First Days

Hello Everyone, I’m in Belgium! Great flight I watched some movies and TV! Met Hunter and Lucas in the airport in Montreal. The flight was long and the airplane food was pretty gross. I couldn’t sleep on the flight. Met my arrive family at the airport (9 am) (my host family is on vacation still), said bye to Hunter, Lucas’s host family is having some problems with their grandfather so he came to stay with me at the arrive family’s house. It has already felt like I was here for 2 nights because of jetlag. I’m here for 2 nights only though so 1 night to go. Lunch is supper and supper is lunch. So for lunch we had potatoes, turkey and broccoli with cheese.  Slept...For supper we had sandwiches with very thin bread. Had to climb 5 flights of stairs and a ladder to get to my bed in the attic room. Lucas slept in the room I have to past through to get to my room. Slept till 11 and had lunch at 1 (Steak which is unseasoned and fries). After lunch Lucas and I walked to the shops and saw some of Brussels. No chocolate yet!          

Belgium:Fact

Know nothing about Belgium?
Well now you know.
"Belgium, a population dense country, encompasses 11,784 square miles [30,527 square kilometers] and is about the size of the American state of Maryland, but its coastline stretches only forty miles.  It is bordered by the North Sea [the Channel] to the north, the Netherlands to the north east, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast and France to the west. 

• The capital of Belgium is Brussels [Bruxelles].  The capital's population is just under a million, divided between Flemish and Wallon; the country as a whole has a population of just over 10 million.  The Flemish population is in the range of six million, while the Wallon population is just over 3 million.

• Many beers are brewed in Belgium and are enjoyed in the outdoor cafés where Belgians go to relax.  Mussels, oysters, endive and frites, the deep-fried potatoes [French fries] are favorite dishes. 

 

•  Three primary languages have contributed to a rich cultural history.  Painters and weavers come from the Flemings in the north and west.  The French Walloons brought a French heritage.  The 15th century had a flowering of painting, music, architecture and literature.  Another surge in the arts followed Belgian independence in 1830.  There are many village fairs and festivals where the traditional arts, including Belgium Lace Curtains, are displayed.  Van Eyck, Breughel, Rubens, Magritte, Dufay, Ockeghem, Deprés, de Lassus, Lully are all Belgian artists and composers.
• The level of education in Belgium today is one of the highest in Europe.
• Flanders field is in Belgium.

• The Flemings speak a language similar to Dutch.  Belgian French differs little from the French spoken in France, and German is spoken by large numbers of the population.  The population is primarily Roman Catholic [81%], with the Walloons following a more liberal interpretation than the Flemish.
  

Coming soon...

This summer of 2011 I will be an exchange student in Belgium. This is the life of a Canadian Exchange Student. Coming soon Summer of 2011........