses says "be still and know that I am God" -Psalm 46:10. So that's what I did. I didn't mention the shooting to the parents till after dinner, but the whole time during dinner, I could only watch the children as they ate. They were joyful, comfortable, and safe. They were happy children as they scooped their pees on their forks. I just thanked God for the life that they have and that they are healthy and safe. I ask God to protect them as all children should be protected. 

Yesterday was a hard homework day. I got Agathe to start her homework as soon as she got home. It didn't look like she had a lot to do, but it turned out being a bunch. It also harder on her because she's a lefty and it takes her twice as long to write one word. And she had to write everything in cursive. I was having her write down all her spelling words, and there was one word she couldn't spell. It was a hard word, but for some reason, it really stressed her out that she couldn't spell it. Mentally, she started giving up, so I told her we will do the spelling later and we can just do the math. She was already frustrated and wouldn't move on from it, so when I asked her what her math homework was, she wouldn't tell me. She would mumble something, and I couldn't understand her. I think I pushed her over the edge by telling her that, but for real. It's hard enough for me as it is when she only speaks French and adding mumbling and whining means I can't make words out of what she says. She got up and went to the bathroom and just sat on the floor. Her older sister, sweetest girl on the planet, followed her and tried to see what was wrong. I let them talk for a little bit because I thought maybe Agathe would listen to her sister. She wasnt successful. I went in the bathroom and found her with tears under her eyes sitting behind the door. I kinda forcefully picked her up and sat her in my lap. I tried to encourage her with the very limited vocabulary that I have as I held on to her for a few minutes. I think she just needed a hug. 
Long story short, she finished her homework after that and was back to her normal self in 15 minutes. Talk about a quick turn around. American's would say she's bipolar, but the French just say she's a kid. 

So taking care of Agathe is my responsibility. Once before, I had to get her ready for school, and she would not get out of bed. We were almost late for school because she took 45 minutes just to get dressed. I asked her dad about that later on to see if that was normal, ask if theres something I should do, and kinda get him to get on to her for not listening to me. He returned by asking me "what do you think you should do?" So I learned right then that I need to figure that out on my own next time. 
This morning, I had to get her up for school again. Both of the parents were still at home to wake her up but then shortly left. As they were walking out of her bedroom, both of them told me "good luck". Really? Thanks parents. Agathe was already in a bad mood because the clothes her mom set out for her weren't clothes that she liked. This girl hates wearing blue jeans, but that's all that was clean. No worries though. I can handle this now. We made it downstairs for breakfast in record time and Agathe was in a great mood. How did I do it? I took all her stuffed animals and made a puppet show at the end of her bed. She was awake and sitting up after 10 seconds of starting my "spectacle"! Will I have to do that from now on when I wake her up? Probably. Is it worth it to start the day off in a fun way? Absolutely. It put both of us in a good mood. 
When I take her to school, I hold her hand the whole way down the street. We always either talk or sing on the way there, and we give each other two kisses on the cheek and say goodbye. She so sweet.



What I have noticed the past few days is that I really care about these children and this family. I feel like these kids are my little siblings. It happens though when you spend everyday with someone. It's harder getting to know someone with a language barrier, but children don't care.