Christmas Eve:
I went with my host family to the house of my host father's brother. The entire family was there! Marc's mother, brother, sister, and all the cousins. We all sat around and they told family stories while we ate appetisers for a few hours. Then we opened presents!! All the cousins exchange presents with each other (it was a random draw who you got). It was so much fun. After, we ate a grand meal and enjoyed out time together. At midnight the boy cousins went outside and set off fireworks for everyone to see (it was pouring rain!). Then they came back inside and we set off sparklers in the kitchen. It was great! The night ended at 2:30, after we finished eating some delicious ice cream Valerie made. It was my first Christmas I have ever celebrated with an entire family.
Christmas Day:
We were all super exhausted from last night, but we still managed to crawl out of bed and get ready for Christmas: Round 2. We went to Mamy's house (Valerie's mom), to open family presents with Fabrice (Valerie's brother). I got some pretty blue bracelets from Mamy, and from Marc and Valerie I received a gift card for a manicure (it turned out great... I feel like a princess!) and a t-shirt and button that says "oufit!" (my favorite word in French. It is a word from the Liege region I live in, and translates to "oh my gosh!"). It was great! For lunch we had duck salad, just like we ate when we were in Provence, France last August. For lunch we had a pork roast and little potatoes. Delicious! We spent the rest of the afternoon together watching TV, napping, and playing games (I finally learned how to play Uno!). The weirdest part of Christmas for me here was that there wasn't any snow. I can't remember the last time I had no snow on Christmas, not even a little.
PARIS:
Yes, for me going to Paris was just as important as a national holiday for me. We left on the Saturday after Christmas. And let me tell you, my three days there were FORMIDABLE (wonderful). The first day we got settled into our apartment, then went straight to the Eiffle Tower. It brought tears to my eyes. Besides the millions of crazy tourists (just like us), everything about it was magnific. The size cannot be expressed my any picture. You don't really realize the amount of work that goes into things like that, until you see it with your own eyes. The second day we went to the Musse du Louvre. I SAW THE MONA LISA. And also some works of art by Michelangelo and other superb artists. It was so inspiring to see all the art from the last millennium. Oufti! After the Musee de Louvre (I could have literally stayed there for a month), we saw the Notre Dame Cathedral (like from the movie!), the Champs Elysee, and the Arc of Triumph. The next day, before we left, we went to see the Gallery de Layfette. Holy cow! It is five stories high, filled with Chanel, Louis Vitton, Dolce and Gabana, and everything else that anyone regular person can't afford. But it was amazing to see.
Just a little story: On our first day there, we had just finished eating at a restraunt, and Florette was looking for Marie. So she called out "Marie Christmas!!". Haha, I love having younger siblings.
New Years Eve:
So for New Years, I went with Joisy to Bruxelles. We met up with some some exhcange students (well most all of the exchange students here in Belgium, and there are a lot). There we so many people in Bruxelles for the New Year! Joisy and I ate our last waffle of the year (yum!). At midnight we all gathered around (somewhere close to Central Station I think) to watch the fireworks. It was so cool! They lasted for a good 15 minutes. It was a clear night, so they lite up the entire sky. Gorgeous.
New Years Day:
Well, since I went to Bruxelles last last night and the rest of the family went to another party, we were all exhausted. I managed to wake up by 11 (only cause that is when Joisy was getting picked up). But then took another nap from 12-1. After we had a late lunch, we went to go see the extended family, and give them mimosa flowers for the New Years. We first stopped my Valerie's godmother's house. We had waffles from last year (well they were technically made the day before, but it still counts)! After we went to Valerie's mother's (Mamy) sister's house, with Mamy and Fabrice. It was the house Mamy had grown up in, but her sister had renovated it (gorgeous!). We ended up staying for dinner. We had smoked salmon, fresh oysters, and champagne (I got to pop the cork!). It was a great way to wrap up the holiday season.
And the resolutions of the year:
- A new skill I’d like to learn: Spanish
- A good deed I will do: Try to share my worldly experience with other people
- A bad habit I’m going to break: Netflix
- A person I aspire to be more like: My mother and my great friend Abbey
- A new food I’m going to try: The cinnamon challenge. Just kidding. Belgian Cheese (yuck!)
- A place I would like to visit: The Stonehenge
- A book I would like to read: At least 5 classics I haven't read before (I have a thing for re-reading books)
- I’m going to do better at: Sticking to my New Years resolutions
*I will have pictures of this all soon!*
**I also changed host families on January 5th.. so I will have a new update soon!**
Bisous!!
Skye
